CROSSING THE CODE
Welcome to another videogame review.
First of all: Sorry for delaying this one, but writing all those good and bad game reviews is very time consuming.
Buy, play, take screenshots, write about them and think about writing all the funny and irreverent stuff you guys love to read isn't an easy task or a fast one.
So, let's get going, shall we?
This time is gonna be quite long one since I'll be reviewing the amazing indie RPG CrossCode. It's my first time I review a game of this genre and as far as I know, reviewing RPG's is very different from shmup reviews.
The first steps on an exciting new world.
Well, I'm not too much into RPG's since I consider myself more of a "Flyboy" who feels at home with shmups, but I've played a few RPG's throughout my life. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Terranigma, Xenosaga Episode I, Final Fantasy XV the Mass Effect series and the incredible masterpiece NieR: Automata are those exceptions. Probably since I'm not great with all the chores that comprises all RPG's. From searching things, level up through constant battles and sometimes waiting for my next turn hoping not to die since I prefer to hit first and being able to move freely in combat. Yeah, I prefer to take control of the TH32, RVR-01, R-Gray 2 or the R-9 and just shoot things out of existence due to the fast action and less complexity these games require.
By the time I made this review, it will be the second time I've played CrossCode. Yeah, first on my XBOX and now on my PlayStation 4 (thank Ginga Force, Arcade Archives and Darius Cozmic Collection for making me buy that console).
On to the review. RPG (Role Playing Games) are common even nowadays, most of them ditched the classic elements in favor of exploit the advantages of today's consoles for the sake of massive enviroments, tons of quests and even voice acting. With all these steps towards the future, ¿Is there still room for retro-styled RPG's?. Looks like the answer is "Yes" and CrossCode is ready to prove it.
Explore, fight, level up, earn credits, upgrade, repeat.
At first, CrossCode is no different from many other RPG games, especially the classics like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Illusion of Mana and Terranigma, as we have more than just Role Playing in our gameplay. One of the things that I hate the most of RPG's is the Turn Based format, something that should be discarded and make it go the way of The Chessmaster. CrossCode omits that in favor of a more open combat system where you can use the enviroment to attack and defend yourself. ¿How many times you can kill your enemies by making a monster dive into the water or an abyss as the finishing blow? This is one of those few exceptions. Your basic combat techniques are the close combat Melee attack which is the "Power Type" that inflicts vast damages, or use the VRP (Virtual Ricochet Projectile) with the Right Analog Stick. This could be like the bow and arrows in the Zelda games, but actually the VRP/Ball acts more like a Twin-Stick shooter, allowing you to aim and fire, along with firing a charged shot once the aim is complete, otherwise you'll be firing at random directions until the "aim lines" align. Like any other RPG, combat is a top priority since it is required to level up constantly, and in this game you're gonna have to do that to survive even on the first temple. So you've better prepare to repeat regions over and over again until you are powerful enough and have more than enough HP to make it out alive. On the brighter side, you can get a considerable good amount of credits while you level up and even items. The enviroment can also be exploited for item boosting. Plants can be destroyed to obtain items which can be traded with other items in order to obtain a key item or a weapon or a food item which act as a med-kit. Food plays also a role on side-effects along with the HP recovery factor. Some meals and drinks can provide you a status boost and even gradual healing for a period of time like the teas, making them very important on boss battles, especially during the final boss fights of the game.
A very important key factor in any battle is having a team party of 2 or 3 characters. Throughout the game you can invite them to join your party or not if you are more of the lone wolf type of player who wants everything for himself/herself. For starters is A MUST to have a companion in your very first battles since you're gonna need some backup regardless of what equipment you're using, and even your partners will go down as you fight but since they're AI controlled they will respawn in 30 seconds or so. Unlike most RPGs where dying leads to Game Over and back to the title screen and pick the saved game or start over from zero, CrossCode sends you back to the beginning of the room where you died out thanks to the auto-save feature that backups the game on every room you enter.
