When it comes to the story itself, Miasma Chronicles seems quite inspired by popular manga and anime. The game features two brothers, one of whom seems artificial, and the protagonist has a special arm, and there’s an emphasis on the duos’ mothers in the plot. However, Miasma Chronicles isn’t really that focused on the relationship between the two brothers—Elvis and Briggs—and is instead more focused on what’s happening in its world. The story starts off quite strong, presenting a number of questions that would get answered throughout the course of the game.

"Miasma Chronicles seems quite inspired by the critically-acclaimed manga and anime Fullmetal Alchemist."

At some point in Earth’s history, the eponymous Miasma started spreading and destroying the world. Our protagonists’ mother seems to have some deeper knowledge of the Miasma, but unfortunately for us, she disappeared, leaving Elvis with a glove that could potentially let him tap into the powers of the Miasma. Along the way the duo also learn of a tribe of mutant frogs that are planning to invade our protagonists’ hometown of Sedentary.

While the main storyline is quite interesting in all of its grandeur, Miasma Chronicles also does a pretty good job in letting us in on the smaller details of its post-apocalyptic world. For example, walk through Sedentary and you might overhear an old man talking about the early days of the apocalypse, and how humanity had to deal with running out of food. The world-building also extends to the main story itself, with an emphasis placed on the mysterious First Family and the iron grip it seems to rule the world with.

The only real fault with the story side of Miasma Chronicles is that some of its dialogue writing seems too random. Characters often seem to go through random mood shifts between asking a question and getting an answer, and several times, you just won’t expect the emotion any of your characters might display. An easy example of this is an early conversation you have with the mayor of Sedentary, or even the local sheriff who deputizes to help him keep the town safe.

When it comes to gameplay, Miasma Chronicles has two distinct modes of play: I like to call them the exploration mode and the combat mode. As these names might imply, the exploration mode is how you explore the world, pick up loot, find new gear, and talk to people, while the combat mode is how you sneak around and fight enemies. Let’s talk about combat mode first, since that’s really where the meat of the gameplay lies.

"While it never gets as complicated or modular with its statistics and abilities as other real time strategy games, Miasma Chronicles still manages to maintain some level of depth"

When you first start the game, the combat isn’t too different from what you might expect from other real time strategy games, especially if you pick the full tactical game mode in its difficulty settings. Every attack you attempt will have a chance to hit, and the cover you and your enemies take will affect this chance to quite an extent. In fact, taking cover, the different types of cover, and how to flank enemies are literally some of the first things you learn in Miasma Chronicles.

While it never gets as complicated or modular with its statistics and abilities as other real time strategy games, Miasma Chronicles still manages to maintain some level of depth with the ability to sneak up on enemies to set up ambushes before the start of a fight. Your entire team can be split apart so that you can pull off an effective ambush, and your enemies’ lines of sight are helpfully highlighted on the movement grid whenever you enter stealth mode. Don’t expect incredible depth when it comes to stealth, however, as it’s purely a means to an end—kicking off an ambush—rather than its own bespoke game mechanic.

Your characters also have their own skill trees—referred to as skill decks—where you can invest points whenever you level up. Skill decks for every character are divided into four small quadrants, each one signifying a specific area of expertise for the character. For example, Diggs has an entire quadrant of abilities dedicated to keeping the heat off his brother Elvis, which includes abilities like provoking enemies in a large area, and becoming movable cover for other characters.

In your first hour of playing the game, you’ll undoubtedly unlock the ability to harness miasma for your own ends. This manifests in gameplay through you getting special abilities that need energy to use. These miasma abilities can get quite varied, and without spoiling too much, even the first ability gives you the ability to manipulate the battlefield in fun and interesting ways, almost like you might be playing Into the Breach with its emphasis on battlefield control. These miasma mechanics work well with the simple-but-effective weapon customisation to ultimately provide quite a few impressive options for battle.

