Cris Tales is an absolutely gorgeous game that's heavily inspired by classic RPGs such as Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger, while also managing to put its own unique spin on things. The game’s protagonist, Crisbell, is a young orphan who acquires a magical time crystal which shows her a vision of the future where her small town gets destroyed. This leads to her setting off on an adventure to try to change the future and save the world.
The crystals of time allow you to see into the past as well as the future. Being able to see the destruction in the future helps to bring home what you’re fighting against, while looking into the past can show you how things came to be. It’s a pretty neat mechanic which also means that whenever you complete a quest in the present, you’ll be able to see its outcome on the future. It makes the actions that you take feel much more worthwhile and meaningful.
It’s also a really useful mechanic during the game’s turn based battles. An early boss fight sees you fighting against an enemy with a huge shield that blocks your attacks. Using a water attack to soak it and then warping that enemy to the future causes the shield to rust, leaving the enemy vulnerable to your attacks.
It’s definitely a novel concept but getting the best use of it relies on enemies being in the right position on the battlefield as well as using allies' abilities to set up a useful chain of attacks. During regular fights it mostly feels easier to just wallop enemies with normal skills and abilities.
You’ll steadily gain access to new characters throughout your adventure. Not only are they wonderfully entertaining during the story, but they also have unique abilities in battle that can really mix up how you fight. It keeps the game feeling fresh and interesting throughout the 30 or so hours that it takes to reach its conclusion.
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Comments 40
I’ve had my eye on this for a while. If I do get it, I was maybe thinking about picking up the Switch version, but apparently it’s littered with load screens. Hmm, maybe I’ll just wait for a PSN sale and grab it on PS5 after all.
Great to hear. Been looking forward to trying this out on Gamepass
Looks so much fun! Definitely getting it at some point.
I played the demo on pc, it good. It's on gamepass pc, so maybe I'll try it there.
Sounds good! And there’s a frog. Definitely getting it at some point.
Ahh this looks so up my street. Defo gonna give it a go.
Looks good.
Saw it was on xCloud and PC via GamePass, so I'll just play it there (turnbase RPGs work perfectly streamed)
Save myself $40 that can go towards Ghost of Tsushima and Tales of Arise.
I'm a fan of the art style. May give this game a go in the future.
@Agramonte it's on xcloud, you say..!
I actually will buy it on GOG this Friday, and then later on the PSN store. Seems like a game I will enjoy.
@The_Pixel_King Oh man, I'll have to look into that. I was planning on picking it up for my Switch Lite.
Edit: OK, yeah, and also bugs and glitches. PS5 it is.
Going to have to check this out when I can, after playing the demo i felt like it was going to be a fun one.
Art style looks fun, will pick this up during a dirt cheap sale.
The art of this game really caught my attention. Might have to look more into this.
The art style is really nice! I'll add it to the wishlist for a sale later.
EDIT: Nevermind, it's on Gamepass, I will play it soon
Been eyeing this one up. Need to get filthy puddies on this soon.
Random encounters in 2021 are a massive no no from me. I hate having my time wasted from pointless fights and another thing I hate, you select the run or flee option and it always fails most of the time so you ask yourself why is it even there at all? No I like to see the enemies now so I can choose whether I want to fight or not.
I guess I'll buy this during a Sale now, we'll see.
Am I the only one who gets annoyed when ppl say they’ll just play it on gamepass?? Feels unnecessary
@neogyo why ? It's all about the games I don't care what ppl play it on to be honest I have no loyalty to any of the games company's, I'm.just a cashcow to all of em and if ppl look forward to a game and play it on another systen and save money more power to them
Hate the art on this one. Everything else is right up my alley. Unfortunately, I'll probably pass because of the style.
Edit: OH and if I was going to play it, it's on gamepass so I would just play it on there.
**rips off glasses
@neogyo I'm with you... it is annoying as heck. It sometimes feels like a BS PR campaign for that rental service (especially in this site).
Person B: That game look cool. I will probably buy it and play it sometime in the future.
Person A: Hey! I'm planning on playing that game too
Person B: Neat! Hope it is good and I hope you like...
Person A: Via GamePass!! Do you know that you can play it by renting it via that service right now. It is "cheaper" and there is no need to buy it! Cool, right? You need to subscribe now!! You also get...
Person B: Stop!! I really don't' care about any of that... I'm planning on buying it once it get discounted, that's all. I don't rent...
@JapaneseSonic THIS! I couldn’t agree more. I feel like people don’t value their games anymore, just the same as other media. Too many choices. Even too much quality quantity will dumb down the experience. We take it all for granted and don’t appreciate what we’ve got.
We complain about good indies that took a team years to make because they cost $20 or $30, “this game is worth playing for free but def not worth $” comes off so rude and entitled.
@oconnoclast that does make sense so I get that. I still feel like it often comes off as more of a comparison/judgement on the game. (Also a, Game Pass over all kinda thing.)
Tho to be fair I often feel that way when ppl say they’ll wait for a sale. Especially when it’s a super well made game that only costs $20-30 to begin with. It feels like a way that ppl verbalize their sense of devaluing the work put into games. This is felt all across the board tho really, it’s hard to appreciate anything right now with so much available.
