ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat is a 2007 tactical role-playing game developed by Mistwalker and Racjin and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS exclusively in Japan. The storyline follows Aisya, princess of Millinear, after a fire monster burns the kingdom to ashes on her coronation day. She gains the ability to revive the dead as ash-formed bodies and sets out to investigate the cause behind the disaster. The gameplay combines tactical grid-based movement of 2D characters in the field with traditional turn-based battles, in which party members are represented by CGI models.
The game was designed by Mistwalker founder and Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, who acted as executive producer, writer and designer. Production lasted roughly two years, with Sakaguchi using his love for the genre when creating the design concept. The game was among the first projects conceived and announced for Mistwalker. Sakaguchi collaborated with artist Hideo Minaba and composers Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata, who had worked with Sakaguchi during their time at Square. Due to its heavy use of CGI graphics, it was the first DS title to ship on a two-gigabit cartridge. The title debuted to low sales in Japan and received mixed reception from critics; it was praised for its narrative and gameplay, but its graphics and pacing saw mixed responses.
Gameplay
ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat is a tactical role-playing game where players take on the role of protagonist Aisya and her army in battles against enemy forces, progressing through a series of battles across a chapter-based narrative. The game is controlled using the Nintendo DS stylus, with the display split between its two screens; the top screen is used for displaying cutscenes and the battle party, while the bottom screen is used for party control and shows the enemy party in battle. Battles are split into three sections; story with battle objectives, field gameplay, and battles. The game features New Game Plus, with players carrying over money earned into the next playthrough.
Levels play out as turn-based battles in a system dubbed "Team Tactics"; the player has a set number of three-character parties, with these parties represented on the field as a sprite of the party's current leader. In-game, only a living person can be a team leader, with the other two members being ash warriors. During the field section of battles, players move their assigned units on a square grid, with units represented using 2D character sprites. Movement and attacking consume a shared pool of Action Points. Once depleted, the player's turn ends, and the bar is replenished by a set amount at the start of the player's next turn. Once in position, depending on the proximity of enemies, a unit can be given different commands, such as attacking or performing an ability. Chests and non-playable characters can be found during field sections, with chests yielding items, equipment. or in-game currency.
In battle, the gameplay switches to a turn-based combat system. with characters represented using CGI models. The player team fights the enemy team until one side is defeated or the player party flees battle. If an enemy initiates combat, each member of an enemy unit performs one action, with the battle ending once these are completed. During player-initiated battles, actions are selected for each character from a menu, including a standard attack; a magic spell or attack if possible; using an item; defending from attacks; a standby in which a unit does not act during a turn; special skills dubbed Arts; cinematic attacks dubbed EX Arts; and fleeing battle. Within the party, a character can be positioned close or at a distance from the enemy, which impacts how they attack and what skills and abilities can be used. Upon raising their experience level, a character's health and magic meters are restored. If a party member is not revived during battle, they are inaccessible in the next battle, while a party leader's defeat removes the entire party from battle. Even if other parties are active, the game ends and must be restarted from an earlier save point if Aisya is defeated.
Alongside unique characters with special skills and abilities are generic units assigned a character class. The classes are the Long Sword, a basic melee fighter; Black Magic users, who can perform powerful damaging elemental spells; White Magic users, who can use healing spells and raise defence; the Butler, which specializes in close-range melee combat and has higher defence than the Long Sword; the Ittemer, which can send items at a distance; the Steeler, a thief-like character with high agility who can attract enemy units away from more vulnerable targets; and Monster Magic users, who specialize in support abilities and summoning creatures to fight in their place. These generic units die permanently if they fall in battle. Between battles, the player outfits and customizes their party and individual units, in addition to buying replacement genetic units. At the end of each chapter, the player is graded on their performance, with higher grades granting better rewards of experience and items. Earlier chapters can be repeated to earn additional experience points and currency for buying equipment and items between chapters.
Synopsis Setting and characters ASH is set in an unnamed fantasy world divided between three kingdoms, Millinear, Sumnelthia and Aceshin. Samnersia and Acesin are in a state of war with each other, with mechanical soldiers dubbed the Mechanics said to be from Acesin inflaming the conflict. In ancient times, a magical flame that burned all to magical ash was sealed away. It is released in the game's opening and begins wreaking havoc across the world in the form of creatures called Salamanders and the greater Flame Serpent.
The main protagonist is Aisya, whose coronation as princess of Millinear takes place during the game's opening. In her journey, she is accompanied by her regent Bullnequ, a loyal figure who supported her through her childhood. She is also joined by Dan, a soldier of Sumnelthia; Cootrolan, a sentient Mechanic; Emu, a member of the reclusive Forest People; Maritie, Acesin's princess who likewise chases the Flame Serpent; and Jeekwawen, a mercenary swordsman. They end up clashing with Bamyganant, a soldier from the planet's future who leads a Mechanic faction.