"Miasma Chronicles is a great extension of what made Mutant Year Zero fun."

The other side of Miasma Chronicles’ gameplay is its exploration mode. Unfortunately, there isn’t really much to say. Exploration is rather simple and barebones, and you’re not going to be unlocking fancy traversal skills. The exploration mode definitely gives you a great excuse to appreciate just how good Miasma Chronicles looks, however. 

It features an impressive level of detail, right from its main menu, to exploration segments, to the designs of various enemies and characters you run into, and even down to your weapons with its various attachments. Miasma Chronicles is a rather gorgeous-looking game, and it runs incredibly well to boot. Playing on a PC running an AMD Ryzen 5 3600, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, and 32GB of RAM, I was able to get a constant frame rate of 60fps most of the time—unless I was recording gameplay for the purposes of this review—with all of its settings at Ultra, ray tracing disabled, and a resolution of 1080p. The game also managed to run decently-enough on the Steam Deck, giving me a frame rate of 30fps with everything set to low.

Miasma Chronicles is a great extension of what made Mutant Year Zero fun. It combines turn-based tactical gameplay with a fun story set in an immensely-interesting and fleshed-out world. While its gameplay isn’t going to seem too deep for anyone that’s spent some time with real time strategy games, it still manages to offer a decent amount of challenge and tactical options, especially once you start unlocking magical abilities that help you manipulate the battlefield. Despite its sometimes-awkward writing, Miasma Chronicles is certainly a game worth your time.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

However, as a whole, Miasma Chronicles is a far larger game. Eurogamer spoke to lead producer Mark Parker, who revealed that the world map is two to three times bigger than Road to Eden. It’s also packed with side quests and unique enemies, including bandits, violent tree beings called Whisperers and frog creatures in armor.

You’ll come across Easter eggs (like posters of the development team) and all kinds of visual details. Of course, there are also plenty of containers and drawers to empty and buildings to explore.

Miasma Chronicles is out on May 23rd for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Stay tuned for more details en route to release and check out some extensive gameplay here.

It’s been announced that Miasma Chronicles will be out for PC and consoles in May, a couple of months from now. It will retail for $49.99. It will launch digitally at first, with a physical version becoming available in Europe on June 9 and in North America on June 20.

Meanwhile, a couple of new gameplay videos have also been unveiled, showcasing the game’s Airport and Old Town Road levels. The former shows off a little bit of exploration, while the latter focuses on combat. Check them out below.

Miasma Chronicles will launch on May 23 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

The trailer reveals a number of things about Miasma Chronicles, giving us a look at the number of difficulty options, as well as the ability to select between two game modes: Light Tactical and Full Tactical.

When it comes to gameplay, we get a good look at the opening chapters of Miasma Chronicles, from cutscenes and conversations, to exploration, to battles. During the first combat scenario against two Tadpole Scouts, the trailer also gives us a look at the in-game tutorial for battles.

Announced back in May 2022, Miasma Chronicles is being developed by the team behind Mutant Year Zero. The player is put into the shoes of Elvis, accompanied by a robotic “brother” named Diggs.

Miasma Chronicles will be coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S in 2023.

Its lineup includes Rabbit and Bear Studios’ Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes with Suikoden series veterans Yoshitaka Murayama and Junko Kawano appearing along with Junichi Murakami and Osamu Komuta. There’s also Gunfire Reborn, Duoyi Games’ rogue-lite looter shooter that releases in October for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S while releasing later this year for PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch.

ION LANDS’ cyberpunk simulation Nivalis will also be present, along with Point Blank Games’ Stray Blade and Miasma Chronicles from The Bearded Ladies of Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden fame. Digital Bros Group’s indie publishing label HOOK is also set to have some exclusive announcements.

Tokyo Game Show 2022 takes place from September 15th to 18th. Stay tuned for more details and coverage in the coming days.

