CrossCode
Main game
3.86 average rating based on 277 ratings
- Developers
- Radical Fish Games
- Publishers
- DANGEN Entertainment, Deck13 Interactive, Mayflower Entertainment, WhisperGames
- Series
- CrossCode
- Event
- Xbox E3 2019 Briefing
- Platforms
- Linux, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One
- Genres
- Adventure, Indie, Puzzle, Role-playing (RPG), Shooter
- Themes
- Action, Science fiction
- Steam
- View on Steam
Release Dates
User Stats
How Long Is CrossCode?
Related Content
MMOre puzzles
I know the concept of 'trapped on an MMO' is not new. Probably some of you have played Dot Hack or watched Sword Art Online, but I still like what CrossCode made with the concept in a very meta way.
It has really deep and fun combat systems, beautiful pixel art and lovely tunes, but the star here are the puzles. Those are everywhere and in some ocassions really made me think in games like Portal or The Witness.
Anyway, you can read my full review in spanish here. This is a little gem that deserves being played... if you're not impatient gamers. It's very long, some puzles are really complex and the plot take its time unraveling.
10/10 Would NOT Recommend
Unless you’re the sort who enjoys the most diabolical puzzles I’ve ever seen in this medium. It’s never unfair, but you’ll be banging your head against the wall and begging for the next combat encounter.
Until you get to the next combat encounter and realize you’re not nearly as well versed in CrossCode’s expansive and deep move tree as you think.
Don’t expect an easy time aside from cutting down all the flowers and bushes, which never managed to get old even after 50 hours.
Great individual components, but the game is mercilessly less than the sum of its parts.
CrossCode is an intriguing action RPG game with many unique and well-executed elements.
You're introduced very quickly to the essence of its gameplay, which is essentially:
- A well thought-out mix of ranged and melee combat making smart use of dual joysticks and shoulder buttons.
- Conventional JRPG equipment system + skill tree to bring in buffs and new abilities.
- A very clever use of elevation to bring platforming into a 2D isometric environment, which turns its medium-sized level maps into major exploration challenges if you want to find all the cool stuff.
- Old school Zelda-style dungeon puzzles. Sweet.
It does all of those things extremely well, but the problem is how they all come together:
- The combat is very challenging. That's fine, but it never feels as refined as a Metroidvania such that you can advance on your own developing skills alone, meanwhile your access to buffs and special abilities just doesn't make that much of a difference.
- While I LOVE the platforming they brought in (you need to see it to understand, but the elevations of each level map is layered brilliantly to tease you with out-of-reach treasures that you just need to find the right approach for), it's used …
CrossCode is an intriguing action RPG game with many unique and well-executed elements.
You're introduced very quickly to the essence of its gameplay, which is essentially:
- A well thought-out mix of ranged and melee combat making smart use of dual joysticks and shoulder buttons.
- Conventional JRPG equipment system + skill tree to bring in buffs and new abilities.
- A very clever use of elevation to bring platforming into a 2D isometric environment, which turns its medium-sized level maps into major exploration challenges if you want to find all the cool stuff.
- Old school Zelda-style dungeon puzzles. Sweet.
It does all of those things extremely well, but the problem is how they all come together:
- The combat is very challenging. That's fine, but it never feels as refined as a Metroidvania such that you can advance on your own developing skills alone, meanwhile your access to buffs and special abilities just doesn't make that much of a difference.
- While I LOVE the platforming they brought in (you need to see it to understand, but the elevations of each level map is layered brilliantly to tease you with out-of-reach treasures that you just need to find the right approach for), it's used in a way that is totally secondary to the game (i.e. you can get almost everywhere you need to without it), and the rewards for doing it are just so damn minor. You can spend 30 minutes trying to get this one tricky chest, only to get some obscure trading ingredients out of it that you can't easily figure out how to use without investing hours into seeking out large quantities of complementary ingredients and the traders who want them.
- The equipment that you spend hours finding or trading other found items up into just isn't that much better than what you can buy in stores. They too often affect different stat modifiers, so sure you get better attack, but less focus (dexterity) or tertiary effects (of which there are way too many of to keep track). So the rewards for all the hours spent grinding exploration & trading is totally uninspiring.
- Finally, while the puzzles are great, it's just too much. Every dungeon is just room after room of fun but fairly repetitive presentations of the same type of challenge. What starts out interesting quickly feels like homework.
As a result of all this, the game just chugs along so slowly, with little sense of progress, achievement, or reward, for significant time investments, so much so that I've put 25 hours in already, and (although I know from the story and time expectations that I'm about 60% through), my experience hasn't advanced much beyond what it was like in the first overworld level.
All of this could be mitigated by a strong story tying it all together, but that's actually the one component of the game that doesn't stand strong on its own at all. I'm as far as I am, and I really have no clue what the game is really about.
