Chrono Ark

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.

TL;DR Solid deck-building rogue-like with more focus on the story. Not to say that the gameplay is unbalanced or bad, just that during the main story mode you will be reading a decent amount.

The Good
Visuals: The art is very fitting and very consistent throughout the game. The 2.5D map movement can get slightly awkward at times, but nothing that gets in the way of the main game.
The effects and actions adds style, while keeping it short enough to not drag battle times.
Gameplay: It's a deck-building rogue-like so the basics are there, but it does have it's unique health system and leveling system. Honestly the hardest might be trying to understand the unique character/card mechanics, since the description/translation is not always clear.
There's a good variety of characters allowing enough variation per run.
Story: Without any spoilers, the story does a good job of fitting the rogue-lite repetition in a meaningful way. Each party member has small interactions to reveal their story, and all the story can be replayed from the main hub. Thankfully, you can also skip the cutscenes/story you've seen once so there's no drag there.

The Bad:
Honestly, there's not much except for some translation/UI? errors. They are really minor, but there are sometimes odd word choices.
Of all the time I played, I ran into a bug when I was trying to skip too fast. That was the only bug that required a restart/retry, but the game allows resuming from midway, so no problem there either.

Chrono Ark is an absolute gem that deserves every bit of praise it gets. As a fan of deck-building roguelikes, I was blown away by how seamlessly this game blends strategic depth, compelling storytelling, and stunning visuals. It’s not just a game; it’s an experience.

The gameplay is incredibly satisfying. Each run feels fresh thanks to the diverse characters, cards, and relics you can combine. The deck-building mechanics are intuitive yet deep, allowing for endless experimentation. Whether you’re carefully planning your moves or adapting to unexpected challenges, every decision matters. The difficulty is perfectly balanced—challenging enough to keep you on your toes but never unfair.

What truly sets Chrono Ark apart, though, is its story. The narrative is rich, emotional, and full of twists that keep you hooked. The characters are well-written, each with their own unique personalities and backstories that make you genuinely care about them. The world-building is phenomenal, with a dark, mysterious atmosphere that pulls you in from the very beginning.

The art style is gorgeous, with beautifully designed characters and environments that perfectly complement the game’s tone. The soundtrack is equally impressive, adding to the immersive experience with its haunting melodies and epic battle themes.

If you’re a fan of deck-builders, roguelikes, or just great storytelling in games, Chrono Ark is a must-play. It’s a game that stays with you long after you’ve put it down, and I can’t recommend it enough.

10/10 - A timeless masterpiece.

The Story is good, with depth if you’d like that.
The characters have different personalities which is also very nice.
The game mechanics are easy to understand, and the combinations are thought through well.
Overall a very good game with a fitting graphic.

its got a good story and great combat

It's a cute little game with interesting, albeit not too difficult mechanics. The plot is a bit predictable, but serviceable. I beat expert mode with less than 12 hours, I will be trying Red Mist mode to see if it offers more of a challenge and will update this review then.

absolute cinema (i used to have it pirated but want to support devs)

Fun deck builder! I can stay up for hours daydreaming about team comps.
And this is coming from someone who isnt good at these types of games (thank you normal and hope mode)

Pretty nice roguelike, story is nice, the rewards you get for playing is nice since you get more story. Only complaint is the dlc stuff, why can you use that if you haven't even gone through the base game?

Chrono Ark is one of the best deckbuilder roguelikes I have played, both gameplay-wise and story-wise. But I have to compare difficulties before going into the specifics.

First, Normal Mode is much easier than Expert Mode. You can change this difficulty every start of the run. I like to think that Normal Mode is there for the first-time players to get a feel for the surface level of the game's many mechanics. This game is easy in normal mode. Expert mode, on the other hand, is really where those mechanics shine. For the first few hours, I went through the game on Normal Mode but ultimately decided to go Expert Mode and never went back. Because of how different the difficulties are, a lot of the things that you can usually get away with in Normal Mode aren't forgiven in Expert Mode. This makes the difficulty learning curve considerably steep.

When I say this thing has many mechanics, I mean there is a HUGE CHUNK of mechanics that can be pretty daunting to a player at first. There's the standard DPS, tanking, and healing setups, then sustained damage, aggro control, crowd control (yes, they work on bosses), damage over time, deck prediction & cycling, heck, even self-damage and healing over time—there are teams in this game that will capitalize on that! More importantly, these aren't even everything. Because the characters are pretty unique with each other, the roster (all 20 of them) can have pretty different playstyles you can mix and match with. In a perfect world, these characters are all balanced, but they aren't. Surprisingly, however, they actually don't have as much of a gap as you might think! Honestly impressed at how well they are implemented right now.

