[Indie] CrossCode - Throwing Balls in a 2D Action RPG!

[J1M]

Saw this recently via another channel, looks like a perfect game for the Switch. A shame the devs appear to have no interest in doing that. Have been putting off playing this for that reason.

 

[conan_edw]

Saw this recently via another channel, looks like a perfect game for the Switch. A shame the devs appear to have no interest in doing that. Have been putting off playing this for that reason.

They actually wanted to but porting it will be challenging since the game was built using HTML/Javascript and Switch doesn't have an official support yet for those games.

 

[Urthor]

So is this game shit apparently actually amazing?

 

[Snorkack]

Bought it at steam sale. I'm at the second temple right now and wow, this game is quite amazing. Usually I'm not into twitchy action games at all, but CrossCode nails the pacing of how difficulty is ramping up and presents fun and challenging boss fights. The combination of puzzles, outdoor exploration, trash mobs and bosses feels just right and it's nice you don't have to grind at all but instead are free to just walk past enemies you don't feel like fighting right now.
But what I actually like about it most it that it looks like a JRPG and invokes all that nostalgia feeling as intended, but gameplay and story feel very german and lacks most of the jap atrocities that made me abandon JRPGs in the first place.

 

[Maxwell's Demon]

I downloaded this game last night and ended up playing it for seven straight hours without breaks.

 

[Rahdulan]

So this is basically the only modern JRPG in the vein of Wild Arms and Dark Sun that remembers genre once used to have puzzles? Color me impressed.

 

[Shaewaroz]

Played some 12 hours now and here are my impressions so far.

+ Audiovisually the game is very pleasing. Many times I get that same feeling I got back when I was playing Seiken Densetsu 3 for the first time.
+ Combat is absolutely exquisite. Fast-paced and addictive. When I first started to play the game, I tried to rush forward in the story and avoid combat. This was a big mistake. Combat is the best part of this game and you should familiarize yourself with it from the get-go.
+ Creative and rewarding exploration. You often need to try to find ways around obstacles, jump over rivers, bash down trees and blow up hidden walls to reach treasure chests you see in the distance.
+ UI and ease of use options are all excellent. There's simply nothing that's getting in the way of your enjoyment. Fast travel feels natural, you can mark places of interest into your map.
+ NPC companions offer natural expositions to the story and game world. They're also every useful companions in combat, but not overpowered. NPC dialogue and writing in general is adequate - nothing particularly impressive, but enjoyable to read nonetheless.
+ I usually don't enjoy puzzles in games, but CrossCode's puzzles are very creative and enjoyable. They constantly introduce new elements and often expect you to think outside of the box to solve them. Some of them are really challenging though - occasionally I've had to resort to checking the right solutions online.
+ Very responsive controls.
+ Both combat and exploration is highly reliant on player skill. There are a ton of combat moves that require careful aiming and timing. There are also ways to jump longer distances and dash forward faster if you know how to exploit the game mechanisms. Kind of reminds me of Super Metroid, where you also can play the game on a totally different level if you know how to exploit the game controls to your advantage. This game is a speedrunner's heaven.
+ Especially boss fights give me the same kind of adrenaline rush I get from Secret of Mana and other similar games.
+ Character progression is complex and offers many different ways to develop your character.
+ Itemization is done pretty well. You can try to rush to obtain rare crafting items to obtain ridiculously powerful items early in the game if you desire.
+ Huge amount of content. People have sunk hundreds of hours into this game. Fairly straight-forward playthrough takes 30+ hours.

- The story progressed very slowly after the tutorial phase.
- Rather weak side quests. Basically fetch quests with a little pinch of lore for flavor.
- There's a fair bit of grinding involved, especially early in the game.
- The constant hunt for crafting items. This game went full autistic with crafting. Everything requires multiple crafting components to craft. You can sometimes buy items with money, but all more powerful and rare items require ingredients. Luckily you accumulate a large pile of crafting items naturally during exploration and combat.
- The setting is kind of meh. The world doesn't feel lived-in since it's basically a generic MMO world. The world has some lore, but it all feels artificial due it all being just a simulation.
- Some of the major dungeons (temples) are really long and require a lot of patience to get through.


