CrossCode

Despite it being 3 plus years since i played and enjoyed this gem of a game on Xbox, and again on Steam because i still wanted more from this game. I would like to extend my gratitude and appreciation for this game. I was in a dark spot at the time still trying to figure things out I still am and this game is just a reminder of what i have gone through. I truly don't think i'll ever have another experience just i had with Crosscode. Truly one of the only games to put me in a post game depressive state because of how it is over now. Never have i truly been involved the same way i have with Kid Icarus and other ips. Crosscode just does something no other game has done for me in the longest of time. Actual game talk, the game does start slow with an overwhelming barrage of text, information and attributes you won't really get to engage with during the first few hours of the game. Trust me, if you are patient enough to get through the barrier of introduction. This game will leave you wanting much more and i cannot express this more then what i am explaining here. To this day i keep telling others to play this game and i will consistently do so as Crosscode deserves it. Looking forward to the new project being worked on and hope it hits the same sweet spot that Crosscode has done for me

An absolutely phenomenal game, I'd put CrossCode on the same level as Hollow Knight, Celeste, Pizza Tower, Gravity Circuit, Rain World, Darkwood, ULTRAKILL, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, Star of Providence, etc. as a must-play indie title. To go over the things that probably don't need to be elaborated on as much, the game visually looks great. It's not quite the best pixel art you'll ever see, but the game is consistently visually appealing with detailed sprites, tons of animations, and characters that are expressive and have all the portraits they possibly need to show their emotions over the course of the story. The story is also great, with fun and interesting characters and covering some surprisingly deep and dark themes. Can't say much because I don't want to spoil it, but the story is a great compliment to the excellent gameplay. The soundtrack is also great, not quite top tier but it's got plenty of great tracks that suit the environments and story beats very nicely and make traversing the world enjoyable. The only thing I think could've been better would be different battle music for different areas as while the battle music is great, it does get a bit repetitive with how long the game's total runtime can be. Speaking of, the combat is excellent and one of the two pillars of the game. It controls smooth and the enemies are intelligently designed that you have to use different tactics for most of them, whether it's ricocheting ranged attacks into a weakpoint, timing an attack well to interrupt them, using a certain element or perfect blocking to stun them. What really makes the combat great is the elemental system. On top of your standard moves you can switch to 4 different elements you unlock over the course of the game, each of which alters your stats, allows access to a large variety of super-moves and allows you to inflict different status effects. Across all the different elements there are a few dozen of these, and it makes the combat incredibly deep while still being approachable with how it introduces portions of it over time. By the endgame you're utilising all of it in some challenging and incredibly fun, well designed fights. The elements also are part of the other pillar of the game, puzzles. You get a taste of these in the overworld you'll explore, which is fun to traverse being packed with secrets and chests you'll need to find ways of getting to higher elevation to reach. Once you get into the dungeons the puzzles really shine though, early on they're already a decent challenge but as you progress the elements get used in different ways and start being combined together to make for puzzles more complex than anything you'll find in Zelda. Not liking puzzles is the only thing that might be a reason to not get the game, but if you enjoy them at all this game has them in spades. The final dungeon in the DLC adds one new mechanic that combines with all the others to create some seriously mind-bending puzzles that are incredibly satisfying to figure out. To top it all off, the game is also jam-packed with content. Despite having almost 100 hours, I still haven't done all of the sidequests and have barely touched the arena with gauntlets of enemies and bosses. Some of the side-quests are your typical fetch quests or "kill X enemies" but the majority are all unique and engaging in their own right. Some involve optional side dungeons and/or new bosses, some have unique set pieces like fighting on top of moving cars, and some change the game entirely being fun mini-games that put a twist on the mechanics or make it a whole other genre like tower defence. The DLC is also well worth it, because the base game already has more than enough content to justify its price as well as New Game+ with all sorts of ways to modify a playthrough to increase the challenge or put twists on it. The DLC just adds even more, including two areas (one of which is basically a gigantic dungeon), a more satisfying ending and also a new final boss that somehow tops the already insane final boss of the base game. At the price it's selling for there is no reason not to buy the game if you're remotely interested. You'll thank yourself later. Consider getting the game on Good Old Games as it seems to go on sale more often there and you can get the game and DLC for $10 or less, which is an absolute steal for the quality and quantity of content on offer. It's truly a shame this game didn't get the attention it deserves.

It is overall a great game but not without its downsides. What I loved the most about the game are its characters. They were all amazing and very expressive. Dungeon and boss design is very good too. Loved the puzzles and boss fights. However, some standard enemies definitely felt like they thought about how they could make them interesting but didn't think about whether it would be fun to fight them over and over again.

This is most likely the most polished indie game I've played , the puzzles are difficult but the combat is great top down action and simple to understand kind of like the Mana series or 2D Zelda but with more bullet hell elements , as of this review I have not finished the game yet despite how many hours I have in it but I think its worth it and a must have for any RPG fan.

A very solid hacknslashish platformer rpg. The music is beautiful in places and high energy in others, the plot is intersting, if a bit confusing at times, A real fun time all the way thorough!

