Chronos: Before the Ashes

When playing Chronos: Before the Ashes, my initial impression was that it’s basically baby’s first Souls-like, although as I dwelled upon it, I began to wonder… Is Chronos even a Souls-like? While “Souls-like” is a famously nebulous sub-genre, Chronos certainly feels like a Souls-like on the surface. It’s an action RPG with a stamina system and penalty for dying. That’s enough for a Souls-like! Right?

Monster Hunter World

If you somehow haven't heard about the series, Monster Hunter is, shockingly, a franchise about hunting monsters, and Monster Hunter World is the newest entry in the series. Although Monster Hunter hasn't gained the same traction in the West as it has in Japan (although that may change with Monster Hunter World...?), it's a well-established franchise that follows the same format each game. You grab one of a variety of gigantic weapons, put on some crazy armor, fight a huge monster in an epic battle, and use the spoils of your victory to craft deadlier weapons and crazier armor. It's great, heart-pounding fun that provides nearly infinite hours of replayability.

Monster Hunter World was a major release from a well-established franchise, so if you wanted to know what it's like, you'd probably read one of the dozens of reviews online, or watch some of the hundreds (thousands?) of hours of Monster Hunter World-related videos on YouTube, or just play one of the earlier games, rather than relying on this post. So rather than doing one of my usual full reviews, I'm instead going to list my top and bottom 3 things about Monster Hunter World. Let's go!