Chronos tells the tale of a young hero, out to save the world. In this deliberate and challenging Souls-like game, the player might have all the time in the world, but each death changes things up. In a twist, every time the character dies, they age up a year. Now, the character might not change too much at first, but they will slowly but surely change and it makes every step more deliberate.
The hero starts with either an axe or a sword. Each weapon offers up a vaguely different playstyle. But the main idea is the same, to take down the foes without dying and the game continues to shift with each death, making death pretty important. Like other Souls-likes before it, death might be inevitable, but learning to survive is half the battle.
Every moment in Chronos can be a victory, as battles are slow by design, and enemies aren’t playing around. The early enemies are easy to defeat, but it soon adds enemies who can attack from a distance and power themselves up. The enemies in this game might seem underwhelming but never give them an inch, or they will cut the hero down where they stand in a moment.
Health is a rare commodity in this game and the only way to gain more health is to either level up or use a Dragon Heart. The Hero acquires the first one early on, and it will give them a full heal, but they can only use that once before they have to struggle. Sometimes it’s worth it to take a single hit if the hero can quickly take the foe out. Knowing when to heal and when to run will make the player survive a little longer in successive runs.
When the character inevitably dies, they age a whole year and every ten years the character gains a new trait. It’s up to the player to decide what trait works best with their play style as the traits adjust the character by giving them new bonuses. The first choice, for instance, offers up more experience or health, and this choice could change the next ten years of the character’s life.
Even though it’s a souls-like game there are three difficulty levels. Casual is best for beginners to the genre and game; alike. Chronos is a challenging one no matter what the difficulty, so it’s good to plan accordingly. Choosing an easier difficulty might incentivize someone to play the game again on a higher difficulty.
While Adventure mode is considered normal mode, the game itself will not hold the player’s hand and it is worth choosing if the player knows the genre, but it does offer a greater challenge than casual. I am not as deeply entrenched in Souls-like game and found that casual mode better fit me, and my time. Adventure mode has the enemies hit harder than they normally do, and with the load times, might persuade players to drop the game.
The world of the game is quite explorable and there seems to be a mystery to it, that I’ve not felt in a while. Though I doubt I’ll explore all of it, it begs to be explored. The starting location is a rainy lab of sorts, that has no people, but shows signs of life. The hero soon stumbles upon a crystal that teleports them to adventure, and things continue to get more interesting as time goes on.
A Major issue is that the game loads brutally slow on the Switch. Every time the player dies it takes ages for the game to load the next life. It’s not like the game is that technically impressive, it’s a dark and gritty game, with little life abound, but it simply takes forever to load, and that comes at a detriment. It’s a great game, and one worth spending time on, but waiting so long between deaths, can make one feel like they’ve lost their touch.
Chronos Before the Ashes is a solid Souls-like and with its interesting puzzles and cool aging mechanic it could be great. While it might load slowly, it’s a game that could draw anyone in, and might be a good first Souls-like game even if doesn’t come from the same pedigree as say Dark Souls or Elden Ring. It might be a little simple, but that’s where it shines. The Hero needs to brave this dark world, will the player help them succeed?
Disclaimer: A review key was provided