Chrono Ark

Very, very good. The card system is deep, characters have enough moves that each has multiple possible playstyles, synergies are both implied and directly built into the game, boss fights are usually challenging but not unfair... it's been a long time since I've played a game where I can't really think of anything negative to say about it. Highly recommended.

This is the exact kind of game Roguelike Deckbuilders should be. Fun, good battle mechanics, and the ability to lose even when you feel as though you've become OP during your run. It's stylistic to boot!

Gameplay: 10/10, interaction between character abilities: 7/10, animation style: 10/10, story: 10/10, ruined runs based on RNG:2% approximately. If you get a bugg, hopefully it's not a bad one.

Overall, an 8/10 for me. The only thing preventing this game from a full 10/10 in my opinion are the bugs that pop up and their severity.

Bugs/flaws: Once I started a boss fight and the screen went completely black. The only information I had was when I would hover over cards/abilities to select. The next bug I encountered was on the final boss of a run. When I entered the pre-castle area... Well, when I should have been entering it, I came to a room with nothing loaded in but a small area on the map that had nothing in it. I reset the game, and was confined to a single hexigon space rather than loading in the map appropriately.

I listed the bugs first because they were much easier to list than all the positives of the game. The storyline get's into trans-human philosophy. (What comes after humanity, not the ever so common usage of "Trans" now in days) I loved the story, the characters have synergy with one another (and some don't, you get a feel for which ones don't work off of eachother's mechanics), After skipping so many memories because I enjoyed the game aspect more than sleeping in bed all day, looking into the past, I was pulled into the story through separate events that happened during the playthroughs. You've got your waifus, your cringe boys, your chads, and Lucy, the MC of the story.

I'm already a fan of Party based RPGs, Deckbuilding, and Time Loops, but this game also provides multiple difficulty options and a wide cast of characters that make each run feel dynamic and varied, while also letting you unlock new Passive Buffs and unique Gear that let you find new high-roll combos at a pace that feels natural to learn.

The music and story slap as well, though that's harder to convey in a text based review.

I bought this game simply for the roguelike deckbuilder experience, but I was pleasantly surprised to find myself completely hooked by the story and visual novel elements.

Good difficult roguelike. Limited meta-progression, enough to help you learn the game but you'll live or die by tactics much more than stats. The true final boss is epic.

Short answer: 7/10

A tiny bit longer answer:
This game in terms of gameplay and replayability is a really high contender to be the best of its kind.
Sadly this game will be lackluster in terms of story, the visual novel story is not bad at all but it aint really good writing I believe it to be mid, some people says in the reviews that the story is really good but it aint.

It sadly suffers from not delving deeper in what it could have done, I believe the characters could have been really good and they all will have their themes, for example Momori will be about Loneliness and shutting yourself from everyone while terribly needing love from others.
Azar I believe would be a bit like Phoenix about wanting to dream and not facing reality, and Ironheart is about wanting to become a hero while suffering from a terrible action you made and will never pardon yourself for it, believing you arent worth to achieve what you wanted to do.

Sadly even though the themes are great and there are planty more sadly it doesnt go deeper, yes the character will face theirselves but really quickly and through only 2 dialogues of like 5 minutes for each I believe.
There is the ending's dillemna too but it is in my eyes undercooked and gives us really close to no time to delve in it.

Also I am conflicted about how I should feel about the main character and the fact that nobody talks much about what she has gone through.

DISCLAIMER:
The game is hard, but not really at the start, with only Library of Ruina as experience in deck building games I managed to win instantly the first 3 runs, but it is going to get really hard when you unlock the "true ending" bosses, it is where you'll face a difficulty spike, games are really long, going from 1:30H for my fastest to 3h for my longest attempts.
However, there is the "hope mode" and "easy mode" so if you want to just read the story and not get too challenged it is here.

The 7/10 note comes from me not noting really high video games, since it is a medium I have experience in I will be way more critical while for mediums such as films I know only what bad acting looks like and good camera angles are like and will enjoy em even though for experts it might be mid.

Amazing game. In terms of both story and gameplay, gameplay is replayable, and the story is very engaging and interesting, albeit, can be alittle annoying and ruin the mood if you somehow die mid story and have to do everything again, or did some conditions wrong to progress the story and have to try again, complains aside, buy this game, it will be worth it.