Runs and RNG. Are you at the mercy of the RNG? Well, yes and no. There will be runs that are plain unlucky and runs where it is as if God himself has bestowed you all the mighty drops. Most of the time, it's the case of knowing how you can make the most out of your situation and learning what you could have done better next run. You have Lucy's necklace that allows you to revive characters mid-run, but this game can be pretty merciless even with it.

Story. The story is very much worth it! While I can't exactly describe it without spoiling, the game has a great narrative and a good amount of story to go through. Every character has their own motivations, past, and future ambitions presented in their own segmental stories. These are accessible throughout the game (usually via a gift system). I had to return to the game's Steam page to see what more I could say in this section without spoiling but found it funny that it also tells you nothing about the story. It really is better to experience it yourself.

Amazing game. Can get dark and depressing haha

I really like the gameplay loop, art style, and music. I know that great care has been given to audio implementation, with catchy composition, dynamic battle music, nice ambience sound, and good overall balance. What's lacking for me is UI feedback and animation maybe?

What a cute little roguelike... Sure hope there's no seething existential dread underneath...

Edit: One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

2nd Edit: Really would consider this more of a conventional jrpg and a VN than a roguelike. And I honestly wouldn't consider it a card game either. If you like the above, and you also like stuff like Withering Rooms and Tower Of God, you should give this a try even if cards and rogues aren't your typical jam.

An interesting game that blends roguelike deckbuilding with JRPG teambuilding, leading to a lot of interesting synergies. I've never played anything quite like it before. I also appreciate how ambitious that creators got with narrative structure in this game, there's a huge commitment to not only having a story, but a non-linear narrative reveal.

Sadly, the game does a fall a bit flat in some areas. The art is a bit generic, the writing suffers from unresolved plot threads, and the gift giving system is unintuitive. While it's not a masterpiece, I would call it a great game for the genre.

Seriously fuck the devs for unresolved plot threads though.

Great game!

Very nice deckbuilder where you pick 4 characters out of 20 to join you each run with each character having their own unique set of abilities that they can add to your deck. Lots of fun, all the characters are pretty cool and the story is nice too.

Great Deckbuilder Game. Lots of characters/strategies and a good story.

OMG I really enjoy this game. The story of this game is fantastic; the characters, story line, and play style of each character are unique, and you can create a variety of builds based on your own play style. The music is also fantastic. Highly recommended.

Best card game i have ever played.
EVEN HAS A STORY!

After playing it since early access, I genuinely enjoyed its story and card battler gameplay. Also, one look at the screenshots provided I fell in love with it immediately as it looks like Slay the Spire BUT, it gave me 1st person dungeon crawler vibes which I like.

Buy it.

*Extra*
I WAS LEFT WITH A ----------- when I played this back in beta as I reached the "--------" after a boss and it said that I can't continue since the game is not yet released. I was playing one day before release. ONE DAY. I am still salty with missing that chance to get that e--ing.

it's like slay the spire with bad balancing and awful ui. every skill has like 3 random effects and every major fight is just a chaotic mess of weird, overly complex modifiers, very few of which are communicated well. the whole thing is just a wall of random numbers to juggle

is good

Good gameplay
Good story
9/10
Worth my money !

Good Game

great game i got put into an eternal loop

200 hours of gameplay, and if I could forget this game to replay again, I would do it.

It's not like Slay the Spire, it's a new style of deckbuilding, this game is probably the most underrated Deckbuilding right now, I played a lot of differents deckbuilder, but none of them is comparable to Chrono Ark.

I don't want to spoil game, but if you like :

- A lot of differents builds
- High ceilling or bottom floor skill characters
- Anime characters
- Facing difficult content without ascension level
- Interesting lore

Yes, give it a try, and if you're enough brave, once you finish the game, I suggest you to add some mods from community

Solid 9/10, even better than Monster Train, Across Obelisk and any others card game.

This game took me by surprise how well made it is and how fun it was. ez recommend.

On the contrary to popular opinion, I think this game is a lot better than Slay the Spire for certain audiences. Especially if you like 2D anime style arts.

The story is interesting, there are great twist and turns that will leave you on the edge of the seat (although some are forced) and the character designs, even when they are cliche, are well done.

The characters have heartfelt stories and even those who seem a little morally grey has a redemption arc that makes them all the more attractive.

