You Can Now Try the Best Silksong Competitor for Free

Get a taste of Chronoscript's visual charm ahead of the game's release

There are so many reasons to be intrigued about Chronoscript: The Endless End that it's hard to choose where to begin. There are the game's captivating visuals, which result from the characters and backgrounds being hand-drawn with pen and ink. Or perhaps you'll be drawn in by the score, courtesy of the legendary Yasunori Mitsuda of Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, and Xenoblade fame. Finally, the unique premise of playing as a stern editor trapped in a magical manuscript penned by a thousand-year-old vampire got me hooked immediately. But right now, the best reason to give Chronoscript a chance is that you can try the game for free.

On Aug. 20, a free demo for the game became available on Steam. You are now able to try the first phases of the game ahead of its full release, scheduled for fall 2026. Chronoscript: The Endless End wears its Silksong inspiration on its sleeve, so if you are a fan of Metroidvania and exploration-based action-adventure games, you should really give this a shot.

In Chronoscript, you play as Frederick G. Muller, an editor who "has brought many a long-running publication to a concise finish." (Ominous!) Frederick is summoned by a mysterious author who lives in a secluded mansion to help finish a manuscript. However, the author in question is a vampire lady called Viola S. Chambers, who has been working on her book, The Endless End, for a breezy 1,000 years (anyone who has ever tried writing a book can probably relate). Frederick gets trapped inside the manuscript, and he will have to "make sense of each bewildering story, while also attending to the Author's anguish and loneliness to bring The Endless End to its conclusion." Sounds like a regular working day at Polygon!

Jokes aside, Chronoscript has a lot that makes it stand out in its crowded genre. If the characters look familiar, that's because they're the work of Mari Shimazaki, who did the character design for the first three Bayonetta games and for Okami. I have already mentioned Mitsuda, and he doesn't need any further introduction (do yourself a favor and download the Chrono Trigger soundtrack now). The game is developed by DeskWorks Inc., a small Japanese studio that previously authored the visually charming RPG Time: The Legend of Wright. Chronoscript comes from Shueisha Games, the publisher that keeps putting out amazing Japanese indie games, such as Schrödinger's Call and the upcoming Jujutsu Kaisen Rumble: Survivation.

Chronoscript: The Endless End features a mix of 2D and 3D elements. The world inside the book, which Frederick has to navigate, consists of hand-drawn 2D illustrations with frame-by-frame animation. But if you zoom out, you will see a 3D environment with Viola hunched over her draft on her work table. In her hands-on preview, Polygon's Marloes Valentina Stella said: "Though I was afraid that the 3D effects would feel redundant or clash with the highly detailed 2D ink drawings, the result felt surprisingly cohesive. The pages themselves are treated as objects, which means you'll experience a slight shift when you move from one page to another — you're literally walking from page to page, a feeling that would not have been possible without the use of 3D."

For action-heavy titles, gameplay is essential to success, no matter how visually charming they are. This free demo gives you a great chance to check out what guiding Frederick through the pages of Viola's endless story will feel like.

Chronoscript: The Endless End is slated for release later in 2026.