Cris Tales

Cris Tales is an incredible take on the JRPG with impressive time powers, but the loading times and framerate on Switch are disappointing.

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Cris Tales is an indie JRPG where players can view the past, present, and future simultaneously on one screen, and where choices made have dynamic effects on the story's outcome. Join Crisbell, a newly awakened Time Mage, and her companions as they journey through a dark, fairytale world to stop the Time Empress and rewrite the future. Recruit allies, make choices, and navigate the consequences in this love letter to classic JRPGs.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

64%

Audience ScoreBased on 280 reviews

story114 positive mentions

grinding20 negative mentions

The art style is stunning and beautifully designed, creating a visually captivating experience.
The turn-based combat system introduces unique mechanics like time manipulation, allowing for strategic gameplay.
The story has engaging elements and character development, making it enjoyable for fans of the genre.

The game suffers from pacing issues, with slow movement and excessive loading times that can disrupt the flow of gameplay.
Many players have reported bugs and glitches, including crashes and issues with certain abilities, which detract from the overall experience.
The writing and dialogue can feel clumsy and poorly executed, with grammar issues and a lack of depth in character interactions.

story
292 mentions
39 % positive mentions
52 % neutral mentions
9 % negative mentions
The story of "Cris Tales" is a mixed bag, with many players appreciating its charming characters and engaging premise involving time manipulation, but criticizing its pacing and execution, particularly in the latter acts where it feels rushed and poorly developed. While some found the narrative to be enjoyable and emotionally resonant, others noted significant flaws in dialogue and character depth, leading to a lack of immersion. Overall, the game presents an interesting concept with potential, but struggles with execution, leaving many players feeling that the story could have been more compelling and cohesive.
- “The art style is amazing, the voice acting is great, and the story is solid.”
- “I thought the story and writing was phenomenal and, at times, moving and emotional.”
- “The story follows Crisbell, an orphan who through happenstance meets a talking frog, Matias, which gives her the power of time-bending. Later, she meets compatriots who embark on a journey to stop the upcoming assault by the Time Empress. It is pretty straightforward, but a few twists are added for engagement.”
- “The story is honestly very amateurishly written; most scenes feel like quite a few lines of dialogue are missing, and emotions are essentially never properly conveyed.”
- “The story completely and utterly failed to capture me even a bit.”
- “It's so eager to get you to the trailer-advertised game mechanics that it forsakes its own writing, character motivations, etc. in what is ostensibly a story-based RPG.”
gameplay
218 mentions
34 % positive mentions
62 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Cris Tales" features a unique time manipulation mechanic that enhances exploration and combat, allowing players to interact with the past, present, and future. However, many reviewers noted that while the initial mechanics are engaging, they become repetitive and underutilized as the game progresses, leading to a lack of depth and strategy in battles. Overall, the gameplay is described as charming but flawed, with pacing issues and a simplistic execution that detracts from the potential of its innovative concepts.
- “The gameplay outside of battle is nice, having to go into the past and future to complete tasks to get better endings for the regions.”
- “Cris Tales borrows a lot of welcome aspects of Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG, but puts a very unique spin on mechanics both in and out of combat.”
- “The time mechanic felt useful and interesting throughout the course of gameplay, which was very refreshing when trying to determine the best strategies to fight through enemies.”
- “Some enemies have long pauses before attack animations start, some bosses jump from side to side on screen for seemingly no reason, and there is a brief pause between characters jumping from the back to the foreground to make their moves. The game also clearly runs out of steam by the end of the second act, as you are just returning to old locations and fighting the same bosses again.”
- “The gameplay is overly simplistic, with little synergy, especially between teammate pairings that don't include the main character, and requires little strategy.”
- “The issues are that the fights lack any real depth and do so little with the past/future mechanics that it gets really repetitive and boring after a while.”
graphics
134 mentions
56 % positive mentions
41 % neutral mentions
3 % negative mentions
The graphics of "Cris Tales" are widely praised for their stunning art style, characterized by bright colors and beautiful hand-drawn animations that create a visually captivating experience. Many reviewers highlight the unique design elements, including the time travel mechanic that enhances the visual storytelling, although some note that the overall gameplay and narrative may not match the high quality of the graphics. Despite minor flaws, the art direction is considered a major strength of the game, making it a worthwhile experience for fans of visually striking RPGs.
- “The art style is gorgeous, the soundtrack is good, the characters are nice, and it doesn't drag too much with the story.”
- “Let's get the first thing out of the way, the visuals: I'm glad to say that the gorgeous art is consistently great throughout the game, every design felt immaculate to my eyes.”
- “The striking, picturesque choice of serene and hot colors makes the landscapes feel pleasing to the eyes and makes for some visually iconic moments.”
- “I think Cris Tales was too ambitious on the art style, graphics, and gimmick of time travel, that it left a lot of the other areas unrefined such as the story, characters, and world exploration.”
- “The biggest downside for visuals was the areas outside of city safe zones.”
- “It also provides no mouse support even in menus, the graphics are all blurry and no video options are available.”
music
86 mentions
76 % positive mentions
21 % neutral mentions
3 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally praised for its quality and charm, with many reviewers highlighting the soundtrack as one of the standout features. However, some criticism arises regarding the music's ability to match the game's mood, as well as its repetitive nature and occasional lack of variety. Overall, while the music is well-received, there are suggestions for improvement in its emotional alignment and diversity.
- “The music for this game is fantastic and I plan to use a lot of it for my own D&D campaigns, and the time-based mechanics are really well done.”
- “The soundtrack and art style are the best part of the game.”
- “The music is a 9/10, from the different town themes to the battle tracks that change moderately over time as not to become stale.”
