When it comes to big branching narratives in virtual reality (VR) few can match ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos‘ offering and soon its going to get even more expansive. After teasing the first details a couple of weeks ago, developer MyDearest Inc. has announced that the first DLC, Episode Yamato, will drop next week.
The Episode Yamato DLC focuses on Second Lieutenant Yamato Amanagi who pilots the Ares Makhia, the other giant mecha used by the Prometheus organisation to protect the planet from an alien race called Meteora. In the main campaign where you play Chloe, she tries to escape from Prometheus but as Yamato, you now stand in her way vowing to bring her back at any cost.
With a new storyline and mecha comes new features with the Ares Makhia using a close combat Swordstrike system to attack the Meteora, rather than the railgun system found on Chloe’s Alto Makhia. MyDearest Inc. states the DLC should clock in at around 2 hours once players have located all the story branches, helping further bolster ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos‘ 15-20 hour base campaign.
ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos is the sequel to Tokyo Chronos, set 200 years in the future where humans have been driven into the underground city of Augmented Tokyo by the alien Meteora. These colossal creatures have decimated the Earth’s surface, with humanity’s only weapon against them being the Makhia. Alongside Chloe and Yamato, there are several colourful characters including an AI called Noa, whose 360-degree J-pop concerts have made her a local celebrity.
VRFocus’ review of the visual novel said: “ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos is the interactive visual novel Tokyo Chronos needed to be.” Going onto add: “Currently, when it comes to Japanese VR visual novels ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos is the new standard to beat.”
While ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos is available for Oculus Quest and Rift, PlayStation VR and PC VR headsets, the upcoming Episode Yamato DLC will be exclusive to Oculus Quest for the time being, with the DLC’s launch date set for Thursday, 10th June 2021, retailing for $9.99 USD. The studio has already confirmed that the DLC will be made available to other platforms at a later date. VRFocus will continue its coverage of ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos, reporting back with further updates.