Cris Tales Reviews
Cris Tales is a gorgeous, heartfelt, and often creative adventure that provides an interesting peek at a culture not well-represented in the world of gaming. Sadly, it falls a bit short of its grand potential due to some mechanical and balance issues and a final act that badly overstays its welcome. Cris Tales feels like a game that would have benefitted from some more time in development, but if you're willing to forgive a few faults, your own time with the game won't be wasted.
So while Cris Tales’s story and gameplay may come up a bit light for some, it manages to provide a fun, unique experience that, rather than simply imitate the games that came before it, takes inspiration from them and strives to build something unique.
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.
In this regard, the work developed by the folks of Dreams Uncorporated,SYCK and Poppy Works focuses part of her personality on a precious appearance that makes her even more palatable in the eyes of other people. In the same way, it dazzles at how well it integrates temporary travel when it comes to fulfilling missions, but there are times when it seems to get stuck in the past, especially when we take up arms. In other words, sometimes, you need more than that to transcend time.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Cris Tales is definitely a praiseworthy effort from Colombian studios Dreams Uncorporated and SYCK, both of whom have crafted a JRPG adventure worth playing through from beginning to end. This game proves that even JRPGs can transcend their origin country, becoming a worthwhile and memorable experience, even with some of its issues.
Cris Tales is a clever time-traveling JRPG that's held back by monotonous combat.
Add this in with an opening that is brutal, even more mechanics that get thrown away or ignored long term (why have the tent that heals your party cost 10,000 marbles, what Cris Tales uses for currency, when by the time you can afford it, you'd have no use for it?), spending most of your time talking to people in towns that are obvious padding and so much more. It's a shame Cris Tales simply can't live up to the charm of its art but there is no consistency on what it wants to be. Even the bosses go from a joke to making me feel like I am woefully under-leveled, back to Neptunia level in the span of 20 minutes and one level. For some the art might be enough, but if you want a good RPG, this isn't it.
The developers of Cris Tales set out to make a love letter to the genre. When writing a love letter it's easy to cloud your judgement at times. You're after all so head over heels into it. Do you really care what others think? The load times, basic story, and unsatisfying ending are easy to overlook when you're in love with the genre. Cris Tales is too pretty to pass up if you want a taste of a nostalgic JRPG.
Cris Tales isn't going to set your world on fire, but it proves to be good turn-based RPG comfort food. If you don't mind titles that drag a bit, this one is for you.
Cris Tales bills itself as an “indie love letter to classic jRPGs.” Instead, it so completely misunderstands what makes them great that it comes across like a creepy kidnapper letter composed out of letters cut from various magazines. This is a game that looks fantastic while doing everything at least a little wrong; entire mechanics are outright broken, bugs can strike and render certain battles unwinnable, and stats randomly see massive rises and drops that make it impossible to tell how powerful your characters actually are. Add in Cris Tales‘ slow movement speed and insistence on making you run around doing busy work and you have a recipe for a truly painful experience.
This love letter to classic JRPGs has a lot of heart & charm, but is a bit rough around the edges.
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.
Cris Tales is an homage to the JRPG genre that delivers a worthy tale across time and space. With a gorgeous aesthetic and great characters, Cris Tales builds an interesting world but also never takes full advantage of its combat systems. There’s so much to love about Cris Tales but it stays far too close to an homage and a game that never attempts to stray away from the confines of what we know a JRPG should be.
Foes can be cast into the past or future in a whimsical time-bending throwback that celebrates Colombia
A graphically wonderful JRPG inspired by the classics but with an interesting additional twist.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Cris Tales is worthy of praise for its gorgeous art design and originality to its gameplay design. The time mechanic gives the game its own identity which will likely net it a dedicated fanbase hungry for a new JRPG that is traditional but different. But being classic it’s not without some classic flaws with irritating random encounters and tedious backtracking. But if you can overlook these niggles you’re in for a game well worth spending your Summer with, or any other season of the year for that matter.
Cris Tales is a game that fans of the genre should check out themselves, as it tries to offer a different approach to the genre.
I’m impressed with Dreams Uncorporated and Syck’s maiden effort. Cris Tales charming RPG, full of color, interesting colors, and life, and I’ve enjoyed my time with it so far. Some of the monster designs are A+ as well, such as the Slimes. They are transparent, with little sea scenes inside them, and they were Donald Duck-like sailor outfits. Their bow ties also look like little mustaches. They’re cute as heck, a great example of the game’s art design.
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.
If you strip that away from Cris Tales, what you have left is a charming and serviceable RPG that is also packed with quite a few flaws and questionable design choices. Cris Tales is definitely worth a playthrough if you’re looking for something light-hearted and a little bit old-school. Just keep your expectations low when it comes to time-based gameplay.