CrossCode

 PC
User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 190 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 153 out of 190
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 190
  3. Negative: 24 out of 190

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  1. Mandra
    Sep 1, 2023
    10
    This is one of the greatest games of all times. Yeah, I said it.

    Story is great, it's packed with humour, action, emotions, each of those very well balanced to form a coherent and cosy atmosphere. And the OST...banger after banger.

    Cheers to the team. This made it into my top 5 favorite games ever, well done!

    Lea!
  2. Robbedobbel
    Aug 12, 2023
    10
    Best game I've played since Team Fortress 2. Got a free demo, and over 100 hours of content. Beautiful DLC. Hidden gem even in the indie game scene.
  3. pmasterfunk
    Jul 27, 2023
    5
    I wanted to like CrossCode. It's beautiful, the music is really good, and it controls well. But there's so much jank and frustration otherwise.

    There's tons of quests, but they're mostly boring and have terrible rewards. There are tons of trading materials, but the vast majority are kinda useless, apart from completing quests and filling out the item encyclopedia. Trading can be a    I wanted to like CrossCode. It's beautiful, the music is really good, and it controls well. But there's so much jank and frustration otherwise.

    There's tons of quests, but they're mostly boring and have terrible rewards. There are tons of trading materials, but the vast majority are kinda useless, apart from completing quests and filling out the item encyclopedia. Trading can be a massive pain, moving between a bunch of different locales in hopes of getting one upgrade. Early on, the game outright tells the player that leveling up isn't all that useful, that gear is what matters. Yet good gear is few and far between. Not particularly fun.

    Overall progression is also kinda bad. Once the character's level is high enough, enemies quickly start giving 1 exp point, even some pretty strong ones. Like, 3-4 hits to kill strong. One enemy a few levels above my character took off 75% of my character's HP in one hit.

    SEVENTY FIVE PERCENT OF MY HEALTH

    And this is where I start complaining about the action. Enemy damage output is sometimes ridiculously high, and all projectile attacks track with varying degrees of success. Exploding rocks shot out of a sandworm's mouth? They track. A moth's fireball? Those track, too. Jumping goop? Yup. Doesn't sound so bad, but many of these explode as they land, which usually requires two dashes to avoid. Again, not that bad, but remember, one hit can be 1/3 HP, and there's a 3 dash limit. So, if two enemies launch projectiles at inopportune times, that's basically a guaranteed hit. And I'm not even talking about those attacks that are basically Epyon's Energy Bomber from Endless Duel. Just obscene amounts of damage, even while blocking. Not very fun.

    And what about dishing out damage? Well, it feels anemic. Enemies are massive sponges, and damage output mostly relies on breaking the enemies' guard. Remember that mechanic? Guard break? So much fun.

    Bosses usually have multiple phases, and since 2 attacks are often enough to kill, without prior knowledge of the bosses' tactics in each of their forms it's pretty hard to avoid those 2 attacks on a first run. So yeah, I died a lot against bosses. I just never felt strong, like I would in Bayonetta or DMC or Ninja Gaiden. Am I being unfair thinking this isn't fun?

    What about the puzzles and level design? Early on, I found this part pretty fun (yes, fun!) but as the game progressed, area layouts got more and more tedious to navigate, which is something your in-game allies will make sure to point out. Lampshading so intense it even surpassed that last terrible Marvel movie. You know the one. No no, the other one. Yeah.

    There's no clear indication which platform is at what height, so I'd often walk along these narrow ledges, eyeing my next landing spot, only to realize it was one level higher, and I'd have to go aaaaaaaaaall of the way back to the beginning of this "course". Early on, these paths are obvious and short enough that my middling parkour skills didn't prevent me from enjoying the experience. As the paths get more complex and difficult, it becomes frustrating and works against the desire to explore. Unfun.

    Puzzles mostly involve shooting charged bullets at stuff in hopes of something happening. Some require such precise aiming and such strict timing that it just becomes a chore to do them. They're not challenging otherwise; it's not hard to figure out what to do, it just takes tons of tries to get the timing right and the aiming true. Some I couldn't do with a controller, and had to switch to keyboard and mouse because I just couldn't aim precisely enough or fast enough. In the eternal words of the Stooges, "NO FUN".