Battles climb the "Battle Rank" system, as you climb from D-C-B-A and finally to Rank S by defeating monsters without quitting or letting the after-battle timer ran out. Once the Rank hits the "S", the enemy will accelerate the enemy respawn time so you can take even more of them in order to gain experience indefinitely until you reach the 1000XP to level up.
Keep in mind, as you level up, the enemies will drop less experience, making reach 1000XP per level more demanding as all enemies, even bosses, will finally give you 1XP. You might be wondering "How I can level up quickly?", I found two very useful hints that come in handy. Yeah, I figured these ones out during my playthrougs in both XBOX and PS4, and I'm sure they'll help you to hit Level 99 in a few play sessions.
1.- The first quick leveling up can be found in Autumn's Rise once you start a new game and really helps if you're new to CrossCode. If you follow the path "Entrance > Pathway 1 > Quiet Passage 1 > Quiet Passage 2 > Hedgehag's Den" and repeat the route from Quiet Passage 1, you can level up quite fast even when the game gives you 1XP per Hedgehag as they respawn during the "Rank S" battle. You can do this up to level 55-58 as you'll probably be strong enough to let the off-battle time rans out before the enemies respawn.
2.- Another way to somewhat-fast level up is located on the Temple Mine of Bergen Village. In the room "Frozen Shaft 3" there's be a Kamikatze that respawns infinitely. This can be exploited once you're on level 58 onwards until you hit Level 99. Although I recommend you to do this one after clearing this dungeon if you want to win the "races" against Emilie in order to win the trophy, and of course, equip a strong weapon to destroy the Kamikatzes quickly. This one is also a quick money booster (around 150,000 Credits per level) and a fast way to obtain the 99 Metal Gears in-game trophy.
There's always things to do beside combat.
Recently, the RPG genre has introduced Side-quests, and CrossCode is no exception. Most of the times these Side-quests are based on finding things or buying a specific object, but there's also place for fights against special enemies which turn out to be a tricky, but rewarding boost of both experience and credits and sometimes you might get an useful armor/weapon for free and occasionally without jumping from one point to another like the Treasure Chests. Like all Adventure and RPG games there's treasure chests to find and unlock. My only complaint is that you can't get all of them in a run until you get the special keys (Thief's Key > White Key > Radiant Key). I mean, a little sequence breaking doesn't harm anyone, just take a look at Super Metroid and how great and fun was doing Sequence Breaking techniques that exploited Samus' capabilities.
The Periodic Table of Lea's Elements
Leveling up also grants you CP, short for "Circuit Points". These allow you to unlock enhancements on your combat capabilities, have more HP or increase your damage resistance. While most of them are obtained by leveling up, that's no guarantee that you'll activate all of the perks. Some CP's can be obtained in special places like the Observatory on Autumn's Rise, but you'll have to complete the "A Promise is a Promise" quests first before that.
As you keep progressing in the game, you'll unlock the Element Circuits: Fire, Ice, Shock and Wave. These are very useful because all the monsters and bosses have elemental weaknesses "a la Megaman" and even resistance to some of them (Ex: Ice attacks against Ice-based enemies cause minimal damages).
But there's more advantages and benefits on the Circuits than meets the eye.
That's some lethal Fast-Firing!
The Circuits also unlock exclusive combat abilities known as "Arts", which are divided in Melee Art, Dash Art, Guard Art and Throw Art. These are basically the "magic attacks" of the game as they consume their own Skill Point gauge which accumulates with time and killing enemies in combat. While Dash, Melee and Throw are the three "Offensive" Arts, the Guard Arts are the only Defensive as they're meant to protect Lea by pushing enemies away from her with a blast or generating a barrier around her. As you unlock the Element Circuits you will also unlock new and more powerful Arts based on their respective element.
Need to try a different status with other perks? Switch them!
Once you unlock a "branching" path of perks, that doesn't mean you're stucked with them forever or reset the Circuit Board using a Circuit Override item. Just select any perk of the unused branch and there you go, status switched, free of charge.
