Cris Tales Review - A Time-Bending JRPG Throwback
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Cris Tales is an RPG filled with wonder and adventure, a game that easily transported me back to my golden JRPG years, a childhood where games like Wild Arms and Breath of Fire were the talk of the town and turn-based combat was a novel thrill. These games are usually wrapped up in a convoluted story about an unusual band of characters joining forces to rid the world of a nefarious evil, and Cris Tales fits that mold. Despite a few missteps in pacing and polish, Cris Tales has the potential to become a classic for a new generation of RPG enthusiasts that appreciate the JRPG formula, with enough charm to wow anyone who treasures the tropes that defined a genre cherished by tens of millions.
In the future, this part of the city will be submerged in water.
Three Different Points of View
Cris Tales revolves around Crisbell, an orphaned girl who quickly finds out that she has the ability to manipulate time as she is able to see the past, present, and future simultaneously. Defined as a Time Mage to those around her, she goes on a journey with a talking frog called Metias to understand more about her newfound powers, and hopefully utilize her abilities to defeat the evil Empress hell-bent on destroying the world.
Yes, time travel is a heavy element in Cris Tales, and it’s only natural to expect a story like this one to go off the rails (and it does, but thankfully only in the latter parts of the game). Most of Cris Tales is easy to take in, as Crisbell’s journey of understanding her abilities leads her to various cities, where she becomes entangled in their many problems. Each city is treated as a new story arc with a new set of characters and storylines, and with each character (major or minor) being fully voiced, it was pleasant to be able to talk to each available person and get a better picture on the situation.
With the use of Crisbell’s abilities, she can see the past, present, and future versions of everything around her in real time. From the player’s perspective, the screen is divided into three segments, with the left side showing the past, the middle portraying the present, and the right foreshadowing the future.
For example, you see a little girl accompanying what seems to be her father, who’s managing an apothecary shop. Aim the present lens to these characters and you’ll see the girl now an adult managing the shop, ready to sell you her wares. Look at the future and you see her shop in ruins, with the woman now old and tattered. Can you change her future? This game plays with out-of-the-box ideas, as simple acts on your part - such as a suggestion to paint their house to warn of incoming danger - alter characters’ future outcomes.
Side quests can be found in each city. They serve as more than typical fodder content for the sake of distracting players. There’s a greater purpose to them, as I found each one affecting a major decision that in turn greatly affects the region. It can be a hit or miss with some of them, and when they work it’s only because we get to learn more about certain characters in the game.
Time travel is tough business
From first sight, the visual design really stands out, thanks to Cris Tales’ cartoon-like 2D animation bringing these characters and their vivid world to life. Just by looking at it you know that you’re in for a wholesome story of good and evil, brimming with color at every corner. You may get the impression that you’re navigating a pop-up book, taking in all the wonder as you listen to the soothing melodies that play as you explore the world.
It’s appealing to look at for sure, but as you progress, you’re bound to catch a few inconsistencies in the game’s visual presentation, as some animations look smoother than others. Every now and then, I’ll find myself thrown off by the flow of the animation, whether it’s a character attack, or the particulars of a cutscene.
When stories involve time travel, it can be a bit silly at times. This game was especially preposterous, as I found myself constantly questioning whether developments made any sense. During the story’s climax, the game went from 0 to 100 miles per hour in just seconds as one big plot twist after another was thrown at me. Big reveals rushed by, and the pacing was off as I felt overwhelmed by the onscreen revelations.
If spread out better, the twists would have been easier to digest, as the sections that eventually led up to the game’s finale were my least favorite parts of the game, which is a bit disappointing, as the story is generally entertaining and supported by likeable characters that I slowly grew fond of during my 28-hour playthrough.
When turned-based combat meets a Time Mage
When you’re not solving every citizen’s petty problem, Crisbelle and company are left to explore various dungeons that host random battles, which sadly don’t feature a flashy transition from dungeon crawling to combat encounters, as seen in the JRPGs that inspired Cris Tales. The screen simply flashes white and loads up the fight.
Combat is turn-based, and you are limited to three party members at a time. What’s interesting about their take on the traditional turn-based combat system is that your party’s situated in the middle of your foes, making it so that enemies spawn on either the left or right side of the screen.
The combat was designed with Crisbelle’s ability in mind, as she can manipulate each side by bringing those on the left to the past and those on the right to the future. This results in enemies changing based on where they are in the battlefield. If you have a wolf on the left side, you can bring him to the past, turning him into a puppy that’s less effective in battle and easier to deal with. Bring a robot on the right to the future, and you’ll be fending against a worn-down version of that machine. All enemies have a past, present, and future version, and it’s fun to experiment and see which of their forms are more advantageous for the player.
You can even play around with character skills, such as poisoning an enemy on the right side, then accelerating the effects of the poison by shifting the creature to its future self, resulting in a flat damage count owing to a build-up of the poison effect.
Experimenting with Crisbelle’s ability was neat, but that appeal only lasted halfway through the game, as I slowly began to play Cris Tales like a normal turn-based RPG, as being smart with her powers can be hit or miss, and therefore not always worth the effort. The feature had its moments, but there were times where I forgot it even existed.
It’s a rare sight to see these kinds of RPGs
Character progression in Cris Tales is straightforward, as there’s no skill tree or any equivalent choices available as to improving your combatants, aside from the trinkets you can equip to alter stats and apply passive effects. Skills for each character in your party are learned as you level up, so there’s a set role for each member to fill. For instance, the shield-wielding elemental mage Cristopher is durable but deadly with magic spells, and JKR-721 can deal crazy amounts of physical damage, but at a cost, as he can overheat and damage himself and those around him.
The progression felt limiting at times, but I enjoyed it, as I took it as a challenge to adjust on the fly. Sometimes, party members become unavailable at certain parts of the story, forcing you to work with what you’ve got and providing other characters an opportunity to shine in combat.
Cris Tales started strong and maintained its quality and composure during most of the game, though a few cracks and issues manifested themselves just as the threads of this epic journey were being wrapped up. Along with the pacing issues mentioned above, I experienced the game locking up multiple times past the 20-hour mark due to an action or skill never resolving, leaving me stuck and forced to reset the game. This also occurred multiple times during the final boss, which was frustrating especially during one attempt where I was one hit away from winning the encounter.
I had my issues and frustrations with Cris Tales, but once I dusted myself off from the finale, I emerged with a big smile. It reminded me why I loved JRPGs. Though it featured the usual JRPG tropes, they were executed so well that I feel Cris Tales is an easy recommendation to anyone eager to find an escape, as it was a fun ride despite some hit-and-miss time travel elements.
8/10
Highlights
PROS
Fully-voiced and likeable characters from start to finish
Features satisfying turn-based combat with novel twists thanks to Crisbell’s abilities
Gorgeous visual design and presentation
CONS
A few inconsistencies with the flow of the game’s animation
Pacing issues - the final act of the game was a bit overwhelming and tedious
Combat lock-up issues that felt prevalent during the later parts of the game
What I’ve Played
Finished the main story and saw multiple endings
Did a fair amount of side quests and repeated big decisions to see the different outcomes
Spent a total of over 28 hours to finish Cris Tales
[This review is based on a PS5 review code provided by Ripples.]
