I fell in love with CrossCode the second I put the cartridge into my Switch. Yes, thankfully I have this bad boy physically and with a steelbook to boot! I’ve had it since 2020 but finally took the plunge and am so glad that I did. CrossCode honestly might be my favorite game so far this year (Sorry Horizon Forbidden West…). Let me tell you guys why.
An SNES Love Letter
The very first thing I noticed about CrossCode was its wonderful soundtrack. From its title screen to every battle segment, CrossCode couldn’t disappoint me with its soundtrack even if it wanted to. It was the perfect blend of nostalgic and modern.
Right off the bat, I could tell the folks at Radical Fish Games wanted to pay homage to games like Secret of Mana and other SNES titles. I personally feel like they got a lot of inspiration from Secret of Mana but that could just be because I have experience with that game and could see similarities. Everything from the pixel art to the soundtrack made me feel like I was playing a retro game and I could not have been happier.
Exploring the world reminded me a lot of Secret of Mana as well. CrossCode is a huge open world game with many biomes to explore. From the lush forests of Gaia’s Garden to the cold terrain of Bergen Trail each biome contains “rooms” that you’ll walk between. Much like SNES games, these rooms are panels with transition spaces to separate them.
CrossCode doesn’t rely on nostalgia alone to sell itself to its players. Instead, it marries both new and old in perfect matrimony. I love when games can blend retro and modern together. CrossCode does this perfectly and could honestly write the book on how to do so.
Hi. Lea. Wait. Why?
The heartbeat of CrossCode, at least for me, was its beautifully written story. You play as Lea, a mute woman on a mission to recover her memories by playing through a popular MMOG. The story is much more complex than that, but I don’t want to spoil too much in this post. I want to do a deep dive into Lea and her story for another post in the future so stay tuned.
Without giving away the entire story, I’ll just say that it was one that I felt was executed perfectly. I laughed, I cried and I was certainly on the edge of my seat at times. Watching Lea interact with fellow players of CrossWorlds was my favorite thing about this game. She can only say a few words but those few words mixed with her reactions say a lot more than most scripts. On top of that, Lea has to be one of the best mute characters I have seen portrayed in video games.
Her limited speech abilities didn’t stop her from getting her point across and she definitely didn’t let it hold her back from her end goal. In fact, in many ways I felt like her difficulties with speech helped mold her as a character even more. She was fierce, sassy and independent. I very much fell in love with Lea and that has not gone away after playing the game. She has continued to stay with me and will forever be a favorite character of mine.
The Land of CrossWorlds
Mixing virtual reality into a physical landscape, CrossWorlds is a popular MMOG created by a company called Instatainment. Most of CrossCode takes place within this MMOG and follows our main character, Lea, during her playthrough of the game. However, there is so much more to it than that and I really appreciated the amount of lore this game provided.
Not only did I feel well-versed in CrossWorlds, but I felt pretty confident about the outside world, as well. Often times CrossCode felt like a game within a game. You have what Lea was up to within CrossCode, and what was going on outside of CrossWorlds. In fact, I would love to see some more insight on the outside world in a sequel someday.
CrossWorld’s landscape is very unique and consistently took my breath away. Essentially the entire world is filled with puzzles. Not only that, but the environment has layers that can be difficult to differentiate at first. Eventually though, the bigger picture will become so clear and you’ll always find yourself amazed at how these puzzles and landscapes come together.
Blue-Haired Spheromancer
CrossCode’s combat system is extremely unique. It happens in real time and is incredibly fast-paced. It was definitely jarring at times, especially in the beginning when I was learning it. In time though, it got easier and I began to appreciate the complexity of it. You’ve got access to a range attack, a dash that can act as a dodge and of course your melee attacks. You can also block.
On top of all of that, you can unlock certain abilities for each category to further expand how each skill acts. For example, you can upgrade your dash to do damage to enemies as you dash through them. There are options for each one as well, so choose wisely. Don’t fret too much though, you’ll have some opportunities to reallocate your skill points if you want to try a different ability.
While you play through the story that CrossWorlds presents to Lea, you’ll gain access to four elements: Cold, Heat, Shock, and Wave. Each element has its own skill tree as well, mixing in even more interesting opportunities. In fact, towards the end of the skill trees you’ll have access to some really fun and devastating attacks. You can use elements as often as you like, but as you do you will build up an elemental overload meter. To mitigate that, just switch back to normal attacks for bit. That constant ebb and flow of power keeps balance throughout combat to ensure that you never feel too powerful.
Honestly though, CrossCode is a fairly difficult game which I appreciated. The devs knew this though, and provided the players with options to lower damage intake and other factors should the game prove too difficult. There’s no shame in tweaking what you need to to ensure a smooth and pleasant experience because CrossCode is definitely a game I would recommend to anyone.
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