[Discovering Indies] Chronology

As a follower of science fiction, astronomy and other sciences since I was little, time, as an extra dimension or concept, is something in which I have always been interested. I am fascinated by stories in which an individual or a group of people manage to travel in time, either forward or backward, and end up generating temporal conflicts or paradoxes, which can be as logical as they are at the same time very complex and almost inexplicable.

And of course, all the theories about time travel, about changing lines or simply assuming that those lines exist and "traveling" on them are just that, theories. I have read a lot about these theories, I have constantly informed myself over the years to stay updated, and I have debated with many people for hours about possible paradoxes, about the butterfly effect, about the fact that the further away what we observe through a space telescope is, the further in the past that image that we observe is, and even about the scientific and real possibility (although there are not yet the means to achieve it, and if there were there is no way to do the process in reverse) of traveling to the future thanks to the use of speed and how it It directly influences the passage of time of the traveler. I will not continue talking about this here, because this is not an article to talk about science and I am not a scientist to even try to give a lecture here, but I wanted to highlight not only my interest in the space/time issue but also what is considered by many to be the fourth dimension, the Z axis, and which is the implicit protagonist in this video game called Chronology: The weather.

Progressive Media, the original developer of this title, closed its doors in January of this year, leaving Chronology like a half-baked project just after passing the Steam Greenlight filter, which is a system within Steam designed to promote the launch of games from independent studios, and the game was left in that limbo that only has two paths: that of oblivion, or that of salvation. And it was luckily for El Inventor and El Caracol, as the protagonist duo is called, that the path they took was the second one thanks to the fact that a small group made up of several members of the original development team decided to form the Danish indie studio. Osao Games, with the aim of completing the game and launching it on the market for Steam and then also on iOS.

Chronology It begins with the character we will meet as The Inventor, waking up in a dark and humid forest, with no memory of how he got there or what happens in that world that is as sad as it is wild. As we move forward we will find a kind of clock that The Inventor recognizes as an object built by him, and when we activate the device will travel to the past, where the colors look more vivid, the landscapes are cared for, the mechanisms and gears still work and the days are pleasant, bright and sunny. With this simple introduction, the game shows us its main mechanics, which consists of The Inventor's ability to alternate between the past and the present to overcome the obstacles that we encounter in our path.

In the adventure we will find the one we will know as The Snail, and that after rescuing him from a horrible fate he will be very grateful to us and will help us advance through the scenarios, following us during our journey whether we want it or not, giving humor to some parts of the game where The Inventor abandons the snail because he can no longer stand it, only to have to ask him for help a few minutes later as if nothing had happened.

The game is a platform adventure with scenarios that are full of puzzles that will make it difficult for us to advance and whose solutions always have a lot to do with temporal changes.. This for many is similar to what the well-known braid, but in Chronology time is used in a very different way than in the multi-award-winning title. For example, a small plant in the past can be a large tree in the present that we can climb to reach a high base that has a mechanism to open a door, but once we reach the base we will realize that the mechanism does not work in the present, so we must return to the past where it does work and thus activate it so that the door opens and we can continue moving forward.

The way to advance and solve puzzles may seem simple at first, but the level of difficulty increases progressively as is logical and when we already have the company of El Caracol our options to overcome these puzzles will increase giving way to combinations that include not only alternating between two timelines, but also using the snail skills which are being able to go attached to a wall and reach areas that The Inventor could not reach, act as a base for the protagonist to reach a higher or more distant platform, or even stop time in order to cause a constantly moving mechanism to remain fixed in a position that is what we need to continue advancing.

Another thing we will notice is that Some things we do in the past directly influence the present, and this, in addition to being part of the puzzle-solving mechanism, has to do with the story of the game. The Inventor is sure that what happens in the world is largely his responsibility, and that is why he will change things from the past to save the present from an unfortunate fate. He believes that it is his responsibility because, in an industrialized world where all machinery depends on steam, The Inventor together with a monk who practices the art of alchemy, take the use of steam to unsuspected limits in their attempt to create a fort of superior energy, which if in the wrong hands would be catastrophic.

The scenarios of Chronology They are vivid and colorful, especially in the sunny and bright past, and they also have a very clever puzzle design that will make you think a lot. The characters are well done and very charismatic, making us smile more than once. The levels are not particularly difficult, and the game is also short, which is accentuated if we consider that it is originally a game designed for PC, but this is compensated by the low price of the game, which on Steam varies between €2.99 and €4.99, and on iOS you can download it for free and play the first 3 chapters of the game and buy the remaining 5 chapters for €2.99 through an in-app purchase.

The quality of the music is another thing to highlight in the game, which has different instrumental melodies, and the sound effects are also another success, denoting great care in the sound section.

And if we talk about care in this work, I cannot help but mention the story of Chronology, which is not the best I have experienced nor the most original of all, but It's interesting enough to keep you hooked on this adventure from start to finish., also supported by the aforementioned charisma of the characters that generates the need to know what will happen to them in the end. The drawback that the story presents is not a characteristic of it, but rather the development of the game, which being short causes the story to concentrate and advance quickly without being able to take the time to stop to better explore the characters. Its control system is also very careful, which even in the mobile version, which you must control using a directional cross and virtual buttons on the touch screen, works wonders and has an instant response.

In conclusion, Chronology It is a short but very satisfying adventure, with original game mechanics although its levels and puzzles do not present a high challenge, very charismatic characters (especially El Caracol), colorful and well-made graphics, a high-quality sound section and an interesting and entertaining story. The best? Being able to travel in time!