Thematically, there’s a lot that Chronos has in common with its big brother Remnant: From the Ashes. The cryptic story-telling and dark fantasy elements that made that game stand out just enough to be its own thing are here in about the same capacity, except without guns this time. If you enjoyed the gameplay, the level designs, and the enemies from Remnant, then you’ll be right at home here. In fact, most of those things are ripped right out of the original game and plopped into this one. That’s something it could get away with as a small VR game, but in this form, it might feel a little… stingy to some.

Chronos is competing in a much bigger pond now than it was on VR, and its lack of variety in certain areas is illuminated by that. But fear not, the story here is essentially a new one. While it’s a bit thin and mostly just revolves around solving the riddles of the labyrinth in a quest to slay an ancient dragon, it gets the job done and serves as a reasonable foundation, upon which, a game like this can work just fine. At first you aren’t given a lot of options for your character. A man or a woman and a sword or an axe, as well as a general difficulty setting. Thankfully, things do open up once you get your arms around the combat and exploration. Different weapons that favor speed or power can be found, with a few more interesting options that you don’t see every day like the spear, which doesn’t do well with crowd control, but can deliver a devastating series of piercing stabs to a single target from a good distance.

"While its DNA of being a smaller VR title does ultimately inhibit Chronos from feeling like the true all-encompassing companion Remnant really deserves, it does more than enough with Remnant’s ideas – and a few of its own – to stand on its own as a fun, well-paced Souls-like adventure that makes a solid effort at earning your attention."

Giving parrying and general blocking with your shield their own respective buttons is also a nice touch, as it makes defending yourself slightly more engaging than games where both are mapped to the same one. If you go for a perfect parry but miss, you’ll take a hit instead of just defaulting to a regular block, whereas if you always play it safe with regular blocking, you’ll never get the reward of temporarily imbuing your weapon and stunning your enemy that a perfect parry can bestow. Perfect dodges also imbue your weapon, so learning enemy attack patterns as quickly as possible is highly advisable, as baiting them into a big swing that you know how to dodge can quickly give you the upper hand.

Combat is seasoned a bit further with magic stones that build up energy with successful hits and can reward you with temporary buffs like invincibility or increased damage once they’re full. The gameplay of this type of game wouldn’t be complete without some RPG elements though, and while these are also a bit thin, you do level up as you fight and earn points you can spend on upgrading the stats of your choice. However, one of Chronos’ more unique elements, where your character ages by a year every time you die, will also affect your stats as strength and agility become less malleable over time in favor of wisdom and arcane skill. The RPG side of Chronos isn’t as deep or rewarding as many of the games it’s clearly inspired by, but there is enough here to keep you forging ahead towards your next big boss battle and the next opportunity to further refine your skills.

The RPG mechanics, while simple, are woven into the combat well enough to feel organic and necessary. Chronos also mixes in some cute ideas like being shrunk down to the size of a toy to reach a key in a locked cabinet and replacing a painting’s missing section to reveal that it’s really a portal to the world it portrays. That said, with Chronos originally being a game that was aiming a little lower than its predecessor, you will quickly notice that the enemy types for each of its main areas are largely reused from Remnant and aren’t what I would call diverse. As a result, they can blend together a lot of the time. This leads to some stretches of multiple battles starting to drag sooner than they otherwise would because you’re only fighting variations of any given stage’s 3 or 4 enemies most of the time.

"The RPG mechanics, while simple, are woven into the combat well enough to feel organic and necessary."

Some of said fights that take place in smaller rooms can even lead to the occasional camera issue as well. But the saving grace of all of that is that the enemies are well-designed, fun to fight, and some solid boss battles help mix things up before it gets too stale. Chronos’ serviceable sense of progression also helped keep combat interesting enough to keep my interest most of the time. A nice bonus is the well-constructed levels that don’t waste your time, as they often spit you back out to an area you know you need to go back to when it’s necessary. I very much favor this type of level design over being made to backtrack every time I acquire an item I needed in a previous area. Chronos does both, but fortunately it’s usually the former.

