DISCLAIMER: Folks, this is a game made for VR back in 2016. This is not a new game. It is basically a port. Furthermore, it was made with VERY different design sensibilities then Remnant, which is a COMPLETELY different experience. I almost feel like Gunfire shot themselves in the foot - pun intended - by not being explicitly clear with their marketing for this game. But for those of you thinking about getting this game - and I think it is worth your time - please keep that in mind! This is an OLDER game! This is not a brand new game! Ok, now you can read my compliments.

It's fun! A straight Soulslike - environmental storytelling, difficult combat, exploration through interweaving environments - with some truly innovative and interesting mechanics. If you've played Remnant: From the Ashes like me, don't go into this one expecting a similar experience. The flow of this game is entirely different, with a more methodical approach to combat. Attacks feel weighty and significant, and when you get into the rhythm of the combat, it can be quite enjoyable.

One of the things I was not expecting is how much puzzle solving there is, and it's actually delightful. There a all kinds of subtle clues in the environment that if you watch for can help you find hidden treasure. But you will also need those skills to make progress at times, and even in the first area of the game I have seen some of the most creative environment puzzles I've ever seen in any game, let alone an action RPG like this. So far I've been having a blast, and can definitely recommend.

Background I picked this up from HB for $21 and change, because I heard it was based on before Remnant and wanted to check it out, it is totally different but kinda uses some familiar assets,Remnant was more about the combat while this is more about puzzle solving and backtracking to get items to solve said puzzles.Character creation is bare bones and combat isn't super complex, it's more about exploring and solving puzzles with combat along the way, I believe it gets negative reviews because people were expecting it to be more along the lines of their other game and when it wasn't decided to nit pick everything they could.Does it offer the best graphics no but it is good enough, if you want hard core souls like this will not be your game.$20 is a sweet spot any more only if you are bored.:steamhappy:

Wrinkled through the ages

Chronos: Before the Ashes, developed by Gunfire Games, offers an intriguing blend of action RPG elements and puzzle-solving within a time-twisting narrative. While it falls short of the greats of the genre, it still manages to deliver an engaging experience that captivates players with its unique mechanics and atmospheric world. If anything, it's worth delving into just to see the ashes from which Remnant: After the Ashes and Remnant II were both born from, although gamer's beware that Chronos: Before the Ashes is an entirely different beast to its gun-toting co-op siblings, instead opting to play at a more languid and methodical pace akin to the original Dark Souls.

Gameplay:
The core gameplay of Chronos: Before the Ashes revolves around exploration, combat, and solving environmental puzzles. The combat system is weighty and requires a strategic approach, as players must carefully time their attacks and dodges. The ageing mechanic, which affects the protagonist's abilities as they age, adds a layer of depth to combat strategies. However, the combat can sometimes feel incredibly slow and unresponsive, with limited enemy variety and a lack of truly impactful upgrades.

Puzzles:
One of the game's highlights is its puzzle design. Players must navigate through intricate dungeons and manipulate time to solve various puzzles. These challenges offer a refreshing change of pace and require critical thinking. While some puzzles can be genuinely satisfying to solve, others may frustrate players due to their complexity or trial-and-error nature.

World and Atmosphere:
Chronos: Before the Ashes successfully crafts a mysterious and immersive world, drawing players into its hauntingly beautiful landscapes. The atmosphere is enhanced by the use of ambient sound and visual details that create a sense of tension and unease. Unfortunately, the character models and animations can sometimes feel stiff and detract from the overall immersion.

Narrative:
The game's narrative is a mixed bag. The concept of an adventurer exploring a shifting labyrinth to save their homeland is intriguing, but the storytelling lacks depth and character development. The fragmented narrative, presented through brief cutscenes and cryptic lore, may leave players yearning for a more substantial connection to the world and its inhabitants.

Graphics and Performance:
Chronos: Before the Ashes boasts a visually appealing aesthetic that blends fantasy with a touch of realism. The game's environments are detailed and offer a sense of scale, while the lighting effects contribute to the eerie ambience. However, occasional frame rate drops and minor technical glitches can momentarily disrupt the experience.

Replay Value:
The inclusion of a New Game+ mode encourages replay value, allowing players to approach the game with different strategies and choices. However, the lack of substantial branching paths or meaningful alternate endings limits the long-term appeal for multiple playthroughs.

