I’ve had a weird relationship with MMOs over the years. I started early on with World of Warcraft and quickly moved over to Final Fantasy XIV. However, I always quickly get bored with the gameplay after a few months of intense obsession, then repeat the cycle. Chrono Odyssey is a long line of MMOs that I have picked up, published by Kakao Games.
For those who don’t know, Kakao Games is a Korean publisher that releases titles for global-scale releases. The company’s most popular title is likely Eversoul, a Gacha RPG that involves cute girls and saving the world. This means that Kakao isn’t directly responsible for the development of any of the titles they produce. However, they are the biggest name attached to this project as the developer, Chrono Studio, only has Chrono Odyssey under its belt.
So, this leaves Kakao Games on the hook for a lot of the happenings with this playtest. I had the pleasure of spending my weekend delving into the depths and attempting to decide whether or not I would follow the game into release. So, is it worth playing and following into release, or will it fade away like many other MMOs do?
The Look of Time and Space
What caught my eye the most was how good the character models looked in cutscenes and in the character creator. I spent at least thirty minutes creating a character that looked good and felt like me. Although my attempts were passable, I feel like a truly great character designer could make something that looks beyond amazing. However, this is where the visuals stopped looking so good.
I’ll admit my PC isn’t the most up-to-date in the world — truthfully, I only rock an RTX 2070, and that has some very obvious limits now. So when I finally booted into the world, I heard my PC scream for help. I knew I was in trouble because I was instantly met with a slideshow of characters teleporting around. This was concerning, to say the least. I had made sure I could run the game, maybe not at the best graphics, but definitely above low.
Instead, even when I ran the graphics on low, I was met with random frame drops that, while manageable, became frustrating. The main city for this test—a random settlement in the middle of nowhere—was the worst and would instantly turn into a slideshow. This isn’t to mention that during the playtest, it became clear the graphics weren’t exactly what had been promised.
The trailers had shown a much different world that was moody and atmospheric, and while the initial cutscene showed something like that, the game looks absolutely nothing like its reveal trailer. This is an issue for numerous reasons, as it feels like this project almost misled players. Once I ended up in the world, I felt like there was a spotlight that had been shone on it. This persisted even when I attempted to move my graphics up to Epic, as the world shone as if it were the star of its own show. Normally, I would like this, but it clashed constantly with the world around me being blown apart.
Fighting Back
An MMO is expected to have a semi-turn-based style of gameplay, basically allowing you to run around a field, but most, if not all, skills are on their own internal timers. The idea of an Action-RPG inside an MMO has been exciting for many players, including me. Chrono Odyssey manages to find a system that works without feeling overly complicated.
This play test had only two classes available: the Ranger and the Swordsman. These two classes felt very basic, but getting to look at the other classes made me excited for them upon full release. I decided to choose the Ranger, mostly because I like the idea of ranged combat more than melee.
Essentially, you have the ability to use basic attacks along with four different skills that use either your vigor meter or timers. Each class also has the choice between three different weapons. For example, the Ranger gets to choose between a bow and arrow, a crossbow, or a rapier. Each weapon has a different playstyle associated with it; the bow favors standing still and shooting, while the rapier dashes in and out of combat.
This one choice allows players to decide what kind of character they want to be before looking at any skill trees. Which I think is a good way to introduce character complexity. After all, another MMO restricts players to one weapon type per class, which can feel very limiting at times. Even being able to switch between two separate weapon types doesn’t change this.
Instead, I would pump all my skills into the enemies and fall back on normal attacks until they died. The real issue I noticed is that the gear seems to be more important here than I was expecting. Especially because it doesn’t seem to be a reward anywhere for the quests or drops from more elite enemies. Instead, gear seems to be more common if you are crafting for it.
The issue I have with the crafting gear, and honestly, most of this title, is that nothing is explained very well. The very basics of the system are outlined in a quest where you are forced to craft a single weapon for yourself. Then it doesn’t explain how to refine raw materials or even what is needed to collect them.
Honestly, the crafting, while necessary, needs to be more engaging. Everything works on a timer or just clicking yes on a screen. This makes some of Chrono Odyssey feel like a mobile game, even gathering feels redundant and monotonous. There isn’t much outside of combat that feels very polished here. It feels like much of the game needs another pass at some of the gameplay mechanics.
Time Stops for No One
Chrono Odyssey is very promising, but unfortunately, so much is holding it back. The combat is good, and the graphics, at first glance, look nice. However, it quickly comes undone as soon as you step into the world, whether it’s how the game looks bright or just how combat devolves into basic attacks.
Kakao Games has always been the publisher to take a chance on games, even those that seem too ambitious. Chrono Odyssey falls under being too ambitious and has overextended in a spectacular way. Although it’s not all doom, as there is a chance that the issues with this play test show Chrono Studios what to polish as we march on to release.
