Crypterion

delightful throwback to classic space trading and management games, offering a nostalgic yet fresh experience for fans of the genre. The game combines retro-inspired pixel art with engaging gameplay mechanics, allowing you to build your empire through trade, negotiation, and strategic decisions. The humor and charm woven into the narrative and character interactions add a unique flavor, making the experience both entertaining and memorable. While the gameplay is straightforward, it’s packed with enough variety and depth to keep you invested.

Sci-Fi based VN, fun and wholesome. ~10-20 hours gameplay depending on play style.
Side characters are more than plot-devices, they have personalities and their own stories.

I dig Roencia's artwork and storytelling; if you follow my reviews (which I know you don't, but maybe you should?), I gave Omni Link a solid "art and story is great, except the ending - let's not go there - the shooting stuff is silly so Crypterion is better, can't wait for updates" which translates to a 3.5/5, I guess (for Omni Link, to be clear). So far, Crypterion sits at a 4.5/5; there's no silly shooting sequences (yet! Please don't!) and the story is legitimately entertaining. I am excited each time one of my favourite characters gets involved and I see their development. Lookin' at you, Moxie ;)

Without getting into any spoilers (because, hey, this is a Visual Novel!), Crypterion is a 'merchant life' game where you travel between planets, buying and selling goods for profit. While you do this, events occur in VN style which progress the story. That's it, that's the game! Sorry if that sounds simple, but, it really is, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, because Crypterion does it well!

Since Crypterion is in Early Access, it's hard to really say "hey this game is the best!" though, because, well, it's only at appetizer stage. The main course is yet to come. During my playtime, I had quite a few events during the first 'in game year' or so, but then they just fell off the wayside. The thing is... because it's Early Access, it's really impossible for me to know if there's just no more content, or, if I just haven't triggered the next criteria to have something happen. There's a percentage in game that says "here's the amount of content" but that doesn't really help explain if I finished everything I can see, or if I should look under that rug over there for a cinematic. A little feature-creep here, and I cannot imagine how next-to-impossible this would be, but a checklist of all possible quests, with 'hints' on how to trigger them would be super swell. Something that screams "Hey, buddy, I know you're flying around trading right now and nothing has happened for the last twenty minutes... but you still have these twenty-seven quests upcoming, if you just 'Visit the space station on a rainy day.'" Which makes no sense because it doesn't rain in space, it's just a (bad) example.

In any case, I will continue to follow Crypterion's progress. I don't plan to play it again until 1.0 (and maybe a little after, in case bugs, because VN bugs suck), because when I played Omni Link after 1.0 I had to start over and that made me sad (though in retrospect, it did help keep the story fresh in my mind!). This way I can replay the entire game in 1.0 and not be 95% complete the game already; only 50%, haha. Looking forward to what's to come, Roencia!

For now I would say I recommend it, though I will have to wait until the final update to be sure as the content when I tried it was still a bit lacking to fully carry the game until the story is finished.

A very interesting mix of visual novel and economic simulator with a good story, interesting characters and beautiful art for an extremely low price. Highly recommend!

I came into this game having played a previous title from the dev and once again I loved the characters. Some of which have returned. It's not a long game and I managed to complete it in just over 9 hours. My only gripe about the last game and of this one is that they are far to short. The characters are wonderful and the plot line is pretty nice. Its a very simplistic game but it really does need more fleshing out and things to do. I would get this game if only for the smiles you get from the characters and the fun way they are written. If the game is on sale for under 5 quid then go for it. I would def get the game and support the dev. I look forward to any other titles that might be coming from them in the future.

This game is criminally under-recognized, especially considering its cup of coffee price tag.

The best visual novels are those with a gameplay loop that ties into the story, and actions in one realm effect the other. This game has a good amount of that. You start out deep in debt and scraping by, and this flavors the story, which is fairly engaging with likeable characters.

It's a male-centered harem story where most of the characters automatically like the protagonist, but that's par for the course with this genre.

Cons:

Typos and punctuation errors, quite a few actually.

I'm pretty sure the auction system is bugged. When bidding for the crystal mine, you'll be out-bid in the last minute without the chance to counter-bid.

Also you only get one file, and it automatically overwrites whenever you travel to a different planet or an auction ends. This is no good. Easy reloading isn't just used to save-scum dialogue choices; it's also a failsafe for when mechanics or ambiguously worded choices have implications the player couldn't have anticipated but was meant to.

These nitpicks are coming from a position of overall being pleasantly surprised by this game and enjoying it quite a lot. The character art is really good, it blends visual novel and merchant sim really well and a lot of the characters feel like real people who actually exist. Whoever wrote it definitely has the knack and cared about what they were doing.

I'm going to buy this game for several friends since I know they'll like it and I want to support it more.

Cute feelgood story with hilarious characters and decent gameplay. UI a bit rough around the edges.

Very cool, space empress and business sigma grindset for the win. Or something lolz.

I'm reviewing this game with the understanding that it is very much a work in progress.

As someone who is a proponent of free markets and cryptocurrency IRL, it's cool to see a game that incorporates these concepts into the gameplay. However, the economic aspect of this game is very basic. The real heart of the game is the story. You get to make a lot of choices while getting to know the cast of characters better. While some of the situations presented to you are intentionally a bit goofy, that's just the style of comedy that game is going for. I got quite a few chuckles out of the scripted events. Often times, the humor was so good that I wasn't even mad when the game "punished" me for making the wrong choice. It's a bit zany at times, but I think that gives it a certain charm.

Another thing that I really love about this game is the art. Both the technological (e.g., spaceship art) and character art are amazing. I think this is important for a story-driven game like this where you develop an attachment to the characters.

The game needs to have a lot of content added to it before I would call it "complete," and some things need a bit of polishing, but the dev seems to be working on the content quite diligently, and what we have right now is a solid foundation for a great indie game. Right now (Apr 2021) you can get several hours of entertainment out of it before you hit the (currently incomplete) end of the storyline.

I would recommend this game to anyone interested in a sci-fi-themed visual novel with a minor tycoon side element. Although I'm referring to this game as a VN, I think it's worth noting that this game gives you a lot more freedom than most VNs, and it also has a few point-and-click moments.

A truly rare and substantive peace. Something with true emergen in mind. 8/10 (so far)

EA game so review can game. SO far it basic trading sim with some very lovely graphics interesting storyline. I wonder how the title system power will grown a change during the game. I want to see about the small business grown but otherwise great storyline so far.