Conclusion:
Chronos: Before the Ashes presents a distinctive take on the action RPG genre, merging time-manipulation mechanics with challenging puzzles. While it falls short in certain aspects, such as combat variety and character development, it manages to hold players' interest through its engaging world and gameplay mechanics. While not a groundbreaking title, it does offer a glimpse into the future worlds and gameplay that would later emerge in the subsequent offshoots and for that alone it makes it a curious curio for current fans of the Remnant franchise. There is a lot to enjoy here from action combat to puzzle solving (with a time mechanic twist) if you take it on its own terms. For this gamer it was definitely a world worth exploring.

Pros:

- Unique ageing mechanic adds strategic depth to combat.
- Intricate and satisfying puzzle design.
- Captivating, atmospheric world design.
- New Game+ mode enhances replay value.

Cons:

- Repetitive and sometimes unresponsive combat with limited enemy variety.
- Shallow character development and storytelling.
- Occasional technical glitches and frame rate drops.

Engaging RPG with a unique time ageing mechanic where the player ages by one year every single time they die in the game.

Occasional frame drops were experienced during my playthrough.

Dark Souls, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Tunic

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=869453510

Chronos: Before The Ashes (C:BTA) is a third-person souls-like partially set on a post-apocalyptic Earth, and also in various extra-dimensional locations in other worlds. Most of humanity perished after a dangerous experiment goes terribly wrong, and opens a gateway to parallel realities. As one of the relatively few survivors, the protagonist is chosen to go beyond the dimensional gate in a desperate attempt to slay the Dragon, leader of the forces who have ravaged Earth.

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https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2664496239

The idea of mixing up fantasy worlds with post-apocalyptic settings is intriguing and at times even results interesting. However, the disproportion that results from the fantasy side being largely dominant thwarts this factor, which could have better potential in world-building. In addition, there are lore inconsistencies across the board: why does the protagonist barely know what plastic is, but at the same time can operate computers, generator and electronics flawlessly? Why do the inhabitants of parallel dimensions speak English? None of this makes sense. The fact C:BTA is marketed as a RPG is deceiving, as there practically are no choices and the character building system is superficial, simplistic and lacks depth.

In the attempt of giving its own twist to the true-and-tested Souls formula, the devs clearly went out of their depth and engineered a flawed system that will alienate novices and veterans alike. Since attacks and dodges don't consume Stamina (!), the vast majority of enemies can be stunlocked by an endless flurry of charged attacks, since most stagger animations are longer than said attack's windup time - I can't overstate how broken this is: spam RT to win becomes the norm.

Enemies are diverse enough, with a good roster of archetypes, however few of them prove to be a real threat individually, and the game doesn't send many at once generally. To evade attacks there's a stamina-based block with shields -mandatory by the way: no two handed weapons or ranged options! A timed Parry or a perfect Dodge can be used as well (IF they work properly) - they will result in the player weapon being boosted temporarily for a stronger attack thanks to the Dragon Stones, magical vessels that hold various powers such as lifesteal, improved stun and so on, gathered throughout the adventure. Sadly these powers seem only to take effect in their "Active" mode, usable when a specific meter is filled with kills, and not as consequence of Parries or Perfect Dodges, thus making them underwhelming most of the time.

The weapon roster is limited to just a handful, categorized by ether Strength or Agility affinity, scaling their damage in relation to it. While each has slightly different attack patterns, they have no nuances in damage types, advanced combos or alternate effects; the best choice will simply be what does more damage, without any ulterior depth to it. There are no trinkets, armor - nothing else to find or equip except arms, stones and shields.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2664495634

This title rewards players for dying. Yes, really. Estus-equivalents (Dragon Hearts) which grant a full heal when used, can only be recharged with death, the same goes for acquiring passive perks - gained every ten years as the character ages as a consequence of defeat. Aging also slightly modifies attribute costs, with Arcane becoming cheaper later on, and the other ones pricier - not that it matters anyway, as Vitality and STR / AGI are simply the best choices given how marginal stone powers are. Leveling up happens automatically each time enough XP is gained - no returning to bonfires and no XP loss on death. Most perks gained this way are gimmicky or marginally useful, only a few stand out and the selection is small (one in three, every ten deaths). The overall progression system feels simplistic, watered-down and is blown away when compared to most other souls-like games on the market.

The few, sparse quests present in the world do give out worthy rewards, in terms of weapons, items or other benefits such as access to secondary areas - most of them are obscure as expected from a Souls game, but all can be understood and finished. The same goes for puzzles, which are present from time to time, however they prove rather generic and never overly-challenging for the most part. These elements give some much-needed variety, however also them fall into the maelstrom of blandness that encompasses the game, and never really stand out.

