And that's not to say that this review is based on the nostalgia factor. Actually, as a game goes, it's extremely well designed and fun. It was clearly designed with the sights and sounds of games like Brainlord and Secret of Mana. You do get party companions, and the premise of Cross Code is super cool. It isn't based on 1990's thinking. It's based on 2015 thinking. Modern day elements drive the story arc and getting to know the storyline and characters has been enjoyable to say the least. In the game, there are in-game NPC's, that the game actually tells you are NPC's, and then you have npc's that are presented as actual people within the game. I won't spoil it too much here, but the concept really is genious and it's an absolute pleasure to get to know what's going on in with the storyline. Whether you play on keyboard or gamepad, the control system is tailored to your gaming play style. Playing with a gamepad is INCREDIBLE, as it utterly has that SNES feel, but MAN your options with the gamepad are robust. Also, instead of the up-down-left-right gamepad style of SNES, the gamepad style of Cross Code has your toon running around in a 360 degree analogue fashion. Like every other modern game in there. Playing Cross Code has brought be back to playing SNES, except with all of the upgrades and improvements of not only modern day hardware, but with incredibly well thought out game world and storyline. If you're sitting on the price tag, don't bother. Other games like oh, ACTUAL secret of mana, even on android, runs you close to $30, and that's just a re-hash of an ages old game. This one is 100% worth the purchase even at full price, and that's saying a lot, I've spent over 150,000 hours of my life playing video games over the last 35 years. I know what I'm saying, and this is one of my top RPG's of all time. And yes, I've played them all! JUST BUY IT!
I was gifted an original copy of this game way back in the early 1990's. I didn't even have a computer to play it on. When I got my copy it was Christmas and I had to go to my dads, a long journey. I spent hours on the bus perusing the manual. I was at my dads for 2 weeks and I held the game, looked at the manual, memorized the attack strategies. I got home and still had no computer. It wasn't for about 6 months that I had this game sitting on my shelf that my cousin finally got a computer and I was able to play it. But it's a BIG game and there was never enough time to play it. I got to play it in 1 or 2 hour increments. Definitely not enough. So I abandoned all hope that I would ever play this game and moved on. Fast forward 27 years and wouldn't you know it! Here it is, on GOG, and with an expansion to boot! Yes, even now, in this year we find ourselves with games sporting high end graphics, and many space shooters with mouse controls for maneuvering (freelancer style). But somehow, I have managed to clock in nearly 60 hours of gameplay! This game is just TOO MUCH FUN! Yeah, I have clocked 60 hours on a game that's 30 years old! There's just something about the simplicity of it. The upgrade options are a little limited (by todays standards) but boy do you ever work for those upgrades. I mean they're expensive!! Each upgrade made to your ship really makes a difference, and even the ships themselves move and behave on such different levels from the next. It's totally worth getting into. At first the controls feel a little clunky. I have yet to try it with a joystick but I don't have one to use. Using the mouse for flight control is completely out to lunch. Don't even bother. So you are stuck with keyboard controls. And the keyboard forces your ship to move in increments. Don't despair! Just keep at it, and learn how to dogfight. Find opportunities to attack your enemies. This game is just AWESOME and totally worth the buy!
Despite some reviews, I have been enjoying this title. It does not feel monotonous. Instead it is quite engaging. You just can't see it as your standard city sim build. This game definitely gives you the impression that you are founding a Colony, and not just building some city somewhere (as in SimCity style games). Your citizens want certain things, as they would, as if living in a colony style city being built on an alien planet. The environment is harsh and it's very difficult to stabilise your economy. This game has a pretty heavy learning curve. Let me correct that. It is easy to learn hard to master. Once you understand how to physically build, then it's time to learn how to run city layouts and get things right. Then there's being self-sufficient. All I can say is, build a LOT of immigration centers. Building a housing unit does not come with the citizens. They have to arrive. And once again, you are on an alien world. Your structures require workers, when you only have half the worker requirement, that building is only running at 50% efficiency. Which means half the things that building would produce is actually produced. This includes farms. So let me spoil it one more time for you, you need to import civillians. All the info you need is located in the Morale section of the colony inventory window. Overall, this game is worth the price. It's gorgeous to look at, plays like a city builder, but actually it's a colony builder, goes into aspects no other city builder does, and takes a LONG time to play a match, never mind learning the game! You will definitely get your money out of this one.
