CrossCode

The skill ceiling on this game is insane. I fully recommend anyone who likes twin stick shooters to give this a try. The introduction of skills makes each combat choice personalized to the player.

I don't buy games. But this game is too good for me to pirate. That's my proof that this game is REALLY good. Game is hella smooth and cool, go play it

The game is way too long, a lot of it is because it loves wasting your time.
The platforming consists of jumping on platforms that you can't tell on high or far they are because of the art style and perspective. There's no technique, just do the same thing over and over again.
The combat is mostly trying to figure out what the gimmick is while under a lot of attack. It's kind of like Zelda but where as Zelda is mostly pretty boring because nothing is happening, this game is annoying because it does not give you the chance to figure out the puzzle. Enemy attack's tracking is insane, telegraph isn't very good and you're i-frames are tiny so dodging isn't the most fun.
I don't have any comment on the story because I started skipping every cutscenes about 1/3 into the game. There were a ridiculously amount of yapping and I just couldn't take it. It would take me 50% more time to finish if I didn't do that.
The main dungeons are pretty fun with cool puzzles that also require action skill.
Unfortunately the fun parts are connected by sections that just annoyed the hell out of me.
Not a fan

Excellent game! The setting and story are great, with some nice twists. The gameplay is tight and both the combat and the puzzles are challenging and rewarding.

🌟 10/10 – A True Masterpiece! 🌟

CrossCode is hands down one of the best action RPGs I’ve ever played. It perfectly blends fast-paced combat, deep puzzles, and an engaging story into an experience that feels like a love letter to classic RPGs with a modern touch.

🔹 Combat – Smooth, fluid, and incredibly satisfying. Dodging, melee, and ranged attacks all feel intuitive, and the variety of skills keeps things fresh.
🔹 Puzzle Design – Some of the best puzzle mechanics I’ve seen in a game. They’re challenging but fair, making dungeons feel like rewarding brain teasers.
🔹 Story & Characters – A heartfelt and mysterious journey with great world-building and lovable characters. Lea, the protagonist, barely speaks but is still one of the most expressive and charming leads in an RPG.
🔹 Soundtrack – Absolute banger. Every track fits the atmosphere and enhances the experience.
🔹 Content – A massive world filled with secrets, side quests, and tough boss fights. You’ll easily sink 50+ hours into it.

If you love SNES-era RPGs, challenging but rewarding gameplay, and a great story, CrossCode is a must-play. One of the best indie games ever made! 💙

This game is the most underrated game I have ever played in my entire life. It took me close to 130 hours to complete it and very little of the game play I experienced during that time felt like filler. In many ways the game is similar to the old Legend of Zelda games before Breath of the WIld. The reason I bought this game was due to its similarities to those games. It does not disappoint in this regard. Each dungeon is a unique extensive labyrinth with several hours of gameplay, its own puzzle gimmicks, locked doors, and a new element which allows players to progress through the dungeon by solving puzzles in a new way. However, it is far more than just a Zelda game.
It has one of if not the best combat system in any game I have ever played. It reminds me of dark souls 1 where every boss and enemy is challenginng at first, but as I learned their movesets, they became more manageable and I was able to doge their attacks. Many of the enemies in the game can "broken" and figuring out how to "break" enemies is an interesting puzzle. When an enemy is broken its defense it weakened so that it can be damaged easily. To break an enemy one may need to use a specific element. A major part of the combat system especially later in the game is switching between elements which each have their own unique abilities, strenghts, and weaknesses. As you level up you can fill out a skill tree to get more abilities for each element.
The game features some of the best puzzles I have ever experienced in a videogame. They remind me of portal where all puzzles are solved using one main tool which in this game are balls which can be bounced off walls. As the player progresses through the dungeons and side locations, the puzzles get more complex as new gimmicks are added while still sticking to the core concept. Traversal puzzles are also common in the overworld where the player has to figure out how to navigate to cliffs and other areas they can't access easily. These can be more annoying especially since the depth perception makes it difficult to tell if you can jump to a platform.
The game is like a JRPG in that it has an epic story with memorable characters and many sidequests. However, unlike many rpgs almost every side quest in the game felt worth my time. Many of them had me exploring a mini dungeon with its own unique puzzles culminating in a unique boss fight. Some also involve mini games or intersting characters. The main story started slow, but as I got to the middle of the game it go way more interesting. Do not be discouraged by the game taking place in an MMO. The MMO is just the setting. The game is still excellent as a single player game and at no point did I feel it became too meta to the point of being cringe.
Overall this game feels like it was made for me specifically. There are many games I can play with excellent combat systems, great puzzles, epic stories, and memorable side content, but very few games do all these things well. The fact that an indie team was able to pull this off is truly special. This game deserves to be recognized as much as undertale, celeste, hollow knight, and other impactful indies.