    And what about that story? Well, it moves i-n-c-r-e-d-i-b-l-y slowly. Every time I thought things were moving along, "don't forget about this raid", "let's meet up at the Rookie Hub", "help me plant some vegetables, Noc-" sorry, wrong game. When the story does actually move forward, it's in tiny, minuscule increments. It has an interesting premise, but doesn't work out anything particularly meaningful out of it. It asks "what does it mean to be human", and responds with "the power of friendship". So deep, bro.

    Fairly early on, I realized that I kept wondering when the game would start letting me have some fun. Any time I was in a groove, the game would grind to a halt by throwing an overly strict puzzle at me, or having me go back to the beginners' hub, or have some super long boring banter. I wanted to charge in and slash away, but I've got to guard break enemies to do any sort of damage. It's constantly preventing me from moving forward, slowing me down, preventing me from having some enjoyment. If the game just let me play, just let those puzzles be slightly less strict, cut down on the awful dialog, remove the guard break and let me fight however I wanted, I would probably love it.

    But that's a lot of ifs.    … Expand
  4. Entyrm
    Jun 29, 2023
    9
    I'm quite satisfied with the 16-bit SNES-style gameplay. I can say Crosscode is an underrated game, why? in terms of combat against enemies using elements, quests that are quite diverse, a story that in my opinion is very exciting and enough to make me excited when playing it, coupled with a soundtrack that makes me enjoy and SNES-style pixel graphics with very stunning colors. This is theI'm quite satisfied with the 16-bit SNES-style gameplay. I can say Crosscode is an underrated game, why? in terms of combat against enemies using elements, quests that are quite diverse, a story that in my opinion is very exciting and enough to make me excited when playing it, coupled with a soundtrack that makes me enjoy and SNES-style pixel graphics with very stunning colors. This is the first thing I felt when playing this game, but Crosscode is rarely discussed in forums or on social media. Everyone who loves pixel graphics must play Crosscode.… Expand
  5. santler
    Feb 18, 2023
    0
    Literally the worst game design I've ever seen. Waiting as a central game mechanic, guaranteed enemy hits, overly convoluted puzzles for the sake of convolution, absolutely obnoxious enemies, no graphic indication of different heights for platforming etc. There are basically no quality of life elements. Instead there are countless instances in which game design decisions have been madeLiterally the worst game design I've ever seen. Waiting as a central game mechanic, guaranteed enemy hits, overly convoluted puzzles for the sake of convolution, absolutely obnoxious enemies, no graphic indication of different heights for platforming etc. There are basically no quality of life elements. Instead there are countless instances in which game design decisions have been made that are just plain annoying. The frustrating part is that these decisions could have easily been different without any drawbacks whatsoever. There are times where it seems like somebody deliberately chose to make parts of this game as annoying and unpleasant as possible.… Expand
  6. Evillisa
    Nov 21, 2022
    10
    Genuinely one of the best games I've played, indie or not. Insane amount of polish and an amazing amount of playtime for your dollar, even if you aren't a completionist like me.
  7. yosoyjef
    Jul 28, 2022
    7
    I got 10 hours in, past 50% achievements... and gave up. The design is passable, there's one decent character, the combat is fun, very repetitive. I uninstalled because of the platforming and awful, congested level design. The one dungeon I went through was too long, and mostly annoying anyway. It's fun! But not worth investing your time in.
  8. dr0nzer
    Jun 25, 2022
    3
    This game has way to many puzzles chained together in the major progression content, it's literally a mega dungeon of puzzles, this was too much and over the top for me that it sucked all the fun out of the game.
    The story and the world is interesting, and it kept me in for longer than it would have, but ultimately I put it down after I reached the 2nd dungeon (approx 6-7hrs in), it's    This game has way to many puzzles chained together in the major progression content, it's literally a mega dungeon of puzzles, this was too much and over the top for me that it sucked all the fun out of the game.
    The story and the world is interesting, and it kept me in for longer than it would have, but ultimately I put it down after I reached the 2nd dungeon (approx 6-7hrs in), it's just too many puzzles and all I want to do is whack and shoot stuff in my downtime and not think for 2ish hours per dungeon (which is the average length of the dungeons!!)    … Expand
  9. lalochea
    Jun 17, 2022
    10
    When I first played Crosscode in the Chrome experiment project in early 2014, I was instantly brought in by the dynamic and fast paced combat, the interesting visuals and the intriguing story aspects.

