CrossCode

Crosscode is a fantastic action-rpg. It takes place in an imitative MMO world and you play the role of one of the characters in this world. This game features a rich story, with characters that feel like other players you might actually meet and want to play with in an MMO. The combat reminds me of games such as: Legend of Zelda (2d ones), Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore.. just to name a few. Cosscode features puzzles akin to that you might find in a Legend of Zelda game. A large skill tree can also be found in with some unique features. There is a plethora of quests for the player to take part in much like you would find true MMO. I feel that this game will be one that stand out not just for 2017 as an amazing action-rpg but for quite some time to come.

I haven't been able to put this game down since buying it. It's amazingly good and has a surprising amount of polish. Not many indie games can come out as good as CrossCode, even given how long it was in development. I could go on forever about this game: the music is absolutely wonderful, the story has been great so far, the characters have a ton a personality, the controls are solid, the gameplay is fantasic - there's just so much to love. If you have even the slightest interest in this game, you simply have to get it. You'll love every minute of it.

The game looks gorgeous, it nails the 16-Bit aesthetic rather well, but improves on them in subtle but noticeable ways. The music is rather nice too, catchy chiptunes all the way, pure joy. It certainly has the classic jrpg look. So I prepared myself for a funny action adventure. Only the game is neither an rpg, nor an action adventure. It is a twin-stick-shooter with an attached rpg mechanic. You have a ranged attack, which demands absolute precision and fast reflexes, even on the lowest difficulty settings. The target overly might from time to time be missing, depending on the readiness of your ranged weapon, and might blend in rather splendidly with rain and other (stunningly beautiful) graphical effects. And you will need it, for puzzles (with timers, none the less), and enemies which stay away and force you to shoot them. (You could try with the mouse, here at last aiming is better. But then you have, different from the controller, to click spam your attacks with the mouse buttons. This is Carpal Tunnel in the making.) Dodging and your shield is bound to the very same button (not customizable), the action depending on your character moving or standing still. Enemies will absolutely throw themselves or their attacks onto you perfectly zeroed in, so you are forced to dodge with lightning quick reflexes or eat up the damage. But, this is an action rpg? For sure a bit of actual action should be expected? Yes, of course. But. Above mentioned elements are not woven into the rpg system. You can't level to increase your dodge time. You can't spend experience points to make targeting more forgiving. Hence, those elements are dependant on your reflexes and raw skill, so "get gud" or leave. It's like buying Mass Effect, but instead getting thrown into a round of Fortnite against a bunch of hyper skilled twelve year olds. If I wanted to play a brutal action game, I wouldn't have bought an rpg. Pity.

I've only played for about 2 hours, but wow. The game looked amazing from the screenshots and video, but I didn't expect to like it this much. - The puzzles are fun, even if they aren't anything particularly new. - Gameplay is a good balance of difficulty and skillfulness. - Characters are pretty cool, although I haven't gotten too much into the game. - Haven't gotten to the open world aspect yet, so not sure how that works - Just barely got into the RPG element with the skill tree, and it looks really cool! Definitely not overwhelming either. - Ok that's all I have for now. Fun Game! :)

For me, a large part of an RPG is the story. The game should be a vehicle for the story. In Crosscode, there is almost no story. It's driven by side quests, and this to me is terribly boring. It's the reason I don't play MMOs. Most are very dull.