CrossCode

It's a good game with likeable characters and beautiful graphics, but puzzles are driving me crazy. Oh, and to someone who thought that "races" in a puzzle dungeon is a good idea... you are crazy, man :) You aren't penalized for being late at least (aside from characters reacting to it, I guess). I've dialed down received damage and attack frequency (assuming the last one works on bosses) for the final battle, though. I could've probably figure it out with time, it's not like it was impossible, but I couldn't just take it anymore. Many missions are also solo ("instanced dungeons"), which is kinda unfortunate, since I liked doing things with the whole party more.

An overall fun game. Combat starts out a bit basic but becomes a great source of fun as a fairly large roster of skills opens up, even if some of them are clearly more effective than others. The game is stonking full of 'secret' chests sitting just out of reach that will keep you searching for ledges, buttons and ricochets even when you probably don't need the contents that badly by the end. There are a series of mandatory 'temples' to puzzle through. These have lots of fun moments of discovery but can get uncomfortably long though as you frequently reiterate similar puzzles over and over again. I enjoyed this game quite a lot and was glued to it for over a week but it felt brought down by a couple of longer than necessary dungeon puzzles along with an ending that feels like it backfires by naively romping through some otherwise serious themes set up at the beginning.

This game made me believe that I really have friends. This is a game where you play a game, and all the characters in it also understand that they are playing a game. This creates such an extraordinary lively atmosphere that at some point you start to believe that the same players as you are really sitting behind these pixel men. I experienced similar sensations as from playing World of Warcraft when I was 12 and all social interactions on the Internet caused me wild delight. Just the best.

My 50-some-hour run of CrossCode was time well spent. While the overall story and world setting will never be on anyone's "best of" list, I had a good time with the genuinely amusing banter the characters have throughout the game. The pixel art and animation is very well done, and I love the detailed characters' expression portrays. I found its action-focused gameplay to be quite satisfying, and figuring out how to counter each enemy/boss is half the fun. Interestingly enough, I wasn't expecting nearly as many environmental puzzles, but with a bit of perseverance they can be mastered. Luckily, not long after full release the devs also patched in options for more granular difficulty adjustment options for combat and puzzles, making CrossCode quite accessible. Lastly, M+K controls are decent, but I definitely recommend a gamepad for smoother and more granular controls.

From everything I saw and read about CrossCode it seems like a game I'd really enjoy: a deep 16-bit style RPG with unique mechanics and interesting puzzles. However, after playing upwards of 20 hours, I had had enough. Here's why: - I hate the dual-stick ranged attack mechanics. I just couldn't get used to it, and very often I would resort to melee attacks because I was frustrated by just feeling incompetent. It could very well be a "git gud" type of thing, but I could never get to a point where if felt satisfying or comfortable to use. - The puzzles were generally good, but there were some that depended on the height an object was at, but I couldn't tell if something was higher or lower than I was currently at. It feels cheap that the developers rely on hiding things in their faux-3D space just to make a puzzle harder. - I'm not a fan of MMOs at all; never have been. I've quickly bailed on the ones I've tried because I quickly get annoyed and overwhelmed by the noise of the world. Even though CrossCode isn't actually an MMO, the fact that its setting is made the story less enjoyable. I realize these things won't be issues to everyone, but it was enough for me to put it down.