Look, I'm not mad that Ash of Gods looks like a Banner Saga spin-off. I'm surprised that more developers haven't copied the look and feel of Stoic's Viking Oregon Trail tragedy in the first place. I'm guessing it's not easy, since The Banner Saga should win art awards until the day it dies. Not to mention the writing, though busy at times, builds up a larger cast of characters than I was perhaps expecting at first.
Ash of Gods looks good, too, though. The overhead map is beautifully Tolkien-esque. The visual novel scenes have cleanly detailed characters, and might even have a trick or two to clearly indicate who's talking (a rare problem that, nevertheless, does crop up in The Banner Saga). The backdrops are big and jagged and hostile. And the tactical combat looks like its got some big moves to throw out. Looks a little low on magic, but that doesn't bother me. I'm more into swords when it comes to swords and sorcery anyway. Also, no voice acting that I can detect, and the writing looks a tad expositional at times.
Ash of Gods is out March 2018, rushing ahead of Banner Saga 3's Summer 2018 release. While Ash of Gods doesn't look like it has many original ideas to run with—even the soundtrack seems lifted from The Witcher 3—and it's possible the artists are trying to get away with the "change 20% so that you can avoid infringement rule" when it comes to looking like Banner Saga, Ash of Gods is still going on my watch list. Could turn out interestingly.