Overall it has been very enjoyable so far and it looks like the game is getting better the further I progress. 8/10

 

[Shaewaroz]

Man, I love this game, but the temples are too long! The second temple is absolutely killing me - I must have spent 5 hour there already!

 

[Damned Registrations]

Well, you're definitely not winning the race then.

 

[HansDampf]

Are you all playing this with KB or Controller? I've found it awkward to aim with the right stick and use one of the right shoulder buttons to shoot. It's far easier with a mouse, but then you can't have analog movement. Why doesn't the game allow you to remap every button on a controller?

 

[Snorkack]

I play with controller most of the time and switch to mouse whenever there's a difficult aiming challenge where super-precise shooting but almost no movement is required. I feel like that strategy is gonna bite me in the ass sooner or later...

 

[Snorkack]

- Rather weak side quests. Basically fetch quests with a little pinch of lore for flavor.
- There's a fair bit of grinding involved, especially early in the game.
- The constant hunt for crafting items. This game went full autistic with crafting. Everything requires multiple crafting components to craft. You can sometimes buy items with money, but all more powerful and rare items require ingredients. Luckily you accumulate a large pile of crafting items naturally during exploration and combat.

I totally agree with your points except those. They are only valid if you let them bother you - the boring fetch quests all solve themselves sooner or later and I never felt the need for grinding craftable items... just traded 'em whenever I had everything at hand anyways.
Only exception were the anti-slip boots when I started the ice temple. But the (still reasonable) grind for them felt like an appropriate easymode tax.

 

[Shaewaroz]

- Rather weak side quests. Basically fetch quests with a little pinch of lore for flavor.
- There's a fair bit of grinding involved, especially early in the game.
- The constant hunt for crafting items. This game went full autistic with crafting. Everything requires multiple crafting components to craft. You can sometimes buy items with money, but all more powerful and rare items require ingredients. Luckily you accumulate a large pile of crafting items naturally during exploration and combat.

I totally agree with your points except those. They are only valid if you let them bother you - the boring fetch quests all solve themselves sooner or later and I never felt the need for grinding craftable items... just traded 'em whenever I had everything at hand anyways.
Only exception were the anti-slip boots when I started the ice temple. But the (still reasonable) grind for them felt like an appropriate easymode tax.

Well, as I said, I'm still loving the game, despite it's shortcomings. I see crafting as a missed opportunity. It can motivate the player to hunt enemies and flora for ingredients, but they just went too far with the ingredient requirements. I found myself not bothering to buy any equipment at all and just hoping I will find better gear eventually.

I managed to defeat the second temple. You really have to have the right kind of mentality while playing through these extremely long and hard dungeons. I often play in short 15 - 30 min bursts - try to solve 1 puzzle and defeat an enemy encounter, then close the game for a couple of hours. You have to get the enjoyment from each puzzle and each defeated enemy, rather than merely from defeating the entire dungeon. Otherwise you'll get frustrated and rage quit.

 

[HansDampf]

I totally agree with your points except those. They are only valid if you let them bother you - the boring fetch quests all solve themselves sooner or later and I never felt the need for grinding craftable items... just traded 'em whenever I had everything at hand anyways.
Only exception were the anti-slip boots when I started the ice temple. But the (still reasonable) grind for them felt like an appropriate easymode tax.

I didn't even know there were anti-slip boots. Every time I go into the trader book menu I get lost. I'd like to craft better equipment, but there is always that one item missing. Then I have to go through every plant and every monster to check for potential drops. And don't forget the other traders. Would be nice if I could click on the missing item and the game would just tell me if and where it's already listed. Most of the time I can't find it, of course, and I don't even know if it's available yet. It's a waste of time.

 

[Maxwell's Demon]

Crafting is always a waste of time in RPGs.

 

[Shaewaroz]

I totally agree with your points except those. They are only valid if you let them bother you - the boring fetch quests all solve themselves sooner or later and I never felt the need for grinding craftable items... just traded 'em whenever I had everything at hand anyways.
Only exception were the anti-slip boots when I started the ice temple. But the (still reasonable) grind for them felt like an appropriate easymode tax.

I didn't even know there were anti-slip boots. Every time I go into the trader book menu I get lost. I'd like to craft better equipment, but there is always that one item missing. Then I have to go through every plant and every monster to check for potential drops. And don't forget the other traders. Would be nice if I could click on the missing item and the game would just tell me if and where it's already listed. Most of the time I can't find it, of course, and I don't even know if it's available yet. It's a waste of time.

