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A nice short story about self-acceptance, and trans representation. Really underserved in the gameplay department, though.

  • Gretgor
  • 08/26/2020 01:05 AM
  • 745 views
I'm playing through all entries in the 50 Days of Representation jam, and giving my thoughts and impressions on each. I'm leaving reviews on completed games, and project page comments on demos. Since this one is complete, albeit a tad short, I'm leaving a review.

Overall thoughts:

This is a short RPG with an 8-bit retro aesthetic, and it's quite cool. I really like the direction Atiya went for with the presentation, it adds a lot of charm to the whole experience. The story is also pretty good. I like the way it uses a fantasy setting to discuss serious issues.

The game is like 90% cutscene, though, which is a bit of a letdown. However, it mentions A Maned Lioness, the game to which this one is a prequel, in the credits, which got me interested. I hope that one has more gameplay than this one.

Presentation and story:

I love the usage of retro graphics and music here, they make the game really endearing. The battle music absolutely slaps, and the retro JRPG battle screens put me in the mood of something like classic Dragon Quest.

The game uses a retro RPG aesthetic in more than just its presentation, as the setting itself is very much a fantasy setting. What I love the most about this game's plot is that it uses a familiar, nostalgic fantasy world to tell a story about real issues, such as transphobia and parental abuse. I love the way these subjects are approached here, and I'd like to see more fantasy RPGs with good LGBTQIA representation like this in the future.

The story has some really emotional moments, like...
Show

The moment Raziya (then Ashur) talks to the 'maned lioness' Jasmine. I like how the mane is used as an "indication" that Jasmine is trans.

Also, the moment Raziya (then Ash) leaves her hometown behind, bidding farewell to her only friend Jengo. That one hit me in the feels, man.

Oh, also, talking to Raziya's dad in a near-death experience was very uplifting and cool.

And then, finally, the ending. Raziya returns to her hometown only to find that Jengo is not there, so she sets out to Jengo's new town, and finds him. it's a great moment.


The overall narrative follows a bit of a hero's journey format, and I love that. Hero's journeys are normally used to tell stories about manly superlatives, so seeing the format being used to convey a way more beautiful and heartfelt story is a joy to me. The message about self-acceptance (and about not being a transphobic jerk of course) shines bright in this format, and it's overall great to follow.

Gameplay:

Like I stated before, the game is 90% cutscenes. The other 10% are divided between small exploration sections and classic JRPG battles. I like those parts quite a lot, even though they are few and far between, because of how nostalgic they feel. The battles are never awfully hard (unless we're supposed to lose them) and the short exploration sections sometimes serve to flesh out the characters' backstories, which is neat.

My biggest gripe with the gameplay is how the game sometimes transports you to places via cutscene that you could easily have walked to yourself. Like when we have to visit an INN or something. Again, I understand that's not what the authors were going for, but it bums me out a bit. But then again, with such a short time to make a game, I couldn't expect a fully fleshed out RPG, now, could I?

Final comments:

This game manages to blend a hero's journey fantasy setting with a deep message about self-acceptance and trans representation. It is a real delight to see the nostalgic style of 8-bit RPGs being used to convey a more mature, important statement.

The one thing I don't like very much is how scant the gameplay is, but I'm starting to believe this will be a bit of a trend for the entire jam at this point. I believe a 4/5 is in order here. I would have preferred a more "gamey" experience here, because the 8-bit fantasy setting really puts me in the mood to game.

Posts

Pages: 1
AtiyaTheSeeker
In all fairness, bird shrapnel isn't as deadly as wood shrapnel
5424
08/29/2020 04:28 PM
Hey! I am pressed for time right now, but I am posting this to acknowledge the review. I'm glad the stuff that worked for you worked. I'll give a better reply when I'm back home; am going to be out-of-town today. Thank you~
AtiyaTheSeeker
In all fairness, bird shrapnel isn't as deadly as wood shrapnel
5424
09/03/2020 07:39 PM
Hey again. Sorry for the procrastination.

I am pleased as punch that the 8-bit aesthetic worked well. The original assets used were a blast, and I'm glad I converted RM2k animations into 8-bit edits. I was worried that the high-end NES-era art direction would be jarring compared to the narrative, but I'm glad it doesn't seem the case.

Of all my games thus far, I've learned that writing characters and stories is a strength of mine. I didn't want to "soapbox", so I worried that non-fantasy terms might feel that way. While I hadn't intended for Raziya's backstory to be a classic Hero's Journey, it's an honor for you to compare it to one. Likewise, it's an honor that the spoiler'd emotional moments really hit home.

Insofar as a lack of gameplay, I do feel that's the big flaw to A Child Called Ash. This was probably my most involved cutscene work, but the game is indeed 90% cutscene. Aside from the two cave battles excluding the boss, all of them are meant to drive the plot. By no means is this a bad thing, but there's a reason I tagged this as a Visual Novel.

With that said, I hope the gameplay that is present will suffice! My personal project will have a similar philosophy I've used in my event games thus far, including this one. Fights will be short but dangerous, and spamming Attack is a bad idea. My WIP would expand upon these ideas in a fuller JRPG fashion.

...whew! A review of a review. Overall, I'm proud that you took the time to review all the Fifty Days of Rep games that you could. I'm happy that this one was a good time, and I intend to keep going while acknowledging what I've done that worked. Ever upward. <3
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