CrossCode (2018)

Yeah, I'm calling it quits on this one. Just hit 30 hours in (on Chapter 8 out 10 I think...) and I'm just not having fun with it. I played a good 10 hours past the point of enjoying it and I'm still feeling all of the same things I did in my previous status. There are so many great decisions in this game, but the level and encounter design drag them into the realm of tedium for me. The game ends up in some sort of werid anti-gestalt territory: the individual parts are great, but the whole just isn't enjoyable to me.

That said, I think this game has a lot to offer fans of SNES RPGs who enjoy long form puzzle dungeons, each enemy requiring special care, and grinding materials more than I do. I'm struggling a bit with where to put the score since I think there is a lot about the game that is genuinely excellent, but I usually don't put a game I quit on bad terms at higher than 2/5. I guess I'll make an exception and give this one a 3/5, since I really do think there is some amazing stuff in there.

During my first 10 hours, I thought this game might be a 5/5 put on Favorites Shelf masterpiece. It has some great fundamental gameplay, with many of the best aspects of Legend of Zelda, Terranigma, and Seiken Densetsu 3.

Unfortunately, for my tastes at least, they tried too hard to avoid having easy puzzles and uninteresting enemies and ended up with some very tedious design. The majority of the enemies in this game have a substantial periods of invulnerability (whether through blocking attacks, being untargettable, or other means), making even basic fights drag on past their welcome. The puzzles can be relentless, requiring not only very precise shooting, but also precise timing and the stamina to deal with one room after another for far too long at a time. Figuring out how to get to treasure on the map is fun for a while, but ends up being a game of "how many screens to I have to follow this trail of platforms to find the spot where I can jump up" more often than I'd like. The frustrating part is that, on their own, the majority of these design elements are well done. It's just they tend to overstay their welcome. I find myself literally sighing in frustration when I enter the fourth room in a row with a new twist on the same high precision gimmick and begging the game to give me an enemy I can just have a straight fight with.

Also, there's just too much verticality for a 2D game with no jump button. Getting bamboozled by the height of a platform leads to redoing substantial platforming sections fairly often, and, when I'm already frustrated with the enemies and puzzles in the area, really just adds insult to injury.

I'm about 26 hours in and seemingly 40%ish of the way through. I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish, but I'd really like to see more of the characters and story, and maybe even get back to enjoying the gameplay. I think this game would be an all time favorite of the genre if every zone was just straight up cut in half. For now, though, I'm taking a couple of days off.