Cris Tales Review

Cris Tales identifies itself as a JRPG. It draws on the best structural, narrative and gameplay elements of heavy hitters such as Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger and Persona. Cris Tales is less like a game than it should be, thanks to the number-popping attacks and turn-based systems.

Crisbell is a bright-eyed orphan. She meets Matias, a yellow-frog talking in a top-hat. This quickly makes her a Time Mage. You will be teaming up with other brightly colored warriors of time to fight against the powerful Empress of Time. Although the basic concept is similar to RPGs, Cris Tales shines in the details that make Cris Tales so enjoyable to explore.

The game's beautiful visual style is a key component of the storybook experience. The characters move in 3D environments with other 2D geographic elements. For example, an Art Nouveau Paper Mario version. Beautiful mossy trees loom over a river that runs literally red. Trash bobs about in an underwater city. Massive statues rise from the ocean with visual splendor.

Each character is beautifully designed with character models and outfits that are full of charm and charisma, including Matias' simple-enough top-hat and Empress of Times’ angular, cold costume. They are well-written with humor and personality, as well as a voice that is energetic and confident. Cris Tales' atmosphere is warm, inviting, and comforting, even as you travel through the past, present and future. Every new area feels alive and well-planned, every enemy is well-detailed, and each twist is just right to make you feel like you have earned it without ever venturing into the more complicated potential of time travel stories.

Crisbell and you will have a lot of fun with time travel. The left side of your screen will show the area in the past. If you do not change the situation, it will also have a filter that shows the area in the present. You can use battle to turn enemies into other times. For example, you could make an enemy's machine in the past a rusted-out wreck of the future. These elements make battles a puzzle, since you have to consider the risks and possibilities of sending enemies across time.

Cris Tales combat is quite familiar, despite the time travel gimmick. Your teammates and you have both physical and elemental attack, stat buffs and debuffs. Some abilities also tie in nicely with the time travel powers. One party member can throw a poisonous plant at an enemy, poisoning them, or plant poisonous seeds that will sprout and poison the enemies on the other side of your screen after a few turns. If you send this side to the future, it will sprout immediately and poison everyone. Your success depends on your ability to exploit the strengths of your team.

Cris Tales' combat takes inspiration from Super Mario RPG. It has a mechanism for mitigating damage to your characters, and well-timed button presses that can partially or completely deflect incoming attacks. Additionally, additional damage can be caused by pressing the action button at the moment that your attack connects. Combat might be turn-based, but it's still an active endeavor in Cris Tales.

Cris Tales has some flaws that make it less enjoyable. The current version of Cris Tales has some performance issues. Load times are too long and can cause you to be pulled out of the game. The load times for entering new areas or saving a file would be fine. However, the loading screen appears every time you fight an enemy. This is because you will be walking through dungeons only to have the screen flash to white every few seconds. It becomes a tedious exercise in patience and praying for fewer encounters.

Cris Tales isn't afraid to discuss enemy encounters. You'll find yourself running out of hit points, magic, items, and other useful resources very quickly in the first dungeons. It becomes difficult to grind enemies for EXP. You'll need to find a Save Point near your camp to save your progress after each three to four enemies, until you are strong enough to move forward.

Cris Tales, true to its JRPG roots is a game that requires grinding. It's good that all battle-related stuff (except the loading screens) looks so great. After the gentle tutorial, the game is quite difficult to learn. While there's an exciting feeling in discovering cracks in your enemies' defenses, it might have been helpful for players to get a bit more practice. The frequent shortage of resources severely limits combat and any incentive to try different strategies to defeat enemies. Rather than grind for money or EXP, you can find a single strategy that works and then brute-strengthen your way through each area.

Cris Tales is not afraid to voice its disapproval, even with all the frustrations. Although boss fights can seem a bit confusing and opaque on the first, second, or third attempt, it was always a eureka moment to figure out how time-travel worked. Finally beating them was always an exhilarating feeling. Cris Tales is a relaxing and beautiful game. It has a charming world and inviting atmosphere. Cris Tales will make you feel like a child again, a form of time travel that many games can only dream about.