Revisiting developer Gunfire Games' critically acclaimed VR action-RPG Chronos with the reimagined Chronos: Before the Ashes is a strange experience. Chronos: Before the Ashes provides a gaming experience that is near identical to its predecessor, but it has lost some of its charm in the transition away from VR.
Chronos: Before the Ashes is a prequel to Remnant: From the Ashes, and attempts to explain some of the backstory and lore that was present in Remnant. In Chronos players take control of a young adventurer that has been tasked by his people with traveling through a bizarre crystal portal to a new world in order to defeat a monstrous dragon. The catch here is that if the adventurer dies during the course of their journey they will be kicked out of this alternate world and won't be able to come back for a whole year.
This leads to a gameplay element that is one of the game's biggest selling points. Every time the player dies their character will age by one whole year. In-game the player will respawn at whatever their last checkpoint was, but they will see that their adventurer has actually aged in that time. At first this is hardly noticeable, but eventually the character will begin to wrinkle and their hair will turn gray as they fail again and again. Every ten years the player will be able to collect new perks like being able to collect extra experience for every kill or additional health. Leveling up is also affected by aging too, like the fact that as the character ages they will have to spend more XP to advance strength and dexterity, but will find that their arcane skill becomes cheaper.
Combat in Chronos: Before the Ashes is actually similar to the popular combat system in the Dark Souls franchise, as it prioritizes dodging or blocking attacks before counter-attacking. In the early moments of the game it also feels just as difficult as those games too, but clever players will able to cheese their way through combat encounters too easily. The largest issue is that attacking doesn't drain the stamina bar, so if players are able to stun-lock an enemy they are able to keep attacking until it is dead. Eventually, enemies who can't be stun-locked do turn up, which is either a breath of fresh air for those engaging with combat in a more tactical manner or frustrating to those who have leaned too heavily on an exploitable system up to that point.
The world around the player in Chronos: Before the Ashes is fascinating to explore, and uncovering small touches in the ruined kingdom overrun by monsters is enjoyable on its own. Spread throughout this world there are books and notes detailing its rich history or letters left by other deceased explorers who did not take this world's dangers seriously. Those who are interested in this story can track down all of this lore and piece everything together - or they can ignore it all in their relentless pursuit of the dragon, facing no punishment for doing so.
Puzzles in Chronos: Before the Ashes are also handled well. For the most part these are reminiscent of puzzles in the Resident Evil series, having the player collect keys or objects throughout the world and combining them together to open doors or solve environmental puzzles. None of these puzzles are particularly hard to figure out, but tracking down various objects and deducing exactly how and when to use them is always satisfying.
The thing that holds Chronos: Before the Ashes back from being as enjoyable as the original is the very thing that stopped Chronos from being more accessible: VR. Without VR capabilities Chronos: Before the Ashes is still fun to play, but it's missing the features that set its predecessor apart from the many other action-RPG games currently available. Chronos, then, remains the superior version of the concept, but Chronos: Before the Ashes is a more than serviceable action-RPG that, while unremarkable, is still a fun jaunt in its own right.
Chronos: Before the Ashes releases for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch on December 1st. A PlayStation 4 code was provided for the purposes of this review.