Looks like Lea was better than you, Emilie.
During the first five dungeons (Temple Mine, Faj'ro Temple, So'najiz Temple, Zir'vitar Temple and Grand Kris'kajo) you'll be racing with Emilie, so naturally you'll be in a hurry, especially since the Temples will be where you'll face the core gameplay element of CrossCode. Losing the races with Emilie doesn't affect the game at all, unless you want to win the In-game, non-Achievement trophy of "Gotta go Fast". Along with the XBOX achievements/PSN trophies, the game has its own trophies which add a completion percentage to the game.
Ready for some head-breaking puzzles?
NOTE: Newbies would require a YouTube walkthrough.
If combat and exploration are just the beginning of the complex universe of this game, this is when the real core of CrossCode appears: Puzzle solution. All dungeons and some regions require the player to solve a puzzle throughout several game elements. From using platform levels on a specific pattern, calculating VRP trajectories using wall angles, pulling blocks to work a path around a higher place and using your newely learned elemental powers to make trajectories. At first they look fun and require some thinking, but later in the game they just go all out with the complexity, as they require you to step on a switch to unblock a wall an let your VRP/Ball pass, use one charged element shot to clear an obstacle and some of them leave no room for error and they might be infuriating and even ragequitting for those who are unfamiliarized with the Puzzle genre. The final puzzle of Vermillion Dungeon can go to Hell, Bydo Hell.
Here's another hint for you: If you want to both master the puzzles and defeat Emilie without starting New Games constantly, here's another hint: When you screw up in the room, just press the pause button (Menu Button in XBOX, Options for PlayStation 4), select Exit Game, select "Continue" at the title and you'll be on the beginning of the puzzle room. Good Luck.
CrossCode Solid: The VR Missions
Along with the puzzle solving, classic RPG open-world combat, and tasks to do, the game pulls one unexpected element. Stealth, or like Konami and Hideo Kojima call it "Tactical Espionage Action". During your visit to Vermillion Wasteland you're required to infiltrate the Vermillion Tower without being detected, otherwise the game will kill you and send you back to the point where you entered that "room". Rather than being like the traditional Metal Gear Solid formula where the game enters in a "Alert-Evasion" mode, this game is an instant death pretty much like Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions where being caught led to fail the mission.
He got one. Everyone watch your back.
No RPG is complete without a deep, complex lore, right? CrossCode gets that aspect perfectly well with a very envolving and intriguing science-fiction story that will definitely keep you on your seat until you finish the game, most of the times is "narrated" through in-game cutscenes that interrupt the gameplay so you can stop and pay attention to the situation.
Crosscode: Introspection.
Cutscenes are also used to split chapters, this time as Lea's dreams as she's trying to recover her lost memory in flashbacks that also add more mysteries to the plotline.
Communication Problems. Item 151 on today's Glitch List.
A very unusual aspect is to have a protagonist with a disability. While amnesia is a common plot theme in RPGs, a mute character is really rare (since RPG's involve talking), and this game has a mute protagonist. Well, Lea is not mute at all, the story explains that SHE WANTS to talk but she can't due to a failure in her speech module limiting her to a few words hard-coded in her system.
There's also lore that you can find.
Along with the key story elements provided by the game itself, there's also hidden supplemental information in several places that provide a much greater lore, even if its useless data like spaceship data logs and captain reports, but really helps to give the Analysis tool a good use.
With these parts of the Gameplay analyzed you're ready to tackle the game. Good Luck and have fun!
GAME OVER: TRY TO NEXT CHANCE
Do you got the bad ending? Well, I don't blame you and there's no reason for that. No one was born a "Super Player" of some sorts. At this point you only have these choices: Pin your last hope on a small Trans-Dimensional Fighter, pick "New Game" and start all over to figure out what you've missed or just pull the plug on CrossCode since you've got all the Achievements/Trophies and say "Ummmmm. Imaichi dattara" like Alex Heatburn from Ginga Force as you quit in disgust. You can wander around in Meta-Space, but the path forward is blocked and Lea is stucked.