I absolutely loved the story, and though i'm not really into deck-builders i was still able to piece my way through and beat the game!

Amazing game.
I tried it on a whim from a friend's recommendation and didnt have any good expectations about it...my god this is one of the best games i've played.
judging from 3 main points;
the story is PERFECT. for being such a decently sophisticated one, it's like evil fnaf, where everything just..makes sense. whenever you think "hah, this thing makes no sense, bet its a plot hole!" turns out it actually got explained somewhere. nearly everything that makes you suspicious of it's validity, probably has an answer somewhere. and as for the actual story itself, its just amazing. peak.

the characters; its rare for me to just play a game and like all characters, but i like nearly every single character in this game one way or another. gameplay wise or lore wise. i think everyone has some sort of likability, at least you won't not like at least one character. narhan is the goat, leryn is best girl.

gameplay is mostly satisfying. for a roguelike game, the runs do take REALLY long, but it almost always feels extremely worth it to finish, especially because of how good the story is, you're never left hanging when you finish a run and progress. the skill effects and CG attacks are also really satisfying. the only big problem is entire run resets when you lose, and for runs that you progressed a lot it might feel devastating, and while i could recommend hope mode, i would say its necessary to not use the crutch for early game and just learn things with a bit more risk to them and get used to being careful.

theres also workshop support apparently for characters bosses etc but they're mostly just ai generated art slop, or things that dont really fit the game's atmosphere, and a lot of them, even some actually good ones (that one azar mod..) arent even in english. but at least theres some fine qol ones, i can recommend straight up just downloading the one that shows potential hidden chest locations, before even starting the game, since its really annoying to find those.

silverstein is so fun man. it took me a second to understand how to use him, but when I invested into him, hoo boy. he is FLUID. he's got damage in spades, it feels like any support or tank in the game can work well with him, and overall he's just super satisfying. i love ricochet shot man. i love bear trap. i love rapid fire spam. i love the mark, the mark is just so fun to play around even if the reward isnt TOO great. oh my god i almost forgot snipe. it's such an awkward skill at first, but working around and with it is AMAZING. there's nothing like a guaranteed critical hit to make you just love using him. silverstein is my ride or die. he's my goat. oh and the game is ok

Bought it on a whim, and TLDR I absolutely love it and every last twist in the game got me more and more obsessed with it until my final session was a full 12 hour binge of the endings haha. It is also just an absolutely amazing roguelike deckbuilder that was more consistently fun than slay the spire IMO
For a longer review:

At first I was overwhelmed by the mechanics and kinda eh on the story, but as you learn more about the plot it very quickly ramps up in intrigue, and after I'd say 2 or 3 runs I definitely got the base mechanics down perfectly. Each of the 20 party characters vary pretty vastly in play style so I would recommend focusing on a handful of whoever catches your eye most first before branching out. Despite their varied mechanics they do mesh back together as possible team comps very nicely and in a way that is super satisfying to work out, even now finishing the story I am sure I will be coming back to it regularly.

What I mean when I say it is more consistently fun than Slay the Spire is that personally it felt a lot less luck-based and the bosses where just generally more fun mechanically. While any deck builder will have random chance, you have a lot more of a chance to control your hand in Chrono Ark, as our protagonist Lucy who is not a party member but rather a party leader (AKA no stats for herself nor her own HP) has her own set of skills that revolve around shuffling and drawing cards in different ways. And there are not really any bosses who felt like they just full on hard-countered any of my builds, thanks to the party mechanic allowing more well roundedness in runs, as opposed to STS where you can be absolutely screwed over by say having a deck based around playing a lot of cards each turn for chip damage but then running into the father time boss.

Story is absolutely amazing, I genuinely cannot say much more than that without spoiling things so just if you start it and aren't feeling it before the first big twist try to hang in just a little bit longer.

The gameplay is a fun twist on the usual roguelike deckbuilder, combining it with RPG party system.

Speaking of RPG, this game has more focus on story compared to the usual deckbuilders. The story can hook you to keep playing several playthrough to see and unlock more of it.

As for presentation, I really like both the art and music of this game. Though the UI is a bit bland, being mostly simplistic squares and symbols.

