Chroma Quaternion Review

A Story Of Seasons

In the small village of Furyu, a young man named Ark returns to the town after a long day of teaching children about what they want to become. What seems like a normal day turns to disaster as a massive earthquake strikes the village sending everyone into a panic. In the capital of the kingdom, fear spreads as earthquakes have grown more common throughout the land. Unwilling to sit idly by, Princess Eara sets off to find out the source of the quakes. By chance, Eara and Ark meet at an inn, and their encounter might be what ends up saving the world.

Chroma Quaternion created by Kemco is a classic-style JRPG. They’re known for making a number of simple mobile JRPG’s. I’ve played one called Miden Tower which was very similar to Chroma Quaternion. While I found Miden Tower to be overall lackluster, I’ll give credit where it’s due and say Chroma Quaternion is definitely an upgrade.

We All Have A Role

In the world of Chroma Quaternion, individuals are given certain roles by the Quadeities. These roles play to the strengths and characteristics of every person and can even grant special abilities. While this is used as a gimmick in combat, they also make full use of this concept through the main character, Ark. He has an undefined role that leaves him contemplating his purpose in the world. Luckily, the rest of the story holds up as well with likable characters, an engaging plot, and a fluffy animal companion.

While exploring the world to uncover the mystery behind the earthquakes, there’ll be plenty of monsters and foes that stand in your path. The combat system used in Miden Tower is back but far more improved. It’s a turn-based battle system with some unique gimmicks thrown in. The party and enemies are on a three by three grid where the placement of said individuals can greatly influence the outcome of a battle. Skills used by your characters can attack singular enemies or rows of them.

You also have something called Act Skip which allows you to sacrifice a turn to store it up for later. The maximum actions you can save is four which you can unleash all at once with skills, items or attacks in any order you please. Fans of Bravely Default or Octopath Traveler will probably know what I’m talking about. Using Act Skip with the right skills can take out entire groups of enemies in a single turn.

One part of the gameplay that pleasantly surprised me was that after every fight your party is fully healed. That’s right, no need to use potions or elixirs outside of combat. When you’re fighting, you give it everything you got without the worry of sacrificing health items later. This made grinding through dungeons less of a hassle. As you gain more levels, you gain more roles which grants you different skills. All of this comes together for a smooth leveling experience.

The Simple Things

The music and graphics aren’t too amazing. Anybody who’s played an RPG Maker game before can probably figure out how the game will look and sound. Still, unlike Miden Tower, a lot more effort was made to make the world feel more alive. The overworld map is a treat to march across as each of the four kingdoms represent a different season with different weather. Certain locales will have a perspective shift giving the world a bit more depth, like a hill that lets you see over the horizon. Moments like these left me more immersed in the world than I was with Miden Tower.

There’s also the addition of certain pylons in the game that allow you to determine enemy encounters. If you just want to get from point A to B you can disable encounters altogether. But if you want to focus on grinding you can multiply enemy encounters up to three times the normal rate. Fast travel can be used to visit places you’ve already been to, even if you’re inside a dungeon. There’s a button in the equipment section that’ll choose the best items for your party members. There’s even a roulette wheel that you can spin three times a day for special items free of charge. To top it all off, the game is free to play. All of these little things helped make the game dare I say, fun to play.

A Better Experience

When I played Miden Tower all the way back in February I had no shortage of distaste for that game. But after playing Chroma Quaternion I can happily say that I’d recommend this game to anyone looking for a solid free JRPG game to play. The setting, characters, and gameplay are engaging enough to satisfy anyone looking for something with a more old-school style. And while the aesthetics of the game won’t blow anyone away, Kemco does enough to make Chroma Quaternion shine a lot brighter than any of their past installments.