Crystal Story: The Hero and the Evil Witch

About

"Crystal Story: The Hero and the Evil Witch" is a 2.5D dungeon crawler/turn-based RPG where you play as the members of Mercenary Inc, tasked with saving the world by retrieving the stolen Crystal of Power from an evil witch. Explore randomly generated dungeons, battle fierce monsters, and collect loot to help you on your journey. With a dynamic leveling system, equippable abilities, and craftable items, players can customize their party and strategize as they take on stronger foes. This game is a remake of a flash game previously published on Newgrounds in 2011.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

Crystal Story: The Hero and the Evil Witch screenshot

70%

Audience ScoreBased on 47 reviews

story4 positive mentions

grinding6 negative mentions

The game features a classical turn-based atmosphere that many players enjoy.
Customization options for characters are appreciated, allowing for varied gameplay experiences.
The updated graphics and art style are clean and visually appealing.

The new skill point and disk systems are seen as shallow and less engaging compared to previous installments.
The game feels rushed and lacks additional challenges, making it less memorable than its predecessors.
Many players feel that the remake does not capture the charm and depth of the original Crystal Story games.

story
64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6%
89%
5%
The story of "Crystal Story: The Hero and the Evil Witch" is viewed as a remaster of the original game rather than a true sequel, leading to disappointment among fans who expected a continuation of the narrative. While some appreciate the nostalgic elements and open-ended quest structure, many feel it lacks the charm and depth of "Crystal Story II," with criticisms aimed at its character expressions and overall storytelling quality. Overall, the game is seen as enjoyable but fails to capture the essence of its predecessors.
- “It is open-ended as to what order you do quests in, and you can keep going to areas you have already cleared to work on leveling up.”
- “Recommended as someone who played Crystal Story II first; it sounds like this version has been remade to feel like that game.”
- “Crystal Story is honestly a fabulous game you did an amazing job in developing it, and I am overjoyed to be able to give you a fraction of the joy you have given me. Crystal Story is one of my favorite games; I remember the long hours I spent playing it when I was younger.”
- “This is a remake of the old Crystal Story, and somehow the original is much better.”
- “I tried my best to give this game the benefit of the doubt; I did the side quests, I tried to progress quickly and go through the story, I overlooked the first several blunders but there just really isn't anything salvageable here.”
- “However, this game doesn't have the charm of Crystal Story 2.”
graphics
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
42%
25%
The graphics have seen notable improvements, particularly in character artwork and battle visuals, which are described as clean and appealing. However, while the graphical enhancements are appreciated, some reviewers feel that the overall experience does not surpass that of previous flash games, indicating that the gameplay and story elements may not match the visual upgrades.
- “Ngl, of course I have positive points to say, I loved the updated graphics compared to the previous installments (6 years!), more sounds, a stable battle system (no more potential zero damage and frequent misses), an appropriate post-game final boss (lol, we didn't get to fight Rita in the original despite her being the main villain?) and filled plot holes.”
- “The art style is very clean.”
- “The battle art style looks pretty cool, I like that it's voiced and the character artwork looks way better.”
- “It's improved graphically, but the rest, well, not so much.”
- “Hard to recommend when the flash game is a tad better than this, just graphically worse.”
- “The graphics are decent, but they don't elevate the overall experience.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively repetitive and tedious, often involving the same dungeons and lacking engaging character development. While some appreciate the customization options and acknowledge the game's indie charm, many express frustration with the soul-crushing grind that diminishes motivation to pursue post-game content or achievements. Overall, the grinding experience is seen as a significant drawback.
- “What I got was characters about as interesting as mildly wet cardboard that were more two-dimensional than their actual 2D sprites, and a game that is so unbelievably grindy and repetitive with the exact same dungeon over and over. It's still an absolute slog even if you do said soul-crushing amount of grinding.”
- “I spent about 1 hour grinding and did a small amount of the post-game, but it's just some new boss battles, essentially. I can't work up the motivation to come back and complete the post-game or achievement hunt.”
- “Basic but great can be grindy at times, and a bit samey the way through. It's an indie game and it's great for what it is, but the grinding can be a drawback.”
gameplay
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
25%
25%
The gameplay is polished and free of bugs, but many players find it lacking in memorable elements, describing it as an experiment that fell short. However, the developers have been responsive to feedback, implementing updates that have significantly improved the overall quality of the gameplay.
- “It feels like an experiment that went poorly and was just shipped out, but to give full credit, updates were made in response to criticism very quickly and the quality of the gameplay improved substantially as a result.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players appreciate the game's classical turn-based atmosphere, which evokes nostalgia from earlier web-based versions. This ambiance contributes to an enjoyable experience, enhancing the overall engagement with the game.
- “I played this and its sequel when they were still on websites. I'm only a few hours in right now, but so far I'm enjoying the game's classical turn-based atmosphere.”

Buy Crystal Story: The Hero and the Evil Witch

5h Median play time

5h Average play time

5-5h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs

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