Ashes is an interactive graphic novel with interspersed puzzles set in Victoria, Australia. The game follows the story of Azar, a young teenager who is hiding out at her grandfather’s after being a witness to a gruesome crime. Developed and published by Plot Twist (not that Plot Twist), I was lucky enough to be sent a short demo of the game to play through the first few chapters. Did I enjoy it? Let’s find out.
Story and Background
Ashes is the brainchild of writer and developer Cléa Frost, who previously worked in film and TV, and I could definitely see these influences as I played through the demo. The background to the game’s story is one of intrigue and corruption. At the start of the demo we see the main protagonist, Azar, on a car journey leaving the city with her mother, who is taking her to her grandfather’s compound which is tucked away in a very rural area. When they arrive, you can tell that there is some history there, but despite a frosty reception, Azar ends up staying with her grandfather. After this, we see that Azar’s mum’s residence has been ransacked, confirming suspicions that Azar is being tracked down.
Art Style and Gameplay
Ashes is presented as a graphic novel, and the art style combines some realism with comic book-style elements. It’s visually appealing and fits well with the theme of the game. The controls were extremely simple, click on the right to move forward and the left to go back. Everything else is pretty self-explanatory, and I had no issues at all navigating. One thing I will mention though, is that during the opening sequence when controls were being explained, the font was pretty ‘busy’ looking against the background, and the screen disappeared before I had read through it completely. I only got to try out one puzzle in the demo, and it was pretty simple, but I would assume the challenge level would build as the game progressed.
There is a disclaimer at the start of the demo that some of the content of the game has mature themes. I did not experience anything graphic or violent in my play through, but I could tell that this wasn’t going to be a particularly happy tale and would assume that these themes would occur further on in the story. I was intrigued as to how the plot was developing and will definitely check out the game further when it arrives in Early Access. I do wish that the demo was a bit longer, as I felt like I didn’t really get to actually do much, aside from clicking through the early scene-setting of the story. I think that as a way to deliver narrative with mature themes, this sort of puzzle-based/find-the-object style of game has the potential to be interesting, though I feel the demo was far too limited to get a handle on whether this will actually be the case. Experienced gamers may find it a little boring, as there was a lot of story, and not much actual playing. Fans of graphic novels, however, will probably find it appealing.
Ashes is due to be released into early access on Steam in the coming weeks, with a full release later on this year. You can check out the website for the game here, or on the Steam store.
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