In Ashes

You were a hero once, but could you be again?

A choice-driven fantasy adventure visual novel about the price of burnout. Build a hero who can overcome the weight of their legacy.

Story

Famed for battling a wrathful dragon and defending the common folk in their youth, our hero suffers an injury facing their long-time nemesis.

Forced recovery unexpectedly gives time to slow down, but also a voice to their thoughts of self doubt.

But weakness is a choice.

With the invention of The Drink: a caffeine-like substance that allows anyone to push past their physical and mental limits, the only barrier between our protagonist and overcoming the emergence of The Corruption may be their own 

selfish desire… 

to rest.

Features

📜 Your Story, Your Legacy: Customise your hero’s name, pronouns, and personality to shape the world’s perception of your hero. Overtime, the protagonist's personality adapts to your decisions.

⚔ Fulfilling Skill System: Choose between 9 different skills to craft your ideal play style. Each skill comes with unique dialogues, combat options, and challenges.

🎭 Dynamic Personality System: Combine these traits to create a layered protagonist. Your choices shape how the world responds to you. There is no right hero, only the one you choose to be.

☠️Tactical Combat, Real Consequences: Quick, impactful decisions determine your survival. Use the skills, items, and relationships available to you to win battles.

👑 The Valour System: Valour represents your pool of heroic strength and is spent on difficult choices and leaps of faith. Conserve it by slowing down, reflecting, and being present. You must look after yourself if you wish to successfully look after others.

💕Complex, Evolving Companions: Allow your relationships to grow naturally. Among your companions, romance is optional and friendship is just as meaningful.

🌀 Multiple Endings, Driven by Choices: Every decision shapes your story, leading to a variety of endings influenced by relationships, moral dilemmas, and your chosen path. Each ending is unique to your hero and their final party. Who will you become by the end of your journey? 

Note: Endings are not limited to romance, but relationships do influence them.

🎨 A passionate team: In Ashes is created by a small, but extremely talented team of a single character artist, one background artist, and one developer. Each one giving their all!

Characters 

Coming Soon.

Credits

Studio Ephua: Direction, Writing, Programming, & GUI

Betto (BettoDetto / BetrunkenHirsch): Character art

Vui Huynh: Background art

Mari Ma: Chinese translation

Leon Auros: French translation

facuseghezzo: Spanish translation

About the Developer

Ephua is a micro-studio dedicated to creating immersive, thought-provoking tales.

We believe stories are a universal truth, and humans are at the heart of them.