Speaking of its levels, most of Chronos’ familiar areas are also irrefutably beautiful. Don’t let the somewhat drab industrial rooms of the opening section and the relentlessly brown caves of Krell give you the wrong idea. Chronos does have some wonderfully vibrant locations in store for you that are just as interesting to explore and solve its puzzles in as they are satisfying to slay its regenerating monsters in. The canopies and stone temples of Pan Village are a particularly sweet serving of eye candy that I couldn’t get enough of, personally.

While, generally, the graphics for Chronos’ locales are anywhere from mediocre to great depending on where you are, the character detail is more consistent with its art style. It won’t blow you away, and it definitely looks like a VR game from a few years ago, but it works for what it is and doesn’t bite off more than it can chew. I would have liked to have seen either more effort put into the assets and lighting to at least bring them on par with Remnant for this version, or at least a higher frame rate for the visuals that it does have, but again, for a wallet-friendly port of a VR game, characters and assets look okay and the frame rate, while an underwhelming 30ish per-second, is reliable and steady.

"While, generally, the graphics for Chronos’ locales are anywhere from mediocre to great depending on where you are, the character detail is more consistent with its art style. It won’t blow you away, and it definitely looks like a VR game from a few years ago, but it works for what it is and doesn’t bite off more than it can chew."

If you’ve ever heard a soundtrack for any sort of fantasy role playing game, then you’ve heard most of the ideas in the music of Chronos. While my memory isn’t good enough to spot any specific themes or melodies being reused from Remnant, the general tone of the soundtrack is very familiar all the same. Soaring, uplifting chord patterns with lots of emphasis on strings ring out when new areas and secrets are uncovered. This contrasts in a predictable way with thumping percussion and low, resonant brass during boss encounters. It’s a simple soundtrack that, at times, can cross the border into cliche’ city, but it still stays effective enough to convey the moods it aims to.

Chronos: Before the Ashes does a commendable job with what it is, and Gunfire Games has a lot to be proud of here. It’s a shame that so much of it is either reused from Remnant or held back by its VR roots, but THQ Nordic was clearly correct in thinking that it deserved a reworked, non-VR release. Despite its relative shallowness to other games in the genre, it manages to stay an alluring adventure most of the time with adequate challenge, satisfying combat, and reasonable production values that more-or-less match its price tag. It stops short of imitating the sturdy challenge and compelling depth of other Souls-likes, but in exchange, it becomes more of its own, slightly more welcoming flavor of the sub-genre with a solid foundation and a few surprises thrown in.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

Remnant: From the Ashes has been a massive success for Gunfire Games and THQ Nordic, and it’s still going strong- but it wasn’t the first Souls-like game Gunfire Games made. In 2016, they launched the action RPG Chronos exclusively for VR, and now, they’ve retooled the game and brought it over to non-VR platforms as Chronos: Before the Ashes.

The dark fantasy action RPG, set in the same universe as Remnant: From the Ashes, serves as a prequel to the 2019 shooter RPG. Though relatively more of a “light RPG” when compared to Remnant, the game offers a similar Souls-like structure and leans on challenging, deliberate combat like Remnant. Check out its launch trailer below to get a better idea of what to expect.

Chronos: Before the Ashes is out now on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Get more information on the game in our interview with the developers through here.

Cyberpunk 2077

After numerous delays, Night City Wire episodes and seemingly insurmountable hype, Cyberpunk 2077 is definitely, assuredly, 99.9 percent for sure releasing this month. We hope. There’s a lot to look forward to, whether it’s choosing one of three Life Paths and pursuing the story or simply cruising around Night City, completing Scanner Hustles and interacting with the citizenry. There’s an extensive arsenal of weaponry, cyberware and daemons to experiment with, not to mention an entire world of Braindance to get lost in, all while conversing with Johnny Silverhand played by Keanu Reeves. Cyberpunk 2077 releases for Xbox One, PS4, PC and Google Stadia on December 10^th. Hopefully.