The "Records" section in Menu can help a lot if you're hunting for a specific ingredient. There you can see enemy loot drop rates as well as various flora drop rates once you've harvested enough of them.

That said, crafting is still tedious as hell. If you can get into it and are willing to spent your time on what's essentially unnecessary busywork, then the crafting system and the Records section are fine. This busywork is a gameplay feature in Crosscode, whether we like it or not.

These would be my recommendation for the game development team if they ever decide to make Crosscode 2:

- less pointless busywork and grinding
- greater focus on main storyline, as well as deeper and more complex side quests
- deeper and more fleshed out NPCs (companions are fine the way they are, I mean primarily quest related NPCs)
- more meaningful choices on how to develop your character
- more immersive game world that doesn't feel artificial
- optional online multiplayer

 

[Urthor]

The later side quests are absolutely not fetch quests, the earlier ones are

Lost my save right before final dungeon with everything unlocked RIP

 

[Shaewaroz]

The later side quests are absolutely not fetch quests, the earlier ones are

Lost my save right before final dungeon with everything unlocked RIP

Well I'm going on the Raid mission now at level 35 and the quests offered are still mainly structured like GO TO A PLACE -> TALK TO A GUY -> FIGHT A BUNCH OF MONSTERS -> COLLECT REWARD. I'd like to see a bit deeper side quests.

 

[Urthor]

The raid missions were made in like 2016, it was most definitely not like that once you reach the last two biomes which were made more recently.

 

[Shaewaroz]

Good to hear that the best quests are still ahead.

 

[HansDampf]

I totally agree with your points except those. They are only valid if you let them bother you - the boring fetch quests all solve themselves sooner or later and I never felt the need for grinding craftable items... just traded 'em whenever I had everything at hand anyways.
Only exception were the anti-slip boots when I started the ice temple. But the (still reasonable) grind for them felt like an appropriate easymode tax.

I didn't even know there were anti-slip boots. Every time I go into the trader book menu I get lost. I'd like to craft better equipment, but there is always that one item missing. Then I have to go through every plant and every monster to check for potential drops. And don't forget the other traders. Would be nice if I could click on the missing item and the game would just tell me if and where it's already listed. Most of the time I can't find it, of course, and I don't even know if it's available yet. It's a waste of time.

The "Records" section in Menu can help a lot if you're hunting for a specific ingredient. There you can see enemy loot drop rates as well as various flora drop rates once you've harvested enough of them.

That's what I meant. I have to go through the records manually, through all the enemies, plants, quests and traders I've logged so far. And those lists get pretty long later in the game. It's a UI problem.

 

[Shaewaroz]

Got past Vermillion Wasteland. The story elements were great, but the area felt poorly phased. Too much screwing around without a clear goal. Way too much unnecessary dialogue.

Played for 25 hours now and still nowhere near the end. Haven't spent that much time with the side quests either. This is a really long game.

 

[HansDampf]

Got past Vermillion Wasteland. The story elements were great, but the area felt poorly phased. Too much screwing around without a clear goal. Way too much unnecessary dialogue.

Played for 25 hours now and still nowhere near the end. Haven't spent that much time with the side quests either. This is a really long game.

Vermillion Wasteland is like a long cutscene. It's also the part of the game where the story gets a bit grim. Nice detail, btw:

Spoiler

You can find two different Schneiders in the Party menu.

Some overall thoughts:

- The game starts weak until you get to the Temple Mine dungeon.

- Combat gets better with each new element. I've realized way late that the perks in the element circuits are only active when you switch to the respective element mode. And perks in the neutral circuit are only half as strong when you are not in neutral mode. This opens up even more possibilities. For example, you can dump everything into Max HP and HP Regen on the Wave circuit. Then, when you are low on health in combat, you can switch to Wave mode to increase your HP immediately, and also use combat arts to recover even more. Or switch to a different element to increase your damage output before you attack, most likely Heat or Shock. You will also take more damage from the opposite element. Lots of things to consider. And the game is challenging enough to make it all count. I liked using the perfect guard arts. It's satisfying to block attacks and freeze enemies that way. That's how I beat the 4th PvP duel. Though it didn't help much against the final boss. You can almost be a jack of all trades in the first half of the game. But later skills are too expensive, and you have to pick and choose. The free overrides you get after every dungeon allow for some experimentation (I had 7, and you can pay 3 to reset all 5 circuits). This is what mine looked like at level 58. Half of the neutral circuit is still grey.

