Review Fix Exclusive: Philip Machado Talks Ashes

Review Fix chats with “Ashes” developer Philip Machado, who discusses the development process and more.

Review Fix: How was this game born?

Philip Machado: After I made my first game “Talewind” I wanted to dip my feet into something more AAA’ish and less colorful, I brain stormed a bit and came up with ashes.

Review Fix: What is your role in the game?


Machado: I am the game director and programmer of Ashes.

Review Fix: What has development been like?

Machado: The development of Ashes was fun because it was something I had never done although it had some growing pains because of that, I had to hire way more people because I wasn’t working with a partner like the first game, it was delayed by 5 months because it was my first time managing so many people but it was also fun working with stuff like voice acting and directing people how to make assets and seeing the final product. Some things didn’t come out like I wanted by the end, like the trailer for example because I ran out of money, but overall it was a good experience.

Review Fix: What makes this game special?

Machado: I think what probably makes Ashes standout from the rest is the story and how it explores the mental state of the main character, the voice acting really helps with that, the game itself is more like a tool to unwind the the hero’s emotions, although I also think the combat and puzzles are really fun.

Review Fix: What games influenced this one the most?

Machado: It has a broad influence from walking simulators with a bit of Skyrim in it.

Review Fix: Any fun stories or wild moments during development?

Machado: I once deleted the whole game by mistake hahaha, luckily I had a fairly recent backup and it only took me 1 day of work to get back to where I was.

Review Fix: What were the major lessons learned?

Machado: Taking time to find good people to work with is very important, marketing should always be a priority and making the level load in chunks is a very boring task.

Review Fix: Do you think preserving older gameplay mechanics in new games is important?

Machado: I think this heavily depends on the game and if it is a sequel, honestly it is something that I have not given much thought to.

Review Fix: What’s your favorite memory as a gamer?

Machado: Playing the mega drive with my cousin when I was a kid, the first time I played legend of mana, my first sieges with my old clan in darkfall, getting to the top of the competitive s4 league community in my country, there’s quite a few, i’ve been playing games since I was like 4 or 5 I think, my first game was Prince of Persia for the DOS.

Review Fix: How have your previous experiences in the industry helped this game?

Machado: Well, first I knew what to expect from a development cycle, in my previous game I was living with the artist and we had some differences which where hard but helped me mature a bit, I think that also helped when dealing with people, besides that I really knew not to over scope and what to expect realistically, the games industry is rough and you really need to have your feet planted on the ground.

Review Fix: How do you want this game to ultimately be remembered?

Machado: Ideally, I want the game to be remembered as an experience that gave people strength.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Machado: I am currently working on a competitive multiplayer online shooter, which was my end goal since I started making games, if I can complete it only time will tell, I think I have over scoped a bit with this one because it is something that I really wanted to make haha.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Machado: Thank you for taking the time for this interview and I hope people enjoy ashes, if any player wants to chat send a message through the Facebook page or leave a comment on the steam forums, I am always available and I try to answer everything.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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