Personally, it's 9/10. Especially with official mod supports, that can always extend a roguelike's game lifespan to practically eternity depending on how big and dedicated the playerbase is, luckily Chrono Ark has a decent following.

the gameplay itself is already nice, plus the story is very good, PLUSSS the OST are banger

its a decent game overall

Super good roguelike deckbuilder with just as good of a story. Learning curve is a bit rough in the first hour with all the lore exposition, but once everything clicks the gameplay goes from mediocre to insane and the story progresses infinitely faster once you start winning runs.

TLDR: A great rouglike deckbuilder among great rouglike deckbuilders. Fun, Varied, Difficult, Fair. I can't get off the ride...

++I Highly Recommend This Game++

Best deck building game, only complaints is wanting more dlc.
More importantly, Charon best girl :^)

For whatever reason, the genre I always feel motivated to make reviews for is roguelite/like deckbuilders. I bought Chrono Ark on release, played it non-stop for about 40 hours, then completely forgot about it until about a week ago. Given how good this game is, not leaving a review back then feels like a disservice.

Chrono Ark leaps the first hurdle of deckbuilder design - it sets itself apart from the rest of the horde with party-based mechanics, a host of characters each with specific, game changing abilities, enemies that are immensely threatening but navigable with a bit of foresight, and a levelling up/skill selection system that remains fascinating and exciting 60 hours in.

But the real treasure of Chrono Ark is its narrative. This game never stops 'not being what it seems'. To go into any further detail would be to immediately step into spoiler territory. Suffice to say the story of Chrono Ark has no business being as sprawling, branching and subversive as it is given the genre it occupies. Be warned - this game has a pile of dialogue cutscenes that range from long to interminable in length, but stick with it, and I'm confident you'll be glad you paid attention.

A fantastic game, clearly made with a lot of love, creativity and determination.

While quite difficult at times, this game is super fun to play. The battle system using skills is very easy to use and the overall presentation is nice too. I love the artwork for both the ally and enemy sprites and the skill art is amazing too. The story is gripping and the characters are fun to interact with as well. More people should know about this game.

Don't skip this game just because it looks like a gacha game (it's not). This game has a very satisfying flow to it and the story is very good.

TL;DR - 9/10 game if not 9.5

I very rarely leave reviews but I absolutely felt the need to.

I only bought the game maybe 3-4 days ago and I'm already pushing 53 hours, I'm gonna let that sit with both you and I for a moment.

For awhile, I've had my eye on this game but honestly I just haven't liked playing single player games. Game was on sale, I jumped on it and boy was I not expecting what I got for my money. This game has so much replayability that it's absurd. The thing is, I'm this far in and I'm not even replaying it just to replay it, I'm still replaying it to progress. If you want a pure time/money view, it's definitely worth the money even not on sale.

Story - 8~9/10 (Fluid and cohesive. Also entertaining)
Good lord, I knew that people have said that there's a fair amount of story to this, but this whole thing IS story and I love it. While there are moments where you CAN view a bunch of stuff all at once for story, the game doesn't necessarily lore dump you at every corner, it's there if you're interested! The story feels good and cohesive, and though it's another time story, it feels unique enough to make it its own. My only gripes so far (I'm not sure if it's addressed later as I'm not entirely finished yet) is that there just feels like there's a couple plot holes or questionable characters in the story. Other than that, phenomenal writing of both the plot and character personalities.

Gameplay - 10/10 (Real difficulty without being unfair, missing a few QoL but I am not sure if it's intentional)
Holy moly, I love rogue-lite deck builders, I've played an insane amount of them and I will flat out say, that this is in a fight for top deck builder with Slay the Spire. Right off the bat, I love that these enemies actually FEEL difficult and require some planning instead of being an insane health sponge that you purely beat through deck cycling. On that part, there doesn't seem to be a one size fits all strategy/character, of course there will always be really good healers in these types of games, but you can win with all of them. They all feel so unique too so you're not running out there reusing similar builds on others (usually). My very first playthrough, I played it on normal just to feel what's going on, received a cutscene legitimately telling me that I wasn't supposed to make it this far on my first run and killed me. That's when I threw it on expert and damn did the game feel right after that. If you're a veteran deck builder, skip normal mode and get right in there.