The gameplay is AWESOME. While the combat is a bit simple during the start of the game, it gets more depht the more you progress with special attacks and elements wich all have their own special attacks btw. The puzzles can get pretty complex wich I absolutely love, they also never really get too difficult to the point where it feels unfair (small hint: those weird floor patterns in the dungeons can often help with the puzzles). The dungeons are great, they might be too long for some people, but Im not one of those. The game also never becomes too grindy since equipment matters more than xp and with most of the sidequests being pretty fun and the more "boring" ones being doable while you just play the game normally. I would recomend just speaking with any quest npc you stumble across, its either gonna be something you can do while progressing through the game normally or its gonna be something more fun.
The story is also great, it felt like it was saying something about self identety and what makes someone human. The characters are all lovable in their own way with the dialogue really making it feel like theyre just a group of friends playing a game together, I cant think of any reason why someone would dislike anyone of them that isnt the main villain.
The new home dlc is absolutely worth it in my opinion, with it just showing all the characters hanging out together, a new area, the longest (and best imo) dungeon in the game and tying some loose ends of the story.

Tldr: 10/10 game for people who like games with more challanging puzzles, combat and a more character focused story

A fantastic RPG that evokes some of the best games of the SNES era with tight combat, tons of puzzles, and exploration filtered through an MMO setting. The story is a rarity in games and shows a lot of restraint when it comes to melodrama, grounding a lot of what happens through realistic characters that feel true to life. There is SO much in this game and I left a lot of the end game content left untouched (Arena) but finished the main plot + DLC and walked away feeling like Crosscode is a "lost" gem from that era, lovingly developed in the present.

absolutely adore this game, both gameplay and story-wise. PLEASE play it if you think you'd be even slightly interested.

TL;DR

I am very conflicted. I had a decent time with this, but the dungeons and puzzles towards the end of the game (and the DLC) are so long and unenjoyable that I feel like I have to add a lot of asterisks* to my "Yes" recommendation.

If you are looking for a great RPG, you have most of it here, but with lots of... stuff in the middle. For better or worse. If you are ok with some very complex and somewhat tedious puzzles, I recommend CrossCode. Otherwise, avoid.

If you still can't decide, or think you are willing to suffer knowing that the puzzles might be too much, I gave this game a "Yes" recommendation because I think it's worth playing and completing at least once.

----Summary

You play as Lea, a person who has lost her memories. Playing the MMO CrossWorlds is the key to unlocking her past. CrossCode is a fairly robust action RPG, with a huge emphasis on puzzles and long dungeons. And I do mean long.

----Positives

Beautiful Graphics

I am a sucker for good pixel art and this game has it in spades. It looks like a 32bit game from the Playstation era, but in widescreen and HD. The animations for Lea are also very expressive for such tiny pixels. There is a lot of variety in the environments too. An excellent looking game.

Story

No spoilers, but the story does a good job of not being very cringy with its dialog, despite its modern-ish setting. Despite being in an MMO, the people in the game offer a much better delivery than say, .hack// G.U. which features a lot of lingo that was kind of dated when the game was new.

The characters are varied and hearing them comment on what's going on during the action gameplay is a nice treat. You get a lot of detail with just a few text boxes. CrossCode does a very good job of making it seem like these characters are interacting with each other, instead of just talking near each other.

Combat

Assuming you aren't using the easy mode slider, the combat is really good. The game is balanced in such a way that you won't be able to easily over-level your character and just one shot everything. Dodging certain mechanics sometimes feels impossible, but most of the time the combat feels great.

I liked hitting things on the way to my next objective, so something the combat's got to be good.

