A nostalgia fueled game with quite nice art style and not bad gameplay.

The game is a little bit of everything. There’s exploration, isometric platforming, a little bit of brawling, some minor puzzles and a couple of arcade sections. All set in the 80s revolving around an over the top world domination plot taking place in a small town somewhere in the USA. It feels like a Goonies kind of thing.

Visually it’s quite nice. It has great pixel art style, well detailed and well animated. Looks a lot like “Zombies ate my Neighbors” - at least it feels similar. There’s a cool VHS filter applied on loading and cut-scenes. ANd the cutscenes do look like taken straight out of the 80s cartoon. However they’re very short - most of them like no longer than five seconds. They’re so short in fact that it feels like they’ve just run out budget.

The soundtrack is right up my alley. 80s synth electro or whatever it’s called - enjoyed it a lot. A shame there was no voice over as there’s a lot of text that needs to be read. And even more optional one.

Gameplay wise it’s ok. It’s not great but not bad either. You play as five kids or teenagers living in a little town. They make a discovery that allows them to see (and fight) the dead. Incidentally an evil general plans to use this thing to rule the world and so he goes after the kids, and effectively the town. The kids will obviously fight back in this a little bit silly plot.

On top it’s a standard 80s adventure plot but for being this silly thing it does get emotionally heavy here and there touching on topics of loss. Felt a bit weird when it didn’t turn out to be as cheerful as I expected. It was a good ride though.

As to the mechanics. You run around town and different locations which are generally pretty well designed. The path is for the most part linear - except the beginning when you need to gather your gang and there’s no sense of where you should go at first. Felt a bit lost for a moment but that passes and the rest is pretty straight forward.

For the most part all five characters are merged into one which you control. All of them have different abilities, the main one jumps and has a bat, another one has ray gun and flying boots, another can push boxes - you know the drill. But since apart from them talking you only control one with ability to switch between - for the most part I’ve played as the main character which kind of makes sense but felt like a lost potential.

The platforming is a mixed bag - some is fine - other gets really annoying due to the perspective and inability to land some of the jumps as you’d think they’re going to go. The brawling is fine I guess - but wasn’t anything I was looking for. The puzzles - most of them were pretty simple, some a little more tricky and fun - and there was this one puzzle that made no sense and even after looking up the solution I didn’t understand it. Really infuriating part of the game.

The arcade parts could have been skipped entirely as they were more annoying than anything.

Overall I rather liked the game. Not all of it but definitely most of it and enjoyed my time with the gang.

Crossing Souls Review

Game Started: 3/27/19

Game Finished: 4/12/19

Total Playtime: About 7 hours

Recommendation: Buy on Sale

Pros:

• Great Art Style - the nostalgia fueled arcade graphics are pretty good and satisfy the itch for a pixel/old-school visual style game.

• Gameplay - the platforming, combat, and puzzles all satisfy the standard of gameplay I would expect from a game of this genre, although no particular aspect shines.

• Appropriate Difficulty - Consistent difficulty throughout the game that ebbs and flows in a logical way. The difficulty is casual enough to beat new bosses on your first try if you pay attention, but also difficult enough to repeatedly get stomped by certain bosses if you're not actively trying.

• Collectibles/Easter Eggs/Achievements - The game contains a solid amount of collectibles and the like if you're into that kind of thing and it wouldn't take many more hours of gameplay to collect them all.

• The Characters - Despite all of the characters being (I assume) deliberate 80s tropes (rebellious leader, nerdy small kid, little brother, tomboy, overweight black kid) they're all likeable to a certain extent. Their relationships are all satisfying and touching, although their isn't much depth added to any one character throughout the game.

Cons:

• The Story - The game started off pretty strong and had some really touching moments in the early game regarding collecting your team and the event at the end of the prologue. However, the game's story makes progressively less sense as the game goes on as more and more happens with less and less explanation. I generally don't mind subverting expectations, or taking the story in a risky/non-traditional direction, but the game didn't do a good job of presenting these developments in story and lore in an accessible and logical way.

• Inconsistent Gameplay - I praised the game for its consistent difficulty and its appropriately paced difficulty curve, but the problem I had with the gameplay itself was that it seemed that game struggled to find its identity with the kind of gameplay it wanted to provide the player. The game is split into 9 chapters, but it doesn't feel as if the game starts to use all of the platforming, puzzles, and combat in a coherent way until the last quarter of the game. It's also unfortunate that there was really no reason to use any other character for combat besides the main character. Each character had unique uses for the platforming, but weren't unique enough to warrant switching between during combat. It would have been great if combat required more combos between characters.

• Poor Controls/Hitboxes/Frames/Etc - It felt that sometimes the stronger enemies in the game were not the bosses, but learning the ins and outs of the very awkward controls. I can't place my finger on it, but something about many of the movement skills (dodge rolls, jumps, jetpack kid, etc) felt very unresponsive and kind of stiff. There were a fair number of times where I felt my progression was hindered not by my skill but by the lack of intuitive controls. It felt very awkward trying to use any of the consumables in combat, trying to dodge enemy attacks, and trying to judge distance of just about anything.

Lasting Impressions

Overall, the game was fairly enjoyable. It started very promisingly and I had a lot of fun in the first couple hours and had a lot of fun with the more difficult platforming towards the end of the game. I wish the story had remained slightly more interesting throughout and had added more depth to both the lore and to all of the characters - I felt as if there was never really a good explanation of the supernatural in the game, even as the game neared its end.

I got the game on sale for under $4 and I would say that I felt that I got my money's worth. If anyone were to want to try this game I would buy the game on sale and set aside the time to finish it at a pretty quick pace. I had to play this game over the course of a couple weeks due to my busy workload at university, but I think it would have been less of a slog towards the end if I had been able to use the momentum from the first few hours to finish the game in 2-3 sessions max.

This title is an indie action-adventure game developed by Fourattic and published by Devolver Digital, one of my favorite publishers. It tells the story of a group of kids in 1980s California who stumble upon a mysterious device that allows them to interact with the world of the dead. The game leans heavily on nostalgic influences like The Goonies and Stranger Things, blending retro homages with a coming-of-age adventure, and was the selling point for me, but I stayed because of the amazing story, gameplay and especially, the characters.

Visually, it shines with colorful 16-bit pixel art and VHS-style animated cutscenes that capture the spirit of the era. Its synth-driven soundtrack is equally strong, delivering an authentic retro feel that keeps the atmosphere engaging. The presentation is undoubtedly its greatest strength, if you are a fan of pixel-art than this game is one of the best you can find, the animations and art is incredible.

Gameplay mixes beat ’em up combat, light puzzles, platforming, and boss fights, each of the five playable characters has unique abilities, and switching between them is essential for progress. The story is heartfelt and full of ‘80s charm, and while the writing and character development often lack depth, it makes up for how charismatic the cast is. While the premise is intriguing, the dialogue leans on stereotypes, and emotional beats don’t always land, still, the adventure carries enough energy and sincerity to keep you invested.

Overall, Crossing Souls is a vibrant tribute to 1980s pop culture, it captures the look, sound, and atmosphere of its inspirations but struggles with gameplay polish and narrative weight. For people seeking a nostalgic journey wrapped in style, it’s a worthwhile experience, though one that asks for patience with its rougher edges. I would only recommend this if you are very into retro games, or have nostalgia for the 80's, otherwise this is a skippable title with a good cast.