    When I played the full release in 2019, I fell in love all over again. The story is far better than anything I could've hoped for, the gameplay was as crisp and satisfying as I remembered,    When I first played Crosscode in the Chrome experiment project in early 2014, I was instantly brought in by the dynamic and fast paced combat, the interesting visuals and the intriguing story aspects.

    When I played the full release in 2019, I fell in love all over again. The story is far better than anything I could've hoped for, the gameplay was as crisp and satisfying as I remembered, and the soundtrack and visuals are straight up perfect. And then there's the characters... I gotta admit, this is one of the few games where I could truly resonate with the characters, the personality are so well defined and the reaction feel so natural.

    Honestly, if you haven't played this game already, go for it. It's worth every penny and the devs have the right to be proud of this masterpiece of a game.    … Expand
  10. bancandrei
    May 1, 2022
    7
    I'll start off by saying that this game didn't really click with me, which is a bummer, since I think there is a lot in it to like. I pretty much appreciate everything they did, but I don't enjoy everything. Some people complain this is too much of a puzzle game, which drew me in, but for my current desires it is a bit too action-oriented.
  11. SurTails101
    Dec 21, 2021
    8
    I Don't understand the 0 ratings on this site. This RPG has to be one of the best 16-bit like experience out there. The Story, dungeons and game-play is amazing. Give it a try!

    *edit*

    Changing from 9 to 8.
    The game is great but the dungeons are far too convoluted and dragged out.
    They kind of break the rhythm of the game which is great aside from that.
  12. yxckson
    Jun 28, 2021
    10
    the single-most underrated game of all-time. 50-100+ hours of all the **** you love about rpgs with most of the rpg bull**** cut out, a fantastic story with fantastic gameplay, and superb level design for, get this:

    20 bucks.
  13. ylnylmn
    Jun 10, 2021
    9
    It was great game. I played for about 50 hours and never got bored. Level designs are very good. Various quests and creatures. Lots of places to explore and chests to collect. Many different equipment. Pretty good skill tree. Fun battle system. Spectacular boss battles Engaging story and sweet dialogues. Musics are great. The best part of the game was the puzzles were so much fun.
  14. solokuhn
    May 17, 2021
    10
    There is so much content and love put into this game that it baffles me. It's a great game that balances really well combat, exploration, puzzles and story.

    If you ever have the chance to play this game please do! A couple of recommendations though: Make sure to play it on PC with mouse and keyboard, the aiming is much easier and the puzzles become simpler. Don't focus only on the    There is so much content and love put into this game that it baffles me. It's a great game that balances really well combat, exploration, puzzles and story.

    If you ever have the chance to play this game please do! A couple of recommendations though:

    Make sure to play it on PC with mouse and keyboard, the aiming is much easier and the puzzles become simpler.

    Don't focus only on the main story, try to get the chests in the environments and do the side quests, all the optional content is of high standard and compliments the story really well.    … Expand
  15. spencerplewe
    Mar 12, 2020
    9
    Mixing pleasant retro vibes with tons of modern meta-humor; CrossCode's entertaining story, characters and complex controls make for an unforgettably thrilling time.
  16. Satanski666
    Jan 31, 2021
    4
    Loved it at first, as i hoped it will be adventure similar to Chrono Quest, but quickly realized that it is just tedious single player mmo, with gazillion pointless fetch quests. Too bad as i really liked the combat and old school art style.
  17. Jusalilpanda
    Oct 5, 2020
    10
    Tight platforming and combat, satisfying (if challenging) puzzles, and only a sprinkling of grinding (for the completionists; entirely optional). The story is intriguing, too. Obviously gorgeous with a nostalgic-though strong-score. I'm 19 hours in and hooked.
  18. Deadlyhazard
    Sep 2, 2020
    10
    Absolute kino. This game is severely underrated, deserves a 9.5/10. I'd only subtract points for the fact that all puzzles are timed and I feel they didn't do a great job of indicating the height of platforms.
  19. notor12
    Jul 9, 2020
    10
    Incredible game. Great action, great puzzles, great rpg elements, great and sometimes funny story, fascinating world. Flawlessly executed. This is a far better game than any of the 16 bit classic titles it nostalgically references and that is exactly what indie developers should be aiming for. The combination of multiple different classic genres here is superb. Imagine Secret of ManaIncredible game. Great action, great puzzles, great rpg elements, great and sometimes funny story, fascinating world. Flawlessly executed. This is a far better game than any of the 16 bit classic titles it nostalgically references and that is exactly what indie developers should be aiming for. The combination of multiple different classic genres here is superb. Imagine Secret of Mana except better in every respect.

