Ashes will put you in control of a party of four characters you'll create from scratch. Each character will also has his unique behaviour, and will consequently play a unique role in the story. Aiming to solve a non-linear plot which will involve the exploration of the whole world... and beyond, you'll guide your party and other eventual NPCs. Although the world is rendered and experienced in realtime, combat is turn-based - allowing strategy to play an important part (in the early rpgs, thanks to turn-based combat, you was often able to plan complex strategies that often won enemies far stronger than the sum of the party members). Magic is both simple and complex at the same time: there are various - very specialized - "schools" of magic, each one providing a few spells you can combine. Also, a special "advanced" school of magic called "runic magic" is present, but we won't unveil details about it now.​