Chronos: Before the Ashes

Chronos: Before the Ashes is a 2020 action RPG developed by Gunfire Games and published by THQ Nordic, released December 1, 2020 for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and Stadia. It holds Metacritic scores in the mid-60s, and two claims on attention its scores don’t capture: it’s the narrative prequel to Remnant: From the Ashes — same universe, same Root apocalypse brewing — and it owns the genre’s most original death mechanic: every time you die, your hero ages one year.

Start at eighteen; die enough and you’ll finish the quest gray-haired — with the game’s systems shifting under you the whole way.

Technical Specifications

One Year Per Death

The aging system is more than cosmetic: in youth, physical stats level cheaply and magic dearly; each decade flips the ratio, until an elder hero buys arcane power easily while strength grows costly — every death a permanent nudge along a life’s arc, with milestone birthdays granting traits. It reframes the corpse run entirely: you’re not losing progress, you’re spending a lifetime. Wrapped around it is a deliberate, shield-and-stamina dungeon crawl through a stone labyrinth and the worlds beyond it — the same dragon, in fact, that Remnant players later meet — rebuilt from Gunfire’s 2016 VR original into a fixed-camera flatscreen game.

Reception

Reviews landed mid-60s: the aging hook and puzzle-dense old-school structure earned genuine affection, while dated visuals, sparse enemy variety, and simplistic combat — VR bones showing through — kept it firmly in curiosity territory. The Remnant community’s recurring “worth a buy?” threads settle it fairly: essential lore for franchise completists, a pleasant weekend crawl for everyone else, and strictly a deep-sale purchase — where it perpetually lives.

Where to Play It Today

Chronos: Before the Ashes is on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch, routinely under $10. Play it before Remnant for the lore payoff, or after — the connections land either way, and Remnant 2 quietly winks at them too.