Ash of Gods: Redemption

It's surprising that the developers decided to polish the gameplay. It's confusing that they decided to do this seven years after its release. It's nice anyway

Really liked this one. Especially the story. I think I rather prefer it to Banner Saga. I completed the game on another platform, but felt like getting a Steam copy for collection too.

This game is a serious mixed bag. Perhaps the best way to approach this is to compare it to its predecessor, The Banner Saga. Then I'll go into Pros and Cons.
Gameplay
Overall, the gameplay is better than Banner Saga. Combat is better. The addition of magic cards adds some flexibility to gameplay. There is also a greater variety of characters to use. Banner Saga discouraged the player from taking out one enemy at a time because the remaining enemies would get more turns, and this game has corrected that. The game hops between three groups, but... I'll get to that later.
Characters
Generally, the characters are deeper and more thought-out than the ones in Banner Saga, though most of them don't matter in the slightest. The game also gives some time to talk to each of the characters and get to know more about them, which fills in a couple details about the world. There are also more characters.
Plot
Compared to Banner Saga, the plot is... larger. I'll get into more details further on, but the simple version here is that the story of Banner Saga was less complicated but ultimately made sense from a certain point of view. That is not true of this game.
Music
The music is on par with Banner Saga's, and there's more of it, I think.
Now I'll get into the Pros and Cons. This is all from one complete playthrough.
Pros
Gameplay - Gameplay is overall solid. The hopping between groups of characters is a bit off-putting, and is, in my opinion, a squandered idea.
Characters - The characters are generally good, interesting and likeable. Most of them have more depth than alot of games' characters. Unfortunately, many of them are completely irrelevant, and you don't find out what happens to them after the story.
Music - The same kind of music from Banner Saga. It fits the game well, even if none of it is particularly memorable.
Cons
The Map - The map is technically an upgrade to Banner Saga, but it fails overall. The map doesn't show political boundaries, so everything that is talked about between characters is not able to be found on the map. The game offers different paths to choose, but in almost every case the only difference is whether you want a fight or to get to where you're going faster. Lastly, the map has many details that are utterly meaningless, which creates the facade of depth. Overall, I like the idea, but it's poorly executed.
The Plot - Without spoiling too much, the plot is convoluted and nothing is truly explained, even by the people who know everything. The game introduces no fewer than eight ethnic/cultural groups, but tells you almost nothing about each of them, and the map doesn't help. There are parts of the world's history that is important to the plot but are never really explained. It's not even clear why the things in the plot happen. All you get is guesses and supposition, which sometimes contradict each other. While the game could have explored three different perspectives and areas to build the world, they don't. All three groups are basically the same, plot-wise, just with different characters. There are certain elements that depend on how soon you got to a place. but you have no idea of this. While that's realistic, it feels oppressive because you don't have much control over how fast you travel. Overall, I believe that the writers had grand ideas and a well thought-out plot, but it wasn't properly executed in the game. This makes it difficult to care about the characters.
Bugs
There are a few cases where things happen but there is no explanation and no one seems to notice. There are various typos.
So overall, a fairly enjoyable game, but it has serious shortcomings that prevent it from being a true work of art.

The strategic depth of the game is not too deep. After you get the hang of the fight, you will identify a few patterns.
Unlike most RPG's, there are 3 independent POV characters and you switch between them, The plot is pretty good. If you like a good story with decent world building, you should try this.
Also, choices do matter. Be kind to your characters or they hurt themselves in unexpected ways.

7/10 - Good, exciting story and cool turn-based combat. Personally, there’s a bit too much reading for my taste, and the German translation could definitely be better in some parts.

The lore and story kept me hooked from the beginning to the end. Even though I only finished a single run and didn't get the "you saved the world!" finale, I'm satisfied with the ending to the point where I'll call it a wrap.

In terms of tactical game play the system is interesting enough, but at a certain point I'd probably have benefited from increasing the difficulty (which is possible). I didn't because my focus quickly shifted from the tactical battles (what drew me to the game) to the lore and story as mentioned.

I have never played a game quite like this. For one thing, it's short. (As of the writing of this review, I have completed the game twice.) It has to be because there are so many options. Any time you see an inkwell on the conversation screen, you are about to determine important things about the following parts of the game. For example, a single choice in Lo Pheng's story line almost completely changes the quest chains he has access to.
There are two things about this game that I do not like. The first is that all characters are represented by static, unchanging avatars: even in the presence of the king, Thorn bears his weapons openly; Hopper always has his book open flat in front of him; Lo Pheng always seems to stand at attention.
The second deals with combat movement and attacks, including missiles. Except for certain attacks, attacks are all orthogonal. Even archers must move to get a straight line to their targets.
There is no diagonal movement at all, even under the "improved" combat system. A Cartesian grid has its limitations and the game mechanics make no effort to overcome them.
Over all, though, this game has a compelling story to tell. I won't go into it—it is rather complex—but I will say that the way it is told is also rare. You play three separate characters on three separate story lines until the very end of the game. At some point, you choose a character for the finale.
If you are a fan of story driven games where your decisions matter, I heartily recommend Ash of Gods.