Nukezilla Review: Ash (iOS)

I was a huge fan of RPGs in the 90s. If one were to look at my game collection, one would find a fair collection of RPGs ranging from the original Gameboy to the PlayStation 2. For some reason, however, my interest in — or, perhaps, time commitment to play — RPGs all but disappeared when the current-gen consoles came out. To this day, I’m still not certain why. However, I’m slowly starting to get back into playing RPGs, and SRRN Games’ iOS RPG Ash proved to be a good one to get back into the genre.

Ash tells the story of Nicholas and Damien, two on-the-lam mercenaries, forced into hiding from the Royal Guard. We’ve all heard the story before, really; no surprises here…well, not until later on in the game, but I won’t spoil it for you. What starts to set Ash apart, however, is the humor laced liberally throughout the game. While I never really laughed out loud, many of the jokes at least had me chuckling, and I’m certain at least one or two caught me off guard. Ash is actually reminiscent of Final Fantasy IV, which also involves ex-military being thrust into the role of hero, and is thankfully just as engrossing (well, almost, but it’s still fairly involved). And, as in all old-school RPGs, Ash proves to be a grind fest if the player wants to get anywhere without dying every thirty seconds.

Ash utilizes the iPhone touch screen in order to move the characters around the screen as well as execute battle and field commands. There’s nothing particularly revolutionary about the battle system: it’s first person, turn-based melee fare, and while the world of Ash lacks any sort of mystic lore, the game manages to implement a “magic” system in the form of special attacks that are never quite explained. The party levels up as a collective, regardless of who survives each battle, and the actual battle menus are designed to be as simplistic as possible — a wise move considering the small display of the iPhone. While I expected the score to be full of 16-bit nostalgia as well, I was surprised to find that the score is minimalistic and mostly piano. The music was at first a shock to me, but I’ve since gotten accustomed to it, and I cannot deny it fits rather well with game (though I am angry to learn too late that I could have gotten the soundtrack for free and have since missed it).

This is usually the part where I list problems I had with the game — and I will. However, something interesting has happened: in the month since this game was released, all of my problems with this game were fixed; the developers were actually listening to feedback and acting accordingly. The game turned into a grind fest right at the beginning — SRRN listened and provided better starting equipment and access to more healing potions. The game controlled somewhat awkwardly with the touch-screen interface — SRRN updated it with an optional D-Pad. Players wanted the ability to gain more levels — SRRN raised the level cap. It is this attention to their players that convinces me above all else that Ash truly is a labor of love, made for the love of the genre and reverence for old-school classics.

Bottom line: Ash is well executed and well worth the $5 it costs on the app store, especially for enthusiasts of old-school RPG as well as those trying to get into RPGs without being too terribly taxed with character progression and scores of sidequests — just don’t be afraid of a little grinding.

Disclaimer: We were provided with a review code by the developer.

This review is Day 23 of the December Review Nukestravaganza.