Crystal Project

Just what the title says. You can get lost trying to figure out what to do next, but I believe that is also kind of the point of this game. It is a ton of fun and does not require any grinding if you play on the normal difficulty. Definantly worth the buy if you are into classic style JRPG's with a new twist on exploration.

I really wanted to give Crystal Project 5 stars. Don't be put off by the Minecraft aesthetic, this is an RPG that has a neat class system and old-school turn-based combat, with some deeper subsytems going on under the hood like turn order and threat. You can do some very overpowered things by combining class abilities, and set up the dream party. But even more amazing is the emphasis on exploration, as Crystal Project's world is huge, with many secrets. So with that out the way, it's time to get into the flaws. As the game progresses, the platforming challenges become increasingly tricky- you may find yourself bashing your head against the wall or throwing your controller at your monitor in frustration. This is a YMMV moment- handling pixel-perfect platforming was a thing I could do in the 80's and 90's, but it's a little trickier for me these days. The bewildering array of classes can start to become tedious as well- outside of passive abilities (which you are limited in how many you can stack), you can only mix the powers of two classes, and there are many to choose from. You may find that you've mastered a class and actually regret switching to another one, as your mix of abilities have served you very well up until this point. And the truth is, you don't need to master all the classes, but a completionist will certainly want to (the only reward for mastering a class is an accessory that lets you master that class faster, after all). Of course, the game has a randomizer function that can be a blast to play with...up to a point. It seems inevitable that, no matter how powerful your team is, you will enter new areas and find massive difficulty spikes, where enemies will laugh off the damage of your melee, and some enemies can one shot even your tankiest characters. Without the right job, you can't use items in battle, making you increasingly reliant on spells (and supporting and protecting the spellcasters), and at some point, things no longer feel fun

I've only played for about 2 hours now, but so far it's a fun time. It has your standard jrpg elements but mixed with a 3D platformer. I'm still getting used to maneuvering the world, but I'm having a good time. And at the $11(?) I paid for it, it's completely worth it.

This game is almost certainly not for everyone. Some would be turned away by the finicky platforming segments, where one failed jump forces lengthy backtracking. Others might be overwhelmed by the sheer number of, well, numbers in combat or underwhelmed by the main plot. So why is this still a five star game in my book? If the idea of mixing the sense of exploration from an open world game with the mechanics of a traditional JRPG sounds enticing, and if you are willing to look past the flaws and quirks this game has, then you are looking at the promise of an unforgettable adventure here. The world is absolutely massive, and all of can be traversed with the right application of your platforming tools. I got a lot of enjoyment from just traveling through each region, filling out the map, and seeing what lay around every corner. The extra traversal mechanics the game throws at you (the "Metroidvania-style progression" the description references) might seem underwhelming initially, but if you are willing to experiment, you'll find each traversal mechanic unlocks a fair bit of the world. Combat encounters follow in the style of old party-based JRPGs (think older final fantasy entries). The game gives a dizzying amount of combat info (moreso than most JRPGs I've played), and you can customize party members with different class's stats, skills, and passive buffs (and there are a lot of classes to choose). I did not need to optimize my party much or agonize over exact numbers beyond damage until the late game, but good team composition and experimentation are definitely rewarded. You will find that some regions' enemies wipe the floor with your current party, but I could always find a region at an appropriate power level once I explored for long enough. So if you like the idea of a go-anywhere JRPG with deep customization, and you are willing to put up with some weird gameplay quirks, then give this a try. For that person, I cannot recommend this game enough.

Game plays nice, basic controls are intuitive, the finer movement ones, precision jumping and so on, take some getting used too.