CrossCode

Living on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain, I managed to completely miss the 8-bit and 16-bit console generations. The first console I owned was a Playstation One. Thus for me the retro design of Cross-Code does not hold any nostalgic appeal. I bought it after reading glowing reviews as one of the best CRPGs of 2018 and I must say that for my tastes as well, Cross-Code is an excellent game indeed! Without going in much detail - the game feels very fluid and polished - a colorful delight to the eye, ear and hand. In my experience, playing outstanding modern retro design games like Cross-Code is the best way to relive and even improve on the good old days of 16-bit era. On technical side of things - I play Cross-Code on a Mac with PS4 controller and it works like a charm. There even is an often omitted option to switch between PS4 and XBox controller button icons in the settings. Much appreciated!

I love this so much. Well, combat is a bit wonky, but I don't care, I have places to jump and Emily to see. The story is so. good. I haven't felt this emotional with a plot twist ever since the Doctor and Rose Tyler got separated into different universes! I just wanted to hug Emily all the time and s c r e a m. I really, really, really wanted Lea to be able to talk, but they did make very good use of this. I loved finding all the jumping secrets. This feels very much like playing an MMORPG with friends, except that it's not boring like all MMORPGs are (and the friends were not real, but o well).

So, that's a 5 stars mostly because the overall game is really pleasant. That's the spirit of old J-RPG with a more dynamic interface. A good music, and a funny story around gaming, which makes it even more appealing for players. You won't find anything fantastically new except that is a game for gamers (was it make by gamers ?). The Interplay spirit. It may not suit for people who don't like puzzles however. As many levels need you to think about how reaching the end of it. While fights are very entertaining and skill progression quite interesting (choosing between "basic" skills and elemental skills). To me, that's a perfect combinaison. And graphics are quite ok, your eyes won't bleed. And for completionists, you'll have some work.

The game isn't extremely original, but it extremely well executed. The puzzles are plentiful and varied - which many many new bits of games mechanics coming into play throughout the story. The combat is smooth, and evolves throughout the game. There are a few different ways to vary the difficulty to suit your mood. And the story... is actually quite good. (I'd say more, but I don't want to post spoilers.) The game is highly polished; and so there's really nothing to complain about. It plays very well with a control pad. All the cutscenes are skippable. Autosave works well, but you can also save manually whenever you want. There's an interesting skill-tree system - which can be reset if you like... So yeah, all parts of the game are well done. It's a very good game.

It's not just a "great tribute", "very nostalgic", "SNES throwback". To hell with those things. It is, more importantly, a game with surprising amount of enemy variety, solid combat that keeps evolving throughout the game, and a very well-written story. It shows a lot of love with the attention to details throughout all the game, and it's supremely well-crafted. I know I'm not the only one to whom all the babbling about retro, nostalgia and beautiful pixels raises a red flag. So this review is for people like me. I recommend it wholeheartedly.