Crystar Reviews
A trigger warning in game form - without any trigger warnings. Had a lot of potential, but unfortunately misses the mark.
Trying to interest by its purpose and its unhappy themes, Crystar fails.
Review in French | Read full review
Endless grind, very slow progression, and an abysmal battle system, are the major knocks against what would otherwise be an average experience. The story itself is unique, but hardly goes into depth instead relying far more on shock-value of events occurring rather than actual meaning. Unfortunate, really, as the plot serves up a huge potential for some interesting questions, or dialogue - things that are completely missing.
Ultimately, Crystar is a case of "be careful what you wish for." What at first appears to be an excellent deal — a game with fast-paced action combat, stunning graphics, and a story that takes women and people of varied sexualities seriously — turns out to be deeply disappointing,
What starts as a somewhat entertaining action RPG ends up falling apart and overstaying its welcome.
An action RPG with a striking shonen-like story that simmers, but the simplicity of the gameplay and its overall art design exerts too much of a counterbalance.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Crystar runs really well on the Switch, but is held back by poor combat and level design.
There’s some plots to be thickened around every corner, but the overwhelming combat system may discourage some players from picking up their Switch. UI isn’t the most convenient and the map is designed to intentionally drag to force more play hours. Combat feels too frequent and the depth of skills and item upgrade design is too much for an average gamer to handle, compared to the minimal changes in the end result. The game’s main plot has a concept of fairy tales falling into despair which may have its own niche fanbase. When the ending fades into the quote ‘Thank you for playing’, I felt like I didn’t leave anything behind which meant that the story was solid enough. If you started to play this game once, I'd recommend playing it until you see the true ending at the very end. Thankfully, the game devs have at least provided a small convenience in allowing skipping the entire first half of the story for multiple playthroughs attempts.
Review in Korean | Read full review
The game tells an engaging story, but repetitiveness and mediocre combat hold it back from being a heavenly experience.
It’s fair to say that there aren’t many emotionally driven games like Crystar on the market, and it excels in creating a heartfelt experience from start to finish. The battle mechanics and gameplay systems have been tailored well to keep in tune with the game's themes. For its relatively short duration, there is an admiral amount of content that will see the completionist looking to finish the memoirs of the dead. However, Crystar can feel really repetitive with its constant reuse of reskinned enemies and level designs which can be frustrating at times.
Crystar is a good story with serious themes and interesting characters, which gets bogged down in a swamp of dull one-button gameplay, monotonous corridors, the same opponents and artificially prolonged gameplay. If the developers reduced the length to 10 hours, corrected the camera and combat mechanics, or simply released a visual novel, thousands of players would be much happier.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Crystar is firmly in that class of games that I'm interested to play and experience, but that in terms of their storytelling have me pretty well lost from go...
Crystar is an excellent story wedged between way too much repetitive and meaningless combat inside gorgeous yet long-winded dungeons. The non-stop button mashing fights add no value or depth to the story except for the simple reason to progress. Unfortunately, what initially started with a shocking plot and opening unfolded quickly into a tedious gaming experience.
Unfortunately, with the less than stellar combat mechanics, the lack of enemy variety and the lack of differentiating dungeons, it may not entice players who also want fluid gameplay. However for fans who do like narrative-driven and linear games along with dark themes and gorgeous designs, then this is definitely a title that should be added to your library.
Crystar is not a particularly brilliant JRPg, but it's a decent one, with a good story and interesting characters. It's a pity, then, that the dungeon design is very bland and the combat system feels boring after ten or so hours.
Review in Italian | Read full review
FuRyu and NIS bring their dark and grim world and interesting characters to Nintendo Switch players.
Crystar’s gameplay can be a little lackluster at times, however the fascinating narrative does more than enough to keep you playing for hours on end! Some hit and miss combat mixed with a story filled with an interesting unpredictable direction makes for an enjoyable, but occasionally tedious experience!
Crystar presents a truly unique and consistent game world with simple and enjoyable action RPG dungeon crawling.
Crystar combines a stunning supernatural setting with simple hack-and-slash fighting to draw you through a complex and profound plot that bounces betweens realms.
Crystar pairs an original and compelling story with fairly average gameplay.