- “Finally, the music is rather homogeneous in tone, kind of like Constantine's music score, but it's still good music and accomplishes its purpose.”
- “Like some reviews also state, the music transitions sometimes are lacking, and the intro for the battles is just a loading screen, which is both good and bad; good because you don't instantly get a heart attack when one pops out, but bad because of the wait.”
- “Game feels extremely unfinished; some decorations of restored locations don't change, especially when you check inside. The music in later levels consists of 1-minute-long annoying tracks, and with each chapter, the characters' speeches become more boring.”
grinding
22 mentions
0 % positive mentions
9 % neutral mentions
91 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that grinding in this game can be tedious and time-consuming, with some players feeling that combat lacks excitement and enemies take too long to defeat. While the absence of complex equipment systems may reduce the need for extensive grinding, many still find the overall experience frustrating, particularly in the endgame where repetitive tasks are required to achieve completion. Players who enjoy grinding may appreciate the depth it offers, but others may find it a significant drawback.
- “When the difficulty increases, combat gets even more tedious because nothing wants to die and you don't ever really do that much damage.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “And considering how turn-based RPGs involve lots of grinding, the issues are doubled.”
emotional
16 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its heartwarming moments and emotional depth, with a story that evokes feelings even for less likable characters. While some emotional scenes are poorly conveyed through text, the overall narrative and writing are considered phenomenal and moving, complemented by a charming presentation and soundtrack. Despite some plot holes and issues, players find the experience to be touching and satisfying.
- “I thought the story and writing was phenomenal and, at times, moving and emotional.”
- “The game has a gorgeous and heartfelt presentation that would not look out of place on a Saturday morning cartoon; it also has a nice soundtrack to go with it.”
- “Nonetheless, it was a heartwarming experience and a game with much more content than I first thought it would have.”
humor
16 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by witty dialogue, amusing character interactions, and creative enemy designs, particularly the comical giant bug enemies. Players appreciate the unique personalities of the characters, with one standout being refreshingly funny amidst a cast that can feel dull. Overall, the blend of humor with intricate lore and engaging politics adds a delightful layer to the gameplay experience.
- “In the museum, there are these weird giant bug enemies. It starts off as a cocoon, but if you invoke the past, it turns into a giant grub thing and somehow webs up your time crystal so you can't break it. Not sure how that works... but anyway, it was called Triggot Creeper or something, and it swallowed up Zas. There's like a little icon of her, and the face she was making was hilarious.”
- “The characters are funny, the lore is interesting, and the politics of each new area are intricate and fun to explore.”
- “I didn't mind that I was able to figure out a lot of the plot while playing, and I was inwardly pleased that the characters would sometimes act or say things I'd have expected them to—either logically or downright hilariously.”
character development
8 mentions
50 % positive mentions
13 % neutral mentions
38 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is described as somewhat basic but still enjoyable, with a fun and cute narrative that complements the engaging combat. The character designs, particularly for the mother superiors, are praised for their excellence, contributing to a visually stunning and immersive world. Overall, while there are minor flaws, the character development adds to the game's charm and appeal.
- “Despite a bunch of tiny flaws scattered throughout the game, I do recommend playing, mainly for the art style and animation, but also for the combat, which is pretty fun and engaging. The story and character development are a bit basic sometimes, but still fun, cute, and interesting!”
- “The character design is fantastic, especially for the mother superiors.”
- “Huge props to the character designers and environment designers for creating a world so detailed and lived-in.”
- “The character development feels a bit basic at times, lacking depth and complexity, which can make it hard to connect with the characters on a deeper level.”
- “While the art style and animation are impressive, the character development doesn't quite match up, leaving some characters feeling one-dimensional.”
- “The story and character development are enjoyable but often feel simplistic, missing opportunities for more profound growth and interaction.”
stability
6 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been criticized for persistent audio and visual glitches, even after multiple updates, which some players find distracting but not game-breaking due to the presence of numerous checkpoints. Additionally, issues with movement and the overall environment contribute to a sense of instability, making gameplay feel tedious at times.
- “But it has a bunch of problems: this may be just me - but I feel the fights are tedious, the movement feels buggy, and the overworld looks very barren compared to the spawn rates on the route.”
- “Ok, it’s 2021, I bought it, but I didn’t start to play it immediately, which is kind of good since I saw a lot of discussion about audio and visual glitches.”
- “On the other hand, visual and audio glitches occurred even after a few updates, nothing game-breaking since this game has a lot of checkpoints.”
optimization
4 mentions
0 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
Overall, the game performs smoothly without stuttering, though users find the system requirements confusing and note a lack of graphics options, which may indicate a focus on optimization that limits customization.
- “Lack of graphics options does seem strange, but that may be due to optimization and the fact that I'm pretty certain there wouldn't be anything game-wise you could change.”
- “Performance-wise, it didn’t stutter or anything like that, and I still don’t understand the system requirements list.”
atmosphere
2 mentions
50 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Reviewers consistently praise the game's art style, highlighting it as a key element that contributes to its captivating atmosphere. The overall aesthetic is appreciated for enhancing the immersive experience.
- “The art: I love the style and atmosphere of the game.”
replayability
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
Players note that recent patches have significantly improved the game's stability and overall playability, enhancing its replayability. This suggests that the game is now more enjoyable to revisit, encouraging players to engage with it multiple times.
- “The new patch seems to have fixed some of these issues, leaving the game in a much more playable state.”