Exploration

More or less every screen has a bunch of hidden stuff in it that you can look for. There is somewhat of a "parkour" system which adds verticality to the maps. I call it parkour because you don't jump with a button. When you run off of a cliff, the character does the jumping for you. It's not automated exactly, you still get some say with how far your jump goes. Perhaps not all maps, but some of them were very fun to figure out.

Puzzles***

The way that puzzles are done with projectiles is really neat. The opening does a very good job of getting you acclimated to what is expected of you. It's really unique, or at the very least, I haven't seen another game do it the way CrossCode does. When the puzzles are bite-sized, they are really engaging. Definitely a defining feature of this game.

----Negatives

The Controls Are Busy, And Somewhat Inaccurate On a Controller

This is a minor gripe, as at around 70 hours I was able to fully master the controls for the Final DLC boss fight. It's a doozy. This 2D game requires you to use the analog sticks, which are not as precise as I would like. Many times, for puzzles, I would need to switch to the M+KB controls to get better accuracy and those controls have their own problems. Definitely use a controller if you can. As for controllers, every button on the controller does something (technically a positive). My complaint about indie games not using all the buttons at their disposal is finally baring fruit.

Just be aware that neither control system is perfect. And control is very important when you have the puzzles that CrossCode does.

Dungeons Are Too Long and Puzzles Are Too Much

For like, the first few dungeons, the puzzles and the length are reasonable. After that, the amount of mechanics you have to juggle on top of having speed and aiming requirements makes many of the later puzzles frustrating and annoying.

My main problem is that there are too many puzzles that I solved in my head, but it's too easy to make a mistake, or the timing is very strict. Yes, there is a slider that modifies the timing requirement for the puzzles to make them less strict, but timing is not the only issue with the puzzles. You shoot the orb slightly off, you don't quite flick the switch in time, or you shot something through a wall that didn't quite line up. "Oh well, that was in the middle of the puzzle, but now you have to do the whole thing again!". I really dislike the puzzles where you can't see everything at once.

Finally, and I'm expecting a "well what were you expecting?" kind of response, but your reward for doing a very annoying, strict puzzle is likely ANOTHER really annoying and strict puzzle. The second to last dungeon, the final dungeon and the DLC dungeon are all like this. They just go on and on. The final dungeon does something that made me scared of its potential length when I first got in, but thankfully, it's not as bad as it (I think intentionally) was made out to be.

The Parkour Doesn't Give You Enough Control

While exploring the maps can be great in CrossCode, there are a few problems with how failure is handled that made me stop trying to 100% all the areas. Basically, when verticality is involved, there will be times were you don't land your jump. When you fail to land your jump off a cliff onto lower ground, you basically need to spend two minutes getting back to where you were to try again. This sucks a lot.

I would be more ok with this if I had more control over the jump. Because of the control stick, It's very easy to over or undershoot your jump. There's something that tries to keep you on ledges, but it's not enough. Given that this is a 2D game, sometimes it's hard to know if the platform in front of you is at the same level, above or below you. You can always throw an orb, but having to stop and check every so often is a real pace breaker.

There is incentive to explore outside of main quest objectives, but that leads me into my next problem.

Most Chests Have Boring Items In Them

I can't say every chest has boring items in them, but most of them do. You either get some materials for the area you are in, some unique materials that you won't know what they do for hours, or buff food. Buff food is unnecessary, though I did use it on a few occasions. The real stuff you want is equipment, but you don't know going in which chests contain those, so you have to try them all. And while that equipment is generally better than what you can get in shops, you can beat the game just fine relying on shop equipment. I did for the latter half and it was smooth.

There is nothing more annoying that repeating a jumping puzzle over and over to get 5 Vanilla Ice Creams or 2 Veggie Sets... in the final area.

It's just so disappointing.

----Conclusion

I had a decent time with CrossCode, but the lows are very low. For the 70 hours I spent, I probably had a good time with about 60 of them, Not a bad time over all. But I'm NEVER doing that final dungeon again nor the DLC's final Dungeon, cool boss fights in both cases aside.

There is a new-game+ option, but the dungeon length and puzzles have really soured me on another playthrough. And that's disappointing.

