It was impossible to walk through the showfloor without being smacked in the face with ambient tunes and the stellar pastels that adorned the booth for Effort Star’s Enter the Chronosphere. The allure didn’t stop there though, once I got my hands on this tactical turn-based roguelike I was salivating, craving another plunge. At PAX, you could choose between two characters, Urtar the bearzerker or Marcia the sole survivor. Both of them came equipped with their own weapons and abilities but that was just the canvas for the runs crafted ahead. As you embark deeper into the perils of each planet the variety of weapons and abilities you can uncover will augment your run as with most roguelikes. Whether that be quicker movement or a new way to attack enemies, each run felt like it had enough variety to string together longer sessions in the future. One of my favorite weapons I acquired on my run was a long range weapon that when fired would pierce through enemies or ricochet off of walls allowing for trick shots on well placed surfaces. Each bullet felt intentional with just about every shot from me and the enemies while also erring on the side of bullet hell zipping and weaving as the intensity was always on the precipice of chaos and control.
The other main hook of Enter the Chronosphere is how the entire world functions around the turn based movement. Similar to Superhot, nothing moves unless you do. So working around that system allowed for interesting tactical feedback on a minute as well as a grander scale as I surveyed each floor looking for the smartest uses of my movements and attacks. This balance of movement was thrilling and engaging and kept my senses at their height as I hit deeper floors of the run.
Enter the Chronosphere checks all of the boxes. Stunning visuals and music, engrossing game mechanics that are refreshing for the genre, and a gameplay loop that has the potential to suck me in for a good chunk of time. I’m hopeful this one has the ability to join the upper echelon of roguelikes and I’ll be keeping this one on my radar. I suggest you do the same.
Pass The Controller 
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