Chronology is a game by Osao Games, a developer who had only made mobile games until now, is a game centred on time travel and manipulation to move across two time zones of a dyeing world. Being the first PC game by the developer we can expect some discrepancies and lack of quality. But can this game rise above the presumptions?
Chronology was first started by a company named Progressive Media, but a lot of those details have become hidden and forgotten with time so it is hard to tell how much of the game was done before its move to the hands of Osao.
Story
You take control of the Inventor, a man who was once a renowned and well abled builder of machines and inventor of new devices, who came across a monk and combined both his talent for machinery and the Monk’s for Alchemy to create new inventions. After a few years working together the Inventor and the Monk created a powerful new source of power, the Verve, a creature and machine combination that held miraculous but dangerous powers.
Seeking to distance himself from this dangerous device, the Inventor went out on his own with his Wagon to continue his research and inventions without the aid of Alchemy, but this only allowed the Monk to continue work in private. The game starts off at the end of the calamity of the Verve, with the Inventor having slight memory loss.
You make your way from the forest outside of the city to inside of it, meeting a Snail on the way who has the ability to stop time and teleport, which comes in quite hand for the puzzles you find. Combining the Snail’s time stop ability with your ability to switch between before and after the calamity you must make your way to the Monk to stop the calamity from occurring and save the world.
The story will last you around and hour and a half, with my first playthrough only taking me 94minutes. There is no replay value to be had in my opinion as there are no collectables or time trials, unless you want to go through it a second time and complete it as fast as you can.
Gameplay
Chronology plays a lot like other 2D platformers like Braid or Limbo where you must jump on platforms, move objects and solve puzzles to complete the levels. You can jump and run side to side but as the Inventor is quite old you can’t do any acrobatics or climb so you have to be very precise with your leaps of faith. You can also switch between the past and future with your watch which morphs the environment in various ways.
Once you meet up with the Snail you can also stop time to pass through holes in flames or acid or even stop a moving platform to allow you to jump on it. There are a few instances where you must combine all your abilities like when you can stop time to get on a platform then go to the past in a mid-jump to land on a repaired roof.
Besides the time manipulation there are several puzzles to be had, increasing in difficulty as you progress from weight puzzles, timed puzzles and combining items to progress. While most of the puzzles are straightforward, some hide their answers far away from the problem area, making you think you have messed up or missing something.
Overall Thoughts and Feelings
The music in Chronology is very appealing to listen to, especially the main theme that is just an all-around good song, as well as fitting in with the theme. The levels themselves are quiet with some slight music and ambient sounds to accompany them, but are more of a background effect then a strong presence in the level which can make the game feel quite empty at times.
The graphics are clean and nice to look at without anything really of outplace, the cartoony theme is consistent and makes the entire world feel alive and full of personality. The character design is also well done, with a well-made main character and NPC’s to interact with whilst moving through the levels.
While the game is fun for most of the time you will be playing it, which isn’t long, it feels as if it is cut short and could have done with a lot more levels put in-between the beginning and end. The Air balloon you obtain is used only once and I feel it could have been used more often to expand on the world and visit more locations before heading straight to the end. The game also feels too much catered to children with the personality of the characters, especially the Snail, when its overall theme is a lot darker.
Overall I would give Chronology a 3/5, a short game that puzzles lovers will enjoy, but a bit too short for anything else. The game feels as if it holds you hand and tries to protect you from the harsh themes that are in the background which kind of detaches you from the experience. I’m not sure if it was the change in developers that caused this or not, but the game deserved more time than it was given and a lot more meat to its somewhat lacklustre meal.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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