So I'm torn. Will I finish it? Probably, but slowly over time, whenever I feel like challenging my brain for an hour knowing that there's no promise of short-term reward. Will I recommend it to others? Not without all the caveats I've pointed out there.
It's unfortunate, because they honestly could have made something great here if they either tied the pieces together better, or made separate games where the strengths could shine without their poor contextualization dragging them down.
I'm having absolutely no fun
I was really excited to start this game. The art style was beautiful and the game looked fun and fast. I really enjoyed the game during the tutorial segments and the pieces of story in the beginning of the game had me curious as to where it would go. Everything is such a slog and after the beginning pathway after the starting town took too long. Combat does not feel as tight as other top down action games like Enter the Gungeon and Hades. By comparison, it feel very clunky. In fairness, those games have a lot less MMORPG influence and have different goals, but I can't ignore how much worse the moment to moment action feels. Its possible I'm just missing something, but couldn't stick with it and every encounter took years off my life. The adventure does a great job building interest but is unable to deliver on most of these concepts.
Seems like a great game, outdated graphics
This review is for the PC (Microsoft Windows) version
This game wouldnt run smoothly on my hefty PC build. The optimizations that this game didn't go through is a huge shame since the art is gorgeous, the music is simply beautiful and catchy. The downfall is that the graphics and gameplay were very very choppy. Constant stuttering and frame drops that were only happening on this game. Cannot get through the tutorial without bypassing the Steam 2 hour return window. Also... where is integer scaling??? You are making a PIXEL GAME??
Krauzer's review of CrossCode
This title is a retro-inspired action RPG that combines fast-paced combat with clever puzzle design. Set within the framework of a fictional MMORPG, it offers a unique narrative hook while delivering a single-player experience. The game shines with its fluid combat system, which blends melee and ranged attacks and incorporates elemental powers to keep encounters dynamic and engaging. Its puzzles, often physics-based and requiring precise aim or timing, are equally rewarding, though sometimes they can feel overly demanding.
Visually, CrossCode is a treat for fans of 16-bit aesthetics, featuring detailed pixel art and smooth animations that evoke the best of SNES-era RPGs, even resembling classic JRPG art-styles. The soundtrack enhances the atmosphere with energetic and emotional tracks, complementing both intense battles and quieter moments of exploration, and again, similar to JRPGs, the soundtrack is one of it's standouts.
The world itself is expansive, filled with dungeons, quests, and secrets that encourage thorough exploration, giving players dozens of hours of content to uncover. This is one of the best games when it comes to it's side-quests, very few games makes me want to play all of them. And I dare to say this has the same level of quality of the …
This title is a retro-inspired action RPG that combines fast-paced combat with clever puzzle design. Set within the framework of a fictional MMORPG, it offers a unique narrative hook while delivering a single-player experience. The game shines with its fluid combat system, which blends melee and ranged attacks and incorporates elemental powers to keep encounters dynamic and engaging. Its puzzles, often physics-based and requiring precise aim or timing, are equally rewarding, though sometimes they can feel overly demanding.
Visually, CrossCode is a treat for fans of 16-bit aesthetics, featuring detailed pixel art and smooth animations that evoke the best of SNES-era RPGs, even resembling classic JRPG art-styles. The soundtrack enhances the atmosphere with energetic and emotional tracks, complementing both intense battles and quieter moments of exploration, and again, similar to JRPGs, the soundtrack is one of it's standouts.
The world itself is expansive, filled with dungeons, quests, and secrets that encourage thorough exploration, giving players dozens of hours of content to uncover. This is one of the best games when it comes to it's side-quests, very few games makes me want to play all of them. And I dare to say this has the same level of quality of the Final Fantasy XII hunting side-quests, which it really makes you want to find all the prays and complete all the side-quests related to them.
On the downside, the game’s pacing can occasionally falter, some dungeons feel overly long, and certain puzzles may test patience with their precision requirements. The story, while intriguing, takes its time to build momentum, which might not suit players looking for a more immediate narrative payoff. Despite these issues, CrossCode remains a standout indie RPG, praised for its polish, depth, and the way it captures the spirit of classic games while adding modern twists.
This is one of the best indies I've ever experienced, it has an insane plot twist at the end, which I won't spoil, and also cliffhanger for a DLC can be later enjoyed. I can't say much about it's DLC though, since I was burnt out after I saw the credits rolling, because even though this is an amazing title, it is a very very long one. So be prepared to get overwhelmed sometimes if you played this like me, from start to finish, this shows it has some serious pacing issues. Despite this, I'm excited to play the other games this developer is creating, and if you are a fan of action RPGs to any extent, this is definitely a must-play in my opinion.
I'm loving it, but it's taking longer than expected.
Review next week.
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 …
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.
Incredible underrated piece of art. 10/10. Beatiful graphics, great character developement, the plot is really interesting. Must Play
