Cris Tales

Cris Tales may not be as feature heavy as the JRPG classics it takes inspiration from, but it oozes whimsical charm with a vibrant anime aesthetic and a likeable cast. The gameplay, while serviceable, may get stale towards the end, but Cris Tales is still a title I'd recommend taking a chance on.

As much as I love the aesthetics of Cris Tales, there are issues with the gameplay that affect the experience. Although fans of retro JRPGs will be able to overlook the constant random battles, lack of auto-save, and the monotonous grind, these aspects will deter gamers who are used to contemporary design elements. The clever use of the time mechanic allows you to be more tactical in your approach to fights; however, this is overshadowed by the sheer volume of encounters and repetitive enemy types. At its core, Cris Tales is a solid JRPG with an interesting twist; however, it sticks to the well-trodden paths of those that came before, creating a disparity between the gameplay and visuals.

The journey itself Crisbell and co take doesn’t hit the highs the striking aesthetic conjures, but Cris Tales delivers on a satisfying-if-uneven twist to turn-based RPG affairs.

Cris Tales is an enjoyable, shorter than average JRPG with some interesting time travel mechanics. The visuals are fantastically stylised and the characters are likeable but the time travel mechanics don't quite go far enough to make it stand out.

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.

Cris Tales is a stunningly gorgeous indie, with art that’ll make your jaw drop. However many of its time mechanics are relatively skin deep, and it lacks the kind of depth its art inspires. It’s also not the epic it claims to be. It’s a love letter to classic RPGs, if within that same analogy those classics are the full novel.

An attractive JPRG with a hugely innovative central time manipulation mechanic, it seems as though the developers behind the game fell head over heels in love with that element of Cris Tales design at the expense of crafting a world with memorable characters, motivations, places and events. That said, Cris Tales non-linear story and neat use of time manipulation will still hold a fair amount of allure for genre newbies and stalwarts alike.

This is a great homage to 90’s RPGs that does many great things, but is missing that little something to become an instant classic.

The basic idea with the time crystals is great and provides the combat system a special tactical aspect. The graphics look nice and Crisbell is a pleasant heroine. But while there is nothing that really makes Cris Tales stand out of the JRPG genre, there are also some annoying weaknesses concerning balancing and comfort that can't be justified by trying to be classic.

Cris Tales uses tried-and-tested activity and story tropes, but can’t manage to imbue them with anything interesting – though not for a lack of trying. [Issue#5, p.88]

All in all, Cris Tales is unfortunately an unnecessarily conflicting game. It’s incredibly refined features such as the visuals and character depth heavily clash with its subpar gameplay. However, if you’re a hard core retro JRPG fan then you may enjoy the game.

Playing Cris Tales is like reading an especially lyrical Paulo Coelho novel, except every ten pages or so, someone slaps it out of your hands. Then you realise some pages are out of order, and you need to flick through the seemingly random pattern before you continue. Also, some pages are so smudged and coffee stained you can’t read them, and a few pages haven’t been translated at all. When Cris Tales works, it’s a wonderful experience, and there’s a great game in here somewhere, but it sabotages itself at every turn. I’ll be keeping a close eye on Dreams Uncorporated - but Cris Tales is a near miss that looks to the future, while clinging too hard to the past.

Cris Tales isn’t going to blow anyone away, and probably won’t gain a huge following, but I still enjoyed most of my time with the game. There are enough positive points to balance out some of the glaring and more egregious issues present in the game. I particularly loved the art style, voice acting, and implementation of the time travel mechanics across combat, quests, and puzzles. Unfortunately, the constant presence of loading screens and the scripting issues make Cris Tales a flawed experience.

Despite valiant attempts to be additive to the genre, Cris Tales never quite escapes from under the weight of its own influences. If you don’t have a particular passion for the era, or a willingness to be swept up in a decidedly old-school adventure, Cris Tales’ charms will likely be lost on you. For the target demographic though, this love letter will likely be received with all the affection the developers put into it.