Cris Tales Reviews
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.
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.
Cris Tales is a clever time-traveling JRPG that's held back by monotonous combat.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
While Cris Tales has some bumpy aspects in its combat and doesn't pull any punches, it remains a stellar RPG that pays tribute to great titles of the past while still building forward to make a modern hit in the present.
Cris Tales utilises traditional RPG mechanics but applies a wonderful time-manipulating twist across all facets of its design. The narrative, the combat, exploration – everything is based around altering time and it really makes for a brilliantly unique experience. It also just so happens to look beautiful too, which is always a plus. There are a few things that let it down, such as the unforgiving save system, the high encounter rate, and the loading times. Thankfully, these problems don’t stop Cris Tales from being an utterly engrossing RPG experience and one that I certainly look forward to re-visiting again in the future.
The battle system is very intuitive and keeps gameplay from becoming too repetitive. The few issues like the constant loading screens and lack of autosave may frustrate players as it's a very long game. However these aren't deal breakers as Cris Tales is a wonderfully crafted game that strives to give the player a unique experience.
Cris Tales is an incredible take on the JRPG with impressive time powers, but the loading times and framerate on Switch are disappointing.
"Cris Tales" is too faithful follower to JRPG both in good and bad ways. It has beautiful visuals and unique game systems, but some parts such as long loading time and no auto save function need to be fixed.
Review in Korean | Read full review
Cris Tales is a delightful adventure, which will not fail to satisfy players looking for a fairytale and well-structured experience.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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.
Cris Tales is an absolutely incredible homage to classic JRPGs, whilst taking care to modernise their core mechanics for modern audiences. The gorgeous visual style, superb voice acting, clever mechanics and emotive story-telling all combine together here to make an incredible title. Then, with the addition of comprehensive and innovative uses of time in all parts of the game, it becomes a near perfect experience. Cris Tales has arguably surpassed its JRPG inspirations and absolutely deserves your time (pun entirely intended).
Cris Tales offers up a satisfying take on classic JRPG tropes while sprinkling in some interesting new gameplay ideas and an incredible art style. Though some aspects of combat can be frustrating and the pacing can occasionally feel like it's wasting your time, we'd still give this one a recommendation to anyone looking for a cool new RPG for their Switch. Cris Tales does just enough to stick out from the pack and assert itself as a title worth adding to your library; JRPG aficionados should definitely give this one a shot.
Cris Tales sets a high bar when describing itself as a love letter to some of the best JRPGs of all time, but indie studio Dreams Uncorporated manages to exceed expectations by delivering a charming game with unique and challenging combat mechanics and a gorgeous artstyle. The characters are interesting, and the ability to peer into their past and future makes you care even more for them – especially the protagonist and its allies, which will travel alongside you during the game’s 20-30 hours of gameplay.
Cris Tales never manages to build its curious premise into an entertaining tool.
Cris Tales is the JRPG you need to try next. It has something for everyone; the striking visuals are there to capture newbies, the active-ish turn-based combat can convert any turn-based skeptic, and the strong faithful mechanics are there to appease the fussiest hardcore JRPG connoisseurs. This game has enough charm to have you whispering “that’s cute” under your breath 8 hours in, and enough nostalgia to bring back memories of summer vacations 10 or 20 years ago.