I don’t really play many Japanese Role-Playing Games anymore, but there is always this overwhelming feeling of coming back home when I do. Everyone’s love for gaming started somewhere, and for me, it was with the copy of Final Fantasy V my parents brought home when I was a kid. From that day on, gaming had me hooked. Over the years, my tastes have moved more to the horror and platformer side of things, but whenever a new JRPG crosses my path, I’m right back to being that excited little kid again – hence my excitement to dive into Cris Tales.
Without spoiling the entire plot, the story of Cris Tales revolves around the character you control, a young orphan girl named Crisbell. One day Crisbell, or Cris for short, is outside picking a rose for Mother Superior when it is snatched from her hands by a talking frog named Mantis. Cris follows Mantis in an attempt to snatch the rose back. Mantis leads Cris to a Cathedral, and it is there that Cris’s true powers are unleashed, and she becomes a Time Mage.
The unique and novel time manipulation system is the most exciting part of Cris Tales and sets it apart from other turn-based JRPGs. After Cris becomes a time mage, your screen will be split into three sections going forward. The centre of the screen shows the present, past is to the left, and future is to the right. This makes for a fascinating mechanic, which leads to a lot of critical thinking during the game. For example, during one of your first fights, you use your water spell on the enemy’s shield, which will then cause the shield to be rusted and brittle in the future. Outside of combat, the time system is used to show you the impact your choices have on the world and those around you.
This time manipulation is wonderful, although I did find myself wishing that it was more important later in the game rather than just a novelty that only sometimes gets its moment to shine. Along with the time mechanic, you also put together a team of playable characters, each with unique abilities that can be used in combat alongside Cris’s powers.
Cris Tales is an absolutely gorgeous game with really incredible voice acting. There were so many moments where I would listen to conversations and almost forget that I was playing a game instead of watching an animated movie. However, I had an overwhelming feeling that the game is aimed at a much younger audience, although the combat difficulty often didn’t match that.
My two most significant issues would be the structure of the tutorials and the price. Coming in at R550 on Steam, Cris Tales is priced on the high-end when it comes to Indie Games, and it’s a cost that just doesn’t feel justified. As a comparison, 12 Minutes which just launched, is also fully voice acted by famous actors like James McAvoy and Willem Defoe, and that goes for only R165. Hell, even if we stick to the same genre, you can pick up the remastered versions of most of the Final Fantasy games for under R300 on Steam. It just feels rather pricy for what you get. My other issue is the flow of the tutorial. Quite a few times, I found myself having to figure out how to do something myself and only after I’ve already figured it out would I get a tutorial explaining to me how to do the thing that I just did all on my own.
That being said, if you’re able to look past everything mentioned above, then there is a real gem of a game to be found in Cris Tales, and I would recommend fans of the JRPG genre look at picking it up when it goes on sale.
Cris Tales will take you roughly 20 to 30 hours to complete depending on your play style.