A Child Called Ash

PREMISE

A Child Called Ash is a short RPG released for the 50 Days of Representation event hosted on RMN. It’s a prequel to another game called A Maned Lioness, which in turn is a prequel to something called “The Life and Times of a MtF Daughter of Lions.” You can download the former on RMN, though the latter isn’t hosted here, and may not actually exist yet.

That being said, if you’re reading this and are worried about Continuity Lockout, the story is pretty straightforward and at no point did I ever feel lost.

The heroine of this game is a bipedal lioness named Raziya. The focus of the story is her coming out as transgender, but she also falcon punches zombies and stuff, so there’s something for everyone here.

PRESENTATION

Unlike a lot of other games, there’s no RTP used (except for some of the battle animations though they’re from RPGmaker 2000 and have been converted to use NES palettes). Instead a Child Called Ash uses retro Nintendo Entertainment System style graphics and audio. I grew up playing games like Dragon Warrior Monsters and Star Trek: 25th Anniversary, so this was really nostalgic for me.

All the maps are competently made and the battle screens look great.

GAMEPLAY

Most of the game is cutscenes, but there are a few interactive battles. There aren’t many skills or items to choose from, and for the vast majority of the game, you’ll only have one character to control. That being said, for what they are, they’re fairly engaging. At no point did I feel I was just zoning out and mashing the enter key.

Both your HP and MP are fully restored at the end of combat. This might be confusing to players because there’s no way to check your status on the main menu, and you’re carrying around an item called ‘Kebab,’ which claims to restore HP outside of battle, but I’m fairly certain it’s just a relic from an earlier stage in development.

The walking speed is very slow and there’s no sprinting. This isn’t a super huge issue in some of the smaller maps, but when you get to the cave dungeon there is a bit of backtracking (only if you want the optional loot, though) and can get a bit repetitive.

NARRATIVE

When I first loaded up A Child Called Ash, my first thoughts were how it looked a lot like the games I used to play way back in my childhood. Then a bandit tried to cut off Raziya’s testicles with an axe and it was at that point I kinda realized that AtiyaTheSeeker wasn’t kidding around when they said this was “Perhaps the darkest story I've told thus far in a game.”

It’s not some horrific nightmare story like Blood Meridian, but... yeah. Don’t come into this expecting some lighthearted fun.

My experience with trans issues largely begins and ends with me reading a fan theory about how the Matrix was an allegory for being transgender, so I’m probably not the most qualified person to talk about this plot, but all of the characters have well defined personalities though, and I do think Raziya came across as sympathetic and relateable.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

I really wouldn’t mind seeing more of this setting, so I’ll probably check out Maned Lioness. If you like retro graphics, shorter games, and don’t mind the darker plot I’d say it’s worth a download.