There are two types of bosses in this game: the first are mundane, insipid goons that prove quite easy to beat and barely have any pattern evolution. The other, less common but more annoying, is the downright broken train wreck affected by enormous problems, broken hitboxes and jank-related issues (Bed of Chaos flashbacks!). The final boss is the worst offender, capable of some attacks so broken they bypass i-frames (which should be a constant in any souls-like) and can't be parried or blocked. With these trash bosses, only RNG shall declare your victory or defeat, not skill! None of theme ever felt enjoyable to fight against, either too simple or an annoying mess.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2664881223

I have never had such a hard time trying to like a game. Especially since i love their other title.

To get straight to the point, the combat is clunky, dodging will most likely fail if you can call it that, and any hits to you will interrupt your already clunky combat flow. Oh and your shield can be completely useless in boss fights.

There are a lot of things that i can list about this title that disappoint but here's what you need to know.
- Do not buy this game full price. PERIOD.
- Consider buying Remnant: From the Ashes instead. Its their better title (If you don't already own it)
- If you do purchase consider playing on easy for the lore only. (I know your a sick gamer. But save yourself the stress)
- The game at no point tells you that you can quick swap dragon eyes (your magic) and buff your weapon.

*Last but not least this game caused me to write my first review because of how disappointed and frustrated i was with it. If you purchase the title, Good luck.

Chronos: Before the Ashes is a role-playing game developed by Gunfire Games and THQ Nordic.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2633496536


Before the Ashes is the narrative prologue to Remnant: From the Ashes. So you explore the same game world that once again links our modernity with a fantasy world: Something went so wrong in the 1960s that civilization took on medieval features. At the moment you are still typing something on an old computer before goblins and wizards run around and you teleport into areas over smoldering stones. At the beginning of the adventure you also feel like you're in a Dark Souls light: You can use your sword to deliver light and heavy blows, block with the shield or counter at the right moment. Although this ensures that the goblin-like enemies briefly open cover. But the situational tension and force is far from the model, the evasive action and parrying seem a bit tough. Nevertheless, it is praiseworthy that, in contrast to VR, endurance now also plays a role, so that you can no longer hit it endlessly and have to fight more tactically. While you unlock more teleport stones and areas, you can sometimes explore pleasantly picturesque, but mostly sterile-looking backdrops. Jumping etc doesn't work like in Dark Souls. The story is accompanied again and again by smaller puzzles that have to be solved in order to move forward. If you die, enemies will also spawn again.


+ Dark Souls with smaller puzzles
+ creative and visible aging principle
+ tactical combat system
+ Develop characters evolve
+ Charm is present
+ good speech output
+ several levels of difficulty
+ Achievements and trading cards


- I think playing time is too short
- no map
- bland backdrops


Chronos: Before the Ashes mixes puzzles and Dark Souls elements in one. Clear purchase recommendation for this genre.



Chronos: Before the Ashes ist ein Rollenspiel, welches von Gunfire Games und THQ Nordic entwickelt wurde.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2633496536


Before the Ashes ist der erzählerische Prolog zu Remnant: From the Ashes. Man erkundet also dieselbe Spielwelt, die erneut unsere Moderne mit einer Fantasywelt verküpft: Irgendwas ging in den 60er Jahren so schief, dass die Zivilisation mittelalterliche Züge annahm. Gerade tippt man noch an einem alten Computer was, bevor Kobolde und Zauberer umher laufen und man sich über glimmende Steine in Gebiete teleportiert. Zu Beginn des Abenteuers fühlt man sich zudem wie in einem Dark Souls light: Man kann mit seinem Schwert leichte und schwere Hiebe austeilen, dazu mit dem Schild blocken oder im richtigen Moment kontern. Zwar sorgt das dafür, dass die goblinartigen Feinde kurz die Deckung öffnen. Aber die situative Spannung sowie Wucht ist weit entfernt vom Vorbild, das Ausweichen und Parieren wirkt etwas zäh. Trotzdem ist es lobenswert, dass im Gegensatz zu VR jetzt auch die Ausdauer eine Rolle spielt, so dass man nicht mehr endlos draufhauen kann und taktischer kämpfen muss. Während man weitere Teleportsteine und Gebiete freischaltet, erkundet man mitunter angenehm malerisch illustrierte, aber meist steril wirkende Kulissen. Springen etc geht nicht wie in Dark Souls. Begleitet wird die Geschichte immer wieder von kleineren Rätsel, welche gelöst werden müssen um voran zu schreiten. Wenn man stirbt, spawnen auch die Gegner erneut.


