When Cronos: The New Dawn released, I minced no words about my frustrations with the game. While there was certainly a solid foundation at the game’s heart, particularly with its story, the issues with the frame rate, abrupt conclusion, and frustrating gameplay loop are far too vast to ignore. Furthermore, I had very little fun with the actual package, making it a game that I struggled to recommend to others.
However, despite my issues, I couldn’t help but be deeply curious about how the game would run on the Nintendo Switch 2. I’ve been having a blast with the Switch 2, and have been thoroughly impressed with how it has adapted games meant for more demanding consoles onto such a small screen. Games such as Cyberpunk 2077 have shone on the hardware, so when I was given a chance to try out Cronos: The New Dawn on the console, I was admittedly optimistic about the idea. After all, I’m all for more horror games on the console.
After a few hours of playing, I found myself mixed on the quality of Cronos: The New Dawn on Nintendo Switch 2. On the one hand, the game runs surprisingly well and comes with a wealth of features that make it the definitive way to play Cronos. On the other hand, the game is still extremely flawed and still features the technical, gameplay, and pacing issues that the base game possesses.
Horror on the Go With Very Few Graphical Sacrifices
While I’m still not a huge fan of Cronos: The New Dawn, I must admit that it was a treat to revisit the game on such a small screen. Starting with the graphics, it is surprising just how good the game looks on the console, despite the supposed lesser hardware. The game looks comparable to the PlayStation 5 version in many ways, especially during gameplay.
When you step out into the greater overworld, the graphical fidelity truly comes into focus. A lot of the scenery looks absolutely drop-dead gorgeous, with a lot of the distant buildings being rendered really well. There’s a more where you can see a pair of split buildings in the distance, just like in the original game, and it looks almost identical to the PlayStation 5 version of the game.
Of course, some compromises had to be made. In a few areas, some of the texture quality has gone down quite a bit. Namely, with some of the destructible boxes and monsters you encounter. Thankfully, these sorts of problems aren’t really noticeable in the grand scheme of things. The fact that they were able to get the game running on the Switch 2 at all is really impressive. However, there are some key issues with the performance that aren’t so dismissible.
The biggest issues with Cronos: The New Dawn on the Switch 2, at least graphically, are mainly visible in the cutscenes. While The Traveler, the hulking machine-like being that serves as the game’s protagonist, looks great in cutscenes, the same can’t be said for the human characters. The human characters look grotesque, with their eyes in particular being so dark that they almost look like they have no pupils. Further, the textures on their face are extremely poorly rendered. In some cases, they look scarier than the actual monsters within the game.
As a whole, though, while there are some major problems with the performance of Cronos: The New Dawn on Switch 2, the fact that Bloober Team managed to get the game running at all is certainly promising. I hope Bloober will be able to port other games to the console at some point in the future (such as Silent Hill 2, perhaps).
With all that being said, however, despite some new features added exclusively for the Switch 2 version of Cronos: The New Dawn, it is still the same lackluster game that was released for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. This is deeply apparent with the gameplay, in particular.
Gameplay That is Still Repetitive and Frustrating
While the graphics of the Switch 2 version of Cronos: The New Dawn are impressive in how they’ve adapted a game made for more powerful consoles for a portable system, the gameplay isn’t as novel. It is, quite frankly, exactly the same gameplay as every other version of the game. This isn’t exactly a surprise, as I’m not sure anyone was expecting any major changes.
However, it does make it hard for me to enjoy the gameplay loop, as I’ve been quite vocal about my distaste for Cronos‘ mechanics. That said, there are some new additions that are worth mentioning. For starters, there’s the addition of gyroscope controls. Despite my previous statements, I think gyro camera controls feel really nice. It feels surprisingly natural, and to be honest, I preferred aiming this way rather than with the traditional joysticks.
The other most notable addition to Cronos: The New Dawn, unique to the Switch 2 version, is the inclusion of mouse controls. Mouse controls are one of the flagship features of the Nintendo Switch 2, so it isn’t too shocking that this version of Cronos highlights it. In comparison to other games that use the mechanic, I actually found it to feel really nice with Cronos. The controls are responsive, and all the buttons are placed in ways that aren’t too uncomfortable or unnatural.
These mark the end of the new additions, though. Everything else is identical to every other version of Cronos: The New Dawn, which means that it suffers from the exact same problems. There are still consistent frame drops that frequently affect gameplay. The gameplay loop is repetitive and frustrating, as you’re constantly forced into combat encounters with limited resources and no other option than to fight with weak melee and weapons that lack impact. There were constant parts where I would get stuck in a wall, much like with the PS5 version, leaving me to do nothing other than die within moments.
As a result, even though I really liked the Switch 2 version of Cronos: The New Dawn, it is still just as flawed and frustrating as any other version of the game. Due to this, it’s still really hard for me to recommend this game to people.
A Foundation That is Still Broken
I went into the Switch 2 version of Cronos: The New Dawn hoping for my perspective on the game to change. Sadly, no such thing happened. Don’t get me wrong, this version of Cronos is still very impressive. The fact that it was able to bring a technically demanding game to the console is yet another mark in favor of the capabilities of the Nintendo Switch 2. Plus, the addition of gyro and mouse controls is a great way to differentiate this version from other editions of the game.
However, these are the only differentiations. At the end of the day, this version of Cronos: The New Dawn is the same as every other, save for cutscenes that look far worse. As such, the gameplay is still frustrating, repetitive, and deeply unfun. Due to this, much like with the original version of Cronos, I spent most of my runtime constantly wishing I was playing any other horror game.
That said, if you are intrigued by Cronos and truly want to purchase it, then I would say the Switch 2 version is the definitive way to play the game, due to the portable factor and the fact that it costs the same as other versions of the game. Furthermore, there is one plus I can mark in favor of this edition of Cronos: it gives me hope that other horror games will eventually make their way to the console. Even in spite of these pros, though, I still can’t recommend this game for people who are diehard fans of the horror genre like me.
Disclaimer: Bloober Team provided a Nintendo Switch 2 copy of Cronos: The New Dawn for review purposes.
