ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos Reviews

Very highly recommend the game, 8.5/10 + Voice acting is superb. Honestly, I was blown away at times, you could really feel the emotions of the characters. + Music. Holy cow, each song is memorable and there are moments where it syncs so perfectly to story beats. + The story Although it can get a bit confusing, I found myself really caring for the characters especially when Anima is introduced. - *mild spoiler* You will have to revist some scenes and it gets a bit annoying relisting to the same dialogue. Luckily there is a skip function, but you can't skip everything. This is more of a visual novel than a game. For me, I found it very relaxing and immersive. If you like anime, this is for you. If your expecting a full vr experience with mech combat, this isn't it. This is a beautiful story with experiencing!

TLDR: I liked this game - much more than Tokyo Chronos. It is bigger, better, and more polished in every way. It offers an experience that only VR can offer, and serves as an even better proof of concept that its predecessor. I feel like ALTDEUS just opened pandora's box, and it might just be the progenitor of a new wave of VR visual novels that will be even bigger and better than it is. Even with all its writing hiccups, I believe it is something special and worth trying if you own a VR headset. It is to VR visual novels what half life alyx is to VR adventure games: a huge breakthrough in the right direction for an entire genre. If you're interested in reading beyond this tldr, then here are my pros and cons: Good: +The visuals are wild. You'll be blown away within the first 30 minutes of playing this game. Sometimes, you'll have to crane your neck all the way up to see what is unfolding. Major events in this game happen on a very large scale. Combine this with the binocular vision of VR, and we have something truly special. This leads me into the next point: +The mech sequences are brilliantly directed and choreographed. As I've hinted at before, VR is an amazing medium for making things look large and epic. I've watched and read a lot of mecha anime and visual novels that put you in the cockpit of a mech, but not a single one of them comes even close the capturing the orgasmic scale of ALTDEUS's mech sequences. There's just something about having your entire binocular field of vision being filled up by the cockpit, watching the action unfold in front of you on a giant scale that completely outclasses anything you may see on a simple computer screen. You just have to try this game to see what I mean. +The music is great. Music plays quite a big role in this game, both plot-wise and atmosphere wise. The mech battles would not be half as awesome if it wasn't for the blaring pop music in the background that makes everything feels orgasmically grand and exciting. Imagine watching the last episode of an anime and the opening starts playing. That's how each mech sequence feels. In addition, even when the exciting stuff isn't happening, the music still manages to be very beautiful and fitting for whatever scene they are in. Overall, stellar in the music and sound department. +Although the game is actually very limited in its graphical capabilities, it hides this fact very well through its clever use of lore and visual tricks to hide the parts of it that don't look good, and put the parts that do front and center. Bad: - There's a dialogue tree system that tells you what stats you will gain or lose if you pick one choice or the other. I.e if you pick this dialogue option, you lose 60% obedience, but gain 50% teamwork. This would be fine and dandy if only these stats ACTUALLY DID ANYTHING. They are completely irrelevant and the game doesn't even keep track of them. They only serve as flair and nothing else, which is extremely misleading as the game makes it sound as if they matter when introducing this dialogue system to you. - The story is overly reliant on flashbacks to make you care for a certain character, which in turn only made me hate her. - The main character sucks; she's moody, grumpy, whiny, always going on about how miserable her life is and how everything sucks. Her arc is also very predictable and cliche. It's the same arc that every edgy, whiny protagonist goes through in every visual novel ever, and more often than not I find myself mashing the A button to get through her incessant monologues in which she constantly wallows in self-pity and regret. - The way to progress in this game is still tedious just as it was in Tokyo Chronos. While the story is slightly tighter than Tokyo Chronos, it is still tedious to have to go through entire portions of the game again and again multiple times to finally get to the true ending.

ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos was truly an amazing experience. I went into Tokyo Chronos about a year ago with no expectations and was really blown away by the charm of the game: the characters, the story and the music. That's the reason I was scared of ALTDEUS. Now I had expectations, and I wasn't sure if this game could impact me as much as the previous one did. But now I feel really bad for waiting this long to finally play it. At the moment I'm writing this I have seen all the endings, I just have to go back and see the other variations of the endings (if you played it you know what I mean). This formula of VR Visual Novel is still really impactful. The voice actors (I played with Japanese audio) were perfectly chosen and could convey their feelings really well. Some of the voices you may even recognize from other anime. The characters were once again really well written with their own backstory and ambitions. Some of them you just like from the start, some grow on you after you learn more about them and some of them you hate even more after learning more about them :D The music is a big step-up to the previous title. Very good soundtrack and also a lot of beautifully vocalized songs. Some even with their own virtual concert. They always went perfect with the current mood in the game and even out of the game hold strong and are nice to listen to (some of them went straight into my playlist). The different endings are really well executed and make you feel a lot of different emotions. I now once again know how bad it is to cry with your headset on, because it's hard to wipe your tears away :D I thought the choice system was a bit confusing at first, but after playing a while you learn to understand and appreciate it. It really felt like every choice could change the story drastically, which of course isn't always true, because there is only a limited amount of routes, but every choice felt important. Now that I finally have these words off my chest, I will play the other variations of the endings and then the DLC Episode. After that I will eagerly wait for the next entry in the Chronos Series, and this time I won't wait a year to play it. Oh and sorry if some sentences sound weird, but English isn't my first language, so please forgive me :D

I enjoyed it and I like the multiple endings and the good music, though i have a love hate relationship with it punching me in the feels so many times....