I can't recommend this to everyone, but if you can get past my problems, or even if you can't, I think CrossCode is worth playing and completing at least once.

- Really good combat
- Really good story
- Very challenging puzzles
- Good replayability
Crosscode is genuinely one of the best rpg games I've played, cannot recommend it enough

I really like the art-style, characters and story. Unfortunately, I can't really say the same for the gameplay. There are only so many fights with the same enemies and similar puzzles I can handle before it gets dull. It eventually got so bad that the first time, I dropped the game at 90% done. Came back years later wondering why and realised it again.

Plays like a meaty SNES-era JRPG in an original setting. Rewards exploration and a little bit of grinding. Good puzzles and bosses, although some might feel a bit tedious towards the end of the game.

This is one of my favorite RPG's that i've played. The story stuck with me for so long, it's been a few years since i've played it know but i still think about Lea and friends from time to time. It was also just very fun to play. moving around the world and the combat system felt great, so i even enjoyed just running around to solve the little map puzzles and side quests.

Please. Do yourself a huge favor and treat yourself to this game.
It's just such a fun ride from beginning to end.
The combat is simple but satisfying.
The writing is admittedly full of the un-serious irony trappings but it like... works this time\

Absolutely amazing. The gameplay is great, the story and characters are wonderful, and the puzzles are well made. Also love the boss fights

There is something charming about this game. It is overall a good experience with challenging puzzles and gameplay. I found some parts to feel tedious. The music is really good. Some of the tracks in the soundtrack stand out to me such as Mysterious Place, Awakened, and Maroon Valley.

Smooth combat, highly engaging story, beautiful music

I'm thoroughly invested in this game every time I play it. Some of my favorite games of all time are Golden Sun, Zelda, and Final Fantasy. While this game rewards exploration and solving puzzles, I did find that the puzzles occasionally became a chore more than a challenge, unlike the puzzles in Golden Sun and Zelda that I felt were fresh every time.
The combat system is PHENOMENAL. The most satisfying of any real-time combat game I've ever played. While there isn't quite as much of a selection for what you can do in combat (at least compared to the three game series I mentioned), the selection you do have is very full-featured. The skill/stat tree (somewhat like the Crystarium in FF XIII or sphere grid in FF X) has enough customization potential that combat never gets boring.
But the main thing that keeps me playing is the story. I feel connected with the characters, which is something I don't feel with other games.

Final overall ranking, alongside my rankings for my other favorite game series
Golden Sun - 7/10
Golden Sun, The Lost Age - 8/10
Golden Sun, Dark Dawn - 3/10 (not among my favorites obviously, but just throwing it out)
Zelda Majora's Mask - 8/10
Zelda Twilight Princess - 7/10
Zelda Skyward Sword - 7/10
Final Fantasy IV - 6/10
Final Fantasy VII (original) - 9/10
Final Fantasy VII (Remake) - 10/10 (haven't played Rebirth)
Final Fantasy XIII - 5/10
CrossCode - 9/10

If this game looks at all interesting to you try the demo, it gives you a perfect example of what you can expect from the game, I immediately fell in love with this game after trying it.

This is my favorite game of all time (previously that was Portal 2)

Everything feels so right with this game, it feels like your actually playing an mmo, the art is amazing, the characters are awesome, the story is sublime, the combat and puzzles are engaging, I have 92 hours in this game, and I didnt even get to do all the content (passed up a lot of the sidequests, which by the way for the most part are unique and really fun)

I wish more people would discover this game, I only discovered it on a whim bc I was like "sure this game looks cool I'll try it" and now I'm thinking about playing it a second time.

What an amazing game!
I really can not believe that i only discovered this game now because someone in YS forum recommended this game to me.

I love almost everything about this game, the MC and the crew, the beautiful story and art, and also the combat gameplay.

I said almost everything because im not a fan of puzzle game in general and to be honest the puzzle in this game is kind of tough one because not only it needs solving but the puzzle also requires you to solve it in the correct timing yea its double layered puzzle. Even some bosses are kind of puzzle as well since you have to do specific thing to beat the boss.

But! The dev is kind enough to give you "assist" options that helps with the puzzle and also the overall combat in the game so even if you are not good with puzzle in general (like me) this assist option will definitely helps you out.