This is available for me to play on Game Pass but i think i'll just spend £35 to play it instead.
See how bonkers I sound?
Probably not playing it, since I have a massive backlog, but if I was going to play, paying $1 for a month of GamePass would be more attractive than the $39.99 they're asking for this elsewhere. Not a fan of the pricing at all.
@JapaneseSonic Its easy to see thats its not a great thing. Niche games may have some extra income. But in the end if they want to keep the gamepass cheap you can do a few things creatie a monopoly or give the smaller studio's a smaller cut ( they wont be able to fight back). Plus look how many people even finish games now.
@Ralizah Why not its cheaper it looks great with a lot of original idea sounds like a deal to me.
@neogyo The GP is already devaluing the games such pity it will hit the smaller studio's harder. It also looks like doing something special is a wait for a sale and yet we all complain Japanstudio is gone so funny and sad at the same way.
@Flaming_Kaiser It's seriously premium pricing for an indie game from an unproven studio. I like the art style, but it's a hard sell at that price point for most people.
I think a lot of people who would usually buy a game outright like this on Switch will just opt for playing this on GamePass instead.
@Ralizah Still paying €60 for a game with gambling, DLC, microtransaction which is nothing more then a roster update. I will be buying it i have no issue with that €40 for a solid 8/10 game.
@Flaming_Kaiser Great! Indie developers don't enjoy enough love from the Playstation userbase as is. I hope you enjoy it.
@Jenny_Jones you mention it's about 30 hours or so. Is that with all side content, some, or main-lining the game? I recently finished CrossCode and it was about 30 hours without much side content (and easy mode, don't judge!). Any difficulty sliders?
Thanks for the write-up.
@Flaming_Kaiser
Obviously it is not an issue because Indies are rushing to GamePass (When the deal is not good they simply wont)
People are not going to skip on RE: Village or Tales of Arise or Indies like Disco Elysium because not on GamePass. Or Even if on GP (MLB: The Show is the 3rd best selling game in the US)
GP is just another option every month for your dollar.
And Microsoft is subsidizing GP to keep that price... Not paying off MLB (or buying Bethesda) from $1 subscriptions.
That is not where publishers getting paid.
I was not paying $60 for another Wii port on Switch - GP gives me a new cool xCloud game to tie me over (I do not even own an Xbox). And I save money for Ghost of Tsushima Expansion and Tales of Arise Pre-orders
@Bdbrady 30 hours with some side content, I'd say that if you're doing all the side quests & trophies then you can probably add another 5-10 hours on to that estimate. No judgement whatsoever for playing on easy for CrossCode! I definitely played around with the difficulty sliders in some of the later dungeons! Cris Tales doesn't have any difficulty sliders but I felt like the battles were fairly well balanced (it was a little bit tricky for the first couple of hours but once you've levelled up a bit and got access to healing magic then the difficulty was fine)
@Jenny_Jones Thank you. Have a great day.
@Bdbrady no problem I hope you have a great day too
@neogyo As someone who has spent over a decade reading and commenting nearly constantly on Pushsquare the Gamepass thing is kind of a new trend. I feel like years ago I've read feedback from the editors asking people to "stay on topic" and only discuss PS stuff, not Xbox.
Then former Sony exclusive MLB The Show released on Xbox included in GP and since that article lambasting the decision on Sonys part not to counter that by including the game in PS+ or PS Now, which has 248 comments, every time a new game releases on PS4/5 and also on GP people point it out since the parameters have already been set. Gamepass is fair game now.
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2021/04/reaction_sony_said_xbox_game_pass_isnt_sustainable_then_released_one_of_its_tentpole_titles_into_the_service_anyway
Won't make you dislike it any less, I hate seeing dude, bro, SJW, woke, git gud and a whole bunch of other words, but I thought I'd explain why it has been popping up so much of late. Just do what I do and move on to the next comment, you aren't required to read every one, there isn't going to be a test.😁
@rjejr haha awesome. Thanks for the breakdown. Im usually just lurking Nintendolife where I see you post often as well but I recently got a PS5 for me and my bro (sorry had to!), ie brother, so been perusing this zone more. Otherwise I generally avoid comment sections online as a whole so I forget how annoying it can be. Tho this whole gamepass thing isn’t really a big deal, just find it a little annoying. Can’t shake the entitlement oozing sometimes. There was just a comment on SOR4 dlc needing to be free because of the switch delay….. it’s like… come on people! It’s $8.
Happy Monday!
@neogyo Congrats on the PS5. I tried for awhile but I've given up until the holidays, and I'm not even very optimistic about that. 😝
Bro is fine shorthand for brother, but as someone who plays a lot of games on normal or easy mode, as opposed to hard, I've had my fill of "git gud bro" comments from randoms on the internet. Just 1 of many words that's fine among friends, harsh among strangers. If you also owned an Xbox along w/ that PS5 you might feel that way about "Gamepass". 😉
@rjejr gah I feel that! I don’t play online at all except occasional smash bouts ha
Hope a PS5 just falls into your lap at the right time!
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