I like how there are multiple updates over the years for this game. Hopefully they add more playable characters in the future.

The game itself has a bit of a learning curve and I believe this is good because the gameplay for this genre is repetitive.
If it was easy from the getgo, the game would get boring really quick.
If you find this game too hard, I suggest you play on the "Hope" mode, you are not losing anything and you can just cruise through story without stressing over losing everything. By the time you clear the story, you'd have a good idea on how to use what units and how they synergize with other aspects of the game like items, relics, etc

This is genuinely one of the most interesting and fun rougelikes I've ever played, it's so good. Do yourself a favor and pick up this gem

Masterpiece of a game. Don't be fooled by my gameplay hours, I've played hundreds of hours off Steam.

Better than slay the spire in every way

When I first played this game I expected something similar to Slay the Spire, but I'm pleasantly surprised to receive something truly different. This game's combat mechanic is awesome, with each battle having a unique gimmick which you'll learn to play (and often plan) around. If you like strategy games in general, Chrono Ark is definitely worth a try.

Part deckbuilder, part dungeon crawler, part visual novel, all boredom.

The game is a mess of different genres that don't blend well together and whose only saving grace is the art department.

It's a dungeon crawler made to be replayed several times, with different teamates, in order to unlock a story I could not care less about. The deckbuilding is tacked on and the the game would be better served with a simple action menu. The card systems are obscure, convoluted and do not suit the progression system.

Then there are equipment, relics, a bond system and maybe half a dozen other moving parts that do not add to anything other than confusion.

It's a game for people who are willing to put up with bad systems in order to enjoy a mediocre story with pretty graphics.

Somehow a game that is both more mechanically fun than STS, and also has a genuinely incredible story to go along with it. Lucy is one of the better protagonists in games I've played, especially considering how it integrates with the mechanics.
If you're looking to pick this up - things start out a bit strange, but stick it out - it's all just part of the game's showmanship.

Cool roguelike game :p

Came for the rogue deckbuilder, stayed for the story. I can't say much the story other than it being really good without spoiling any of it so go into it blind.
I wish there was an option to replay some scenes.

A very interesting take on the whole card deck building genre. In here, you assemble a party of 4 characters, each with the classic roles of DPS, Tanks and Supports, and you level and gear them up as you go. Each character plays in a very unique way even when sharing roles, so there's a lot of variety in there depending on who you choose. You start a run by picking 2 characters and have the option to recruit 2 more as you explore each level (you choose 1 from a pool of 5 randomly picked ones each time). Each map has mob spawns and event areas. Events are random but pretty much all of them provide benefits one way or another, so it's very worthwhile to seek them out. Mobs give you drops and currency to either level up characters, or level up Lucy (who is the main character and acts as a navigator of sorts) for more Mana to cast skills or to get Draw skills. Aside from a few exceptions, Lucy skills are the only way to replenish your hand, so they are very important. Level up currency is limited so you always have to think on who is best to level, which is quite neat.

That's the gist of the game. If you've played any other deck building game you'll be familiar with the systems. This game's take on it is very fun and I played a ton of it when I started.

The story is also quite good imo. I don't wanna say much in case something's a spoiler, so just read the game's store page description to get an idea and if it interests you, then give it a go. The story was half of the reason why I just couldn't stop playing.

All in all, I loved this game and even after 100% it, I still come back to it for a run here and there. We also occasionally get DLCs which add new stuff. You do have to buy it in order to get the character costumes and the gear, but as far as I know the bosses are added for free (after you finish the event quest).

A lot of games begin with a question. In this case, it was: "Can we combine rogue-like deckbuilding with JRPG mechanics?"

They hit the nail on the bloody head.

After racking up a hundred odd hours in this game, I am confident to call this not just a hidden gem, but a whole hidden treasure chest. It's unique in it's gameplay, great in it's story, has amazing art, as well as a charming cast of characters. It just oozes passion at every click. This game manages to (almost) seamlessly combine JRPG teambuilding and mechanics with the gameplay of a rogue-like deckbuilder.

It's fairly simple: Pick two characters from the roster of 20 unlockable characters (called "investigators") to start your journey. Traverse the map, collect loot, fight enemies, upgrade your investigators, recruit up to two new ones throughout your run, face (an) end boss.
Every Investigator contributes skills to the deck, and Lucy (the player character), provides resources and draws. Some investigators synergize better than others, some are more independent than others.