Call of the Sea

Out of the Blue’s first person adventure title arrives next month, following the tale of Nora as she travels to a strange island in the South Pacific to locate her missing husband. Inspired by the works of Lovecraft, Call of the Sea focuses more on a dreamy and ethereal atmosphere as opposed to horror. Players explore locations, solve puzzles and take in the sights while piecing together the truth. Releasing on December 8^th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC, Call of the Sea will also be available on Xbox Game Pass at launch.

Chronos: Before The Ashes

Before one was traveling to different dimensions and dodge-rolling with firearms, there was the labyrinth. Set before Remnant: From the Ashes, Chronos: Before the Ashes sees players venturing into said labyrinth and defeating the evils within. The twist is that dying results in expulsion, which means returning a year later. Thus do players begin their journey as a spry, Souls-like adventurer before having to rely on their wits and magic to survive as they mature over the years. Chronos: Before the Ashes is out on December 1^st for Xbox One, PS4, PC, Google Stadia and Nintendo Switch.

Empire of Sin

Travel back in time to the Prohibition era, where syndicates and mob bosses battled it out for reign over Chicago. As a strategy title, Empire of Sin is all about recruiting gang members and expanding an empire, dipping into all kinds of illegal activities while evading the law. Other gangs will want a piece of you though, and when negotiations and deception fail, a turn-based strategy combat system lets you deal threats. With numerous perks and traits for characters, resource management and gang warfare, Empire of Sin looks to be a nice change of pace for publisher Paradox Interactive. It’s out on December 1^st for Xbox One, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Twin Mirror

Developed by a separate team at the Life is Strange studio, Twin Mirror is ultimately a tale of mystery and duality. It sees Sam, an investigative journalist, returning to his hometown in Basswood, West Virginia. Things aren’t what they seem though, and the player will interact with various towns-folk, deciding who to trust, while dealing with The Double, Sam’s “inner voice.” That also means investigating different events and piecing together clues with the unique “Mind Palace” while questioning the truth. Twin Mirror is out on December 1^st for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond

In the midst of new IPs, Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is a familiar sight for long-time fans. Developed by Respawn Entertainment, it’s a VR title for Oculus Rift and Steam VR that sees players venturing through Europe at the height of World War 2. Afterwards, it may be worth watching interviews with veterans who experienced the conflict and learning more. Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond could be a dark horse when it launches on December 11^th.

Immortals Fenyx Rising

In the midst of more “serious” offerings like Watch Dogs: Legion and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Immortals Fenyx Rising is much less heavy material for Ubisoft. It sees a Greek soldier named Fenyx washing ashore off the Golden Isle and battling the titan Typhon to rescue the Pantheon. While exploring the lush, colorful world and battling mythical foes, players will also deal with Prometheus and Zeus as narrators, each offering their own take on events and humorously clashing. Immortals Fenyx Rising is out on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Google Stadia, PC and Switch on December 3^rd.

Haven

A co-op RPG about two lovers exploring a strange world isn’t quite what you’d expect from the team behind the twitch-based Furi. Nevertheless, The Game Bakers’ Haven has looked appealing since day one, focusing on the struggles of Yu and Kay as they scavenge for parts, battle the local wildlife and cook meals. Will their quest for freedom and love ultimately win out? We’ll find out when Haven launches December 3^rd for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC and Switch.

MXGP 2020

With many of the big-name racers out of the way this year, MXGP 2020 looks to round things out in its usual fashion. Sporting bikes and riders from more than 110 brands, while offering a track editor and dedicated servers for online play, the title is certainly looking to improve on past experiences. If previous games are any indication, it could end up being another solid racing title. Releasing on December 16^th, MXGP 2020 is coming to previous and current gen consoles along with PC.