Absolutely phenomenal game. top to bottom. Visuals, art direction, witty and charming writing, incredible music, and superb gameplay that only gets better the further into the game you get. Unlocking all 5 stances makes you feel like an unstoppable killing machine, and it's just superb. I do feel the endings could use a little more oomph, but it's the smallest blemish on what I otherwise consider an absurdly incredible, near perfect game. I cannot overstate how much I look forward to RadFish's next game, already got it on my wish list, watching closely~. And I will be cross if Lea doesn't cameo. lol

This is a tough one because writing this feels like experiencing a break up. But it’s also needed for closure because honestly? I don’t think I can play this game anymore without feeling all sorts of unpleasant emotions. I really loved the story, the artstyle, and especially the music…at first. During the first 10 hours or so. I didn’t mind the endless number of chests that test your perceptiveness, the sprawling puzzle dungeons that require quick reflexes and lateral thinking, or even the drip-fed of story beats. I genuinely fell in love with the world of Crossworlds, and its many delightfully animated characters. But it all changed, around mid-game, when things were supposed to “pick up and get good”. Yet somehow I didn’t care for the twist? I felt awfully cold and indifferent towards what was supposed to be a major reveal and honestly? The philosophy behind the twist was largely dubious and completely uninteresting. It’s a plot point I’ve seen a million times, except in formats that demanded less agility, and much much less patience. Basically my desire to see this game though ran out at some point. And what was initially a wonderful sense of discovery was replaced by an acute sense of dread - I found myself checking to see how much of the game there was left, I started looking up tips online, I found myself constantly enraged and frustrated. What finally broke me was this unskippable third duel with Apollo - whilst some of the worst side quests in the game could wait until I got stronger with higher stats, this fight simply had to be completed in order for the story to progress…and you know what? In true Crosscode fashion it’s homing missiles and war of attrition. Except you can’t heal, you can’t dodge. And with the amount of HP I had I had to lose. And it felt cheap, and unfair. I didn’t want to git gud, I questioned why I subjected myself to this world of pain in the first place. I feel like the devs hate their players? Some of the puzzles I kid you not I literally had to use two thumbs on the joy stick just to find the pixel-perfect angle to shoot. And there’s just this overall feeling that the game is too good for casuals, either you play by the rule book or you can eff right off. And you know what? I’d much rather prefer to do the latter at this point. Perhaps one day I’ll return to this game. But it’ll be a long long time before that happens. I tried.

interesting story and combat

Pretty decent game that has some good combat and element switching. Puzzles can be a little frustrating if you have poor reaction times (though thankfully there's a setting to change speeds). Storywise it's great!

After 120+ hours in it, I can confidently say this game is a masterpiece, a jewel on the crown, absolutely fantastic plot, storytelling, plot twists, characters, graphics and effects, combat, puzzles, map, navigation. Frustrating and rewarding. Loads to explore. This game raised the bar! It will be in my Top5 for many years to come. I can't wait for my first child to be old enough to introduce them to this wonder!

I am absolutely terrible at this game, but I love it and it feels so great to play. Sometimes you can tell whether devs prioritize art over gameplay or vise versa. This game is not only beautifully designed in both aspects, but also challenging in a way that feels fair to the player. The puzzles are difficult and thought-provoking and the parkour/combat mechanics are smooth and precise. If I mess up on a jump or die while fighting, I know it's my mistake, not the fault any badly mapped terrain or unclear attack patterns. All of these factors, combined with how much there is to explore in the world, make CrossCode a joy to play, especially once you finally beat that boss or solve a really difficult puzzle. I'm not done with the story yet, but I'm really enjoying it so far! I'd definitely recommend giving this game a fair shot. I'm guilty of letting it sit unplayed in my steam library for too long and I definitely regret not playing it sooner.

I love the story, the map exploration, items and weapon collection, the brain teasing time puzzles, and the awesome battle art that slaps and makes you feel really strong as you charge per stage. Not to mention the music! I love all of them. In summary, this game is easily up in the best games I've ever played. Thank you Radical Fish Games team and looking forward to your next badass project

AMAZING pixel-art, great story, fun gameplay, all in all good game

I haven't beaten the game yet, so I'll edit it later if I remember to, but man this game is genuinely incredible! It's so much fun exploring the world and finding loot and items to upgrade your character. The puzzles are difficult enough to be engaging, but not frustrating. The story so far is just great. If this was a show, I'd binge it. The combat is also satisfying and fun, and the game rewards you for speedrunning in a sense with how combat works. The faster you move and kill, the higher the chances enemies will drop whatever loot is in their pool.

A Masterpiece. This game oozes quality. The puzzles are addicting. Gameplay feels tight. World is immersive and engaging! Highly recommended

combat is fine and the story is interesting, but the parkour and puzzles can be so frustrating. it may get better later on, but starting the game with the ice section just feels like a bad choice... too frustrating to continue

I am unsure if this is intentional, but one of the characters uses a word frequently which seems to possibly be a common expression in another language. This is referring to the English localization of the game. However, this word is spelled similarly to a slur and at the end of chapter 10, this word is used in a location and nearby a character that seems to belong to the ethnicity that the similar sounding slur is directed towards. To my understanding, this does not serve any narrative purpose besides discrimination that is unaddressed.

The devs wanted to make a billard game with occasional combat I guess.

Don't believe the liars and plagiarists like "Amerisian" This game hurts ya just right.

I've had a brainrot of this game for 5 years i got it on ps4, switch, and now pc and I have like 500 hours+ across all of them anyway yeah games good

This is my favorite game. It just might become your's too 10/10

Mandatory play if you like Ragnarok Online and Chrono Trigger.

Why is this game so underrated

Really fun once you get the hang of it.

Protect Lea. That is all.

Great game!

I only know Lea for 5 hours at this point. But I already love her ^^

i would do anything to make lea happy

hi lea me wait who lea me you lea me

Excellent

one of the best games I have ever played

The game is amazing :D

must-buy

yee

🔥🤖💥🤓🤯😰👻🚀😳