Cronos: The New Dawn (Second Attempt)

Last year one of the games I pre ordered and played when it launched was Cronos The New Dawn.  At first I enjoyed the game but its difficulty turned that liking into more of a feeling of annoyance as I am not a fan of especially difficult games.  I hoped to have finished it in the weeks I had to play before Silent Hill was released but couldn't and so I moved on and debated if I would return to it.  I really enjoyed the story and lore being built so I wanted to play it at least one time completing the story.  Almost six months later Bloober Team released an update that included an easier difficulty setting called Temporal Diver.  I was over the moon in excitement to try this out and so I finally did and not only did I finish the game, I then immediately proceeded to play New Game plus.  Here are my thoughts with the game and its easier difficulty.

I started the game over again to see immediately that they provide a lot of ammo and health items added to the stash as well as many more spots where they drop.   So it was abundantly clear that  when Bloober said this difficulty will allow players to enjoy the story more without the stress of difficult gameplay, they really meant it.  Now with this said it's not to say that it was a complete breeze.  Limited inventory space still created some difficulty in areas and boss mechanics did cause me to have a handful of deaths through the course of the game.  I would say the way the easier difficulty works it does start with settings that did make the game too easy for me but I fixed that where when choosing that difficulty it automatically turns up the aim assist so I turned that off because I don't need that much help and I'm glad they allow you to change that setting.  Another thing I noticed is the damage done to enemies is greatly increased, I'd say it seemed like it was double of the normal difficulty but I feel like damage taken was about the same.

I’m so glad that I started this game over again because now I’m able to play and actually kill all the enemies. I found that and parts that I just ran through when I was playing the normal difficulty had a lot of files filled with lore that I was missing. Finding all this now makes it feel like I’m actually experiencing the game for one of the things I’ve seen praised the most for it, its lore and world building.  The world is one of the most captivating I've played from Bloober and they definitely stepped up their craft with this.  Their last original game I enjoyed the immersive unique world of so much was Observer.  It makes me wonder if they made a sequel or remake of Observer like how they did with Layers of Fear but used what they've learned with their recent games like the Silent Hill 2 remake and Cronos.

Another thing I liked about Cronos was how it at times felt like a buffet of different horror game experiences. The most obvious is its Dead Space aesthetic but just takes place on Earth as it just deals with time travel as opposed to space travel. With that it has what most action horror games have with RE Engine style combat mechanics. But also later in the game it has jump scares that are reminiscent of those specific to Alan Wake 2 which work perfectly into the story. And speaking of the story, they definitely did great with taking cues from the surreal Silent Hill psychological horror that develops as the game goes on, leaving enough mystery to have you fill in the gaps with interpretation but with a little of the dark existentialism of Soma.  This was one of the things I found most interesting were the reactions of the characters when choosing to replace the essences and how each would react when you chose to erase their essence, essentially providing the final true death for the character.  The first time I encountered it, it was terrifying as the character screamed in agony that he wasn't ready for it after all the complaining he made about being an essence kept in the void like world they existed in.  It made me sit with my decision for a minute.

Another sci-fi aspect I really enjoyed were the counter gravity boots.  It never got old for me traversing between the areas defying gravity getting through the wreckage of the world.  This gave a different way to move through the world and experience the horror of it.   The story is not the most groundbreaking thing ever but it does bring up some good questions of fatalism and accepting the past.  It’s easy to look back on our past and want to do things differently but what if we were confronted with our past selves and they argued because the actions that end up being mistakes were done with such belief of being the right choice or more so what if the same choice can bring different results and create a multiversal shift where that one action may be the same but can bring about different futures.  Part of the narrative striking a chord in me this time is the debate on art and its purpose and how it’s exploration is the ultimate sign of the privilege and luxury of time and how time is wasted but the beauty in it is the choice of how to waste that time but the question of whether it’s really worth wasting it is a valid endeavor.  

When it comes to Bloober team games, at least their originals, nostalgia will always make me partial to Layers of Fear. And then when it comes to Observer, it definitely has the most interesting story but Cronos is by far their best all around game. From gameplay to story and just overall vibe. The standard difficulty is a treat for those who like challenging games but for the rest of us, we can play on the easier Temporal Diver difficulty. It still gets difficult at times but never gets boring. So thank you so much Bloober Team for adding this difficulty setting.  And maybe one day I'll try the standard difficulty again just to see if by playing the game and being familiar with it, I can rise to and complete the challenge.  This game may not bring many new things to the survival horror genre but it is definitely a perfection of it, showing the best it has to offer and with the easier difficulty I feel I can now say even if someone just wanted a game to start their journey into this genre, Cronos can be that game to get a fantastic experience of what the genre has to offer.  I look forward to what Bloober makes from here as this was another great step for them into the world of survival horror.  And even just being a couple weeks out from when I played Cronos through two times, I already look forward to playing again as any great survival horror game gives an experience that warrants repeat experiences. Such is our calling.