The gameplay overall is a good action rpg similar to ys games (i got this recommended from ys forum) the diff is that you also have long range basic attack and this game have both perfect guard and perfect dodge so you know its action packed game.

Story is so beautiful, its start so simple like hack (game and anime) where you are playing VRMMORPG but then become more and more emotional with a plot twist its just amazing.

Tottaly recommend the game if you like action rpg games and i also have to recommend the new home dlc since its like the cherry on top for this game, its completes the story and fills all of the story loophole (not like reMIND).

Also this game has new game plus that offers a LOT of modifier for the next playthrough.

After 100% it yesterday i give this game 8/10.

Phenomenal.

The MMO theme wasn't my jam, but the story was nevertheless well done.

Combat and Puzzles were top notch. Comparable to old top-down zelda games, except even more enjoyable. These are the reason to play the game. Dungeons were amazing.

Music was stunning.

The only hesitation I have in being an S tier game is in some of the side quests and "treasure chests" were on the tedious side. Most of them were great, and I would hate to skip some quests and miss those ones that led to unique monster fights or battle mechanics.

CrossCode is just all around a very solid game, but especially solid if you're looking for:
* puzzles
* fast paced combat
* cute story
* well-paced and compelling power growth

My only complaint with the game is the driving force for the first half of the game is a bit weak. In some ways it feels a bit intentional, like parody, but still, the game within the game has such a bad story that it's hard to be motivated by it. Pair that with the fact that the main mystery moves very slowly early on, and it can make the game feel like a bit of slog in the first half. The rest just flew by though, and the DLC built very nicely on the story. 8.5/10, would recommend.

Amazing game
Great art
Great music
Great story
Hi! Lea! Bye!

Its a quality game that basically feels like a modern re-imagining of a 2D Zelda game - so if you can play those and have a good time, you will probably find more of the same satisfaction here. There isn't too much depth past the pretty straightforward puzzle solving and fun-enough combat, so I probably won't end up replaying. But everything is done with polish and it was a fun for the time spent.

Probably my highest reccommendation yet. I still haven't quite beaten it yet, but oh my gods it's such a great game. The story is easily the best, and if you can get over a slightly boring start, the combat is some of the best I've ever played. It somehow managed to make sidequests enjoyable (namely by making most of them very unique with good rewards, and by even making the simple "grab a thing" quests more engaging in terms of dialogue and the like.) Also this game does something really interesting, with having a silent protagonist that is very definitively not a blank slate, and having loads of personality. All of this perfection for only 20 bucks, and that just seals the deal.

PLAY ITTTTT PLAYYYY ITTTTT.

Going through the entire game takes a while, and you shouldnt feel like all the optional content needs to be completed for the game to feel complete. The story is amazing, and the puzzles are perfect in my opinion. I myself have completed the main game twice already and im over 100 hours on the game, and I have only finished the full game including the DLC once. This is 100% worth the money at full price and its a game I will always recommend to others.

I will say however, it may feel rather slow in the beginning which is why I would recommend not doing ALL of the sidequests as it will take some time.

Lovely graphics with a nice art style, super fun fast paced combat with a lot of depth, excellent boss designs, plenty of content and challenging puzzles.

The only reason that you might not want this game is if you don't like puzzles or thinking. The game is quite heavy with it.

Wonderful gameplay, wonderful artstyle, wonderful story, just wonderful!

An astounding game, the depth and the attention to detail are incredible, which can prove to be a challenge also for seasoned players. 10/10

i just realized i had not left a review for this. crosscode is one of my favorite games ever made. it probably has too many puzzles that last a bit too long but that's ok because i'm a freak. that's all.

Amazing game 10/10

Fun combat/puzzle mechanics
Great OST
Good difficulty throughout, only a few spikes at bosses
Interesting story, theres jokes in it but it takes itself seriously. Its not super long but there's plenty of things to do on the side (Compendiums, upgrading gear, collecting/exploring, size quests), or maybe I just have too much time on my hands if I'm wrong
Castle Crashers-esque arena fights unlocked end game
New Game+ with new modifiers

If you like Zelda-type dungeon/puzzles, action rpgs, exploring, and/or collecting this is definitely worth a try

MMO level grinding in an offline, single player game. An overwhelming number of boring, tedious puzzles that were done better elsewhere 20 years ago and add nothing but padding to the experience. Instead of making things more engaging and interesting, upgrades make things more monotonous. I liked the premise of the story, the art is amazing, but I simply can't stand dealing with another mind-numbing puzzle.

