Chrono Ark
Chrono Ark is a singleplayer roguelike that combines elements from deckbuilders and party-based RPGs. Recruit, train, and build a team of unique Investigators to restore the Twisted World!
Chrono Ark is a roguelike deckbuilder, anime and rpg game
developed and published by Al Fine.
Released on May 02nd 2024 is available only on Windows
in 5 languages: English, Korean, Japanese, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.
It has received 11,658 reviews of which 10,477 were positive and 1,181 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.8 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 24.50€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified Chrono Ark into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
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Requirements
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Windows
- OS *: Windows 7 or later
- Processor: Intel Core i3
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: 1gb VRAM, OpenGL 3.0 support
- Storage: 5 GB available space
Reviews
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
Time Traveling Troubles: A Chrono Ark Review Chrono Ark is a roguelike deck builder that combines engaging and enjoyable gameplay with a fascinating story that is pieced together as you find fragments of what happened before the start of the game. Multiple characters and builds allow for a lot of creativity when it comes to determining how each of your party members will play and what kind of synergies they can take advantage of to destroy powerful foes before things get complicated. On the other hand, as a roguelike that can be missing variation in the runs that take place in it, that is to say, the areas and some challenges, it suffers from slow burnout as things can become repetitive over time. Certain characters have either complex methods for being unlocked or greedy ones, and sometimes having a bit of bad luck can send you back to the starting area in the blink of an eye. What Works: A Roguelike Where Time Is Of The Essence In Chrono Ark, battles need to be done quickly and efficiently. Characters can get hurt from storms if they spend too much time in a battle, bosses have powerful mechanics that are dangerous in a battle of attrition and even a relaxed situation can become critical due to new foes appearing or party members becoming exhausted. In this balancing act, we can see that Chrono Ark as a roguelike game can be quite challenging but also extremely fun to play as each turn you take risks and maneuver your options to try to execute the most optimal play. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3375127834 The diverse cast of characters keeps things fresh, as each of them presents their particular playstyle, synergies, and roles. For example. Azar is a damage dealer who when using his skills, can generate blades that are free to play with no cost. While that's great, generating blades takes up actions and he requires a lot of them, which means other party members will have a harder time acting in battle as Azar requires a lot of mana. With one character we can see that the game philosophy shines in having pros and cons to every strategy. The story is very well written, with a lot of plot twists and surprising dark tones which is reinforced by the blue-ish palette of the game and the beautiful art design of the characters. I was quite shocked by some of the developments and even though I found the final section to be a bit dull, for the majority of the game I had a great time going through its narrative. [H1] What Doesn't Work, A Slow Burn That Is Exhausting On the other hand, Chrono Ark does suffer from not having enough variety when it comes to enemies and environments. After losing a few runs you can find yourself doing the same paths and gameplay loop that you have previously gone through with minimal differences, which can be tedious at times. While fans of Roguelikes will probably be able to keep going without an issue, newcomers or RPG fans could feel a dull loop that can burn them out of the game, once bosses' mechanics are learned they are no longer challenging and it can feel like a waste of time trying to reach the area you were in before. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3375126423 "That's how roguelikes are supposed to be" I agree, but the main issue is that a good roguelike needs variety, both for the player in terms of options and for enemies to keep things fresh in the long run. Chrono Ark succeeds in the former but fails in the latter, creating a weird imbalance that feels half-baked. In addition to these issues, the game also suffers from a poorly done tutorial and an overwhelming complexity for newcomers. A more gradual introduction would have worked better, and the layout is placated with issues where it can be hard to know who has which buffs and debuffs as well as boss mechanics, especially if playing with a SteamDeck or a controller. Why must I press 4-6 buttons to see a simple debuff? A better layout that presents information would have been appreciated. Price Point Analysis and Replayability At 25$ 25, Chrono Ark offers a lot of content for a decent price. The story will last for a while and while the gameplay can be dull at times, it also remains fresh in other instances thanks to its huge roster of characters and team combinations. That being said, the DLC comes in two packages that will cost you 20$ extra, and these can be hard to skip as they feature new animations, visuals, costumes, skills, and equipment. The whole complete bundle cost around 40$, which while I consider a bit expensive, can be worth it for fans of the genre. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3375127267 In terms of replayability I think that by the time one beats the story, they usually move on, but during the whole journey, it can offer between 15-40 hours of gameplay. For newcomers, think carefully if running loops is fun to you before buying, especially at full price. Conclusion Chrono Ark is a game that kept me awake for a couple of nights after seeing the whole story and I kept reminding myself of its characters and narrative. The gameplay is a lot of fun with all the options it presents to the player, and while it was a slow burn, it can be a thrilling experience for anime fans looking for a deep roguelike deckbuilder. Newcomers be warned that if you are not into repetition in terms of pathing you will suffer from an exhausting run as you play the game. While complex and confusing at times, mastering its combat system is extremely rewarding and is well worth the effort. [TABLE] [TR] [TH][H3]The Good[/H3][/TH] [TH][H3]The Bad[/H3][/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TD] [*] ✔️ Beautiful art for characters and story visuals. [*] ✔️ Bosses with mechanics that require attention, are a challenge at all times. [*] ✔️ A huge roster of characters makes for a fun time building the ultimate teams. [*]✔️ Story with dark narratives that are deeply captivating. [*] ✔️ While pricey, the DLC adds good content that makes the game better. [/TD] [TD] [*] ❌Slowly builds up a slow burn due to a lack of foes and environments. [*] ❌Despite looking simple, it demands the most optimal plays to succeed. [/TD] 7/10 GREAT :) If you enjoy and find the review helpful, please follow my curator! [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43679955/] StarsDeck
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For those who wonder what is the recent drama of this game: The recent game updates have broken a large amount of mods. One of the devs argued with mod creators in Chinese community, continued ignoring their opinions, and finally muted the mod creators (one of them is also the founder of the Workshop support of this game, as acknowledged in the contribution list of the game). As a result, a few mod creators left the community and deleted their mods. You can see the devs' apology message in the most recent news in the steam page. If you are a player who just wants to play the game and doesn't care about dramas, this game is truly one of the best deckbuilding rougelite games. If you only play the vanilla game, nothing will be affected and you can just enjoy the game. If you would like to add a few mods, there are still hundreds of mods and some of the deleted mods are brought back by others, so you can still enjoy the QOL additions, new characters, and new enemies from the mods. Although the development of some new mods may be delayed because of the incident.
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Genuinely one of the best roguelike deckbuilders. If you can embrace the anime theme, the story is good, the characters amazing, the cards unique and fantastic. The min-maxing strong, the bosses crazy. The final boss fights will make you take several days to recover from. Recent negative reviews are because of a controversy regarding the way a developer interacted with a modder. It has nothing to do with the game itself. The dev was in the wrong and has been punished, so the correct steps were taken. The game itself still stands as an incredible example of a roguelike deckbuilder.
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Chrono Ark is a phenomenal game and deserves far more recognition. I got the game just a month ago, and was instantly hooked by the unique gameplay mechanics as a deckbuilder, the constantly evolving story – yes, an actual start-to-finish story – and the large cast of characters. Gameplay You're buying a deckbuilder. There's lots of them, and gameplay is king in this genre, so you're probably asking "Why play this over Slay the Spire or Monster Train or Balatro?" The story, but we'll get back to that… The gameplay is a mix of an RPG and deckbuilder. You control the main character, Lucy, and up to four allies from a roster of 20. Each character has their own unique set of 12 cards to choose from, and each character’s cards combine to form your full deck. Each character feels unique with their own mechanics and keywords, and covers a lot of build space with each character usually offering two similar themes. A lot of the fun is finding new synergies between characters. Lucy, as the party leader, also has her own set of cards, providing support such as extra mana, mana efficiency and card draw. Gameplay takes place on a hex grid with points of interest and combat encounters that block the way, ending with a boss arena on the right-side of the map. You can obtain relics that modify gameplay (just like Slay the Spire relics), and each character can also equip items that improve their own stats, or level up and learn new skills. In a word, the deckbuilding part really comes down to choice . Every single point of interest and every chest gives you