Came for the robot, stayed for the melody. Great visual novel (or music studio with built in story). JP Voice Actors got alot more power than EN VA, while JP voice acting is really powerful the EN one seems so lifeless that I skipped the first play through and was about to not recommend until I found out that I can change in game voice.

A surprisingly immersive visual novel made possible with a VR headset; who woulda thunk? Having hands in-game really enhances the immersion and allows you to act out the dialogue and scenes in game. This combined with the excellent music and action set-pieces, really elevated this visual novel beyond many of its peers. If you're a visual novel aficionado and own a VR headset, I highly recommend giving this game a spin. Definitely a fresh take on a somewhat stale game medium/ genre.

The mech battle is a gimmick (think of it as a dialog choice box alternative), but gawd, the plot... it's fixation ramped up to 1000.

A warning, this is a Visual Novel, not an Action Game. For players wishing to learn how to find the different branches, there seems to be, in general 4 Heroine Endings, each with Good and Bad, and after each ending, the start screen will display a silhouette of the "heroine"'s ending you unlocked. The first 2 times you play the game, you will unlock "extras" in the next playthrough, so Ending Meteora will be the first, after that, you will be capable of unlocking the second branch for Endings Noa and Anima, and after any of them, you unlock the ability to open the final branch, to the Coco Ending (Final). In Ariadne, a visual representation of the story line and its branches, you can see the ramifications, and can also jump through past events from past branches at any time if you want to complete things. There is also a mini "encyclopedia" of terms in Ar, holding important terms of that event and what they meant at that time, so if you forgot something, check those to remember. However, you can only jump into major events, so sometimes, you may have to backtrack a lot if you want to just check the other option that you just went through because there were no major events in some time. For how to play the game, you will go through 3 types of events: - Novel mode is the most common, as the novel advances through it, and is the easiest to explain: People talk, you read, and so on. On a very strangely adopted method you have choices, which affects hidden parameters, like Obedience, Independence, being Open Minded and so on, but because there are no numeric parameters, my impression is that it changes the options you may face ahead, I would imagine that, if I'm too obedient, I may be unable to go against an order in the future, and if I'm too rebellious, the choices may not allow me to agree with certain characters. This is just a guess, as I have no real idea how it works, but for example, in my second playthrough where I was a little nicer to Noa, I got to see her concert, and I didn't even had such option in the first playthrough, but of course, maybe it's locked the first time, or maybe it was related to the parameters, but this uncertainty is awesome and just makes things more natural, because I don't need to think too much, and just go with what I think will be better, without worrying about missing much either. The main problem is that, unlike other novels, there is no Log button, so careful when skipping text, as you can't read what you skipped, and will have to go back to the title menu and start the current part from the start to see it again. - Search Mode are somewhat rare, but they are basically the moments when you have multiple options to either interact or talk with people. Sometimes it's just to interact with things or talk with the characters, but once interacted, unless they have an extra event, you can't do it anymore, and without Logs, be careful with button pressing again. The worse part of this is that there is no indication on what advances the story or not, so if you went to check on something and you left the place because you thought you would have to do something else to advance the story, well, you will move, and any other interactions will be lost until another play through. You don't lose anything technically, just... That feeling of 100% as soon as possible... Search mode may also be used in small puzzles, although those are linear, basically, find the item you have to interact to advance the story... Well, it's basically the same thing, really. And here is the best part: - Mecha Battles. They are essentially an **overloaded Novel Mode**: It's mostly linear and you don't have much control, but it's more interactive (press buttons), and sometimes you may have choices (attack, don't attack, if allowed, do something else), and is where you will find some branches in the story. But... The experience... It can't be described. Check the official website for the artists doing the sound design to understand what I mean: https://altdeus.com/en/staffcast/artist.html For the Sound Track, you have someone from MONACA, who is also known for OSTs like the Nier series, although if I were to compare the OST here, they remind me more of Gundam Unicorn, Aldnoah Zero, and Guilty Crown (the three by Hiroyuki Sawano). There is also kz (livetune), very famous for many great Hatsune Miku songs. Please MyDearest, do sell the Soundtrack on Steam! For the sequence of events, all mecha fans are guaranteed to love it: You have a full launch sequence, filled with the boot process, your Operator/AI/Partner Noa giving you her blessings, and mind you, she stays in the cockpit singing the battle theme, with a sound similar to Hiroyuki Sawano's more agitated insert songs. I feel like I'm piloting the Macross, and I'm not talking about the Valkyries, instead, it's heavy and clunky, reminding me more of the the Battle 7, Battle Frontier or Macross Quarter in Battle mode, and everything you do and see is from the cockpit, so for example, up until now, I have not seen my own mecha properly (I could be vaguely or partially seen through monitors, or glasses, or even reflection when I'm inside, but never from a 3rd person view), the movements, although limited in view, feel a bit clunky, but not as in "bad clucky", but as in "I'm piloting a Goddamn Macross" type of clunkiness, so you know the weight of the movements, or when you get hit (although, of course, the VR can't make itself heavier). You get all the dialogues and tension that you have to do to defend and attack, like pressing the floating buttons, or holding your hips guns, joining them into some Hyper Gun, and then aim, and as the sequence starts, and you have to press the button the the proper time to shoot, or you miss (The main mecha, the Alto Makhia, is a Cannon type mecha. The Ares Makhia, which uses a sword, is controlled by another character, which is soon to receive a DLC, so I'm expecting somehow being able to battle with the sword). Keep in mind, this is not a fighting game, so if you are expecting Gundam Vs type of action, you may even feel bored by having the whole boot up sequence all over again, but if you understand the appeal of the Mecha genre, it's mechagasm: it's like you are in an anime, in first person, with an excellent OST, feeling the excitement of what is going to happen next, I just had to write this review now without even finishing the game yet! It's just that good of an experience, the feeling of inside the cockpit of your robot seeing the battle only through the visor, having your partner by your side talking to you and acting to help. It's a little sad that they are short, and there aren't thaat many of them compared to the rest of the game, but hell, that's why I'm going full playthrough, just to play all those parts again! The plot... It's quite unique, I found small elements that remind me of Aldnoah Zero (OST), Macross (Divas and the "power of song"), Knights of Sidonia (Tsugumi's case) and Genesis of Aquarion (Much shorter than 12K years, if you catch the reference of what I mean), to name a few, only talking about the good parts, of course. Now, do remember that you may wish to change the voices to Japanese for the anime feeling, I just want to play more and more, too bad I need to sleep, the experience is just that GREAT. In regards to it's relationship with Tokyo Chronos being in the same universe, there are 2 names that come straight from there, and they are not that irrelevant. However if you have not played the previous game, at most you will be missing a reference, you won't lose anything else.

