The Chrono Jotter on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
The Chrono Jotter is a mystery and suspense visual novel that follows the steps of Ran Ibuki, a high-school student, as she investigates against the clock to discover who's killing her new classmates -- and avenge the murder of her girlfriend. Are you ready for this savage feast of life and death?
The Chrono Jotter is a visual novel, indie and female protagonist game
developed by Orca Layout
and published by Orca Layout and 2P Games.
Released on August 25th 2021 is available only on Windows
in 2 languages: Simplified Chinese and English.
It has received 1,913 reviews of which 1,812 were positive and 101 were negative resulting in an impressive rating of 9.0 out of 10. 😍
The game is currently priced at 9.99€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified The Chrono Jotter into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
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System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS *: Windows Vista/7/8/10
- Processor: 1.6Ghz Single Core
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Graphics: 1280 x 720 or Greater Resolution
- Storage: 6 GB available space
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
[Does NOT work on steamdeck even after trying the usual fixes. You'll need to use remote play] The game's translation has been updated and it is close to perfect. Also, I have left comments open, so if you have a question feel free to ask it. The game is respectful of its cast, setting, sexualities, and depiction of mental illnesses. In this particular visual novel genre where "anime characters are stuck in a deadly situation", you sometimes have games that are actually just trojan horses for weird sexual/torture material. Thankfully, this is not that kind of game. The characters feel human and distinct, with unique interactions. This includes the central character named Ran, who is very brash and kind of rude sometimes. There are actually a lot of interesting things going on with her, and as a character I found her intruiging. Despite taking place at an old school with a cast of highschoolers (sorta), the setting is much more than it appears. I found it pretty interesting and I believe it subverts expectations. The game has nice additional features/little touches: You can overhear side conversations which will pop up as speech bubbles. Unusual terms or worldbuilding tidbits are added to a journal, and they're absolutely worth reading. The main character will doodle and add notes to remind you of what happened in a chapter while still making it feel natural and not like a systematic "quest log". A lot of the game will adjust itself to your choices even if those choices feel mostly cosmetic, with characters mentioning past interactions. This can include mentions during the detective portions of the game, since who you spend time with can initially change who is perceived as most suspicious, even if the method and guilty party remain unchanged. The plot is actually somewhat mellow but is paced quite well! While I didn't feel like there were any real "twists" or surprises to the story, oftentimes random pieces of alarming information would be casually discussed by the cast. Despite being able to deduce who is responsible for what almost immediately, all the cases/investigations still unfolded in a way that was fun and interesting. The rest of the overarching plot was weird but the game guided me to most of the conclusions naturally, although the end was a bit of an info-dump (though not an unpleasant one). The music is all pretty good. I rarely enjoy the "happy times" / "calm times" background music in visual novels but I really dig some of these tracks. One of them has a nice groovy bass line. Sidenote: The game only has 3 save slots. This is totally fine and is all you'll need, but I wish there were a few more slots so that I could have bookmarked some moments with nice art / nice music in order to show them to my boyfriend later. TLDR This game is both wholesome and gut-wrenching at the same time. So if you like these mystery VNs, go ahead and dig in. There are a few scenes of art/CGs that are just cool as hell.
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I originally bought this game a long while ago, but decided to wait for the retranslation before playing. And I can now say that the wait was 100% worth it. At first I expected a yuri horror game, but while it didn't meet my horror game expectations, it still delivered with a gloomy and at times uncomfortable setting. The game has bigger and smaller mysteries that need to get solved and contribute to very interesting character developments throughout the cast. Every single character was very interesting to get to know to and the main character provided a lense that was just as interesting as everyone else. Ultimately, it was very satisfying following along and solving all the murder cases. The game also delivers thoroughly on the yuri front, it explores some very unique relationships in all of their beauty and ugliness. Every uncomfortable layer that gets unveiled makes the characters and their relationships all the more beautiful. By the end, I was glad I got to know every character in this story. If the developers plan for more, then I'm excited to see where it goes. I just hope a proper english translation will be taken into account right from the beginning. The characters are so intricately woven and their actions towards each other carry so much nuance, I don't think MTL would have done any of this justice. I'm glad it got another translation by people passionate about this story.
