CrossCode

This game is even more fun than the trailer makes it look, the combat, story, characters, puzzles, etc. are all freaking amazing and more people need to know about this game. The universe this game takes place in is just... so... COOL, and I love Lea, the main character! The combat is very fast paced and intuitive, but also very deep. The controls take some getting used to with the mouse, but you can switch to a controller if you want. The puzzles are fun, but can sometimes get insane--often I'll be stuck for a while and then realize... "Oh crap, they want me to do WHAT?!" ...and then I'll have to shoot an energy ball, switch to ice and quickly freeze a column of water so that it can bounce the energy, then switch to fire and light a fuse before the ball gets there, and there'll be a couple more steps before the puzzle is complete--but it's SO SATISFYING when you finally get it! Oh my gosh, sorry, I just love this game so much. I'll just spend hours exploring the same maps over and over again trying to figure out how the game developers want you to get on top of THAT ROOF OVER THERE to get the treasure chest stashed on top of it. LOVE IT! Graphics and music? Good grief, it looks and sounds like a science fiction Secret of Mana, I can't sing its praises enough!

Solid throwback to NES titles with some good quality design thrown in. Satisfying with tons of content and an NG+ mode that actually changes the dialogue and experience depending on what things you unlock and use. I like the art in general and I think the story is solid. It provides a solid premise with a decent setting and great characters. The mechanics get more insane as you progress to the point they become absolutely ludicrous. There's techniques you can easily integrate and learn to truly maximize your ability to evade and do damage and its satisfying. Though not perfectly analagous, it gives the same feeling something like Hyper Light Drifter does when you chain together a perfect sequence of attacks, skills, and evades. While I share similar reservations about the shooting mechanics (ON A CONTROLLER - I would argue the game controls better with mouse and keyboard) they're more than functional whatever control scheme you use. Some puzzles require some precision and aiming that can be frustrating on a controller but fine on KB&M, but those are rare. However, there is a slider that lets you slow down the speed of puzzles in the game allowing you much more freedom of timing. Heck, there's even sliders that can make the game significantly less damaging or enemies even less aggressive if you dislike their mechanics. It's a completely accessable game that never punishes you for not playing it. I do have issues with depth perception in this game because there's little that often distinguishes from one height block to another. If there were an objective criticism, this would be it. However it's rare and never impedes progress, only makes getting a few item chests annoying to discern at first. As someone who is playing this at the suggestion of another friend, I've played enough to state that this is a game worth ANYBODY's time and effort. It's charming, well designed, and slick. The deserves deserve every ounce of success.

Playing in linux without a problem. Fun combat system. Great character progression system. Good story. Puzzles are fun and intuitive.

Not much I can add to existing reviews, so I'll keep it objective. CrossCode is retro-inspired isometric platform puzzle game. You control the digital character (literally, as...well, spoilers and all that) Lea. Our girl Lea is a "Spheromancer"; a ranged ball-thrower. And she can learn various abilities from a rather extensive spelltree. There are 4 different elements in the game - Heat, Cold, Shock and Wave. All which will be learned and must be managed throughout the game. But be careful, staying too long in any elemental mode will eventually cause it to overload and become temporarily disabled. You must guide Lea around in CrossWorld. Along the way she meets friends (and some not so friendly) who parties up with her, though their abilities are non-controllable apart from setting their overall combat behaviour (offensive / defensive / non-combatant). You will also get various comments from party members if you stay in combat for a prolonged time, which can be really funny. Leas elemental abilities are crucial to progress through the ever increasingly difficult challenges and boss fights. All which is sadly done solo - the party fighting is exclusively done in the open world fights against the classic grind monsters. But remember to ball any fauna or flora that you see. Enemies will drop loot, like items or gold, in addition to XP, while the flora will drop required items to craft certain combat gear. Personally, I find the elemental controls quite annoying as they can be rather finicky at times - you take a second too long to select the right one, and a puzzle challenge restart awaits you. The puzzle difficulty can be changed in the options to give you more time to solve it. Guiding a ball from point A to point B might not sound difficult, but... To close it all up, the soundtrack got that genuine 8-bit vibe, and I like it. The late-game puzzles arguably requires a walkthrough unless you're really good. I heartily recommend the game overall.

... And 80% other stuff that actively ruins the experience. I'm talking about the puzzles of course. I wouldn't mind them if they weren't so pervasive. On the same note, I'd say that the area design makes exploring a puzzle too. Again, too much. There are only so many chest on a ledge too high to reach that I can handle without losing my patience. It's a shame because the RPG aspect is very fun - combat, story, etc. Why not focus on that is beyond my understanding.