But there's another dead end on the left, does that mean?...
Transform your destiny. Transform and transcend...
Yeah. You are stucked unless you take the option of going back to the past walking to the left and find a fix to that problem. The game gives you the option of sending you back to the beginning of Chapter 10 so you can find what caused the bad ending and set things right. Also, the game gives you the choice of skipping key events on the Vermillion Wasteland raid, even the dungeon (Thank God for that one. Screw that last puzzle). Just remember, if you need a clue on what happened, take a good look at the "Encyclopedia".
"The Future is Now", dude.
Got the True Ending? Well Done, dude. You've finished CrossCode as it should be. Even if Meta-Space still allows you to go back, there's nothing else to fix since you've unlocked the True Ending route. The game will originally mention a "Post Game Episode", but if you've bought the "A New Home" DLC, just go to the right 'cos the adventure (and the game) continues.
CrossCode: The Tropical Adventures
Yeah, no RPG is complete with DLC content nowadays. The game has a "Post-Game Episode" called CrossCode: A New Home, which continues the story where it left off, allowing you to leave the Meta-Space where Lea was confined until you buy and download it, but to get this DLC to work you'll need to unlock the True Ending conditions. Along with resuming the story where it left off, it adds brand new regions, along with items and side-quests for all the major original regions to complete. ¿Remember the flora of CrossWorlds?, That side-quest is now expanded to Azure Archipielago and Ku'lero Temple. This DLC basically shouts "Vamos a la playa, Oh Oh-O-O-Oh! Vamos a la playa, Oh Oh-O-O-Oh!" like Righeira as soon as the player hits the Azure Archipielago area. Believe it or not, CrossCode's DLC greets the players with a beautiful tropical beach packed with thrilling beach battles with new monsters, a tricky yet fun jumping maze to reach treasures and a special boss called "Son of the Beach" (No joke). Also, unlocks the once locked large temple at Sapphire Ridge: Ku'lero Temple, and boy, that's gonna be the largest dungeon of the whole game since it will gonna take you a considerable long amount of time to complete, 'cos this is both Temple and region on its own, filled with even more complex puzzles than the one at the end of Vermillion Tower. A whole challenge for those who are looking for more crazy puzzles in the game.
Hi!, Lea!
¡¡¡COBRAAAAAAAAA!!!
Along with the "Post-Game Episode", there's also DLC's that change the character's look. The first one is the Ninja Skin which gives Lea an alternate ninja like outfit that looks more like a Cobra Ninja from G.I. Joe Ninja Force. However, during the dialogue cutscenes we still see her with her regular Spheromancer clothes which this might imply the skin was more of a "Work In Progress" rather than a full DLC, this is "Rectified" as we see Lea changing clothes before and after them with a smoke-bomb. The last one is the weirdest of all the game's DLC's: "Manlea", a male version of the character that looks more like a reject from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. This makes me wonder ¿Who on his sane mind would want to swap the lovely Lea for this abomination? In shmup terms, that would be like if in Triggerheart Exelica someone would like to replace Crueltear with her unused Anchor Test Frame design. It's a "No" for most gamers, even for a joke.
Many fans and players agree on that one.
Looks like Lea has a better idea. If Radical Fish Games wanted to experiment with DLC's why not adding more fanservice like a Swimsuit skin. It could be more than just fanservice like Nintendo-Intelligent Systems did with the "Summer Event" of the Fire Emblem series. A great example of this can be found in Xenosaga Episode I, the Swimsuit item was more of a skin-revealing item, it doubled the Tech Points of the character wearing it, but dropped the Defense in return. Something like that would work well on CrossCode, especially since the "A New Home" DLC has the beach-themed Azure Archipielago area and the beach westside Rhombus Square.
Fan Demands. You can't ignore that.