- I liked all of the dungeons. Every single puzzle element is also getting used in combat (could not imagine playing this without a mouse). Shock and Wave dungeons were a bit on the easy side. I would have liked to see some more puzzles with multi-purpose elements and without hints on the floor. Or more puzzles that span over multiple rooms. As it is, most of them were exercises in dexterity. I understand that this is a JRPG and not a hardcore puzzle game that I'm supposed to lose sleep over. But another optional puzzle dungeon would have been nice.

- Side quests get much better later on. Not as many dumb fetch quests. Some will even lead to a mini dungeon with one or two optional puzzles. Henry's probe quests and "A Promise is a Promise" (with the latest update) are all worth doing.

- The exploration puzzles are pretty lame in the beginning. I've seen reviews praising the level design, and ok, you have to find the correct path to get to a chest. Wow... The first area isn't really the best showcase. Things get much more complicated in later areas like Gaia's Garden and Sapphire Ridge, with switch/gate puzzles, creative bank shots, and more. Sometimes you have to start your journey 4 or 5 screens away from the chest. My only complaint here is the lack of item rewards. Most chests just contain higher tier crafting items or consumables. The upside is, if you find most of the chests, chances are you will automatically end up having the required items to craft some better equipment. So there is a delayed reward.

- About crafting... By the end of the game I had over 100 different types of crafting items in my inventory. And the high level gear in Rhombus Square requires items I'd never even seen before. Enough said.

- Mixed feelings about the story. It's nice to play a JRPG where you aren't saving the world. This is just Lea's personal story. But there are a couple of things that bother me.

Spoiler

The CrossWorlds lore is entirely irrelevant to everything. Lame.
The characters, as they are portrayed in the game (the game's game), are all a bit one-dimensional, and also way too nice. Did you know Emilie hates bugs?! You won't meet any trolls or assholes, the closest one being Apollo. It was a nice surprise when he joins the party. We also don't get to see or hear much about the real life side of them. Would be funny if Apollo is actually played by some fat 45 year old virgin. It's kind of like that with Gautham.
Sidwell could have been introduced earlier.
I also thought it would have made a nice ending if Lea somehow gained the ability to speak complete sentences. Her speech problem serves no purpose other than getting played for laughs or some cute moments.
It also would have made the post-credits scene tolerable. Now it's like, "Oh, btw. Fuck you! The End"

- No matter what you think of the story. If you aren't moved by the character animations, you are made of stone.

- The early access bluff.

Spoiler

Near the end, in one of the many meta comments about RPGs and gaming in general, you are told that CrossWorlds is still in early access. You can't enter the final dungeon in Sapphire Ridge. At first I was disappointed, like it's a lame excuse. But turns out there actually is one more dungeon at the very end, "just for you". And it's a complete dungeon, with a new puzzle mechanic and combinations of all 4 elements. I didn't expect that. Well played, Gautham.

 

[Jinn]

Had been watching this in early access for a long time and anticipating its full release. Got distracted by other releases when it did finally come out (ATOM RPG, I think?). Anyway, randomly remembered it a few nights ago and purchased. Finally got around to trying it out last night, and damn this game is very cool. Surprised there isn't more interest around here for it. I thought the main thing about the game that was going to turn me off was the setting, but not so. Really nice what they did with this concept and it has huge potential to be an interesting story. Gameplay is really unique, being a cross between twin-stick shooters and ARPGs like Secret of Mana/Seiken Densetsu 3. Enjoyable combination that also reminds me of Nier and Nier: Automata in ways, except 2D of course.

About 4 hours in so far and feel like I've barely scratched the surface. Look forward to moving forward and exploring the interesting world, likable characters, unique gameplay, and huge skill trees. The pixel art and animations are beautiful as well. Great soundtrack so far. Anyone else check this out recently?

 

[Safav Hamon]

I wanted to like it, but Far'jo Temple broke me with how much of a slog it is. The later dungeons are supposed to be even worse...