10/10 game
peak story, gameplay, and fun
what else to say

Feel like a broken record but:

I don't even know what to put here.

I wish I could go back in time to play it again.

The best silent protagonist I've seen. Genuinely teared up at certain parts. Made me think of the difference between AI and human thought. Also made me think that maybe that question doesn't matter. Had a blast the entire time I played it.

Love this game.

Poderia perder um bom tempo descrevendo o por que deste jogo ser um dos melhores que já joguei, mas resumindo; ele é emocionante, divertido, possui uma história incrível e com alguns dos melhores plot-twists que já vi, mas principalmente é único, muito único, é um dos jogos mais especiais que joguei nos últimos tempos, seja o combate, a ambientação/cenários, os personagens, os puzzles ou as mecânicas, é genuinamente um jogo muito único e de um modo excelente, sempre tem algo novo que surpreende principalmente na história, inclusive na minha visão a DLC deveria ser obrigatória pois simplesmente encerra a história de modo perfeito. 10/10.

Look at how many hours I have in this game, I love it. I have played dozens and dozens of AAA, AA, and indie games from all the consoles/platforms in my life, and am a lot more picky with them now. Crosscode will always be in my top 5 or so video games ever. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me want to erase my memory of ever playing it so I could experience it again. Instead of me writing an essay about why I love it, I recommend you to go watch a YouTube video about it and you'll quickly see its charm.

This game is astoundingly good. The art style is cute but can be more intimidating when needed. The combat and puzzles are fun since they center around the player character's weapon which consist of supermarket bouncy balls. It makes it possible to fight and solve puzzles in completely unintended ways. What's that? There's a beast with face protection? Bounce a ball off a sheer cliff, against an orphan's forehead, and back into the beast's spine so you can paralyze it for life!

Combine this with the special abilities that are individual for blocking, throwing, dodging, and 1 for whenever you're not doing any of those. All 4 specials can also be changed for free to a completely different one whenever the hell you feel like it.

Granted, while the puzzles DO frustrate me, that's just because I'm blind as hell and somehow keep missing a very obvious symbol on the ground that literally shows you how to solve the puzzle.

The story itself is amazing as well. I don't want to accidentally spoil anything because it's amazing if you see it for the first time. I wish I could forget everything and play this game with fresh eyes once more.

Buy it, play it, if you don't like it, that's what the refund system is for, but even after 9 hours I am still having just as much of a blast as I did when I first started. I would highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

The hidden gem of indie gaming, a truly criminally underrated game. Completed the game back in 2018, but writing a review only now

Not only is the game itself just gigantic, but it's also polished, has an interesting story, and doesn't fall short on pacing. Every aspect of it is executed to a very high standard, you'd never think it was all done by 2 Germans.

Did the very narrow set of supported languages (mostly Asian for some reason) killed the game's ability to appeal to a wide audience and jump on the hype train?

I'm glad that the developers have not given up and continue to create games, waiting for another masterpiece from them

This game got me hooked with the story and its still the best out there for me.
Sometimes I wished if there was a multiplayer function though.

This was recommended to me by a friend and like very other reviews say I agree.
I mean it really got me thinking man!

combat is a lot of fun and the puzzles are all really good.

i saw a lot of people complaining about puzzle difficulty but i haven't needed to look up a solution once, so don't read too much into that unless you have the problem solving skills of a gold fish.

Puzzle simulator, if you like puzzle, the game is for you. If you do not however, this game is not. You will spend hours doing puzzle and it hurts

The combat is great though.

It's a great game if you like timed puzzles that sometimes require precise inputs. If you don't, then this game will be an absolutely miserable experience for you.

This game is a lot of fun! The game has a lot , and i mean A LOT of content. The game switches from combat,to story to a puzzle game quite constantly, and the puzzles get exponentially harder, Specially at the pyramid.