Art - 9/10 (Not much to say, just visually appealing)
This anime art style surely isn't for everyone, but if that's enough for you to turn away from here, you're probably not reading this far. There are animations within the story and sometimes within the game that just feel impactful and visually appealing.

Pros:
- Real difficulty
- High replayability
- Every character is unique and genuinely feels balanced
- Options to make your playthru even harder
- Workshop if you ever get bored, some people have some QoL things in there too if you like
- Really captivating plot despite the overused time angle
- Good art

Cons:
- A few QoL problems like not being able to view your deck or discard pile easily (There's workshop mods for it)
- No voice acting (Again, there's mods for it)
- Sometimes your runs end because you're facing a new enemy that you're just not expecting or prepared for, it can suck but isn't that the nature of rogue-lites?
- A certain character isn't playable without mods or a special mode :(

Chrono Ark has been a longtime favorite game of mine. I've been following the development of it, playing the new updates (and of course, purchasing the DLCs, which are a gem btw) ever since a few copies were given to us in order to review in our Curator team.

From the get-go, Chrono Ark lures you in with its easy-to-pickup gameplay, coupled with flashy effects, weird setting and nice OST, and once it has you on its clutches, you'll have to face the fabled "Korean Lore-dump" filter, which has taken a lot of lives so far, and promises to DESTROY brainlets whose minds have turned into mud over years and years of watching Instagram Reels. You see, the KLD has a dire effect on someone's psychology... it's like a virus, or a cognitohazard... an infected person, whoever has been exposed to it, is FORCED to rant to their friends about some obscure topic they might or might not be interested in, seemingly out of nowhere, in order to develop the story and relationship they both have.

There's a KLD like 1 hour in, or after your first run, and a few more down the line, so iPad kids beware, this is for TRUE READCELS only.

Easy to pickup and hard to master, Chrono Ark is a harsh lover which will reward you with massive doses of dopamine if you play your cards right (see what I did there? haha) but will punish you, causing you to shout "NO!" as your party is wiped by a Cursed Pharos Mage, even 100 hours in, just because you made a mistake.

There's a lot of content available for it nowadays, and a lot of possibilities to discover new synergies and combos, in which not a single of them require using Huz (fk Huz, all my homies hate Huz). It has some interesting difficulty spikes, which are Library of Ruina-tier, to mention another korean game. A run takes an hour or so, or even more if you stop and smell the flowers (aka watching in despair as your hand is empty, and The Reaper is marking someone who he already attacked), and there's a lot of lore, items and mechanics that make you keep coming back for more. Alas, as I mentioned, Chrono Ark is a harsh but fair lover... she'll love you, as long as you do everything right. She also has workshop support, so you can bring Roland in your quest if you feel like it.

Get the Casino DLC btw. It has this Momori skin which, I can't talk about it, and I barely ever bring her to my runs, but... goddamn.

I downloaded this game simply for the workshop mods and characters, but ended up liking the story direction and plot twist that takes place in their looped time world and depth within the characters you recruit.
Gameplay overall unique appealing visual animation in certain attacks, really standsout when you're in combat as you strategies around bosses and mobs till you build yourself for the endgame battle or turn of event of story encounter.

This is a gem, way over my expectation for a rogue like game. Many champions, many secrets to be discovered and many different mechanics that keeps the replay interesting. The music is also good. The only downside was it is not voiced acted and there is so much to read that i found myself skipping 70% of it. It is also worth mentioning that it is nice to play a game without crash or bugs.

I forgot to write a review for this but it's peak, it's a really good narrative driven roguelike deckbuilder with great mechanics.

Mechanically sound, I only wish skill descriptions were easier to understand.

I didn't know what I was getting into, but I knew I was in for a challenge!

A buddy had recommended this game to me specifically based on my love of dark story elements and card games. Chrono Ark lived up to the hype they gave it and then some! I still remember my first encounter with a specific boss in Zone 2 and how it felt after a handful of failures to finally beat it. The atmosphere each map has with its combination of monsters and BGM is insane. From personal experience as one who tries to think ahead and guess where a story might go, don't do it! You should just sit back and enjoy what the game has to offer! When you feel you want some additional content, why not check out the workshop?

