Chrono Odyssey is a highly anticipated MMORPG where you are tasked to control time and save the world from destruction. Read on to learn everything we know, our review of the demo, and more.
Everything We Know About Chrono Odyssey
Chrono Odyssey Plot
Although specific plot details are yet to be revealed, Chrono Odyssey’s official website has shed some light on the game’s overarching narrative. Chrono Odyssey’s story covers an ongoing war against the Void which has been raging since the beginning of time itself. With your newly acquired control over space-time and the alliances you form throughout your journeys, you may just yet conquer the lands you discover.
The lands of Setera are wild, untamed, and rife with the Void’s emissaries. Will you be the one to turn the tide?
Chrono Odyssey Gameplay
Much of Chrono Odyssey’s gameplay was revealed in its latest trailer. It seems to be a cross between the frenetic frontline action often seen in souls-likes and the tactical takedown of monstrous beasts many associate with the Monster Hunter series.
Keeping the game’s MMORPG angle in mind, most encounters seem to be team-based skirmishes set in an open-world environment filled with sprawling vistas and jaw-dropping monuments. Think Elden Ring meets Breath of The Wild in terms of grandiose settings.
In addition to traditional weaponry and skills, your character is also gifted with an artifact that grants them control over space-time, allowing them to accomplish feats like rewinding time, freezing enemies in place, and making their attacks move faster.
Chrono Odyssey Release Date
Chrono Odyssey will be arriving to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. According to the game’s Steam and PSN pages, Chrono Odyssey’s release date and time are yet to be announced.
Chrono Odyssey Review (Demo)
It’s no secret that MMOs have been a dying breed. We can’t exactly pinpoint when and how it happened, but it’s common knowledge that there’s been less and less popping up here and there. Yet, they’re still considered a constant that exists because of how much they offer to interested players. The unique online social aspect with player interaction, massive amount of content that ranges from cooperative PvE and competitive PvP, and just being able to play something long term make MMOs unique among other genres.
As an enjoyer of many MMOs, I still can’t help but tune in to new announcements of upcoming games in the genre. Comparing this MMO to that MMO has been one of my favorite things to do as of late, since you can see that there are a lot of features that other games in the genre would definitely benefit from, which is why we’re doing so with Chrono Odyssey, a new MMORPG created by Npixel. The game has boasted an eye-catching appearance with its initial trailers and those that came after. However, is it worth the hype? Or is it just another MMO that’s eye candy to be left by the wayside?
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Beautiful Characters, Problematic Visuals
Those who are familiar with Korean-made MMOs would know that they have a certain affinity for graphics and visuals. Chrono Odyssey is no different. One of the main focal points of the game is the graphics, especially the character models. Right off the bat, the character creation options are massive for an MMO, and the number of sliders and choices that you have are staggering compared to its competitors.
However, it’s not all great news since there were several problems during gameplay concerning visuals. One of which was that the lighting was inconsistent and affected most of the starting area. It kept illuminating different spots in the area and affected performance heavily. Another was the color grading, as things got way too dark to the point where enemies became a problem to see. Here’s hoping that these issues get fixed since this is still a beta.
Decent Presentation and Plot
The story of Chrono Odyssey is a doozy, I would say, but the main idea is that you’re tasked to change the events of the future by going back to the past using a relic that lets you control time. The setup is decent, if not a little cliché. It’s a classic go-back-in-time plot where the big bad is established to be too strong to deal with in the present timeline. Everything else would probably depend on how well people like reading dialogue after being exposed to a lot of cinematic cutscenes. Especially since the difference between them is massive when it comes to experiencing the story. It’s not as if it’s unbearable, but being introduced to the game using rendered cinematics and then jumping over to unvoiced dialogue does make it a lot jarring than usual.
Clunky Combat and Choppy Gameplay Experience
Coming from other Korean MMOs, one element of gameplay that they always have is quick combat and engaging gameplay. Sadly, it seems that Chrono Odyssey did not inherit this likeness to an immediate degree. Let me explain.
The game features six different classes, each of which has three available weapons to choose from, and only two can be equipped at once. Having two weapons at once means that you have access to two different weapon skill trees and movesets during combat. Later down the line, there are benefits to switching weapons on the fly, as it can give you bonuses depending on the nodes in the weapon skill tree.
While it seems like having access to two weapons is good and all, the combat system feels very sluggish when using both of them to their full extent. The combat system functions similarly to that of a modern action RPG with a stamina bar. Every action takes up a chunk of stamina, and dodging also requires you to have some to successfully execute. In my experience, it didn’t immediately click with me since the prologue lets you play a higher-level version of the class you choose.
One concrete example of realizing Chrono Odyssey’s slow combat pace was fighting the first major story boss. Chaining actions together felt awkward and janky, which was aggravated by the fact that the animations weren’t resolving properly. The only thing that felt natural was using a skill, then a basic attack right after, but everything else felt unresponsive and unsatisfying to do.
Although I did beat it after a few minutes, it felt as if I was both fighting against the controls and the fact that I was undergeared and underleveled. It could also just be a skill issue on my end, but it doesn’t change the fact that it didn’t feel natural or satisfying to move around and fight enemies and bosses. Overall, combat was a lot slower than I imagined it would be, but maybe that’s just because it’s still early in the game, and max stamina is still a lot lower.
Let’s circle back to the gameplay outside of combat. The game features an open-world design where you’ll be busy with gathering, crafting, fighting, and more. That being said, the open-world design of the game gets slowed down due to the gathering and looting elements. When gathering or looting a node, your character requires you to stop moving and stand still for it to finish picking up whatever it is you're gathering or looting. With the amount of nodes to interact with, this destroys the overall pace as you move from multiple points of interest.
It’s not as if you’re forced to gather or collect from nodes, but it’s beneficial for you to pick up crafting materials to be able to create items and further accelerate your leveling process. So, pairing up the clunky combat and the choppy interactions of the open-world design makes for an odd experience where you expect things to be a lot faster than they seem but end up with a sluggish experience.
Needs a Lot More Time
Now, to go back to our original question, is Chrono Odyssey worth the hype? Not exactly. It looks good, and performance issues can be fixed as it continues to develop, but the game’s sluggish pace will prove to be the main deterrent for people. As it stands, it does look as if it’s only eye candy and will need a lot more to add to the experience to make it a worthwhile investment. Moreover, the game still doesn’t have a scheduled release date or a price point, meaning that everything that’s being tested now is still pretty much up in the air in terms of content and value.
Despite all this, I do hope that the game does improve after the initial playtest. The foundation of the game does shine through its cracks, and there are positives underneath what seems to be a janky experience. Let’s just cross our fingers that the game doesn’t die as soon as it hits the market, as with a lot of MMOs as of late.
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Chrono Odyssey Product Information
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| Title | CHRONO ODYSSEY |
|---|---|
| Release Date | TBA |
| Developer | Npixel, Gameplex Co., Ltd., Chrono Studio Co,. Ltd., Chrono Studio |
| Publisher | Npixel, Kakao Games |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam, Epic Game Store), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S |
| Genre | Action, MMORPG |
| Number of Players | Online Multiplayer |
| ESRB Rating | ESRB M 17+ |
| Official Website | Chrono Odyssey Website |