Amen to that, buddy. For the reasons mentioned above, this game needs a Swimsuit Skin just like Richard Maxwell (Raiden V) needs his coffee on his everyday missions. Too bad Radical Fish Games didn't gave the fans that as a final "Goodbye to CrossCode" gift.
We understand you, Lea.
Unfortunately, since the development of the game, updates and DLC's is over (along with the in-game excuse that Evotars can't use them), that idea is now on a permanent freeze.
To quote Viper from Top Gun: "You've made a bad choice". But you know what's worse? Just wait until you finish Ku'lero Temple.
SEE YOU AGAIN AT "CROSSCODE2"
After passing the complete puzzle hell and sniper birds cowardice that was Ku'lero Temple, along with the incredible and epic final battle that came with it, the game will throw a continuation to CrossWorlds, hinting a potential CrossCode II. This has a lot of potenial, but since Radical Fish Games has pulled the plug on CrossCode and is working on Project Terra, this has been reduced to become the Axelay of RPG's (¿Remember "SEE YOU AGAIN AT AXELAY2"?). A sequel that we will never have. Hope Radical Fish reconsiders that and works on CrossCode II one of these days, or maybe, just maybe, Project Terra is a premonition of a potential "Multi-verse" crossover which leads to CrossCode II and the teased CrossWorlds New Horizons thing.
*"Eagle's Path" by David Lanz and Paul Speer plays in the background*
With the gameplay and DLC completely reviewed, it's time to talk about the graphics, because they're not simply good, they're extraordinary and what a visual wonder we have. Top notch 16-32 bit styled pixel arts that borrows elements from one of my all-time favorite non-shmup games: Terranigma. In fact, it looks on par with Enix's standards at the point of feeling an official game rather than an indie. This is mostly appreciated on the natural landscapes than the artificial structures because the nature manages to hide the "natural stairs". While the scenery is SNES on its best RPG moments, some of the lighting effects and smooth animations are PlayStation-like, when the PS1 is using pixels rather than CGIs to create smooth animations for the pixel-made monsters and the gigantic bosses resulting in a vibrant, well animated world that comes to life right infront of our eyes. Words can't make justice because its rare to see an accomplishment like this anywhere else. I mean, I could keep going on and on talking about the wonders of this game, but you should really check that by yourself, words and pics can't describe them completely.
WARNING!!
A HUGE BATTLESHIP
GREAT THING ANCIENT
IS APPROACHING FAST
The scenery is indeed fascinating and beautiful, but what reaches new heights is the boss design which is extraordinary and stunning, especially the large ones like the Ancient Guardian at Grand Kris'kajo and the final boss showing how well made pixel art could be. This is basically the pinnacle of indie-made 16-bit (and even 32-bit) sprite designs, something that very few developers can reach with a resounding success.
Your beautiful blue-haired heroine.
One art style is very common and reliable in RPGs and that's the anime style, even more than the realistic looking characters, becoming a timeless fan favorite. Crosscode goes all anime-styled and works perfectly well with the Fantasy-Science Fiction mix theme that involves this game. I also liked how expressive they are even for 16-bit cutscenes, as the face expressions doesn't require to "fade" between pics, making them more "alive".
VasColle: Vasteel Collection - presenting the Fire LEA-04CC "Rynex-Hi".
Also, introducing R-Colle: R-Type Collection - featuring the R-9LEA4 "Wave Spheromancer".
Time for the funny notes. The first thing I noticed is that Lea looks like a personification of the Fire LEO-04C Rynex-R from Thunder Force VI (if not all the Fire LEO series collectively), just like some Touhou Project fan arts compare Sanae Kochiya with the RVR series, mostly the RVR-02 Vambrace and the RVR-00 Phoenix. Well, Lea doesn't only look like a personification of the Rynex, she also has hints of another shmup ship; the R-9A4 Wave Master from R-Type Final. In that case, Shizuka Sakai would be the R-13A Cerberus, Emilie-Sophie de Belmond would be the R-9F Andromalius and Lea's "Ninja Skin" will make her look like the R-13A2 Hades (How we would call all this stuff?, "R-Musu"?, this game is a whole network of "CrossReferences").
