Chronoscript: The Endless End, from Deskworks, could have been a game about running from left to right with no action, jumping, or dialogue, and it would still have gotten my attention. The artwork and imagination on display here are both second-to-none in the genre.
You play an unnamed Editor called to the remote residence of an award-winning yet reclusive author. Upon arrival you’re drugged, waking up inside the pages of the story which by pure coincidence actually resemble the single rooms of a Metroidvania game. Your job, it would appear, is to escape – but the only way to do that is to help the writer finish her magnum opus.
Gameplay-wise, what follows is a pretty pure-form Metroidvania. You explore left to right, unlocking a few traversal skills early on such as a double jump and the ability to sink into spilled ink to navigate up walls and boost jump. Beyond that you have a basic initial attack and a rechargeable heal and that’s your lot. You may unlock a dodge roll or grapple later, but at this stage I simply don’t know. Neither is featured in the demo.
Read our interview with the Chronoscript team.
Combat therefore is fairly simple: strike, jump to evade, repeat. Enemies drop in just a few hits, and even the boss is a simple enough case of jumping over his charge attacks and dodging under his bounce-slam. While this is all perfectly serviceable and feels responsive and satisfying enough, the art style is the real star here.
The gameworld resembles an antique, baroque library hewn from gothic architecture and mountains of books. As you run, the world appears before you as though illustrated pages are being slid beneath your feet, expanding the world as you navigate it. Pages unfurl, images come together to form bridges and steps, within which you’ll find benches at which to rest like you’re playing Hollow Knight (from which it takes much of its influence), or Ender Lillies.
When you reach the Writer herself and actually meet her, the game map is unlocked, and you literally zoom out of where you are to see all the pages she has inserted in front of and behind you, presented like a standard Metroidvania map. It’s so effortlessly, shamelessly stylish that I couldn’t help but smile.
While it does feel good to play, my concern is that without a dedicated dodge button or any kind of skill tree (yet), combat feels a little straightforward. Traversal is fun but nothing special or unique so far. Metroidvanias, even the truly pretty ones, occupy a packed market, and really need to stand out to do well. Although with Chronoscript: The Endless End’s incredible visual direction, it might get by on looks alone anyway.
Chronoscript: The Endless End is coming to PC and consoles in 2026.