AI FINE, RELEASE THE CHRONO ARK SOUNDTRACK ON THE STEAM STORE, AND MY LIFE IS YOURS.

Chrono Ark... Lets start with the slights i have against it, a small list.

The DLC has some fanservice skins, which like... fair, its an anime game.
It was an early access game in development, so some plot points got dropped without being fully explained, which kinda stinks.
I do wish there were a bit more characters to play as, though its not really an issue as its more of a "i want to play this game more".

I love absolutely everything else about this game. The gamplay hits just right, The story is spectacular, and God... the characters, man. Actual complexity. I love it.

After several runs I felt like I was forcing myself to play. It's taking ages for something to happen storywise and, considering how little variety the game has, it's becoming really boring and repetitive.

Addicting gameplay that makes you come back again and again, and if that is not enough the game has an amazing story. Both as a rougelike and a story game it delivers on both ends. Definitely recommend!

I personally loved this game.

I feel like to truly get the joy of it you have to be playing while reading the tidbits of story you unlock along the way.

The overworld map allows you to be a bit strategic on either claiming rewards to be better prepared for the fights, or do the fights first to buy from the shop what you need to get as much as you can from the floor.

The design is great. Ost is surprisingly mundane save for a few BANGERS in some of the story highest story moments.

The game feeds you a great narrative, a great game mechanic. While the overload mechanic can be tedious there are characters that work with it and with removing it, so it is more about teambuilding and prioritizing strategy than just taking easy pickings.

Game will block you on your first run for story purposes though. Not my cup of tea but makes sense with the story.

Easily one of the best Roguelike Deckbuilders. Worth for the gameplay alone, but compared to other games of the genre, this one even has a good story on top.

The game is quite easy until unlocking optional challenges however, which can be considered a downside for those that prefer a challenge right from the start or an upside for people who don't want that and potentially prefer focusing on the story.

This is such a good game i have no idea why its not more popular. Not only is the gameplay really good, but the story is amazing and gets better the more you think about it

Even after getting 100% of the achievements, my opinion of the game is very positive.

It's a character focused turn-based deckbuilder, with a great soundtrack and interesting enemy design. Definitely inspired by Slay the Spire, but A LOT better in every way.

It's a bit hard to get into , I remember thinking that the UI looks like a mobile game, there's a lot of text and status effects that completely screw you over if you don't notice the tiny icons. Often the text is long and the keyword explanations don't appear all of the time. I also remember being very off-put by seeing a g¤ddamn RPG character sheet worth of stats (don't worry about it).
But once you get past the learning curve , things get very interesting and all the cool synergies from character interactions show what the game is capable of. The game also has a surprising amount of punch to it, abilities feel good to use and the sfx are cool.
Character kits are very distinct, there's a lot of them and once you see them in action, all the long confusing textboxes become clear.
Boss battles can be bs, but that's normal for the genre. Once you realllly pay attention to their life-or-death mechanics and have enough heals and damage, they actually seem to flow really well. I have no idea how they pulled this off.

The visual novel part is kind of weak, the writing is okay and you'll hear those 5 sound effects every 5 seconds. However some scenes are actually impressive and overall, the story had some great moments and interesting ideas, it was definitely above average.

Overall it's a game that was clearly made with a lot of passion and playtesting, it has it's quirks and manages to innovate and replicate satisfying mechanics. I'm glad I took a risk and bought it with no knowledge about it, it was a very fun experience. I'll most likely keep doing runs of it, almost every character feels great to play and this is one of the genre's finest.

8 outta 10

Great roguelike game! The gameplay is very fun and the story is quite interesting.

I was lured by the word "chrono", expected some time travel / alternate history plot. But it's more like grotesque horror / techno thriller. Still interesting, though. Buy this if you like roguelikes and have time to figure out complex battle mechanics.

Fun game, interesting story and characters

A challenging but well made card rougelike. The soundtrack is great and the combos you can do in combat are satisfying. This is also an interesting game where the DLC skin packs actually provide very good equipment/relics, so it can be worth spending the extra dollar.