    I think an 86 is underselling it. This is a must buy.    … Expand
  20. martincito
    Jul 6, 2020
    10
    Siempre estuve buscando una evolución de los juegos estilo zelda, y siento que este videojuego llena ese vacío, con más dificultad y profundidad en sus combates y puzzles. Tiene un apartado artístico muy bello y detallista, y el juego tiene mucho contenido, para el precio en el que está, me parece una ganga.
  21. Ayreos
    Jul 5, 2020
    7
    The game hits immediately for its high quality. The gameplay is very fun and the story cute. The character art isn't my cup of tea, but Emile singlehandedly makes up for that.
    There is however one very large issue: everything is stretched far above the excessive.
    Usually more content is better, however there is a point where more becomes less. Each area in this game lasts too long,    The game hits immediately for its high quality. The gameplay is very fun and the story cute. The character art isn't my cup of tea, but Emile singlehandedly makes up for that.
    There is however one very large issue: everything is stretched far above the excessive.

    Usually more content is better, however there is a point where more becomes less.
    Each area in this game lasts too long, requires way too much backtracking and effort and is not properly paced by plot events.
    The game would improve considerably if all areas were reduced in length by a factor of 3, perhaps by letting the player explore large chunks of them later. There are just so many bushes, so many fetch quests and so many platforming puzzles i'm willing to perform to advance the story by a beat. None of that stuff is fun enough to spend hours doing it. The dungeons are just as bad.    … Expand
  22. Nastynate81
    Jun 23, 2020
    9
    Great game plays with genre tropes solid 60-80 hours of chronotastic fun, had a blast seven dungeons and clever puzzles .
  23. TopHatTortoise
    Jun 12, 2020
    10
    Crosscode is the best possible version of indie kickstarter. The game is not quite like anything else out there; it is stuffed to the gills with novelty but those novel systems interconnect incredibly well and each system has been polished to a mirror sheen. There is a unity of vision shining through the game that I've never seen come from a large studio team (no single person at largeCrosscode is the best possible version of indie kickstarter. The game is not quite like anything else out there; it is stuffed to the gills with novelty but those novel systems interconnect incredibly well and each system has been polished to a mirror sheen. There is a unity of vision shining through the game that I've never seen come from a large studio team (no single person at large company can be involved in all parts of the game).

    My favourite game of the year, and one of my top games ever.    … Expand
  24. Diugo
    May 5, 2020
    8
    Easily one of my favourite games on steam at the moment. Beautiful 2d graphics. Combat is really nice and fluent. Contains a lot of references to other populair movies and games. Simply Amazing!
  25. DJKrimson
    Dec 22, 2019
    8
    Im about 15-20 hours in to the game and really like it so far. Feels like a "default" rpg/adventure snes game, it has good music, combat, puzzles, skilltree. Everything is very smooth and quality of life'y.
  26. Brainstrain
    Dec 12, 2019
    8
    Full of heart and tons of fun.

    Exploration is a joy. The areas are visually distinct and filled with treasures that give you plenty of reason to find every little secret. And they have a clever kind of platforming that's more about aim; it works well for the game's perspective. The dungeons are surprisingly fleshed-out. Puzzles you can sink your teeth into, and awesome boss battles.    Full of heart and tons of fun.

    Exploration is a joy. The areas are visually distinct and filled with treasures that give you plenty of reason to find every little secret. And they have a clever kind of platforming that's more about aim; it works well for the game's perspective.

