This retro-inspired 2D Action RPG might outright surprise you. CrossCode combines 16-bit SNES-style graphics with butter-smooth physics, a fast-paced combat system, and engaging puzzle mechanics, served with a gripping sci-fi story.
CrossCode is all about how it plays!
Take the best out of two po...
This retro-inspired 2D Action RPG might outright surprise you. CrossCode combines 16-bit SNES-style graphics with butter-smooth physics, a fast-paced combat system, and engaging puzzle mechanics, served with a gripping sci-fi story.
CrossCode is all about how it plays!
Take the best out of two popular genres, find a good balance between them and make a great game. That’s what CrossCode does. And it works pretty well. You get the puzzles of Zelda-esque dungeons and are rewarded with the great variety of equipment you know and love from RPGs. During the fast-paced battles you will use the tools you find on your journey to reveal and exploit the enemies' weaknesses and at the same time will be able to choose equipment and skills for a more in-depth approach in fighting your enemies.
Dive into a massive adventure with a playtime of around 30-80 hours
Explore a large world with 7 unique areas and hidden secrets all over the place
Fight over 120 enemy types including 30+ boss fights
Enter 7 expansive dungeons, all with with unique themes and puzzle mechanics
Master up to 100 combat arts and even more passive skills
Solve over 100 quests with a great variety of tasks and unique challenges
I was enjoying the story some, but was getting more and more frustrated with the puzzles once precise timing became required, and it kept getting worse.
The overall difficulty level of the game, even with some cheats enabled, is just far too high for my enjoyment.
Not much I can add to existing reviews, so I'll keep it objective.
CrossCode is retro-inspired isometric platform puzzle game. You control the digital character (literally, as...well, spoilers and all that) Lea. Our girl Lea is a "Spheromancer"; a ranged ball-thrower. And she can learn various abilities from a rather extensive spelltree.
There are 4 different elements in the game - Heat, Cold, Shock and Wave. All which will be learned and must be managed throughout the game. But be careful, staying too long in any elemental mode will eventually cause it to overload and become temporarily disabled.
You must guide Lea around in CrossWorld. Along the way she meets friends (and some not so friendly) who parties up with her, though their abilities are non-controllable apart from setting their overall combat behaviour (offensive / defensive / non-combatant). You will also get various comments from party members if you stay in combat for a prolonged time, which can be really funny.
Leas elemental abilities are crucial to progress through the ever increasingly difficult challenges and boss fights. All which is sadly done solo - the party fighting is exclusively done in the open world fights against the classic grind monsters. But remember to ball any fauna or flora that you see. Enemies will drop loot, like items or gold, in addition to XP, while the flora will drop required items to craft certain combat gear.
Personally, I find the elemental controls quite annoying as they can be rather finicky at times - you take a second too long to select the right one, and a puzzle challenge restart awaits you. The puzzle difficulty can be changed in the options to give you more time to solve it. Guiding a ball from point A to point B might not sound difficult, but...
To close it all up, the soundtrack got that genuine 8-bit vibe, and I like it. The late-game puzzles arguably requires a walkthrough unless you're really good. I heartily recommend the game overall.
I hate this game.
Timed puzzles, timed bossfights, timed wave fights that all restart form the beginning when you fail. Sure you can turn down the difficulty, but I will play this game the way the developers intended. I don't mind when a game is difficult, but I do mind when it takes a long time to get back to where I failed.
Don't buy it unless you have a lot of spare time and patience.
Cool game, story, art and characters but the puzzles are way too long. Should have cut it down to a 20-25 hour game. Focus on combat + story and be be done with it.
The game puzzles drag on for way too long.