We've had plenty of excellent pixel art action RPGs and soulslikes over recent years, and Chrono Sword is the latest newcomer looking to join the club. With a Diablo-style isometric view, a Dark Souls solemn fantasy setting, and characters that bring an anime vibe, it certainly looks unique. If that sounds like your bag, then you may not have much longer left to wait to play it, as Chrono Sword is lining up an early access Steam launch later this year.
The RPG is being developed by a small Korean studio called 21c.Ducks, and publisher CFK is going to be distributing the game globally. It's had a pretty long time in the oven - Chrono Sword was first revealed all the way back in 2019 - but it's attracted a lot of interest, raising over $70,000 on Kickstarter.
As well as its soulslike combat and aesthetic, another big hook for Chrono Sword is time travel. You can traverse the game's fantasy world of Andelor in the past, present, and future, "switching between maps seamlessly with no loading screens," according to the developer. While maybe not quite as visually impressive, it certainly gives similar vibes to what one of last year's big triple-A soulslike games, Lords of the Fallen, achieved by layering two realms of the same location on top of one another.
Gameplay footage from earlier builds of Chrono Sword, which you can watch above, shows some quick snippets of this time travel in action, and also features glimpses of traversal and boss fights.
The game also features a voiced protagonist, Aenor, and a cast of allies that you'll meet throughout your journey. There's a definite anime feel to both Aenor's delivery and the designs of the characters, which is not exactly what you'd expect from the gloomy fantasy setting. All of these characters can time travel, and the overarching narrative involves the group going back and forth in time to prevent the "annihilation of the world" in the present. High stakes, indeed.
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