    The dungeons are surprisingly fleshed-out. Puzzles you can sink your teeth into, and awesome boss battles. There is just so much content in this game.

    Combat is chaotic and a click-heavy like an ARPG, which gives me trouble. But there are two difficulty sliders that let me keep things reasonable.

    I ended up loving the story. It surprises you several times just when you think you've got it figured out.

    All in all, a fun and polished indie gem. If you've ever loved an RPG, I think you'll love Crosscode.    … Expand
  27. Dco326
    Dec 6, 2019
    9
    Its a great game, but i hate some stuff about it, especialy MMO things bcs in general i dont like MMo games, but storywase its original and unique, fight can get tedious, and i cant wait for dlc, tako da u glovalu nika dje vise necu igrati ali je stvarno dobra igra, kad se predju one govnave puzle i proseravanja sa istim mobovima i to sto moram arenu da jedem govna da bigh mogao onogIts a great game, but i hate some stuff about it, especialy MMO things bcs in general i dont like MMo games, but storywase its original and unique, fight can get tedious, and i cant wait for dlc, tako da u glovalu nika dje vise necu igrati ali je stvarno dobra igra, kad se predju one govnave puzle i proseravanja sa istim mobovima i to sto moram arenu da jedem govna da bigh mogao onog zadnjeg da ubijem slepca. Ali sve u svemu ok je igra da se predje, ali vise nikada necu igrati jbg.… Expand
  28. Gaganski
    Aug 20, 2019
    10
    One of the best games I have played. Amazing story, fast paced and fun combat, rewarding puzzles, great gear and stat point utilization... Overall amazing.

    The one detail that is sad is it has little replay value, however in less than 3 weeks a new mode is coming out , creating more incentive to replay.
  29. kelvinsanchez15
    Apr 23, 2019
    10
    Refrescante, CrossCode es un ARPG que da gusto jugar por lo sobresaliente que es en muchos aspectos. Su gameplay se siente fluido y ajustado para cada tipo de jugador, si lo tuyo es el combate cuerpo a cuerpo, de rango o tal vez algo mas defensivo puedes mejorar a tu personaje hacia esas ramas. Los puzzles no son fáciles, estos requieren que de verdad te detengas a pensar para poderRefrescante, CrossCode es un ARPG que da gusto jugar por lo sobresaliente que es en muchos aspectos. Su gameplay se siente fluido y ajustado para cada tipo de jugador, si lo tuyo es el combate cuerpo a cuerpo, de rango o tal vez algo mas defensivo puedes mejorar a tu personaje hacia esas ramas. Los puzzles no son fáciles, estos requieren que de verdad te detengas a pensar para poder resolverlos y darte cuenta de lo ingeniosos que pueden resultar ser. Sus personajes e historia son entrañables, en compañía con su banda sonora y hermoso pixelart hacen de la experiencia inolvidable. Los enemigos y las batallas contra los jefes representan un verdadero reto y brindan "satisfacción" al vencerlos por darte por superado.

    Tal vez pueda seguir señalando muchos aspectos más y extender esta reseña pero pienso que en resumen CrossCode es un juego que recomiendo mucho jugar de primera mano, totalmente recomendado. 10/10.    … Expand
  30. Stormsurfer
    Mar 26, 2019
    9
    The only thing I do not like about the game is the playtime. it might be a bit shorter, so only 9/10
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Awards & Rankings

15
#15 Best PC Game of 2018
52
#52 Most Discussed PC Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. Worth Playing
    Feb 20, 2019
    95
    CrossCode shows that the size of a developer and its overall budget doesn't determine the quality of the game. AAA developers can sink all the money in the world into a title, and it may still lack that special something. That isn't the case here. Radical Fish Games' CrossCode is a masterpiece action RPG by a small-scale studio, and it's damn-near perfect in nearly every way.
    Read full review
  2. GameGrin
    Nov 13, 2018
    90
    CrossCode is an outstanding title that is completely worth your time investment. It is beautiful, compelling and a ton of fun.
    Read full review
  3. GameStar
    Nov 11, 2018
    84
    CrossCode is a funky, charming and sometimes even too extensive action RPG with a pleasant nostalgic side.
    Read full review
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