Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate Episode III review — Wake up

I’ve been fairly harsh on Dyschronia: Chronos Alternate in the past, but that’s because I can see exactly what they’re trying to achieve. Now that the game is complete with the release of Episode 3, I think My Dearest have found their footing despite remaining shortcomings. Dyschronia has a lot of heart, and it really shines through in the final episode: End of Hallucinations.

Episode 3 picks up right where episode 2 left off, which was a big story moment I won’t spoil here. Immediately you’re informed that most of the characters you’ve gotten to know are in grave danger, with Professor Rumford’s killer still on the loose. Utilizing Maia’s powers, you can peek into the fates of Airi, Keith, and Ash to determine the killer’s route that day and give them warnings before she gets there. It’s a great opening that wastes no time, and while it’s an easy puzzle to solve the game still puts it entirely on you to save everyone. It sets the tone for what is a puzzle filled and action packed finale.

Most of the episode after this opening is spent climbing the clocktower of Astrum Close, where the experiment that set the game in motion took place 12 years ago. As Hal, Lily, and Noel climb their way up, you’ll encounter puzzles to solve and massive story revelations that completely change the context of past events. It takes things I thought were just weird decisions or translation issues and flips them to have been foreshadowing instead. That’s one of the benefits and issues of an episodic format, but I digress. Even so, both the story and puzzles are at their peak in this episode.

Again, without spoiling anything, there is one big annoyance here as well unfortunately. Namely, there are three absolutely awful stealth sections in which you go back in time to make sure Rumford reaches the top of the tower safely, thus opening up the way for you in the present. It’s a cool idea, but you can get caught way too easily requiring perfect timing and movement. You can only understand what to do through trial and error, and failing means you have to sit through some animations and dialogue that are just long enough to get on your nerves after the first two times. These are paced just far enough apart that you might think there aren’t any more after the first or second, and being frustrated by them is one reason this review took so long to write along with my usual curse of VR motion sickness.

These are thankfully offset by some amazing puzzles, particularly the final one which has you directing a laser to power a generator using redirecting cubes. I’ve wanted more puzzles that utilize VR better as a medium, and that’s exactly what I got here. There’s everything from some math brain teasers to just tossing objects into containers, and it’s all a lot of fun. What I didn’t expect was My Dearest to use the medium to elevate story moments, and they do just that with aplomb.

I didn’t really think I was particularly attached to the characters, but the ending sure proved me wrong there. It’s an emotional finale, and I’m honestly sad I won’t have another episode of Hal and Lily to look forward to. Sure the voice acting is still mostly monotone, but you can tell everyone involved is putting their all into sticking the landing here. I may need a Lily plushie or the excellent soundtrack on CD to cope if they’re not going to continue these characters’ story. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an excellent ending and doesn’t need to be continued, and I doubt it’ll affect everyone the same way, but the novelty of the experience and the love that went into it make it feel special. It’s strange as a critic as well, because I can see the developers improving on flaws I’ve pointed out since the first episode. For example, there are a ton of bespoke animations in this episode whereas originally characters would fade from one pose to another, and grabbing items and opening doors is much more snappy and intuitive. I don’t even know if they actually read what I wrote, but regardless I can see them trying their best in real time and it’s endearing.

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