Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate is the latest addition to MyDearest Inc.'s Chronos Series, a line of VR novels dealing with time's intricacies. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Episode 1 Review Overview
Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Episode 1 Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Amazing Voice Acting Unique Detective Simulator Well-Written, Intriguing Plot |
Loading Screen: The Game Little Attention To Aesthetic Detail Awkward Controls |
Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Episode 1 Overall - 72/100
Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate - Definitive Edition Episode 1 is another strong title by the developers with a line of successful VR novels. Although it has failed to completely adapt its VR gameplay to the controls of a Nintendo Switch and is plagued by increasingly annoying walking sections and loading screens, the product is still an engaging piece of gaming literature that anybody, particularly those without a VR set, can enjoy.
Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Episode 1 Story - 8/10
The game's story is a tangle of intrigue and suspense that manages to tie itself into a neat bow at the end. The narrative sections are wonderfully-paced and enjoyable to read and engage yourself in. Its only real issues are that many terms are introduced without context at inappropriate times and that the gameplay itself somewhat burdens its overall pacing.
Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Episode 1 Gameplay - 7/10
It has quite a comprehensive gameplay that simulates what it feels like to wear a real investigator's shoes, interspersed with great moments of character development and worldbuilding. However, it has utterly neglected everything in between, making a significant percentage of the game a dull walking simulator. Additionally, vestiges of its original gameplay designed for VR are still present in this Switch port, making controls quite awkward at times.
Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Episode 1 Visuals - 6/10
Although it pains me to give such a relatively low score for Dyschronia's visuals, considering its character designer is LAM, one of my favorite artists of all time, the game, unfortunately, suffers from an extremely drab environment. Besides a few interactable objects scattered throughout each area, everything else is designed to be as barebones as possible.
Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Episode 1 Audio - 7/10
As expected of a game made by a developer with many years of experience creating visual novels, their voice-acting standards are impeccable. On the other hand, they seem to have forgotten that a game's audio quality isn't entirely dictated by the quality of their voice acting but also by their tracks and other sources of sound.
Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Episode 1 Value for Money - 8/10
Regardless of my complaints regarding its gameplay, visuals, and audio, Dyschronia's Switch port is still worth getting, especially if you don't have a VR setup to try its original releases. It still has a story worth being proud of, and the investigative sections are pretty fun regardless of the boring walks needed to reach them.
Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate (Switch) Episode 1 Review: An Intriguing Loading Screen Simulator
I can imagine how difficult it is to transfer gameplay meant to be worked with both hands into the static controls of a console. You'll have to limit the interactivity that a VR game uniquely possesses into more rigid formats that console gamepads can handle.
Since Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate's gameplay was originally an interactive VR mystery novel, I had already expected that its Nintendo Switch port wouldn't be done perfectly. Fortunately, that expectation prepared me for its release, so I wasn't too disappointed with the result. In the end, I could even appreciate their efforts since the port wasn't all too bad, all things considered.
Dyschronia's controls are well-integrated with that of the Switch. Even though some aspects feel awkward, it's hard to imagine them doing things better without overhauling the gameplay. At the very least, it doesn't entirely drag the narrative down under its porting alone. Instead, it's dragged down by the same issue that both the original VR iteration and its port possess: excessive walking sections.
Okay, to be fair, that's kind of hard to avoid, too.
Overall, Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate - Definitive Edition is a great port to the Nintendo Switch. Sure, it has its issues, including a few major ones, such as its annoyingly frequent loading screens and incredibly dull level design. However, it still delivers MyDearest Inc.'s suspenseful and gripping tale very well.
Pros of Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Episode 1
| Things Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Episode 1 Got Right |
|---|
|
Amazing Voice Acting Unique Detective Simulator Well-Written, Intriguing Plot |
Amazing Voice Acting
Obviously, a developer with decades of experience creating visual novels would know how vital quality voice acting is for these games. Compared to the classics, where the only things that accompanied our reading are the game's mellow tunes and the occasional sound effect when scrolling through text, many modern visual novels have embraced voice acting to take their readers' immersion to the next level.
Dyschronia's voice acting cast is an all-star lineup featuring some of the industry's giants, such as Shoya Chiba, who voiced characters such as Kiyotaka Ayanokoji in Classroom of the Elite, and Azumi Waki, who imparted her voice to the likes of Hinata Tachibana of Tokyo Revengers.
The effect is readily apparent. Every conversation held in Dyschronia is an engaging exchange of dialogue between two well-characterized characters, ensuring that the contents of their lines are memorable for later use during its gameplay.
Unique Detective Simulator
Like many other mystery games with detective work involved, a significant section of Dyschronia's gameplay involves snooping around to look for clues. However, unlike other mystery games, Dyschronia adds its own twist to the gameplay using the protagonist's ability to read the memories of the objects around him.
This ability isn't omnipotent, however. It's impossible to recreate every event surrounding a crime, for example. That's because objects, lacking any mental faculties that support any kind of memory retention, can only recall very short fragments of a major occurrence.
However, the protagonist's ability has another layer to its power - he can change the past to a limited capacity as long as it has something to do with the object being scrutinized. This adds a new dimension to Dyschronia's gameplay, where you must observe each recollection to determine what events you can influence to help you solve a problem. These can be anything from changing where an object is placed to keeping a terminal unlocked for subsequent use.