I admit, I was a little skeptical about buying this game, but boy, am I glad i did. This game, not only dominated my playing hours for the first two days playing it, but even after that, I'm still having the same thrill as if I've just opened the game and started to enjoy it for the first time. This game has easily become one of my favorite games I've ever played. I would absolutely recommend playing it.

What a strange little game.

I'm really struggling for words here. The closest comparison that comes to mind is Nier: Automata. Like Nier, this game felt like jank at first. The mechanics are dense, with reams of poorly tooltipped text on every card. The main character's sprite looked like a parody.

But then the story decided to strap on a rocket and fly through a maze of twists and burning hoops and I have to admit - it kind of hooked me. Again, kind of like Nier. The mechanics started clicking, synergies slowly revealed themselves and I felt like I needed to see the end(ings).

Yeah, its is a bit janky, but also weirdly brilliant once you learn the ropes. The story manages to be gripping and surprising even when it gets silly (spoilers: its quite anime). So I have no regrets and I think that if you enjoy deckbuilders and anime, you'll enjoy this game too.

A good deck builder with a solid story. The gameplay can be quite challenging for people who aren't familiar with the deck building. A solid product that I would recommend to all people who love this type of game.

10/10 Easily One Of the best games i have played.
story 9/10 (THE ENDING IS SOOOOOOOOOOOO PEAK, reason why its not 10 is because just a few characters could have been written better but overall the story is amazing)
Gameplay 10/10 such a fun and interesting card game if you like slay the spire this is arguably better, it's that good.
soundtrack 10/10 simply amazing.

Overall 10/10 if you like card Games EVEN A LITTLE BIT this is a must play even if you don't you gotta try it.
simply, ABSOLUTE CINEMA.

Amazing deckbuilder with a fun cast and surprisingly good story that makes really good use of the roguelike setup. I was hooked on completing runs to get that extra story progression each time. The final boss fights are especially impressive, quite cinematic and totally caught me off guard with how hype they were.

Combat is very in depth with a lot of mechanics and a huge amount of interesting synergy between characters. If you like coming up with creative ways to combo units together, this game really lets you get crazy with it. Base difficulty level is good, with additional difficulty options and challenge modes if you want them.

Easy 10/10 for me, one of the best games I've played in this genre

Chrono Ark a benchmark for what video games can be when every detail is dialed to Eleven.

Chrono Ark is a flat-out masterpiece in video game design, a title that redefines the roguelike deck-building genre with a brilliance that feels almost unreal. The gameplay hooks you from the jump, blending strategy and chaos into an addictive dance where every choice carries weight.

The art style? Beautiful. It’s a mesmerizing fusion of shadowy elegance and bold, lively character portraits that practically hum with personality, perfectly capturing the game’s thrilling energy-defined vibe. The music stands as an unreal force, a heart-thumping soundtrack that turns every clash into a cinematic rush. Together, these pieces forge an experience that’s as breathtaking as it is unforgettable.

You and your squad tear through a gauntlet of wildly varied enemies, each fight a pulse-pounding test of skill and synergy. But the bosses? They’re the real showstoppers, every single one a fun, breathtaking battle that demands your all. These epic throwdowns are pure adrenaline, mixing clever mechanics with jaw-dropping flair and making every win feel like you’ve conquered a legend. From hulking nightmares to sly manipulators, the game keeps you guessing and ensures no two showdowns ever lose their spark.

Heroes Worth Rooting For

The true heart of Chrono Ark lies in its characters, each one so masterfully crafted they could headline their own saga.

These characters aren’t just well-made. They’re electrifying, each with strengths that make them legends and weaknesses that keep them human.

Guns, magic, swords, everyone is locked and loaded, and it’s up to you to put together a squad that can tear through each level.

The Verdict

Chrono Ark is a 10/10, no debate. It’s a game where gameplay, art, music, and characters collide in a perfect storm of brilliance, delivering an adventure that’s as tough as it is awe-inspiring. It’s not just a game. It’s a benchmark for what video games can be when every detail is dialed to eleven.

An absolute masterpiece of a game. One of the most unique deckbuilder i played and a story full of rollercoaster of emotions.

Fell in love with the characters including the bosses (which is surprising)

Would recommend.

