CrossCode

This is an incredibly polished, fleshed out, and inspired game that feels like an old console classic. There is a ton to explore, lots of sidequests and collectibles, bonus challenges, and completionist rewards. It's very easy to drop in and drop out, kind of like an MMO, which is appropriate considering it is meant to emulate one. While I think that the combat itself is only decent, I appreciate how much you can control engagement with it. The combo system is an interesting risk vs reward balance. The bosses present some decent challenge and have fun mechanics. Even basic enemies can be troublesome if you jump in underprepared. The controls are fluid and responsive, though the navigation (platforming) takes getting used to due to the perspective. The crafting is a bit obtuse, but it's never all that necessary. By far my favorite aspect of the game is the dungeons. They feel like the most professional part of this game, brilliantly designed to put your puzzle skills and understanding of powers to the test.

the peakest of all peaks

An absolutely beautiful experience. I love so much about this game, especially its characters. the friendship between Emilie and Lea... aghuhgughuagughaug my heart. Also just the vibe of this game. The music, the cute pixel art, and the character portraits... its all so.. stylistically beautiful! And oh man the GAMEPLAY!!!! The exploration here is sooo top notch, such good use of 2.5D. Some of the dungeons and bosses get a bit difficult / long for my taste. But like. Also. They're really good, so that's only a half criticism. Just. Such a good experience. Will remember this world and its characters for a very long time.

你好！莉亚！谢谢！再见！

I usually don’t review many games but I didn’t expect this game to be one of my favorite games. I really loved the combat, but I loved the story and characters even more. The story was phenomenal and emotional, more than I expected. The characters were all so well written and even though the character that you play doesn’t speak much, she slowly became one of my favorite characters in any video game I’ve played, and I have played quite a few games in my 30 years of life, so I don’t say that lightly. You slowly build a connection to her and can empathize with how she feels, and I love that about this game and the writing. My only caveat was the puzzles. Not much of a puzzle person and I needed a walkthrough for most of the dungeons. But honestly just a small trade off for the amazing combat and story telling. 10/10 recommend.

I enjoy my time with the game, the combat is hard but fair (most of the time) and the movement through the levels is fast and precise. The world is interesting and the story uses know tropes and themes very well. The puzzles I think are a bit over designed, to me at least they feel like they area complex for the sake of being complex and have much more steps than necessary to complete, if they were simpler I think the game overhal would be more fun.