CrossCode

I bought this game in early development because I really liked the concept, but it ultimately wouldn't work on my admittedly very outdated 2008 Macbook Pro. Even though the hardware is within spec, the game didn't like my setup. First it ran but randomly occurring abysmal FPS made it unplayable. Soon after it would load with a black screen. I tried some hacky stuff to get it to work but never could, so I shelved it and forgot about it. Fast forward to buying a new computer and I just dusted off the game, put ~65 hours into it and can finally say that it was worth every penny I paid for it. This game checked all the right boxes for me. There's a nicely polished combat system with a ton of options for character buildouts. The music in the game is really good. The storyline is quirky and creative. The puzzles are diverse and, although they seem to be the most polarizing part of the game for most people, I enjoyed them. That said, I like being a little frustrated and some of the challenges in CrossCode harken back to games where you really might be required try something many times before completing it. At this point though, every part of this game has a walkthrough on YouTube as well, so it's hard to actually get stuck. Aside from playability issues early on, I really enjoyed this game and will look forward to upcoming DLC releases.

I like to compare it to the Legend of Zelda games, because Crosscode also shines in many aspects: The puzzles are quite varied and challenging, there are incredibly large areas to explore and traverse and the plot, once it takes up speed, is really charming and a refreshing change from the usual 'save the world'. However, where Crosscode really shines is the combat-system. It's relatively easy to learn, but still holds a very high skill-ceiling, especially in the endgame-content. But most importantly, it's just so very quick and fun, learning the very varied enemies and their behaviors, mastering them, and ultimately mowing through them, keeping up the combo counter. This is by far the most excellent combat system in an Action-RPG I've seen. What binds all of it together is the brilliant idea to use an VR-MMO as the setting. All the ridiculous, player optimized level design and enemy-placement, as well as the numerous references is just solved by this. A few things to consider however; The demo is great, but it does not show you the RPG-Elements which are introduced just a little bit after the demo ends. It's nothing too complicated, but you have to understand a few things: Your level does not matter nearly as much as your equipment and focussing on just offense will make you a total glass cannon, which can only get hit a few times. It's usually better to put at least some points into DEF or HP. Overall a very, very rare 10/10. Give this a try, it really is a gem.

Solid game, decent amount of content, deep skill trees and inventory/gear system. and a lot of pretty traditional swich-flicking and block-moving puzzling. Also has really fine-grained difficulty sliders, you can make timed puzzles move at half-speed, reduce damage taken to 20%, and reduce the frequency of big enemy attacks, so if you want a challenge, it's there, but you can also tailor the game to your needs. Soundtrack is really good, but the art style can be a little jarring at times (isn't always obvious what you're looking at, a lot of enemies are just a mess of muddy pixels blending in to the background, and it can be difficult to tell if a platform is on the same plane as you when trying to do platforming or puzzles where you have to shoot projectiles off walls, etc). Controls are a mixed bag. Huge credit to the dev that you can move with WASD/left stick and aim with mouse/right stick, that's a huge step up from most ARPGs still using rudimentary Diablo or Zelda controls, but combat is stil quite rough. Melee attacks ignore mouse aim/right stick and attack in the direction you're moving, not the direction you're aiming, and most attacks interrupt your movement/walking becomes very jerky when in combat. Also, you can't assign your mouse's back/forward buttons, or change the default mouse controls at all. The UI for customising controls only accepts keyboard keys as inputs.

Where the game shines is when exploring the environment. Everything else is either a drag or extremely grindy. I spent 133h (!) with the DLC. Maybe a fourth of this was fun. Pros: Large game world (split in maps consisting of smallish rooms with a teleporter every few rooms), beautiful graphics, interesting characters, lovely dialog animations and a good story. Complex skill system, tons of items, custom saves. Cons: The music is terrible and and keyboard controls are clunky. These becomes an issue later when you need to do precision jumping while skating on ice. The delay when blocking makes it totally pointless, the dash is too short to be useful but happens all the time accidentally on platforms. While the elemental powers are great, switching them in battle with numeric keys is a PITA. Besides, the elemental overload is bad design and a PITA in boss fights. Indeed, the whole fighting system is just no fun. The aiming delay is a bad idea, besides later every 2nd normal enemy and all the mini-bosses are immune to normal attacks. You need to trickshot them in the back, switch elemental powers and use the level (converters etc.) while enemies fire homing missiles causing continuous elemental damage etc. Normal enemies are bullet sponges and typically give 1 exp which makes progression very grindy. You need to smash thousands of plants to collect stuff needed to buy potions. Also the elemental skill tree is somewhat messed up and the stealth section are simply buggy. The map shows the current room, but not your actual position. So setting markers is problematic. Then there's the puzzles and while some of them are fun, lots just aren't. The mix of timed switches, precision jumping, switching elemental powers at the right time etc. is already a PITA, but some of the wall reflections are based on luck since you can't really judge the angle. Since the temples are a mix of dozens of puzzle rooms with arena fights and you're without your party, they are really annoying.

A solid story, tight gameplay loop, and engaging, appropriate sounds and graphics. One of my all time favourites; whatever the price, buy this game.