Chronos: Before the Ashes is the latest Role Playing Game from Gunfire Games.
Chronos: Before the Ashes follows a young hero as they navigate the labyrinth to destroy the dragon that guides the monsters bent on destroying humanity.
The game begins with an old woman telling a story about why you are chosen and what it is you were chosen to do. She tells the assembled group that the people were once plentiful and then one day the beasts came. A chosen hero will travel through a portal, the source of the beasts, find their way to the dragon and either kill the dragon or die trying. Having never seen the game’s trailers and after seeing this intro I made the assumption that based on the name it would follow some of the ancient Greek myths. That was before I realized the spelling was wrong for it to be. The Titan of Greek mythology was Kronos so clearly it was not the story I thought it would be.
You finally get to play as the hero and enter a series of elevators that take you to a massive floating rock and with the help of a couple computers you activate a smaller stone that transports you to the labyrinth. The intro and ambiance of the level made me want to play more, it felt like Dark Souls meets World War 2 with Vikings. Controls were a bit clunky. The game has two different leveling mechanics, the first is your standard RPG leveling that gives you points to improve skills and the second is your age. Every time you die you age a year and starting at the age of twenty you unlock a new ability every ten years.
Between the innovative mechanics and the dark world this game is worth a serious look but don’t expect to fare well right away, between mechanics and the classic gaming tropes (find a locked door, follow a long linear path to key, return to door, rinse and repeat) this game will leave you frustrated and only wanting to play in small doses.