Override 2: Super Mech League

Big mech battles are back with Override 2: Super Mech League. It features 20 robots with all kinds of over-the-top abilities and customization for players to mess around with. A new Career Mode allows for earning influence for one’s Club and taking on all challenges. Local and online multiplayer for up to four players also returns with modes like Free for All, Xenoswarm, King of the Hill and more. Battle it out on December 22^nd when Override 2 launches on Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.

"We very intentionally followed the story and lore we set up in Chronos as we developed Remnant. This meant in Remnant, we expanded on the ideas and fleshed out elements from the world of Chronos."

Chronos: Before the Ashes is itself an overhauled version of 2016’s Chronos, so how much have you had to go back and change and add things to the story, given the fact that Before the Ashes is a prequel to Remnant?

John Pearl, Design Director: The story of Remnant: From the Ashes picks up just a month after the end of Chronos. We very intentionally followed the story and lore we set up in Chronos as we developed Remnant. This meant in Remnant, we expanded on the ideas and fleshed out elements from the world of Chronos. Sticking closely to this established lore meant we didn’t have to change much post Remnant except for a few dates on some journal logs and give things official names. An example of this would be the World Stones. We never specifically called them anything in Chronos, but we officially named them in Remnant, so we went back to make sure they were named properly.

Did having to remove VR from the experience result in any significant changes made to the game’s core design or mechanics?

Pearl: The biggest visible change from the VR version to this version is the change in the camera system. Chronos for VR was a launch title for the Oculus Rift and we were given the task by Oculus to create a VR experience that everyone could play without the worry of “VR sickness”.

Our solution ended up being stationary cameras that transitioned as you traveled around the world. For those not familiar with the VR version of Chronos, this is similar to the older Resident Evil games’ camera system. While the camera was static in those games, we treated the player’s head as the camera, allowing them to freely look around, but not move around. This ended up being a great solution and provided people with a very comfortable overall experience.

With Chronos: Before the Ashes, we went for a more traditional action game camera, behind the back of the player character. This was a pretty easy transition and feels right at home in the game.

Additionally, we gave the UI a major overhaul. The biggest change was we had to add a HUD to the game as persistent UI elements in VR are very distracting, so the VR version didn’t have a HUD.

Chronos: Before the Ashes’ combat has been described as “unforgiving and brutal”. The same could probably also be said for Remnant: From the Ashes, which also adopted a Souls-like structure in many ways. How much does Chronos have in common with Remnant in those regards?

Pearl: With Chronos, much like Remnant, the game was heavily inspired by Dark Souls and Bloodborne. One of the big differentiators between Chronos and Remnant, is Chronos is entirely focused on melee combat. Similar to Remnant and Dark Souls, you’re never taking on hordes of enemies, unless of course something went terribly wrong. Each encounter is meant to pose a challenge to the player as one wrong move can leave you open for an attack, and like Remnant, your healing options are limited.

The combat, however, is never meant to feel like a slog. Much like Remnant, we designed the combat to be challenging but we give you a lot of tools that once you master them, you can always remain in control of a combat encounter. In fact, fans of the combat of Darksiders 3 will find a lot of similarities with the combat in Chronos. The moment to moment combat is built around perfectly timed dodges and parries followed up by powerful arcane counters. The combat isn’t supposed to be as flashy as Darksiders since you’re just a human from a remote island and not a Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Unlike Dark Souls games, we do offer difficulty settings. We really love the world and lore of our games and want as many people as possible to experience all of the story and cool moments we packed into the game. We offer an easier difficulty which is balanced to allow a player to get through the game’s story without punishing them. On the other end of that, we offer a hard difficulty that should feel closer to that “brutal” difficulty Souls fans look for in a game.

"Unlike Dark Souls games, we do offer difficulty settings. We really love the world and lore of our games and want as many people as possible to experience all of the story and cool moments we packed into the game."

Chronos: Before the Ashes’ ageing mechanic is perhaps one of its most unique and interesting elements. Can you talk about how much this affects gameplay and progression and time progresses, and how radically it can impact things such as abilities and skills?