Very consistent way of deck building by having characters-specific Upgrades and Lucy-cards which synergize with themselves. For example, having Miss Chain in your team makes it so that when you upgrade other's cards they might activate her Passive; and adds Miss Chain specific Lucy cards to the Lucy card pool. Just consistent enough that the game is always balanced and you dont feel too weak or overpowered because you hit the jackpot

This is more like a beautifully crafted visual novel with roguelike deckbuilding and slight JRPG elements that require you to play through several times to get the full story. The art and music direction is fantastic, the storyline is quite engaging and interesting, and the gameplay is fun. One thing to note however is that there is a lot of reading, and if you choose to skip it just to jump ahead to more gameplay you may miss chunks of the story.

Background

So, I am not someone who posts reviews for games on Steam. As of me writing this, I have not reviewed any other game, however I feel notably compelled to for Chrono Ark. This is a very interesting game and I am mainly writing this review in the hopes that it will convince at least one person to check it out, just like others reviews did for me. If you want the short of it, I love this game and I think it's both wonderful and unique, but it's not a "for everyone" game.

Overview
Chrono Ark is exactly what it says on the tin, a Party Based Deckbuilding Roguelike, think like Across the Obelisk. There are 20 characters in the game, along with Lucy herself acting as a sort of pseudo 21st character you always bring, though she takes the role of a team leader (in narrative too) and engine who propels the characters along via mostly draw power. You travel through each area, fighting enemies, doing events, visiting the shop, the usual things you'd expect, up until you fight the boss at the end of the area. You unlock things throughout the game as you do each run to expand your list of equips and Lucy cards.

The Positives

Gameplay and Characters
Each character has their own unique deck lists to pick from throughout the game, leaving each character feeling fairly unique to the others. You have your standard playstyles, like just hitting things with big damage, DoT damage, straight forward tanking and healing, but there's also some very unique playstyles as well. There is no character in the game that I feel is too similar to another, along with a good amount of easy to use and harder to use characters, which shockingly enough, they are quite balanced despite being so unique and having a wide ease of use gap between the easier and harder to use characters. Overall that's left me feeling pretty happy with all of them and I personally enjoy using everyone.

Writing
Despite being a Roguelike, which typically don't have much in the way of stories or writing in general, Chrono Ark decides to travel off the beaten path and actually have it's story and characters be of notable importance. A large majority of the story is told through listings found in the Archive, which you can visit between runs. As you go through each run, you will eventually unlock certain listings and can then view them whenever you please. Other than the Archive, you will find the rest of the story put right in center stage after what I will describe as "certain conditions" for the sake of not spoiling the story. To put it simply, I love Chrono Ark's story, and I enjoy most of the characters. It goes over many unique topics including a decent chunk of deeper philosophical topics, which really caught me off guard, but in a good way. Additionally, since a majority of the story is optional, and all of the cutscenes are skippable, if you aren't enjoying the story, you don't have to interact with it and can just play the game.

Music
There really isn't a ton to say here, but Chrono Ark's music is really good. I would say for me personally it's the best ost out of any other Deckbuilding game out there. Most bosses have their own unique themes as well, instead of it being an area by area thing like you'd expect. The music helps elevate the stress of being put in a bad spot, or making certain moments all the sweeter as a good piece of music should. It's truly some solid work and it has me humming along all the time, notable songs are the optional Shiranui boss fight and the penultimate boss fight.

The "Dependents"

Difficulty
Chrono Ark I feel falls under the category of "Schrodingers Difficulty." What I mean by this, is that people who have played other Deckbuilding games will likely do just fine and not find the game to be that hard until they start pumping the difficulty up, but people who aren't too familiar with games like these will likely struggle. For me, it sits pretty firmly in the area where I like a games difficulty, however this might not be the case for everyone. Thankfully, if you care a lot about the story or just want a bit of assistance as you improve, there is a mode that eases the game up for you while still allowing you to experience the story, so it's not a huge problem.

Story Delivery
As I mentioned earlier, much of the games story is told through the Archive, which does mean the story is told in a very fragmented manner. Not everyone will click with this manner of storytelling, however I would personally say this improved the story for me by keeping me on my toes about certain characters or plot developments. Also, it's sorta hard to tell a story in a game like this through other means, so I feel this was likely the best way to handle it here, but I still feel the need to mention it.