i'm not good at reviewing games but here goes i understand there's several barriers of entry to this game 1. it's virtual reality 2. it's a visual novel, not that much of a popular genre over here 3. one could click expecting mecha fights, but in fact there's only a few and it's all scripted, because the game is a visual novel due to that, it's naturally going to be restrictive in what you are allowed to do: you cannot freely move in the environment, there's almost no interaction compared to the usual VR game, etc. after all, you're essentially reading an interactive book here. despite all of that, i can confidently say that ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos is a great game. the story hooked me in way harder than i expected, and the multiple branches as well as [spoiler]the ability to jump directly to different points in the storyline[/spoiler] really increase replayability. in fact, i'm confident i've completed all of the game on Quest before, and bought the game here for the minor enhancements the Steam version has. if you don't mind spending 20+ hours reading a great game, do play this.

This is the best VR game I've played so far this year and the #1 VR VN I've played to date by a long shot! The first ending is around 3 hours in but it's more like a prelude. The full game has about 15 hours of content to get all the endings and each branch adds huge swaths of story and character development so you really feel compelled to play through them all. There are also a couple music videos built into the story that you can go back and revisit any time which gives you some reason to boot up the game every now and then even after 100% completing it. Music videos in VR are awesome! This is the single best designed VR VN I've played so far. Everything is voiced, the subtitles work perfectly without being hard to read, there's just a little bit of interaction and freedom to mess around with things to keep things interesting and I like how the scenes are partially animated. One problem Tokyo Chronos had was a LOT of internal monologuing that broke the pace of conversations but there's none of that here. All the conversations flow very naturally which makes it far more immersive. Characters will do short animations to add life to their dialog but then freeze-frame to give the impression of typical VN sprites. It almost always feels like a style choice rather than a cop-out. The exception to this would be a few scenes at the end (that I won't spoil with details) where the camera cuts to black instead of showing something interesting being animated. Those parts are pretty rare, though, and it works great the rest of the time. Another nitpick is some of the English voice actors were *really* flat. Chloe's English VA was a little flat but she's supposed to be emotionally repressed so it wasn't terrible. Coco's English VA, on the other hand, was very flat and really terrible. The rest of the English cast and all of the Japanese cast were pretty great, though. Overall, I highly recommend this to any fan of VNs. If you want to check out some of the gameplay, I have a playthrough up to the first ending available on my channel: https://youtu.be/v9bgJ3PX9Sk