*Insert Dobkeratops roar from R-Type Final*
This one you're already familiarized with. The many expressions of Lea, Shizuka and Emilie are prone not to just meme material but also review ranking material. You've noticed that at the end of my many, many shmup and game reviews where I qualify a shmup/game with Lea and the other girls smiling, upset or crying depending if the game was good, bad or horrible. Think of it as a "Scale" of some sorts.
Okay, let's break out the sodas and junk food.
It's party time!
The ending of A New Home says goodbye to the DLC (and CrossCode in general) with a beautiful scene where everyone is reunited for a well deserved lunch time. A team that is more like a family reunited. It kinda reminds me of the good ending of Metal Slug 4, but at least is more happy and colorful than that dull sepia group pic of R-Type Final 2 with the pilots doing random poses like disco pose cliché.
Now that we've talked about how amazing are the graphics of this game, there's only one part left: The sound department. And boy, this game left me speechless since the music of this game is perfect and it rivals perfectly with Enix's works like The 7th Saga and (once again) Terranigma along with Square's epic Chrono Trigger. This is mostly noticed on the overworld areas the dungeons and the "Battle 1" theme. I really like how each track is meant to fit on their respective world, like the Rhombus Square Cross Central theme, the eastern-like themes of Bergen Village and Sapphire Ridge or the summer-tropical rhythm of Azure Archipielago are some nice examples but I prefer to keep it small on info 'cos you should hear all those themes by yourself. For some curious instances, twists of fate if you want to call'em like that, there's themes that sound very shmup like. "Battle 2" is the best example since it sounds in the purest style of Ginga Force, RayStorm, RayForce and Gridseeker: Project Storm Hammer. "S-Rank Battle" and "Hack Your Way!" are another pair of shmup-esque tunes that fits quite well with Triggerheart Exelica and Eschatos, "Vermillion Wasteland" is very R-Type Final-esque it will make you feel like if you were in a Deserted Lab or in the Graveyard of Trans-Dimensional Fighters, and how to forget the theme "Raid" which feels like a spiritual successor of "Lightning Strikes", the first stage from Raiden III. There's also place for some anime-styled tunes, "Valse d'Ahoge" (Emilie's theme) reminds me of Shiro Sagisu's works, as if it was an unused theme of Neon Genesis Evangelion, something that we will hear on a peaceful walk around Tokyo-3 minutes prior to an Angel attack and switching the music to "Spending Time in Preparation".
With such an impressive soundtrack, the only thing this game needed was to have voice acting. This is where the game nods the PlayStation more than the SNES as we have CD-quality like music rather than chiptunes, giving us a retro-modern mix that doesn't disappoint.
CROSSCODED CURIOSITIES
Talking about CrossCode's references and fun facts would take days 'cos there's a plethora of nods to gaming and pop culture.
So here's a few of them just for the sake of adding a "Curiosities" section in the review.
The story is over. There's only one thing left to do...
CREDITS FIIIIIIGHT!!
- "Lea" is pronounced "Lee-uh".
- Lea's height is 1,56m. If we compare her with shmup girls, our beloved Spheromancer has the same height as Asayuki Kizuyomina (Blazing Star), but she's 1cm shorter than Natsuki Sugiura (Ginga Force) and 3cm less than Exelica (Triggerheart Exelica).
- Sergey's last name, Asimov, might be or not a reference to the science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov.
- Ms. Teak's phrase "Don't you love the smell of steak in the morning" is a pun on William Kilgore's phrase "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" from the 1979 film Apocalypse Now.
- The geometric shapes that compose CrossWorlds logo are based on the "Classes" featured on the game: Triangle->Triblader, Square->Quadroguard, Pentagon->Pentafist, Hexagon->Hexacast and Circle->Spheromancer.