Management/Learning Curve
This segment sorta goes along with Difficulty to a point. What I mean by Management, is how many things you are required to juggle and think about during a game. Chrono Ark has MANY mechanics, and a lot of cards have multiple effects and/or purposes. Alongside that, you have to understand what the enemies, usually regarding bosses, do and how to fight them. This isn't a game you're meant to no brain, it wants you to read and think and learn how it ticks. Going into a boss fight without learning what they do beforehand is a surefire way to get you wiped, with you likely thinking it was bs or unfair. You are given no shortage of plates to spin and tough choices to make. Personally I love when a game like this gives me a lot to manage, because it makes the game (usually) more unique and makes victory (also usually) all the sweeter. Despite having defeated every boss in the game and understanding what they do, I still find squeezing out a victory very satisfying, with a big part of it being the management needed to do so, but not everyone wants to need to learn a bunch of effects or spin a bunch of plates. Additionally, as you play it does get much easier to manage everything and leaving the unique things much more natural, thus the learning curve.

The Negatives

Nothing?
I truly do not believe Chrono Ark has any bad aspects. It is of course not a perfect game, but anything negative that I can say about it end up just being nitpicks or small things that don't really change how I feel about the game overall. If you are on the fence about this game still, I would recommend going back to the "The Dependents" segment and reading over that again, as that is what will make or break the game for a very large amount of people.

English Translation
So, Chrono Ark is made by Korean Developers. In fact upon opening the game, it will be in Korean and you will need to change the language. Do not worry, this is very quick and easy. Because of this, they did need to translate it obviously, the translation isn't bad, but it's not perfect. You can go through the entire game and completely understand what's being said, but it does have the occasional strange wording, or a character will mention someone by name directly to the character being named as if they aren't the one being talked to. Again, it is 99% of the time perfectly fine, just the every-so-often oddity.

UI
Not a lot to say to about this, I just find the UI of the game to be very plain and uninteresting. It's not really intrusive or anything, just uninspired. It feels like the UI you'd see in the beta of a game rather than the full release.

Overall

This game is very very good, and might actually be my new favorite indie game, but it is a touchy recommend due to mainly the learning curve and means of story delivery. I would still recommend anyone who is on the fence to check it out though, as I was also on the fence before buying it, and was left very thoroughly satisfied. I don't usually give games a number score rating, but if I had to here, it'd be a very solid 9.25/10.

The deckbuilding aspect of this game works really well. The gameplay is well defined for a roguelite and the deckbuilding makes a difference each time you run through. The story, or lack thereof, is a completely different piece. The game is brandished as a JRPG. I'm 8 hours in, completed several runs through, and all I get is: "We must start the clock at the clock tower!". Reading through Reddit, the story, even with spoilers, sounds like a jumbled piece of garbage and half the community just wants to skip it anyways.

I'd like to rate this game better, but it feels like false advertising to call it an RPG other than you have to "level up" temporarily to get to the end of a 6 stage run just for it to not mean anything. All your progressive items that go from run to run are very lackluster. The interactions with the characters for their friendship is very bland. The fact that nothing you do matters from one run to the next defeats the purpose of telling the story, imo.

Im a big fan of deckbuilders. I've played Gwent, Heartstone, Slay the Spire, Hellcard, Monster Train, etc. So naturally I was excited to play this game. Initially I didnt recommend this game because thhe first initial runs felt insanely EASY that i was actually just on autopilot. Then you get to the first major boss and he seemed 3 times harder than anything youve faced previously. It annoyed me because none of the battles up to him scaled up to prepare you for him. I thought this is how the game is going to be. Im glad I was wrong. After you beat him, runs start to get harder and the initial runs dont feel as 'autopiloty'. There's actual challenges that prepare you for him. Another layer of challenge is the characters you choose, they will make it easier or harder during your run. There's also interesting routes to take and find new bosses in unexpected places. Im not one for stories in card games but the story here is surprisingly good. Im a fan of dark, apocalypse, end of the world stories. If youre into deckbuilders or rpgs give it a try, it starts off slow but then it starts to click after a few hours. This game can also feel a bit overwhelming with all the complexity and effects but honestly it makes for an even deeper combat system.