Pearl: The aging mechanic plays a big part in Chronos as it affects how you upgrade stats and unlock skills. Every time you level up, you get a handful of attribute points to spend. Depending on your age, different attributes will cost more or less. The available attributes are Strength, Agility, Arcane and Vitality. So for example, starting out at age 18, strength and agility cost only a single attribute point while Arcane costs 3 points. Arcane is meant to represent the wisdom that comes with age, so early on in “life” it’s a harder attribute to obtain, thus the higher cost. As the player character dies and ages upon respawn, you’ll slowly see the costs associated with those attributes change. Strength becomes more expensive, but Arcane grows cheaper with age. Each of the attributes have a different cost depending on your given age.

In addition to this, at certain age milestones we offer up 3 skills for the player to choose from. These are quite varied and really offer different ways to build out your character. A couple examples are a skill that will give you a big boost to Arcane at a young age, and another is a skill that will give you a boost to strength at an old age. These are meant to be your chance to build out a stat that could be cost prohibitive at your current age. There are a lot of skills available and it’s not possible to unlock all of them in a single playthrough as once you choose one of the three, the other two options are no longer available.

In your view, is the ageing mechanic something that adds to Chronos: Before the Ashes’ replayability?

Pearl: The aging mechanic definitely adds to replayability in Chronos. As I mentioned, every couple of “years”, you must choose one of three age awarded skills but in doing so, you miss out on the other 2. Plus, if you want an Arcane build it’s better to let your character age to make it cheaper to upgrade Arcane. These decisions really do affect how you build out your character and where you put your focus. In addition to this, the different weapons in the game have different affinities to Strength or Agility. This means there are weapons that are preferable with agility builds and weapons that are strength focused. All of this means it’s impossible to upgrade every weapon and get all of the skills in a single playthrough.

How much variety can players expect from the game in terms of things such as enemies and weapons?

Pearl: There’s a good amount of combat variety in Chronos. There are six core weapon types to find throughout the game and each one has an affinity associated with it that leans towards Strength or Agility. This affinity determines how much of a bonus the weapon will receive from a given attribute. In addition to this there are 4 elemental stones that you can find and equip that will determine what kind of Arcane damage counter attacks and charged attacks do. These stones also determine what special ability is unleashed when the arcane meter is filled. For example, the Fire Stone envelopes your sword with fire and speeds up all your attacks for a short period of time. This plays an important role in the strategy of combat as well because different enemies have unique resistances to the different elements. So the observant player can poke around and figure out what elemental damage is best for fighting which foes and use that to their advantage in combat.

In addition to the weapons there are different Shields you can find. The starting shield is a good all-around shield, as it allows you to block and take a few blows before your block is broken. It also has an average parry speed for deflecting enemy attacks. There are two other shields that are more focused on different play styles. The buckler shield type offers little protection in terms of blocking but is extremely fast, allow skilled players to quickly parry enemy attacks with ease. On the opposite end is the wall shield which is slow to parry with but is great for blocking multiple attacks before leaving the player staggered.

Roughly how long is an average playthrough of Chronos: Before the Ashes?

Pearl: The length of a playthrough of Chronos can vary depending on the player’s skill level and how much time they spend exploring the world. Someone mainlining the story might finish around 12 hours, while someone interested in exploring all the lore and tracking down all the weapons will likely take 15 hours to complete the game.

"Chronos was originally intended to be a complete experience and has a rather “definitive” end to the Hero’s story arc. We have not made any updates or planned to do anything to change this."

Remnant: From the Ashes has, of course, enjoyed solid post-launch support. Do you have similar plans for Chronos: Before the Ashes, or is this supposed to be a more isolated experience?

Pearl: Chronos was originally intended to be a complete experience and has a rather “definitive” end to the Hero’s story arc. We have not made any updates or planned to do anything to change this. Remnant: From the Ashes picks up only a month after the events of Chronos, so we’d suggest people play that for more content in this universe, or if they’ve already played it, play it again!

Do you have any plans for dedicated releases for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S?

Reinhard Pollice, Executive Producer: Chronos will fully work on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S through the backward compatibility feature.