Plot At Aisya's coronation, a Salamander appears and burns everyone except her into ashes. She retrieves her hereditary bracelet, and when creatures born of the Flame Serpent attack, Bullnequ is reanimated from the ashes and defends her. Wanting to restore her kingdom, Aisya sets out in pursuit of the Flame Serpent, who subsequently attacks and destroys the other kingdoms. Using her power to revive others from ash to build her army, she meets and partners with Dan, rescues Emu from the destruction of her people, and Bamyganant nearly kills her. Although Jeekwawen saves her and the party, Bullnequ is destroyed. They later salvage Cootrolan from a group of attacking Mechanics, who reveals the Mechanics are from a future where Mechanics and humans are locked in conflict in a world dying from an imbalance of energy. After finding Sumnelthia's capital under attack from the Flame Serpent, Aisya rescues Maritie from the city's dungeons, who believes Sumnelthia is behind the Flame Serpent. Dan likewise thinks Aceshin is responsible, and leaves when Aisya prevents him from killing Maritie.
They discover evidence of Sumnelthia collecting energy from the Salamanders, which is produced when new Mechanics are crafted, then escape through a cave system while fighting through monsters born of human fear and rage. They also learn the Salamanders are manifestations of the planet's will that human conflict summons, and that they must restore the balance between the benevolent white and malevolent black energy. Cootrolan ends up resetting to a hostile position after encountering Mechanics, forcing the party to leave him behind. The party confront the Sumnelthian King, who created the Mechanics in a bid to conquer the world, and he sends Jeekwawen and a conflicted Dan to attack the group. Dan rejoins them, and upon learning their mission to restore the world's balance, Jeekwawen allows them to proceed. They confront the Sumnelthian King, but when he summons more Mechanics, a powerful Fire Dragon is born and begins destroying the world. The King escapes, and the group seek answers in Aceshin, with Jeekwawen eventually joining them. Bamyganant nearly ambushes and kills them, but Maritie's mother Aceshin XV saves them and they reunite with a restored Cootrolan. The Fire Dragon soon attacks Aceshin and turns its people to ash.
Aceshin XV sacrifices herself to hold back Bamyganant so the party can escape on airship back to Sumnelthia to stop the King. The Fire Dragon unexpectedly shields the ship from Sumnelthia's defence guns, and they learn Bamyganant allied with the King to secure the Mechanics' future domination of the world. Bamyganant and the King respectively place Cootrolan and Dan under their control, turning them against the party. Dan briefly recovers when Bamyganant kills the King after activating the Mechanic army and generating a giant Fire Dragon. The party sacrifices itself to save Aisya from its attack, and Cootrolan is left to guard the present-day core of Bamyganant. Aceshin XV returns in ash form along with Aisya's companions, who reveal the Fire Dragon's purpose is to test human worth and reset the planet if they fail. With the world's balance between black and white energy destroyed, Aisya fights and defeats Bamyganant, first by Cootrolan sacrificing itself to destroy Bamyganant's present-day core, then when the party defeats him when the world's black energy preserves him. The Mechanic future is erased and the world restored, and the last Fire Dragon asks Aisya her wish; Aisya wishes for a "future", and the Fire Dragon resurrects those turned to ashes, including Bullnequ.
Development
Mistwalker founder Hironobu Sakaguchi was fond of the tactical role-playing genre and had wanted to develop one himself. While he had created design concepts for them, such as Final Fantasy Tactics while working at Square, he had never been directly involved. He used ASH to express genre ideas he had been storing for twenty years by that point. The game was in its concept stages during early 2005, with production lasting approximately two years. It was one of three projects being created by Sakaguchi and Mistwalker at the time alongside Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. The game was co-developed with Racjin, who would later work with Square Enix on remakes of early SaGa titles. Sakaguchi acted as the game's executive producer, writer and designer. Mistwalker vice president Kensuke Tanaka acted as the producer. It was co-directed by Yoshimori Aisaka and Shigeru Maekawa.
Sakaguchi was attracted to the DS, as it felt like a PDA-style device he used to play games during flights between Hawaii and Japan, and he was fascinated by the idea of creating a world conveyed using two screens. This wish led to battle information and action being equally divided between the top and bottom screens rather than one being subordinate to the other. He created an early prototype build which proved to be more successful than he expected. For the gameplay, he wanted to pay homage to early influences on his liking for the genre, including Fire Emblem and Famicom Wars alongside Tactics, but make the gameplay stand out. The gameplay design drew inspiration from the Daisenryaku series. Sakaguchi's wish was to create a hybrid system between tactical RPGs and traditional RPGs. Game balance was an important factor for him, as he wanted the title to be approachable for genre newcomers, leading to some unspecified design changes and a careful incorporation of tutorials to explain its battle system.