Enter the Chronosphere Early Access Review - Getting Hit from Every Angle

Superhot meets Hades out on the final frontier, and its final form calls itself Enter the

Chronosphere, put together by developer Effort Star. If that perks your ears up, then listen up because there’s a lot for you here, all sewn up with a vibrant neon bow. The game centers on the titular Chronospheres– planet sized, well, planet eaters that collapse reality around inhabited planets, assimilating the civilizations on them and incorporating their likenesses to populate their labyrinthine mazes. It’s sort of like Dungeon Crawler Carl, if you’re familiar. With a spritz of Titan A.E, extra credit for anybody who’s seen that. Nobody totally understands the nature of these Chronospheres, or what their goals are– if any. What is known is that they appear in a mysterious and unknown corridor of the galaxy known as the Glimmering Way, and that explorers can “dive” into them and gather resources to help them as they journey further and further down, fighting off enemies along the way– enemies who, mind you, were assimilated when their original worlds were eaten. It’s pretty heavy when you think about it.

One of those diving explorers is Marcia: last remaining human in the wake of Earth getting

consumed by one of these Chronospheres. That said, she’s remarkably well-adjusted,

considering the circumstances. Another is Urtar, a giant bear; a fact that ends up being a funny and disarmingly interesting conversation piece. And then there’s Lillypilly, from a species analogous to lizards; probably the least disciplined and carefree bounty hunter I’ve seen. And then Lei rounds it out; she’s blue and a scientist and is kind of the older sister of the crew. I’ll come back to these folks later.

I mentioned Superhot and Hades, and I meant it. Gameplay in Enter the Chronosphere flows in turns; everything (and everyone) moves when you do. It may feel like a gimmick early on but go down just a few levels and you’ll find out how much of a game changer this is. This is a rogue-like that’s also a bullet hell. That cocktail belies the true nature of the game: it’s strategic and considered, not twitchy and sweaty. That is, if you choose so. I found myself sitting there, surrounded on all sides by bullets, lasers, grenades waiting to go off, mini nukes in mid-air, playing out moves in my head like a chess player. Usually when things look impossible there’s at least one way to get out of checkmate and finding that one way is incredibly satisfying.

Weapons not only have unique attacks but often impact how you move when using them. So you might have an assault weapon that pushes you back a little bit, then quickfire some dual pistols that make you jump to the left, then switch back to the assault weapon. Maybe you have an ability that repels all projectiles and enemies away from you; do you use that or do you take a chance on just jumping out of the way, since that ability has a two-turn cooldown? Hey, that projectile is about to bounce off the wall next to you, if you can lure an enemy to follow you that way, maybe they’ll run smack into it? It gets chaotic fast. The things to keep track of (and anticipate) pile on, and when I was on the ropes I had to consciously fight my reflexes and keep a level head– consider the field. It was pretty cool and I like any game that encourages me to question my instincts.

That said, initially I did clear out every level of its loot– weapons, mods, gear, etc. But then I

reached a point where I decided to switch up my tactic just for fun and fell back on dashing straight to each level’s exit– more like speed chess, if you will. And you know what? No pun intended, but I had a blast both ways. This quicker playstyle was a lot more frenetic, but no less rewarding. So, if your brain wants a strategic exercise, you’ll be just as at home as someone who wants the feeling of getting dropped into a warzone, scrambling for their life.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention another wrinkle the game throws at you: instability. See, some weapons and gear come with a chance of generating instability that grants mutations to some enemies upon pickup. Some mutations grant enemies more health, others make them explode upon death, and so on and so forth. So, you can stack this instability, these mutations, pretty quickly if you spring for the really good gear– some of which can counteract certain mutations, so you can turn dicey situations around if you play your cards right.

Enter the Chronosphere– like the player dodging a bullet storm by the skin of their teeth– makes total use of a color palette that would’ve felt like way too much in anyone else’s hands, and commendably makes it work despite the risk. As far as color schemes go, I’ve seen countless examples where artists have made the mistake of conflating “busy” with “haphazard.” And it’s a strong testament that my eyes never got tired of looking at Enter the Chronosphere. The art style is bold, but not overly brash or loud, as you can see. And it complements the game’s tone, which is playful and fun despite the copious amounts of tragedy that makes up the narrative’s foundation.

Level design is incredibly important to any game in this genre with procedurally generated levels. Each one is configured like a maze, with certain levels of destructibility baked in to shake things up. Usually your dilemma is, do you make for the exit while you can? Because remember there are dozens of rounds and explosives flying around you. Or do you take the risk and grab what you can, hoping something could help you further down, even if you lost most of your HP in the attempt? See, every click of the mouse can be the difference between a successful run and an early death. By the way, yes, I deliberately said, “click of the mouse.” As of my review build there is no controller support. Yet. Usually that’d be a bummer for me since I massively prefer controllers, but the keyboard & mouse layout was intuitive and approachable and wasn’t an obstacle to my enjoyment in any way. Controller enthusiasts, take note. And that speaks to how this game will continue to grow and evolve, since it’s entering Early Access at this time. I’m sure over time features, enemies, and biomes will only continue to be added.

Writing majors, take note: this game isn’t masquerading as a narrative-focused, choice-based, story-driven RPG…but it packs a lot more lore than I was expecting, which was a very pleasant surprise. It even has a codex, which should tell you something. Now, Mass Effect this is not, but I came away thinking I wouldn’t mind a novel or comic based in this world. A novel or comic featuring characters like these, no less. Like the risky, but successful art direction, these characters could easily run the risk of becoming grating in anyone else’s hands. We see it happen all the time. But, as intended, our shipmates come across as slightly quirky friends who have known each other for a long time. This swipe may feel uncalled for, but I got the impression that the vibe here was what Concord was going for. They feel heightened, but not stretched so far as to be fake. I actually think it’s to the game’s benefit that it’s not voiced, because I have a theory that a lot of “bad writing” in the industry is actually “misguided acting.” And I wouldn’t want to take the chance of putting these characters in a voice actor’s hands. Point is, I looked forward to seeing the crew in-between each run– even if the encounters were a little short. Make no mistake, the runs are the focal point of the game, and this isn’t a “friend” simulator, but still– the context these characters give to the proceedings is very much appreciated.

The soundtrack is another high point, with a delightfully synthy score that’s always supportive, not intrusive. Sometimes composers can get a little excited and overdo it. But, again, it’s used wonderfully here and parts of it will definitely be on my “study” playlist. Very commendable. As far as the technical performance went, it was incredibly stable overall. No crashes, but I did have a couple of freezes that lasted a few seconds. Not enough to impact my score, but I figured I’d do my due diligence and include it, just so you know. And, at the time of review, there weren’t very many options on the accessibility front, which is extra surprising, considering I could see some folks having issues with the game’s color scheme, for example. There’s just not a lot to tinker with.

In the world of game reviews: some games, you play just to do your duty; other games combine fun with work. This was the latter. Which is doubly impressive for an Early Access game. Sometimes that label can denote a game that isn’t quite finished yet, but this one is tight and polished already. Enter the Chronosphere takes an addictive gameplay hook and bolsters it with a deep, stylish world with characters I wouldn’t mind sharing a pizza with. If you’re not into roguelikes, it's doubtful this game will change your mind, but it does bring with it a few extra goodies that will refresh the genre for you if you’ve been looking for something new. For all these reasons, Enter the Chronosphere handily earns a Silver Lamp of approval from me. Whether you want to meticulously plan every step, or screech through clouds of bullets like a bat who just snorted a pile of, uh, powdered sugar, this game is well-worth treading.

SILVER/GREAT

Silver Genie Lamp of Approval