The amount of side-content on this game is staggering, and it even has DLC for more content.

The OST is quite decent, and the plot is very similar to "main character got trapped in an MMO". If you watched hack//sign or sword art online, it's somewhat similar to that.

overall, a great game with great pacing and variety. The game constanly forces you to think. "how am i going to get there? to get that shiny lootbox" or "how am i supposed to do this puzzle, or beat this boss?"

i give this a 9.5/10

I can't say enough good things about this game, it's really too bad that it seems to have flown under most people's radar. Just finished my second play through, and still enjoyed every minute of it! Definitely play this game!

I was waiting to 100% the game to give out my full opinion on the game, And the time has come (No spoilers).

The story is really well made, And the more u keep playing the game the more you get connected to the characters.

There are a lot of puzzles in this game, Like a lot a lot. they're fun tho but require some thinking and brain cells of course. Others might not like the puzzle elements In this game but It's fun, youtube and wiki are there to help too.

The combat in this game is amazing. You have alot of variety of ways to attack enemies and the animations for each attack really look amazing. The combat is enjoyable and u won't have a hard time learning how combat works.

The graphics for this game are quite simple but really look beautiful, The animation for each place in the game feels smooth and It certainly doesn't hurt your eyes.

Overall, I am quite sad this game didn't get that big attention that it deserved but It's a really good game and everyone must try it.

10/10.

this game is fantastic but at the 13 hour mark, it feels like theres too much of it, and i gotta push to continue playing more of more-or-less the same.
inb4 food analogy, but imagine you order a pizza, but instead you get like 8 pizzas. all of its equally high quality, but im not eating 80+ slices bro, im already full by the 10th slice.

so if theres one thing to take away here, its that you should probably pace yourself when playing this, and avoid doing too much of the optional content, as fun and authored as most of it may be.
and it is absolutely worth playing, my thoughts were entirely glowing up until my last play session made me realise why i'd put off playing it for two weeks.


the biggest thing this game does well is how holistic its core gameplay is. a lot of games segregate or downright instance their gameplay elements; so for example in other games, you'll be in the overworld doing a puzzle, then you go into a platforming room, then you get locked into an arena where you fight enemies. this results in a sequence of 1 dimensional gameplay styles, but crosscode integrates all of it into one.
all of your combat tools are also your puzzle solving tools, and the platforming of the vertically layered stages is relevant to both. so you get this wonderful multi-dimensional space of gameplay possibility, where a given challenge can be any fluid combination of combat execution (usually aiming), movement, exploration, puzzle solving and platforming. and it explores all of these possibilities very well.

i bring this up because one of my major pain points with the JRPG genre is the complete lack of this. if you're like me and you enjoy the concept and aesthetics of JRPGs, but are bored by the gameplay of walking down interaction-less dungeon corridors with completely instanced and spatially irrelevant battle scenes, then crosscode will be what you want.
the fact that you can jump especially gives the entire game so much more interaction and the spaces more mechanical meaning. in a lot of RPGs, towns are just glorified menus, where you walk between houses to read text boxes, buy items, or maybe find a secret chest if you're lucky. but in crosscode, even the areas with no enemies have you engaging with the core gameplay through these little parkour puzzles. and thats completely ignoring the sidequests that DO have you fighting stuff in the towns, which more games need to do (especially if combat is their only gameplay)
i think many action rpgs could learn a lot from crosscode, because its the only ARPG i can think of that does this all this so well. the closest game is like kingdom hearts 1, but even in that game the combat was fairly isolated from all the adventure game elements.

to briefly level a complaint at the combat, i feel it could take more cues from shmups in such a projectile focused game. there are plenty of interesting bullet patterns, but the hitboxes are too large and your inertia too high to really dodge them. by that i mean raw touhou dodging, not dodge-roll i-frame dodging, the latter of which is the strategy most of the time. the game does well with the defensive mechanics present (though it really needs an indicator for unblockables), the perfect guard stops it from being too roll-spammy and theres other abilities besides, but i feel like theres untapped potential here with the natural complexity of raw dodging patterns if the game really allowed it. as is, you mainly find yourself right-clicking away from or through various bullet waves and melee bumrushes without too much thought on space or positioning. but it does work and is suitably fun and challenging, not to mention the extra layer of on-the-fly puzzle solving often involved in major encounters.

