Chrono Ark

Chrono Ark is an RPG game enriched with roguelike elements and clearly outlined mechanics straight from card games. The game was developed by the independent studio Al Fine and is their debut project.

Plot

The action of Chrono Ark takes place in a fantasy world destroyed by the mysterious Black Fog. Although humanity has fled to the titular Ark to protect itself from an unknown catastrophe, not all is lost for its home yet. The fog can be dealt with by collecting the Time Shades scattered throughout the land and placing them in the Clock Tower.

Stricken with amnesia, Lucy, who only remembers a mysterious message about operating a tower, decides to undertake this task. She is not condemned to a solitary crossing, as over time companions can join her, helping her in carrying out the mission.

Mechanics

Chrono Ark takes us to the Twisted Land. Lucy is the primary character to take on the journey, however the protagonist can be accompanied by up to four characters, which we choose at the beginning from a wide range of heroes and heroines. During the adventure, we carry out various quests and gradually learn more about the presented world by having conversations with other characters or reading notes found along the way.

We watch the action from a bird's eye view during exploration (what awaits us in a given location is informed by hexagonal fields visible on the minimap), but the perspective changes to first-person (FPP) when a fight occurs.

We encounter opponents with whom we engage in turn-based skirmishes. Apart from regular enemies, we have to face bosses waiting at the end of each location. We play cards on the battlefield corresponding to the skills and attacks of individual characters. The heroes and heroines who can join Lucy have been diversified in terms of fighting style, combat skills, and preferred weapons (they use melee and firearms as well as magical abilities).

As we progress, we unlock new characters and develop the ones we already have, as well as accumulate increasingly powerful items, led by relics, which influence the gameplay in various ways. It is worth remembering that if our entire team dies on the battlefield, we have to start the entire journey anew, perhaps with a different team composition.

Technical aspects

The graphic design of Chrono Ark is maintained in a manga style.