Chronos: Before The Ashes Reviews
It has the weighty action and focus on learning enemy patterns to punish, but at eight hours to beat it’s relatively short and is lacking depth in many of its systems. At $30 and with an easier learning curve this is a good starter for anyone who hasn’t played this style of game, but veteran players may find the experience underwhelming.
Chronos: Before the Ashes is fun and features fluid and functional gameplay. Its friendly commands make the game very accessible for those looking for a souls-like without excess of suffering. The story is interesting and complete in itself, but it left something to be desired by exploring little of the events that would lead to Remnant. Perhaps spending more time on world events outside the labyrinth dimension could bring greater detail to the narrative.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Even without the original's VR elements, Chronos: Before the Ashes' compelling and somewhat challenging combat is still its main draw, in which you have to attack, dodge and parry your way, with refined precision, towards victory. Its aging system also adds an interesting twist to combat, imbuing your battles with a sense of prudence. That said, it doesn't offer anything new to the genre. Just watch out for its clumsy camera angles and you'll do fine.
Chronos: Before the Ashes is a pretty traditional Action RPG Soulslike game with adventure flavor that manages to present the player with a pretty normal and standard experience in the genre. It features exciting mechanics like the age system, but it isn't woven coherently in the game structure. Chronos: Before the Ashes can be an enjoyable game for Soulslike fans, but it doesn't offer anything significantly different or better than other Souls clones.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Add to this a genuinely unique aging mechanic and Chronos: Before the Ashes manages to stand out from the crowd in a genre that seems bent on enraging its player base. While I wish the Switch version, particularly handheld mode, was more robust, I still greatly enjoyed my time with it. There is a very satisfying adventure here, but on Switch you may need to dig a little deeper to find it.
Whether fans of Remnant: From the Ashes will see it as a comfort or disappointment depends entirely on their personal investment in the 2019 game's lore, but Chronos: Before the Ashes is in no way an essential addition to those already familiar with Gunfire's sci-fi/fantastical premise and one whose own dispensable tale will barely feel relevant.
Chronos: Before the Ashes presents us with a traditional version of Chronos VR, which in turn is a prequel to Remnant: From the ashes. This time the gameplay becomes a simple and friendly souls-like with which it is easy to get started in the genre. He fails in the design of levels, in their duration and in some technical problems, but he knows how to make up for it with good puzzles and exploration.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Chronos: Before the Ashes will draw comparisons to the Souls series, but its unique aging concept Is one area where it stands out. Unfortunately there are other areas such as combat, where the comparison is less favorable. It doesn’t quite measure up to its successor, Remnant: Before the Ashes – but the connected plot points were certainly welcome.
A great example of how to craft a new game from an existing idea.
Chronos: Before The Ashes feels like a cash in, with nobody bothering to ask “does this really need to be ported over?”. Without VR it loses the magic of being in your living room knocking shit on the floor, and exposes the game as a very lukewarm soulslike.
The transition from a VR-only title to a full fledged action rpg was not smooth, but Chronos Before The Ashes is still a decent choice if you're looking for a simpler and more linear soulslike.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Chronos: Before the Ashes feels dated and awkward, though its intriguing world and unique aging mechanic will probably earn it some fans in the crowded action RPG landscape.
Though it may not reach the same atmospheric levels as Demon Souls or Bloodborne, action RPG fans would do well to give Chronos: Before the Ashes a chance to test their killing abilities.
Chronos: Before the Ashes is a calming, serene, yet challenging game that is perfect for gamers who want to try skill-based combat but aren’t ready for classic entries to the genre, like the Souls games. It’s connections to Remnant: From the Ashes are abundant enough to make fans of the game see them with glee, but not so important to make it a necessity. The level design and art style is simple yet beautiful, and the controls are satisfying and tight.
The four-year VR exclusivity period only made Chronos: Before the Ashes a better game. It might not be 2020’s top dungeon crawler, but it shows how much Gunfire Games grew in the last gen from Chronos until Remnants:From the Ashes. A very fun romp.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
All-in-all, Chronos: Before the Ashes is great. It had a decent combat mechanic, the puzzles are entertaining, the age mechanic is interesting, and the level design is phenomenal. It’s not the perfect souls-like title, but it’s one of the more decent ones you can play.
Chronos: Before The Ashes is a Souls-Like/RPG that unfortunately we cannot recommend. Starting with its low difficulty and poor variety in the combat system. As well as its lack of content in terms of weapons or armor (which is directly lacking) and its more than poor 5-6 hours of gameplay.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Overall, Chronos: Before the Ashes is okay. As a Souls-like, it sort of misses on a lot of the mechanics that make Souls-like games good, the combat is meh, the story is just ok, the environments aren't that amazing, and the aging mechanic is disappointingly underused. If you're enamoured by the story of Remnant: From the Ashes and want to learn how things ended up that way, give this game a playthrough. But if you're not really that interested, it's probably best to just be forgotten.
Chronos: Before the Ashes is a fine action RPG game that provided me around a dozen hours of fun. I thought the aging when you die mechanic was an interesting concept that worked well but also could have you feeling like you missed out on certain upgrades if you didn’t die enough. It also has a few issues with the camera and while it borrows a lot of things from the ‘souls’ games it never felt anywhere near as challenging as them. Anyone who enjoys solid combat, good dungeon and puzzle design, and who may want more lore from the Remnant universe will likely enjoy their time in the Labyrinth.
Chronos: Before the Ashes is an interesting collection of ideas, but dead average implementation, aging visuals, and flawed gameplay make for an underwhelming package that barely rises above being just fine at best.