Games like Returnal follow-up Saros and Marvel’s Wolverine may have been the highlights of Sony’s recent State of Play showcase, but a new game sandwiched in between the show’s biggest announcements was the most eye-catching. Chronoscript: The Endless End made its debut with a stunning trailer showing off its unique art style, and it’s not the first time its developer has pulled off such an incredible hand-drawn style.
The trailer for Chronoscript leaves a lot unsaid, but what was revealed already makes it a game worth keeping an eye on. As the trailer shows, Chronoscript is a 2D action game not entirely unlike the recent Silksong, with combat and platforming challenges galore. But it stands out thanks to its inky art style, which renders the entire game as a series of pen and paper drawings. Chronoscript’s art style is dense with cross-hatched shading, making it feel convincingly like a drawing in a notebook come to life.
According to developer DeskWorks, the inky world shown in the trailer is only half the game. Chronoscript follows a book editor who’s been summoned to a writer’s manor for a project, where he finds himself trapped in the world of her manuscripts. While the 2D sections get the spotlight in the trailer, DeskWorks says the manor itself will be another environment to explore in the game, but in 3D. It’s not clear just how much of a part the world outside the books will play in the game, but the trailer does show a few shots of the camera pulling back to reveal books stacked on tables and sheets of paper falling through the air, so the 3D overworld could serve as a sort of hub between levels or a way of moving from page to page.
At certain moments, the game’s protagonist is seen moving through puddles of ink serving as shortcuts from one page to another, with hints of the 3D world coming through in clutter on the desk they’re sitting on. Even without knowing exactly how the mix of styles might alter gameplay, it’s a stunning effect. It’s also one that developer DeskWorks has used in interesting ways before.
In 2022, DeskWorks released RPG Time: The Legend of Wright. Also taking place between the pages of a book, The Legend of Wright follows a young game designer doodling ideas for games in a notebook, which become the levels you play through. The environments of The Legend of Wright have a much brighter aesthetic, befitting the idea that they’re drawn in a student’s notebook, but they show the promise of the aesthetic approach taken by Chronoscript as well. The Legend of Wright plays with its unique form, setting stages within different books and turning the desk that holds them into another environment to explore.
While it’s primarily an action RPG, The Legend of Wright also brings in other game genres, like bullet hell shooters and fighting games. Similar ideas come into play in 2024’s The Plucky Squire, but The Legend of Wright is a clearer hint of how DeskWorks could be approaching the concept in Chronoscript. In its last game, DeskWorks was extremely inventive in how it used its setting’s dimension-bending potential, which suggests that Chronoscript could have even more tricks in store than its trailer shows off.
From its first appearance, Chronoscript is worth keeping a close eye on, but there’s still a wait ahead before it will actually be playable. DeskWorks hasn’t announced a release date yet, but says the game will be available on PlayStation 5 sometime in 2026. In the meantime, The Legend of Wright is on sale on Steam until September 26, making this a good time to get a look at what might be in store for DeskWorks’ next game.