+ Dark Souls mit kleineren Rätsel
+ kreatives und sichtbares Alterungsprinzip
+ taktisches Kampfsystem
+ Charaktere entwickelt entwickeln
+ Charm ist vorhanden
+ gute Sprachausgabe
+ mehrere Schwierigkeitsgrade
+ Errungenschaften und Sammelkarten


- Spielzeit finde ich zu kurz geraten
- keine Karte
- fade Kulissen


Chronos: Before the Ashes vermischt Rätsel und Dark Souls Elemente in einem. Klare Kaufempfehlung für dieses Genre.

While its combat is definitely a little more clunky and exploitable than a Souls game, Chronos is a fantastic pre-cursor to the world that exists in Remnant: From the Ashes.

Fair warning it IS NOT anything like Remnant. It's neither a looter shooter or a co-op game. So please temper your expectations when diving into this.

Death is only punishing in the sense that it makes you retry from a checkpoint (World Stone). So don't worry about losing resources or dropping equipment. The more you die, the more your character ages as well, which in turn unlocks unique traits that you can select to help you tackle the challenging enemies that are in-game.

If you're having trouble, build strength/vitality, find the Hammer and heavy attack the hell out of all the enemies.

There IS also a parrying system but tbh, it's easier to just dodge or block and punish enemies that way. Finished the whole game on Heroic like that and it was a pretty smooth experience.

If you're a fan of souls games and you also love Remnant than this is a pretty decent title for you. Finished it in 10 hours of gameplay and...I found pretty much everything. So yeah. Hour to dollar ratio is a little off but I did enjoy my time with it.

You get what you pay for with this title.

Played and finished it aiming to 100%
I have done so for both remnant and its sequel.

Even at the current sale I can't recommend it for two reasons.
1: The combat doesn't feel very good and can be won with either spamming heavy or dodge attack.
2: It is impossible to actually 100% more then half a year ago they added achievements for going NG+ and finishing tasks in there,
this includes upgrading your weapon to a higher level then currently possible and both beating a specific boss and finishing the game in this mode.
Now remember that there is no option for NG+ nor updates. This game could very well be abandoned.

Because of this you are also unable to get the achievement for getting all the achievements.

All around, its about a 3 or 4/10 at it best bits.

Okay played it don't like it.
UI looks like its basically a placeholder.
Animations are unfinished. Notable things here are when you hit enemies and they don't react, the effect of hitting enemies being very meh and climbing ladders locks you in to the animation taking away control from your character.
The whole thing looks like an old alpha version.
Controls are alright but very simple.
Text boxes look alpha.
The whole point and click inventory for puzzles does not belong at all and it's not intuitive nor does it belong on a game played on a PC or a TV. Rather it looks like something made for a handheld device. Like a phone.

Overall a very disappointing experience.
If this was Early Access, I would understand. If the developer said "Hey it's not done but we release it early due to corona. Don't worry we are going hard the next few years to update and made this awesome!" I'd be extatic. But no. They are showing a finished product. This is not like Remnant from the Ashes which was in early access and updated regularly. This is a finished product. And it's not good.
It's kinda ♥♥♥♥.

Don't waste your cash. Watch a youtuber or twitch streamer play it. See the clunky UI. See the faults and don't worry, you are not missing much as the experience is short.
hope this helped someone and if this game becomes awesome I will rereview it.

As I love Souls-like games, despite hating calling them like that, Chronos: Before the Ashes naturally piqued my interest, so I wanted to give it a shot. It is supposed to be a prequel to Remnant: From the Ashes, which I have not played yet. Unfortunately, Chronos: BtA did everything it could to make me uninterested in the sequel, as it is just a half-baked action-adventure game with an absolutely minimal amount of proper RPG mechanics, on which I just wasted my time. What could this game do so atrociously that it left me in such a negative state of mind?

Well, first things first, Chronos: BtA is not actually a new title because it originally released under the name of Chronos on VR in 2016. So, the game is now playable without VR, with an added subtitle Before the Ashes to its name. Yet, it is not mentioned on the Steam’s Store Page at all, and you have to find it out in discussion threads.
The plot is pretty simple. There is a mysterious labyrinth in which dragon, and their three guardians, await to be slain. And you happen to be that unfortunate individual who has to deal with it. As if it did not sound difficult enough already, you are only allowed to enter this labyrinth once a year. Will you be the successful hero, or will you perish along with others?