Although the things you can change, logically speaking, should be infinitesimally large, the game does a great job of giving you hints on what particular event you need to influence to arrive at an answer. All it really takes is a pair of brain cells to rub and a decent enough attention span to catch onto its hints.
Well-Written, Intriguing Plot
Although Dyschronia's plot isn't really new, which shouldn't come off as a surprise nowadays, it's still full of twists and turns hidden behind the same veil of mystery that necessitates investigations.
It starts by throwing you right into what qualifies as a bad end: surrounded by ruined buildings, hunted by hostile drones, and separated from your friends. This is a strong opening hook to catch your interest and a good place to shove a tutorial down your throat.
The game is able to maintain your interest with ease through copious amounts of worldbuilding that occurs alongside your efforts to solve crime. On top of that, the characters themselves have winding backstories that reveal a fascinating history.
It would have had a near-perfect narrative pace without such frequent and bothersome walking sections and loading screens.
Cons of Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Episode 1
| Things That Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Episode 1 Can Improve |
|---|
|
Loading Screen: The Game Little Attention To Aesthetic Detail Awkward Controls |
Loading Screen: The Game
This, by far, is the game's biggest sin.
Perhaps in an attempt to keep resource usage to a minimum, each of the game's areas is separated by loading screens regardless of its size. That means you'll frequently see the increasingly annoying black screen and rotating graphic on the bottom-right corner.
In addition, there are also recurrent "mini loading screens" throughout the game. These appear as simple blackouts and are meant to block your view of the characters changing positions around the area (imagine teleportation). Although every character does have nicely animated actions, it's pretty inconsistent with where and when it decides to put a blindfold on you. This is particularly true whenever characters change their resting postures. For example, there will be times when you'll get to see a character walk toward you and take a seat without a single cut in the scene. On the other hand, you'll also encounter moments where the screen blacks out just to let a character take a seat.
If this wasn't such a frequent occurrence, then it wouldn't be that big of a deal. However, considering that some areas can be as small as nine square feet and have multiple doors, you'll unfortunately encounter the game's loading screen more times than most could possibly tolerate.
Little Attention To Aesthetic Detail
Despite the game's fantastic character models and special effects, its overall vibe is quite dull. Not dead, mind you, since that's part of the aesthetic the game is trying to assume. What I mean by "dull" is that even its aim of delivering a monotonous, suffocating atmosphere is easily lost due to many factors.
For example, environmental design lacks any kind of personality. It delivers neither the "caged bird" feeling of being ruled over by a monolithic entity nor the "dead" aesthetic of a society mostly forced into digitization to escape an outside threat. Instead, it looks like templates taken from a public database and slapped into the game without much care.
There's also an almost complete lack of background noise and the absence of a noteworthy track to raise immersion. This is incredibly offensive in some busy regions of the game where you would expect citizens to maintain a constant stream of chatter. Instead, you only get an uncharacteristic silence from the mob and droning music that promotes no attachment to the scenario.
Awkward Controls
Dyschronia was initially designed to be played on a VR set. Despite their best efforts in porting the game to the Nintendo Switch, vestiges of its VR-centric gameplay can still be seen here and there. This is particularly true for its awkward camera controls. Not only does it feel cumbersome, but it's also awkward in a way that makes it evident that the areas were designed for a VR player's ability to reposition their entire bodies.
Aiming also causes some issues in certain parts of the game. For example, when two items of interest are located right next to each other, it can take a fair bit of maneuvering to interact with the smaller object among the pair.
Although it doesn't affect the entire experience significantly, it's still an annoying part of the game that won't disappear.
Is Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Episode 1 Worth It?
If You're A Fan Of Intrigue, Yes.
If you don't have a VR set to play the game the way it was initially meant to be played, getting Dyschronia for the Switch is definitely worth the price for its intriguing story alone. However, if you're the kind of person who prefers to invest more toward a title's gameplay, then consider waiting for a sale.
Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Episode 1 Overview & Premise
You are Special Supervisor Hal Scion, an inspector who can read and rewrite the past of objects. During the day you pass the test to become a supervisor, you are suddenly tasked with solving a murder case with extraordinary circumstances. During your investigations, you realize this case is more than it seems.
Mysterious visitors, a prophesied disaster, and essential details hidden behind the thick fog of amnesia - it's up to you to use your skills and save the day.
Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Episode 1 FAQ
Is Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Available On Steam?
As of writing this review, the game has a Steam Shop page titled "DYSCHRONIA: Chronos Alternate - Dual Edition." However, it's not yet released.
Does Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Have A PC Port?
Yes, the game is available to be played on Meta Quest.
Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Episode 1 Product Information
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| Title | DYSCHRONIA: CHRONOS ALTERNATE EPISODE 1 DEFINITIVE EDITION |
|---|---|
| Release Date | November 21, 2023 |
| Developer | MyDearest Inc. |
| Publisher | IzanagiGames |
| Supported Platforms | Nintendo Switch |
| Genre | Mystery, Adventure |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | Teen |
| Official Website | Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Episode 1 Website |