something to choose between; you might choose to discover a blood donation clinic that pays with keys, or an alchemist's hut for extra potions. Of course, they might not always be good choices, but you will never have an option that is worse than nothing where “skipping rewards" becomes the best play, unlike other games. Unwanted items may have a use with the right building, and even curses can be lifted. Deck thinning is not a concern in the game either; if a character learns a new skill, they can freely forget a different skill if they have more than 6, letting you focus on incremental improvements instead. Though you can still manipulate deck size by adding and playing ‘Once’ cards, similar to Exhaust. In combat, there are almost too many mechanics to cover in a single review, but there is an excellent tutorial that covers the general ones. Combat is turn-based but with a twist: Enemies have an 'action timer' instead. As you play cards, the timer ticks down, and will perform their action when their timer reaches 0. This makes turns less of a back-and-forth and you have to respect when enemies act. Some enemies and cards also directly play with the action timer too, such as applying short term buffs, or dealing counter attacks. Other mechanics include managing mana costs between characters with overload, which increases costs of cards played by the same character per turn. The health system also has surprising depth with healing gauge and ‘death's door’, and several characters encourage you to play around with it such as the crazed swordsman Hein. The flexibility and choice in the overworld is also present in combat too; you can exchange a card for a new one each turn, and each party member can also select one card to be a 'fixed ability' that can always be played no matter what cards you drew. And the game features a wide range of difficulty modes such as Expert, Blood Mist, a harder side dungeon, as well as Workshop support with the popular Expert+ mode which has further modifiers of its own such as Despair Mode, if you have A20 down. And there is also an easier Hope Mode if you just want to see more of the story... Story Roguelikes aren't known for their story; playing repeated runs is a tricky template to work with narratively and is usually brushed aside or contained in small lore snippets. Chrono Ark is an unparalleled exception to this rule. The story is a deep visual novel told both during runs and backstory from records you can find and play between runs that give hints about the history of the Ark. It has a lot of mystery and emotional moments throughout and could keep you thinking for hours, finding connections in dialogue with the current story and background records. It is indeed 'best played blind', though you need something more than that... The story starts with the world suffering a Great Catastrophe. A thick black fog rolled across the whole world leaving monsters in its wake. Scientists rushed to construct a floating Ark as a safe haven from the fog. However, the scientists inexplicably disappeared, and could only get a final message out to the world: "Activate the Clock Tower to restore the world". To turn back time to before the Catastrophe. The girl in the title card, Lucy, is found to be the Girl of Prophecy that the inhabitants of the Ark have been hoping for, for only she has the power to locate the 'Time Shades' that are needed to power the Clock Tower. She is then tasked to lead the Investigation Team into the unknowable Twisted Land outside the safety of the Ark for the Time Shades, and hopefully, activate the Clock Tower. However, not all is as it seems . As you explore the Twisted Land, you might experience things that seem out of place, and come across lore notes that tell fragments of the history of the Ark and its inhabitants. From the very start, questions arise: What was that vision, a dream? And why is the loop counter at 499? There are many characters in the story, each with their own complex motivations. Outside of the main story, each of the investigators can also be given gifts during a run, and will have conversations with Lucy while at camp between stages. Some characters have more involvement in the main story than others, but all have their own story arc to tell. They will also have banter and comments on one another's combat style. Other elements and closing The OST is fantastic, especially during boss fights. The character and card art is great. The sound effects are more standard fare but do the job well, and there's a few standouts like Silverstein’s Mosin ping . The gameplay UI is also clean and well presented. This is a very unassuming game at first, but this is a masterpiece of a game that is well worth the price even if you aren't a fan of the deckbuilder genre. The story itself is enough to carry the game; the innovative gameplay and character design seals it. There's even a phoenix that throws bread. Yes, bread.
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won the game on the first try and the fucking tutorial bird said "damn you weren't supposed to do that" and killed me 10/10
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Last Updates
| Steam data | 21 November 2024 00:20 |
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| SteamSpy data | 18 January 2025 05:35 |
| Steam price | 22 January 2025 20:50 |
| Steam reviews | 21 January 2025 10:05 |