And that is it. I honestly did not care about the plot at all. The very little of the presented background is uninteresting and generic, and even though there are readable notes and books scattered around, it tremendously fails at trying to be mysterious. The dialogues are pretty rare, so that does not help, and there is not any proper character development either. However, I have to appreciate that it sticks to its simple premise, instead of trying to be overly complicated. Still, it is quite a shame.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2316195154
Chronos: BtA plays similarly to other Souls-like titles. There are classic light and heavy attacks, as well as blocking, parrying, and dodging. Unfortunately, the combat feels clunky and cumbersome, without any satisfaction from progressing through the game, which I would expect from such a title. Also, the lock-on system is atrocious because the screen locks itself, while the fixed camera starts limiting your whole movement, and sometimes switching between opponents did not even work for me. However, it is the only way how to see enemies’ health points, as the game will not show it otherwise, except for bosses. It is very unintuitive compared to other similar games. Dreadful.

Well, despite these issues, the game is still pretty easy even on the hardest difficulty, on which I finished it in ten hours. The problems start right from the customization menu, which only offers two choices: changing your gender and having a sword or an axe. Such a choice is utterly useless, as you will find the other weapon soon anyway, and the game has only eight of them, and all of them are melee. You are also stuck with the shield forever, so that limits you even more. It is possible to upgrade the weapons five times, and that is all. You can forget right away about changing your armour and such.

The problem is that the game is unbalanced even with such a minimal amount of weapons and mechanics. You can literally stagger most of the enemies with a heavy attack, and the hammer is the best choice for that, as it obliterates every enemy type. However, you can stagger enemies with fast weapons too, but it will only take a bit longer to kill them. Only a few enemies sometimes try to counter-attack you, but it is rare. Apart from weapons, there are four abilities, which recharge after successful dodging and such. You can put your weapon on fire, drain enemies’ life, or become invincible for a few seconds. Yes, invincible. As if it could not get easier. Sure, I do not have to use such overpowered abilities, but then I am just stuck with two attack types, one of which staggers your opponents. After all, you can see it on a video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6E89ib88Hg
Why am I provided with choices that go against this genre’s philosophy? It does not make sense, and it is not enjoyable to play. Sure, you can cheese in some other games by creating weird build combinations, but most of the players will not find that out on their own. Here? You can do it without even trying. It is not like the enemies are something special, as they are pretty generic. You have agile ones with swords, heavy ones with shield and slow movement, and something in between, which gets staggered anyway. It does not matter who will you face as the combat is the same with all of them.

One of the game’s selling point is the ageing of your character. You age by one year each time you die, so you apparently become weaker but wiser, which influences the magic. I honestly do not understand how this feature is supposed to work, as I only got a few traits that made me stronger in melee combat. It is just a gimmick feature, which does not really change the gameplay, or you have to become one hundred years old to see the effect, I do not know, as I was doing perfectly fine with my hammer at the age of fifty-five. Speaking of dying, you respawn at glowing stones, which represents bonfires, and your heal items replenish there.

The whole game is rather linear, so it is not really hard to progress through it, except one or two times when it is required to backtrack a bit. There are several puzzles, which are pretty boring, as they mostly revolve around taking an item to a different place. I only remember two puzzles, which were a bit more sophisticated, but not very unique. There are shortcuts here and there, but I rarely used them as there was no reason for me to go back in the first place.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2316194814
Well, I honestly do not have anything positive to say about the gameplay. It is utterly primitive, unbalanced, and boring to play. Maybe this works well on VR, and my thoughts would be completely different. However, as a standalone non-VR title, it does not work well, and I do not see a point in playing it.
I pretty much like the game’s art style and visuals, as they are quite colourful and simple, which fits the game’s narrative about a bit naïve fairytale-ish journey. Sure, some of the visuals look outdated at times, as it is a four-year-old game after all, but it still holds up well. Locations visually differ from each other a lot too, and the second half of the game manages to feel a bit atmospheric. As for the audio, sound effects seemed pretty average to me. Nothing extraordinary, but it does its jobs finely. And while the game soundtrack underlines the game’s theme effectively, it is not memorable.

Chronos: BtA is an unbalanced, badly designed mess. Sure, you can play it from start to finish without any game-breaking issues, but that is hardly enough for a recommendation. Uninteresting lore, generic enemies, broken combat, and wasted ten hours of my life is all I have on mind when thinking about this game. And that is a shame.

PC Specs & Performance

I tested the game with an i5 8300H, GTX 1060 6GB, and 16GB RAM, running at highest settings, at 120 frames per second, at 1920x1080 resolution. Framerate drops were quite rare, and mostly only down to 113-118 frames, so I am, overall, satisfied with the optimization.

Acknowledgment

This review copy was provided by Save or Quit!

[saveorquit.com]

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