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A fairly short but well-made mystery/supernatural VN. Linear but with choices that impact your understanding of the story, with 2 ends [one bad one good] made at the very end of the game. Comes with a basic stat system which didn't work on my end, for some reason I never gained temporary points (used to boost stats) despite the game saying I would. Game recently got a proper English translation to replace the old machine-translated one, so feel free to disregard any bad reviews based on poor translation, I failed to spot any problems with it now.
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This game is absolutely one of the best VNs that I've played not just this year, but in general, and I warmly recommend it. This is a spoiler-free review (everything that I mention is in the first 5 minutes of the game or in the store description). POSITIVES: -The game doesn't overstay its welcome. If you are a VN enthusiast like me you are probably familiar with the giants of the genre - not only in terms of the scope of the story but also in terms of playing time and filler. This game does not fall into the trap of endless filler, on the contrary: I wouldn't mind it being longer, because it was such a joy to play. -The characters are well-written. In my years of playing VNs, I've learned to tolerate many types of casts, except for the truly abyssmal ones; the cast in this game is interesting and, by the end of the story, there wasn't a single character that I disliked, or that I thought shouldn't be in the story. Their interpersonal relationships were well-handled and interesting to experience, and some of the characters stayed with me even after finishing the game. -The main character, the story, and the mechanics. The main character is one of the most complex and enjoyable to play characters that I've ever witnessed in VNs. The MC has a distinct personality and complex ways of thinking, and the game mechanics (the notebook, and particularly the Recall mechanic) make sense in the story and aren't just there for the sake of something being added. The only thing that I think could have been handled better is the stat check system, because if it allows you to raise stats with temporary points it loses its purpose. Instead, it could have been tied to story or recall events, for example, which would further emphasise the use of the Recall function. Furthermore, the MC's schizophrenia is handled respectfully and I've never felt like it was added just for the sake of creepiness or mystery in a way that many other VNs include and handle mental illness. -The writing of the game is tight and the script is compelling. -The game has that specific indie charm, or as another commenter put it, roughness. This, in my opinion at least, is an absolutely overwhelming positive, because a lot of the commercial VNs lose their soul and identity in the polish. This game's occasional clumsiness adds to the story experience, because the entire mood of the game allows for the rough indie feel. I'm not sure how to properly explain what I mean by "indie roughness", but if you've played a lot of big-name VNs before playing this, I think you'll know exactly what I mean. It's the robustness of the choices, the non-pandering of the writing, the vibe of those older pixel horror games where the game itself, not just the story, is just a little strange and unsettling. -People have commented on the old translation, so I want to assure you that the new translation is great, no problems at all. NEUTRAL/NEGATIVES: -The game could have benefitted from another chapter, or longer chapters. Even though it didn't feel rushed or incomplete, some parts could have been expanded a little. This is definitely not a major problem, just a thought that I've had by the end of the game. -The bugs. There are some visual bugs like text not properly lining up in the notebook, the weird resolution after you first open the game, but nothing game-breaking or inconvenient. CONCLUSION: Play the game. Especially if you appreciate horror, weird plots, complex MCs, sapphic love stories, detective games; in that case I'd say this title is unskippable. For specific games, if you like Danganronpa, YTTD, and similar titles, this game will almost certainly be an enjoyable experience for you.
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I'm almost inconsolable after finishing this. Especially given the newly-revamped translation, please don't hesitate to pick this game up! This is an extremely under-looked gem, and I truly wish it was given more attention. The writing is uniquely rich, complex, and in many ways... healing? I felt like some of my own struggles were reflected here. There was such sincerity in which the narrative chooses to frame identity, alienation, and meaning within the existential struggles of connection and queer love. I witnessed something really beautiful and bittersweet. My only point of grief is that I wish we were given even more, haha. Please keep an eye on Orca Layout's games in the future! It looks like they're making some incredible stories-- and they definitely deserve their flowers for this one.
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Last Updates| Steam data | 08 April 2025 22:01 |
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| SteamSpy data | 07 April 2025 17:32 |
| Steam price | 13 April 2025 04:38 |
| Steam reviews | 10 April 2025 19:55 |
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Online players
2
Developer
Orca Layout
Publisher
Orca Layout,
2P Games
Release
25 Aug 2021
Platforms