Miasma Chronicles is set in a post-apocalyptic America, dubbed New America, which has been taken over and ravaged by a mysterious and savage force called the Miasma. The story focuses on protagonist Elvis and his robot sidekick Diggs, as well as sharpshooter Jade and Mason, who’s… a head inside of a jar. The trailer sheds light on all four members of this ragtag group, which has to travel across the American wasteland to deal with the threat of the Miasma. Meanwhile, there are also a few glimpses of combat, showing the four characters in action. Check out the trailer below.

Miasma Chronicles is due out sometime in 2023 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Called Miasma Chronicles, the game will take players on an adventure across a post-apocalyptic wasteland, where you’ll be accompanied by a robotic “brother”. Using a mysterious glove, players will be able to control the Miasma, the mysterious force that has torn the world apart.

As per the game’s website, Miasma Chronicles will feature real-time exploration, upgradable weapons and abilities, “beautiful” environments and “outlandish” characters, and more.

“In the not-too-distant future, America has been torn apart by a savage force known only as the ‘Miasma’,” reads a description of the game on the aforementioned website. “Meet Elvis, a young man brought to the mining town of Sedentary as a baby. Left by his mother in the care of a robotic older ‘brother’ and given a mysterious glove with which he can control the Miasma.

“Join the brothers on a quest across a post-apocalyptic wasteland to find the answers they crave. Answers which may change the course of human history forever.”

Miasma Chronicles will launch for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (via Steam and Epic Games Store) in 2023. Check out its announcement trailer below.

Developer The Bearded Ladies came out of left field last week with an announcement for its newest turn-based strategy title, Corruption 2029. Available now on the Epic Games Store, it’s set in a not-so distant future America where things are less than cheery. If you’ve played Mutant Year Zero, the studio’s breakout strategy title, this will all seem very familiar.

Corruption 2029 is billed as a “hardcore tactical game” that even experienced players will find challenging. With a squad of augmented soldiers, you’ll use stealth and shoot up foes. It all seems very XCOM-ish, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The visual fidelity is on point with its atmospherics and sci-fi aesthetic.

Given its sudden release, expect more gameplay footage and impressions on Corruption 2029 in the coming weeks. Whether it will come to other platforms later or is a timed exclusive to the Epic Games Store is currently unknown. As always, stay tuned for more details.

The latest free games on the Epic Games Store are now available with The Bearded Ladies’ Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden and Heart Machine’s Hyper Light Drifter. Whether you’re interested in tactical stealth strategy or retro-style Zelda-like action, they’re worth checking out. Both titles will be available until August 22nd at no cost.

Next week will see Fez from Polytron Corporation offered for free. The classic platformer first released in 2012 for the Xbox 360 and was a major influence for future platformers like Monument Valley. Fez 2 was in development until controversy erupted and creator Phil Fish cancelled it in 2013.

Fish would subsequently leave the industry, with little hope for the sequel ever being made. Regardless, you can still enjoy the original classic. Fez will be available free from August 22nd to 29th on the Epic Games Store. Stay tuned for more details on other free titles in the meantime.

Though the Epic Games Store is only offering one free game this week – the 3D puzzle game GNOG – it has two enticing titles for next week. The first is Heart Machine’s Hyper Light Drifter, an action adventure Zelda-like title with a 16-bit art-style. The other is The Bearded Ladies’ Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden, a tactical turn-based role-playing game.

Both games will be free from August 15th to 22nd. You need an Epic Games account to claim them and the Epic Games Launcher to access them. Hyper Light Drifter is critically acclaimed and worth playing, especially with the developer’s follow-up title Solar Ash Kingdom releasing exclusively for the Epic Games Store.

Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden recently received a paid expansion with Seed of Evil. Only the base game will be free on the Epic Games Store, but you also get a free mode with Stalker Trials, offering tougher challenges in remixed maps. There’s a free demo currently live on Steam, in case you want to try it out right now.