There is one thing we cannot deny to Japanese games: it does not matter what the genre or the setting (whether it is a medieval fantasy or a slice of life set in our era), they have no shortage of themes and atmosphere when it comes to creating stories and adventures to live. And something that developers seem undeniably drawn to when it comes to fictional fiction is arguably philosophy, and the more dark, existentialist and depressed it is that gripping human existence daily, the better (the now more than 20-year-old popularity of Evangelion it is an evident testament to it, to stay on the biblical theme!), as in the case of this one CRYSTAR.
The game we’re going to cover today, however, takes all of this to the extreme. Because? Let’s put it this way: what if someone created a game hack and slash imbued with an everlasting sense of devastating sadness, centered mostly on tragic deaths, existentialist philosophy, and where the main gameplay mechanic for any aspect of the experience is crying? Well, then we’d have this on our hands CRYSTARaction RPG released in the west by Nippon Ichi Software (and from FuRyu in Japan) and developed by GEMDROPS and that as a screenwriter he has a certain Naoki Hisayawho had already sharpened his nails with other heart-wrenching titles like the poignant visual novel Kanon and the touching supernatural souls Sora no Method. After obtaining a lot of support on PlayStation 4 and PC, the title finally lands on Nintendo Switch, ready to bring the owners of the N-branded console into an otherworldly and sentimentally oppressive world … admitted and not granted that the port is stable and well done. It will be like this? We’ll see…
- Title: CRYSTAR
- Platform: Nintendo Switch
- Reviewed version: Nintendo Switch (EU)
- Type: Action RPG
- Players: 1
- Publisher: Nippon Ichi Software America
- Developer: GEMDROPS
- Tongue: English (lyrics and dubbing), Japanese (dubbing)
- Exit date: March 29, 2022
- Availability: retail, digital delivery
- DLC: nobody
- Note: this is the port of the game released in 2018 on PlayStation 4 and PC
The protagonist of our story is the young woman Rei Hatadaan introvert hikikomori that nature has endowed with a cascade of platinum-colored hair and two eyes as large and bright as sapphires, which one day wakes up in a strange dreamlike dimension together with her younger sister Mirai. After wandering for a while in that strange realm, which is none other than Purgatory, the two girls soon make the acquaintance of Anamnesisan enigmatic woman of dark powers whose purpose appears to be to devour the souls of human beings, and apparently the very cause of the two girls’ unexpected “trip” into the afterlife.
An escalation occurs, in which Rei sees a power arise within her that she has never seen before, and the ability to summon a majestic guardian spirit to protect her. However, the girl finds herself unable to fully control her newly manifested powers, and in the fight she ends up fatally wounding her little sister, whose soul is thus relegated to Purgatory waiting to reach the top layer and reincarnate.
Desperate, Rei soon finds herself making a pact with two mysterious demonesses at the head of the realm, Mephis And Pheles, who agree to guide her through Purgatory in exchange for her commitment to become their personal executioner and to hunt down Ghosts and Returners, that is, rebellious souls transformed into monsters moved by the hatred of their departure and who do not want to submit to the laws of the afterlife. Thus begins the sad adventure of Rei, who will find herself not only having to fight the tormented souls of the dead, but who will also cross paths with other executioners like her, each with their own crowds and their sordid skeletons in the closet.
From a tear on the face …
There really isn’t much to say about the gameplay of CRYSTAR, not least because it has already been covered earlier in our detailed review of its original version. It is a fairly basic hack ‘n’ slash and without real, substantial novelties, in which we will move Rei and her companions around the various floors of Purgatory to carry out the missions requested by Mephis and Pheles, here called Ordalies. The character we control will have the ability to jump, use both light and heavy blows with the weapon supplied, sprint to dodge attacks and use powerful special attacks that he will get by leveling up. In addition to the classic hit points and skill points typical of games of this genre, we will also have a tear-shaped indicator at the bottom of the screen, which will fill up by hitting enemies or pausing to hold L to let us go to a good cry, but sacrificing our SP (which we can still regenerate with standard physical attacks).