What frame rates and resolutions are you targeting on PS4 and Xbox One and their enhanced variants?

Pollice: We have a stable 30 FPS.

Similarly, what performance and resolution does the game target on the Switch in its docked and undocked modes?

Pollice: We render in 720p on handheld and 1600×900 in docked mode.

The PS5 features an incredibly fast SSD with 5.5GB/s raw bandwidth, which is faster than anything that is available out there. How can developers take advantage of this? How does this compare to Series X’s 2.4GB/s raw bandwidth SSD?

Pollice: This is the true advancement of this generation. Loading times can take so long and be troublesome to optimize for better loading times. I am convinced this is a great push.

The Xbox Series S features lesser hardware compared to Xbox Series and Microsoft is pushing it as a 1440p/60fps console. Do you think it will be hold up for the graphically intensive next-gen games?

Pollice: I understand the reasoning behind it. From a development perspective it’s always better to just focus on one spec. I am not sure if the market will adopt this model of having two next gen consoles.

Ahead of its release next week, THQ Nordic and Gunfire Games have released a new trailer for Chronos: Before the Ashes. As the prequel to Remnant: From the Ashes, the story focuses on a nameless hero that ventures into the labyrinth to slay the evil residing there. Check out a broader overview of the game below.

If the name sounds familiar, it’s because Chronos: Before the Ashes is a non-VR version of 2016’s Chronos. The premise is the same though – you explore the labyrinth, fighting off all kinds of hostile creatures and solving puzzles. Upon death, the player is ejected and must return to the labyrinth one year later to try again.

The key here is that the protagonist ages with each year, becoming slower in the process but gaining access to more powerful magic. Chronos: Before the Ashes is out on December 1st for Xbox One, PS4, PC, Google Stadia and Nintendo Switch. Stay tuned for more details in the coming week.

Microsoft’s dual-console model for the new generation with the flagship Xbox Series X and the cheaper yet less powerful Xbox Series S has been at the center of much debate. While there are many who have praised the specs that the console is offering for the reasonable price it’s being sold at, others have wondered whether the approach Microsoft are taking is going to be viable in the long term.

Someone else who’s skeptical of its viability is Reinhard Pollice of THQ Nordic, who’s the executive producer on Gunfire Games’ upcoming RPG, Chronos: Before the Ashes. We recently had the chance to send across some questions about the game and the industry as a whole to its developer, and when asked about his thoughts on the Xbox Series S, Pollice said that though he understands Microsoft’s reasoning for the console’s design, he’s not sure if the industry will adopt the model of having two different consoles of different specs.

“I understand the reasoning behind it,” he said. “From a development perspective it’s always better to just focus on one spec. I am not sure if the market will adopt this model of having two next gen consoles.”

Something else that Pollice is far more impressed with is the PS5’s solid state drive, which currently is faster than anything else in the market. According to Pollice, the PS5’s SSD is “the true advancement” of the new console generation.

“This is the true advancement of this generation,” he said. “Loading times can take so long and be troublesome to optimize for better loading times. I am convinced this is a great push.”

Chronos: Before the Ashes will release for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Stadia on December 1. Our full interview with its developers will go live soon, so stay tuned for that.

But what’s especially interesting is its predecessor, Chronos, which is being re-released as Chronos: Before the Ashes for Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PS4, PC and Google Stadia on December 1st. Though updates to the gameplay can be expected, what should you know before checking it out? Let’s go over 10 major things here.

Non-VR Version of Chronos

As noted before, Chronos: Before the Ashes isn’t necessarily a new game. It’s actually a revamped version of Chronos, a VR title which launched in 2016 exclusively for the Oculus VR headset. For its time, Chronos actually received some good reviews for its Dark Souls-style gameplay (and even some VR Game of the Year awards). But this overhaul removes VR entirely, turning into a more traditional action RPG experience for current-gen platforms.