- The trophy "Feeling Ice-solated" is a wordplay on "Feeling Isolated".
- "Lightning Returns" refers the game Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.
- "The None-Winged Devil" and Sephisloth are a pun on Sephiroth and "The One-Winged Angel" which is Sephiroth's theme from Final Fantasy VII.
- Emilie's quote "Mr. Its-Time-to-Duel" is a reference to "Its time...To-T-Tt-T-Tt-TO DUEL!" (A.K.A. "D-D-D-D-Duel") from the opening sequence of the 4Kids' version of Yu-Gi-Oh! which became a short-lived internet meme.
- "The Avatar" is a nod to the masters of the four elements from Nickelodeon's Avatar series.
- "Let's swim in my vault!" clearly refers Scrooge McDuck from Disney's Ducktales.
- "I'm also good at Plumbing!" is a reference to Super Mario Bros.
- "You Can't Touch This!" refers to the MC Hammer song of the same name.
- "Making Rocky Proud" is a clear reference to Rocky Balboa.
- "Combo Breaker!" nods Killer Instinct.
- "Gotta help'em all" puns Pokemon's tagline "Gotta catch'em all!"
- "Gotta go fast!", the Blue Hedgehag and the golden ring that drops are a clear reference to Sonic The Hedgehog.
- "IT CAN'T BE?" and its 99 Metal Gears requirement clearly refers Metal Gear Solid and Solid Snake's phrase "Metal Gear? It can't be" during his conversation with the DARPA Chief (One of many Metal Gear Solid references throughout the entire game).
RUN! The Decepticons are coming and they will arrive through that Space Bridge!
- The portal at the end of Ku'lero Temple resembles a Cybertronian Space Bridge from the Transformers franchise (It also nods the Stargate from the Stargate franchise as well).
- Speaking about the Transformers, the bad ending hint "Maybe the key to the future lies in the past" might be a nod to the phrase "The seeds of the future lie buried in the past" from Beast Machines: Transformers.
- Continuing with the nods and references to Transformers, Lea's "Broken speech module" is very reminiscent of Bumblebee from Michael Bay's 2007-2017 movie universe.
- One of the traders in the Centrum region of Basin Keep offers a weapon called Silver Hawk, which is likely to be a reference to both Taito's Darius and the 1986 Rankin-Bass cartoon SilverHawks.
- The beach region of Rhombus Square and Azure Archipielago have Moai statues which might be a reference to Gradius.
- While "A New Home" is a DLC for all ports, the Ninja Skin and Manlea are exclusives for the XBOX One and the PC.
- Lea's Ninja Skin was originally a reward for Indiegogo backers before it was made publically available.
- The fishes fought during the credits in "A New Home" are the mascot fish from Radical Fish Games logo.
- The "Lea-Board" is a reference to text-to-voice tools like Loquendo and recently TikTok's "Text to Speech" feature.
Well done, Lea! We're proud of you.
In the end, CrossCode is a resounding accomplishment, not just of RPG's, but overall indie gaming. With all the aspects that make the big commercial games, this game looks, plays, feels and sounds like one of them, redefining everything there is to know about independent gaming and how far this genre can reach in the right hands. Either if you're an RPG enthusiast, a Trophy/Achievement hunter or a casual gamer, you should give this one a try.
A Perfect, Resounding score for this game.
FINAL BONUS: Time to close the review with a good bonus.
We may not have Lea officially wearing a swimsuit, but hope this redraw from hamtaro1113 is good enough.
After the Azure Archipielago and Rhombus Square beach, having a "Swimsuit DLC" was too much to ask, Radical Fish Games?
(Click image for larger size, click here for alternate color)
Embrujo, bajo el sol. Cuando llueve y sube el calor, mojando la piel.
Ven aquí, junto a mi. Mueve el aire y empuja el agua, apaga ese rumor.
YOU'RE THE GREATEST PLAYER.