When the tear indicator is full, we will be able to summon our guardian spirit, which will be of substantial help in the fight until the indicator is empty. Also, by pressing the key L before this empties, we will be able to allow our guardian to unleash a powerful special attack on the enemy. A nice mechanic, although not exactly innovative … and the lack of innovation, as well as the very limited variety of types of enemies and their attack patterns that, leaving out the bosses at the end of the chapter, are not all that memorable or interesting either in design nor in the type of attacks.
As previously specified, crying is the main mechanic around which the whole experience revolves CRYSTAR (adequate, considering how desolate and depressing the whole experience is), and not only will it allow us to summon the guardian during battles, but it will also be the main method by which to obtain new equipment for our girls. By defeating the Returning (which are nothing more than slightly more powerful versions of the basic enemies), we will get gods Torments, that is, residual memories of the souls when they were still alive, and which will give us penalties to the statistics until we purify them once we return to Rei’s room; purification that occurs crying for them, and that will transform the Torments into Feelings, real weapons and armor that can be equipped or strengthened by fusion, as well as giving them special abilities.
Visions that disappear
We come now to the rendering of the porting of CRYSTAR on Nintendo Switch. And well… there is very little to say in reality: the work we have in our hands is much better than expected. Leaving aside some drop in framerate during the summoning and the finishing moves of the guardians, especially if you are up against a particularly large enemy like a boss, the game is decidedly fluid in its 30 FPS, and without that nasty loss of graphic detail that too many Sometimes it contaminates the Switch ports, especially if you have the misfortune to play them on a laptop without having a Switch OLED or you own a Lite. This is also helped by the nice trick used to make objects appear gradually on the horizon with a gradual fade, so as not to have to load too many things all at once, without however generating an unpleasant pop-up effect.
Another addition that will surely please the fans and that for some time has become almost a practice for this kind of port on the Nintendo console is the inclusion from the beginning of what in the original versions of CRYSTAR were the extra DLCs. In fact, just select the wardrobe mode in Rei’s room to be literally overwhelmed by the wide selection of alternative costumes and accessories for our darlings to wear, available in this version without having to spend a single cent more!
Who do we recommend CRYSTAR for Nintendo Switch to?
It is a bit difficult speech. CRYSTAR it has this dark and oppressive atmosphere, as well as events so tragic and heavy that they probably may not be exactly the most suitable for those suffering from depression or otherwise not a particularly cheerful type. We have in our hands a very introspective and VERY depressing game, which does not have problems dealing with unpleasant issues such as suicide, toxic socio-family situations and mental disorders of various kinds.
If you love this kind of dark stories and you like the gothic lolita aesthetic, then it could easily be your bread, as well as if you want action RPG that doesn’t have too frenetic and spectacular mechanics (like a DMC, so to speak). Just as it is a highly recommended game for those who love a good story and well-written dialogues, and don’t mind replaying a title several times to get the best ending (and believe me: there are many endings). Just remember that, as with many other games of this mold, the Italian language is absent.
- Technically good even in laptop
- Excellent narrative sector
- It has all the DLCs included
- Many different endings
- There is not a great variety of dungeons and enemies
- Some slowdowns during battles
- The combat system is all too basic
- Lack of localization in Italian
CRYSTAR
A tearful storyteller, now also on the laptop
The Nintendo Switch version of CRYSTAR it will not be absolutely perfect, but it is still very solid and cared for in many details. A dreamlike and moving story that leaves you with a sense of despair like few others, and at the same time makes you think about many things, with perhaps not sensational gameplay but that on Switch works even better than expected. If you have the stomach to digest particularly sad themes, and you have a passion for philosophy (especially if Greek) and theories about the afterlife, and you have not yet had the opportunity to find it on other platforms or you are not used to the idea of playing on a computer, then throwing an eye on it won’t hurt. But keep your handkerchiefs handy, as it is very likely that Rei will not be the only one to cry.
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