Cba finishing the game
Ppfffffft what a game.
Could have been a masterpiece if not for a few flaws. Not minor or major flaws but, actual fatal ones.
Crosscode starts of really well with good pacing and there is just so much to appreciate about it. Gear progression was satisfying, combat and puzzling. The story starts slow but it definetely has an intriguing vibe to it.
That is until I reached the second temple. The temple that set the stage for what game I was getting into. 90% of the dungeon was puzzling. Then I reach the third temple, wave, wich had a bit more combat encounters but were very short lived.. still like 75% puzzles. Shock.. 90% puzzles. Boss fights? Alot of them need ranged and/or puzzles to deal with effectively. Fighting a boss just purely melee felt rare to me. Wich I was not a fan of considering attack is a broad modifier and its cool investing in it.
Typically before I enter a big dungeon in games, I always like to prepare myself and get the best gear possible or atleast a sense of being up to date. Well.. the game does a poor job at that because you need to finish a temple halfway before getting the required mechanic to fully explore environments. It doesnt help that equipments very very rarely get dropped either. A mix of progression, pacing and loot system flaws here.
The combat. Probably the strongest aspect of the game yet heavily diminished due to the amount of puzzles in the game. It just feels impossible getting into combat for a good duration and get that good satisfying taste of what you invested in. There is always something that just has to stand in your way of unleashing all that damage you worked for. Be it enemies die too quick, a puzzle mechanic or getting swarmed by a group of pack that contain some floating enemies. For example im fighting the shock boss right and was really ready to unleash elemental melee combos on the boss.. until nope, you have to do a puzzle mechanic before breaking the boss and then deal the necessary dmg. The overworld combat eventually gets stale and just not worth doing. Diffuculty doesnt come from mechanics. Its mostly a puzzle that has to add the friction.
Story? Not worth it. Takes too long and just gets diminished by the amount of puzzles. Again.
This did not feel like an Action RPG to me, but really a Puzzle RPG one. Everything gets diminished by the quantity of them. To the point of losing the feel of quality. Such a damn shame because Crosscode has incredible fluid physics, combat and combat system.
Long post sorry but had to get that outta the way.