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.