Prequel to Remnant: From the Ashes

Chronos is “technically” a prequel to Remnant: From the Ashes. The story sees the player entering a mysterious labyrinth to defeat the evil within and save their homeland. It actually takes place one month before Remnant: From the Ashes‘ story kicks off so it should be interesting to see how everything ties together (though the greater lore about the Root and their influence is covered in the sequel).

Familiar Characters, Events and Locations

Various events, locations and characters that are discussed in Remnant: Before the Ashes will make an appearance here. While we won’t outline each and every one of them here for the sake of spoilers – despite the VR version being available for this long – a familiar Ward and World Stones will make an appearance among other things. The opening might also cause a sense of deja vu for Remnant players but long story short, if you’re interested in exploring the world before the Root took over, then Chronos: Before the Ashes should be fun.

Zelda/Dark Souls-like Gameplay

As noted by many, Chronos is a mix of The Legend of Zelda and/or Dark Souls. You’re effectively traversing a variety of environments, armed with a sword and shield, and taking on tough enemies, maneuvering around their attacks and searching for the right time to strike. Even the attire of the player character – who can be male or female – bears a striking resemblance to Link’s tunic. While venturing through the mysterious labyrinth, different weapons (like a mace and kama), shields, powers and abilities become available, helping to diversify one’s options in combat.

Aging

The major gameplay hook here is that dying isn’t the end. Instead, it will cause the player to be expelled from the labyrinth and return one year later. In that time, they’ll grow physically older. Perks start to unlock every 10 years after the age of 20, and one’s speed and strength is affected by their age. As you grow older, suddenly you’re not that nimble when avoiding enemy attacks. The trade-off is that you’ll become more proficient with magic and (hopefully) use all those failed runs – er, knowledge of the labyrinth to progress forward.

Attributes

While it’s possible to pick different perks every 10 years after age 20, the player can also defeat enemies and gain experience to level up and acquire attribute points, which can be used to improve attributes like Strength, Vitality, Agility and Arcane. Interestingly enough, costs for physical attributes will start to increase as one gets older, requiring double the points. But the Arcane attribute, which costs a whopping three attribute points when younger, becomes cheaper as the years begin to pile up. This further ties into the magical proficiency gained as the player becomes wiser.

Melee-Combat Focused

One other key difference between Chronos and Remnant is that the former doesn’t have any guns. It’s all about melee combat (with magic coming into play with age). There’s a greater emphasis on dodging and parrying attacks before retaliating with a counter. Some rather interesting mechanics – like an enemy’s fire spell igniting your weapon, which can then be used to inflict additional damage – also come into play. And while familiar Root foes may be spotted, you can expect a variety of enemies unique to Chronos that will test your mettle.

Puzzles

Of course, as with any Zelda-like title, you can expect to solve a few puzzles here and there, like collecting keys and tiles, the latter which can be aligned to create patterns. Certain scenarios also see the player facing off against much larger foes and having to sneak by without getting noticed. There’s nothing too complex here but it should provide a bit of variety from the shooting, exploration and dodge-rolling of Remnant.

Boss Fights

Also to the surprise of no one is the presence of various bosses. Again, no spoilers here but you will battle a few familiar enemy races and a Guardian or two en route to ending the labyrinth’s major threat. When you factor in the aging mechanic, it becomes a rather interesting game of strategy. Do you fight full-force against a boss and defeat it to progress forward? Or focus more on surviving against them to learn their patterns and come back later to overcome it at the risk of aging? Either way, you’ll want to be more careful than usual.

System Requirements

In terms of system requirements on PC, Chronos: Before the Ashes is actually pretty generous. Minimum settings require an Intel i5-4690K or AMD FX-8320 at 3.5 GHz, 4 GB of RAM and either a Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 or AMD Radeon R7 370 with 2 GB VRAM. For recommended settings, the CPU remains the same but you’ll need 8 GB of RAM along with either a GeForce GTX 970 or Radeon RX 480 with 4 GB VRAM. In both cases, 8 GB of storage space is required so it’s nothing too hefty.