The game provides enough content to allow for depth in developing strategies and building teams, while also allowing for just enough simplicity as to not be overwhelming. I never felt like I was lost or I didn't get what was going on while playing.

My main critique is that pretty much everything you do in this game is tied to luck, which isn't bad in of itself. However, it's something that tends to get forgotten when planning out a strategy, especially when every single skill/enemy/character has separate accuracy and resistance stats for debuffs, which do play an important role in some strategies. I do not believe that it takes away from the core experience, though.

Overall an amazing experience and one of my favorite games ever.

10/10 helped me overcome existential dread

You have no idea how much I want to like this game.

In the wake of Slay the Spire there has been a dearth of other card-based roguelites, and most are bad. Chrono Ark is one of the least bad, and arguably the best after StS and Balatro, but a lot of odd choices (the kind you see from SE Asian game dev) keeps it from reaching the heights of a game made by two people.

The Good

The art, character design, and music are top-tier, hands-down. This is the sort of game where buying the OST is 100% worth it.

The OK

Sadly, the story. The writing starts off pretty strong, but gets into the usual anime convoluted mess you often find in science-fiction anime stories. The protagonist, Lucy, is a fairly interesting character. Without getting into spoilers, her concept is fairly unique, and it gives her an interesting perspective on things. She's sort of the usual cool-headed apathetic girl character, but there's more going on than that, which is something I respect.

The same can be said for the antagonist, who I was surprised was revealed fairly early on, but it winds up working in the game's favor because they also get a lot of space to develop. Their motivations are also straightforward and pretty novel.

The rest of the cast are all serviceable. They're all the same paint-by-numbers anime stuff you've seen time and again. They take a character and give them an extreme and oddball personality, and then throw in a fairly generic "real" backstory with the tiniest sprinkling of sadness to garner sympathy. None of them talk or interact with one another outside of a few throwaway lines at camp, and each of their "arcs" (more like lines) are resolved in the same way with minimal reflection, pathos, or texture.

There are three characters who join your party who don't follow this formula, but that's due to their importance to Lucy's story arc.

The Bad

The card mechanics are too complicated.

Sure, you can understand how the game works, I've sunk 55+ hours into this (at time of writing) and have completed the game with the true ending a few times. I "get" it, but the mechanics are way too complex to be satisfying.

You're often juggling dozens of effects, all splattered across a cluttered and unhelpful UI, and of which their interactions are obtuse, partially due to banal localization and partially due to key effects sharing similar icons but having varying end effects. A full half of these effects can't be removed or mitigated, you just sort of have to hope you have enough health to get through it.

Another issue is the lack of adapting as you go. Chrono Ark has a lot of items, relics, and abilities that are just flat-out bad, highly situational, and than a paltry few are the "right" picks the game designers want you to do to cheese the game.

There is only one build for Hien, one build for Johan, one build for Narhan, etc etc etc.

It makes the game fairly frustrating to play over and over, which is a requirement because this is one of those roguelites that gates content behind raw-hard-grinding. Do not expect to get anywhere without grinding, which means playing the same configurations of characters, with the same relics, and the same items over and over again.

Very disappointing.

it's like hellcard and slay the spire had a baby and if that baby grew into a man and hooked up with backback battles and had a baby. this would be the result.

The music is really awesome and the battles are strategic and there's lots of replayability

Amazing game with alot of content, worth it along with its dlcs

An unorthodox roguelike deckbuilder that has an engaging character driven story around the looping gameplay, really motivates starting and finishing runs.

Interface is a bit rough compared to games like slay the spire, enemy information can be limited (partly by design), but once I became adjusted to the mechanics and got a few runs in, it became very satisfying in complexity and decision making.

If you have experience in deckbuilders, I recommend switching to expert difficulty after the first run or two. . The game is rather easy on normal and bosses get mechanics in expert that make me think the game was designed around this difficulty.

I. Love. This. Game. Every inch and part of it. If you are into deck building rogue like card games with a cool story, look no further.

I play this for the plot, which is pretty good, especially for a roguelike.
The DLC I bought with barely dressed women have nothing to do with it, I just wanted to support the dev...

I've only scratched the surface and so much more to do, learn, enjoy and play. This game has a lot more going for it than I originally thought so I'm very happy that I picked it up. It's quite accessible to me aswell with multi-movement keybinds and works with accessibility click-lock too for walking so I can play for long periods without flare ups.

while the graphics sometimes aren't the best, the edges seem... low res or something, in some parts. Overall, it's enjoyable and challenging. Worth trying out.