Cris Tales

Cris Tales is an absolutely incredible homage to classic JRPGs, whilst taking care to modernise their core mechanics for modern audiences. The gorgeous visual style, superb voice acting, clever mechanics and emotive story-telling all combine together here to make an incredible title. Then, with the addition of comprehensive and innovative uses of time in all parts of the game, it becomes a near perfect experience. Cris Tales has arguably surpassed its JRPG inspirations and absolutely deserves your time (pun entirely intended).

Cris Tales is a delightful adventure, which will not fail to satisfy players looking for a fairytale and well-structured experience. The JRPG born in Colombia is a small jewel capable of bringing charismatic characters and well-conceived twists to the stage, without however renouncing a stimulating gameplay and a leading artistic sector. With Cris Tales, Dreams Uncorporated and SYCK touch excellence, missing it only by a whisker, for an epic journey through time that we feel we can recommend without reservation. The authors of the epic of Crisbell and companions thus add a new Indie to the realm of small independent pearls, for an IP and a concept that we hope will find further iteration at the Colombian team studios.

Cris Tales is a hymn of love to jrpg but it is also a fresh breath of air full of numerous interesting ideas.

Cris Tales has a very distinctive art veneer, but it also has obvious technical shortcomings that make the process of playing very bad, ultimately causing more regrets than surprise.

Cris Tales is the first game from the Colombians studio Dreams Uncorporated, and it's rather impressive, with a deliciously retro feeling, a charming design mixing pastels, 2D and 3D, very pleasant for the eyes despite some optimization concerns, even on PS5, where DualSense is not very well supported. What makes Cris Tales original is not its classic scenario, but the powers of its protagonist, who can see both the past and the future at the same time. In game, it means a screen cut in three, and we can have fun moving the camera to observe the destiny and life of an NPC by running from left to right. In combat, it's quite exhilarating, since it will be necessary to mix temporal and elemental mechanics to overcome his enemies. Clearly, Cris Tales is a very humble and charming little game, and if this is your kind of game, you should look into its case.

Cris Tales brings all the classic JRPG greatness and modernizes it in its own fashion. While the repetitive battles and numerous bad twists make the game lose the momentum, if you know how to cherish all that is great about it, you will have a great time.

Cris Tales is a JRPG that is spearheading the Colombian independent scene. Its impeccable graphics, innovative mechanics and unique turn-based combat makes it an unmissable video game.

Cris Tales isn’t without some endemic role-playing game frustrations – grinding, uneven difficulty, overly simple puzzles – and it’s not a landmark revitalisation. But it exudes so much authentic passion and character that it’s easy to forgive a few relics from the past.

Despite some technical limitations, Cris Tales is a JRPG capable of taking the best from tradition, innovating the genre with some interesting insights.

All in all, Cris Tales is the kind of RPG I traditionally love to play. It delivers a wonderfully satisfying story about a group of troubled individuals striving to save the world for their own reasons, and along the way finding a place to belong with each other. Hilarious characters like Willhelm keep things from getting too stressful, and Crisbell's powerful Time Mage abilities lead to some intriguing narrative choices, fun puzzles, and engaging combat. The game's final moments are not conclusive enough to tie everything up in a satisfying way, but the journey to get there is one well worth taking.

Cris Tales embraces the old model of JRPGs, making it feel like a well-worn experience for seasoned fans of the genre. All of the charm, whimsy, and innocence of Final Fantasy and The Legend Of Zelda ooze throughout the game’s setting and characters, but Crisbell’s time powers provide a fun new spin on the classic turn-based combat. Cris Tales isn’t that difficult either, making it a good choice for beginners looking to get into turn-based RPGs.

Cris Tales might not be perfect, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a great game. It’s stellar art style, unique setting, compelling characters, and engaging combat make it a must play for all fans of turn-based RPGs.

Despite its shortcomings and frustrations, Cris Tales is an enjoyable adventure for RPG fans to take.