besides gameplay, its also got good music, detailed art and a good aesthetic (though i wish it leant more into the y2k/sci-fi over the cozy stardew valley kitsch). the story has an intriguing premise and works perfectly as a framing device for all of the mechanics that other games take for granted without bothering to contextualise (there are stats and MMO npcs because it literally takes place in an MMO), and it effortlessly marries the themes and the gameplay as a result. writing and characters are fine, its not anything elaborate or particularly colourful but its pleasant and earnest. lea is the highlight for me, mainly because she can't speak and communicates mostly non-verbally, so you kinda project more depth onto her than the other characters show. theres a lot of pathos to the idea of this character whos so warm and eager to connect with people, but is physically unable to speak, and i expect the story will capitalise on it. any pushing through this game from me will be to learn more about her.

but that kinda gets back to the start of the review. this is a good ass game but im not sure if its a '100 hours' good ass game. by the point im at, youre pretty full, and unlike a zelda game (which is also much shorter), the progression here doesn't change the gameplay and entire map in the way that something like getting the hookshot or bow does. you get new elements, but theyre basically just keys; stuff like ice blocks you need to melt to access a previously inaccessible area. you do unlock cool new combat abilities with the skill tree for each element, but theyre optional and can't have any challenges specifically designed around them, so it seems from beginning to end you're just throwing balls at bruddas in some configuration. this would be perfect for a shorter, more replayable game that explored the permutations at a much faster pace, but not for this.
its like, resident evil 4 is exceptional and you could comfortably get 40 hours between replays and bonus modes, but if the campaign itself was 40 hours it wouldn't work. and i use that as an example because that game ALREADY starts to drag past the halfway mark, despite how tight it is. you either need insane levels of depth and variety in core gameplay, or a fast paced episodic / constantly evolving narrative to maintain attention over that length. by the time you've cleared the first real dungeon and got the first of the act 1 mcguffins in this game, you're 4 hours out of midgar in ff7 and balls deep in the medallions in OoT.

so if theres something i hope the devs learn in their successor to this game, its to trim stuff down. not because any of the content is bad or filler like an open-world game, but because too much of good but somewhat interchangeable content harms the overall experience. did there really need to be 5 sliding block/bomb puzzles in a row before getting the boss key in the ice mines, even if all 5 were thoughtful and challenging? did autumns rise really need so many similar screens and 20 sidequests? all of these things are distinct enough from each other not to feel repetitive in the moment, but in the bigger picture, they're kind of redundant. its in the not-so-sweetspot of being unique and tightly packed enough that you're initially compelled to do all of it, but still so much that it gets tiring.

but ultimately this is an exceptional game in most areas, and an easy recommend if you like action-RPGs or zelda-likes at all, but know that you're mileage may vary and the well-spent hours might not take you to the credits.

Good story, combat is fun, but the pacing can feel off sometimes

Imagine a MMO for introverts mashed with character action fighting with hefty inspiration from Zelda and Chrono Trigger.

Now imagine the target audience for the puzzles aren't kids.

Now imagine that you come across a dungeon and your party members challenge you to a race through it.

Now imagine that you check the achievements and see that you need to beat the dungeon in an hour.

Now imagine that, three hours later, you are done with the dungeon because your balls won't GO WHERE YOU AIM THEM.

Wouldn't that be something?

When you think of JRPGS that belong in the hall of fame you'll immediately turn your attention to games like chrono trigger, or earthbound, dont get me wrong these are in the discussion for very good reasons. Genre defying games without a doubt. But id like to add CrossCode into that conversation. It is MY personal favourite JRPG simply for its amazingly written story and characters that somehow feel so organic. They feel like youve known them your whole life. That paired up with an addicting gameloop and you have a near perfect game for JRPG fans. If your on the fence about buying this game, just do it. It'll be worth every penny and will take u on the journey to figure out Lea's troubling past with a cast of unforgettable characters.

This game has soul.
Challenging combat and puzzles, engaging story and dialogue, multi-layered level design.
The level of detail in incredible in every aspect.
Minor cons are height perspective and leveling gaps in some areas.