With its innovative concept and charming artistic direction, the first title from independent studio Dreams Uncorporated has enough to convince fans of traditional turn-based RPGs looking for a unique experience with a solid foundation. In addition, the accessibility of the title represents an excellent introduction for those who would like to embark on their first J-RPG. Ultimately, Cris Tales sins mainly by some technical details to be reworked.

Cris Tales is a gorgeous, heartfelt, and often creative adventure that provides an interesting peek at a culture not well-represented in the world of gaming. Sadly, it falls a bit short of its grand potential due to some mechanical and balance issues and a final act that badly overstays its welcome. Cris Tales feels like a game that would have benefitted from some more time in development, but if you’re willing to forgive a few faults, your own time with the game won’t be wasted.

Cris Tales is based on an astonishing idea that could have innovated an entire genre. However, after few hours emerge some issues tied to underdeveloped combat mechanics and a scarcely balanced gameplay.

It's a shame that Cris Tales' design held promise for something grander and although it tries to do something innovative with the combat and the implications of our decisions, the end result leaves the impression of a somewhat lite version of its best influences. Maybe we'll get there on their next game.

Taking 25 hours or so to complete, Cris Tales isn’t exactly short, but it often points to a larger world and more consequential choices than it really has to offer. The world feels small and only seems to get smaller as you get near the end and revisit past areas. It’s an absolutely beautiful game with interesting mechanics and some fun characters, but it doesn’t fully flesh out the expectations it initially sets.

Cris Tales has a top-notch art style and an eclectic cast of characters that all players will come to love. Pairing that with time manipulation mechanics and a beloved genre, Cris Tales could have been one of the better games to come out of 2021. Unfortunately, a lack of diverse enemy types, standard combat, and some questionable difficulty progression outweigh the highest highs, making Cris Tales feel too out of place alongside its cohorts.

Cris Tales is an enjoyable experience if you go into it with the right expectations. It's an easygoing ride through a colorful world that, while somewhat uneven & unpolished, is a comfy & familiar adventure. The interesting time mechanics that help the game stand out unfortunately never realize their full potential, and the storyline falls a bit rote, but my experience with Crisbell and company was still a pleasant one.

Cris Tales tells a charming JRPG tale in a gorgeous and weird world, but it's hobbled by incredibly monotonous combat. Its battles undoubtedly overstay their welcome, but this unique odyssey still manages to shine through them a bit thanks to its style, characters, and the inspired (non-combat) time travel mechanics that make it so memorable.

A loving tribute to the past and present of Japanese role-players, with some impressively clever time travel powers and gorgeous artwork – although it’s a shame about the random battles.

With its graphics and its turn-based gameplay, Cris Tales is very attractive, especially since it is enhanced by an appreciable soundtrack with various tracks. The dubbing in VO is also of good quality, even if it sometimes tends to break the rhythm a bit. It's a pity that the animations are a bit stiff and that the software suffers from some lags during the fights. The latter, although pleasant, are also a bit too easy and frequent, giving a feeling of exaggerated repetitiveness. On the other hand, the title has a good lifespan. The presence of unmarked enemies and the recurrent loading can also be criticized. Nevertheless, even if we would have appreciated a more mature story, it is pleasant to follow and the gameplay playing with time works very well.

While brimming with gorgeous visuals and charm, for a game about time, “Cris Tales” doesn’t seem to value yours.

As it stands, it’s a quintessential example of style over substance. If Cris Tales fails to grab you by the end of its opening few hours, it won’t do anything to change your mind in the time that follows.

If you strip that away from Cris Tales, what you have left is a charming and serviceable RPG that is also packed with quite a few flaws and questionable design choices. Cris Tales is definitely worth a playthrough if you’re looking for something light-hearted and a little bit old-school. Just keep your expectations low when it comes to time-based gameplay.

Cris Tales never manages to build its curious premise into an entertaining tool.