Cris Tales Reviews

While Cris Tales offers a stirring adventure — packed full of wit and character — numerous mechanical shortcomings frequently put the brakes on its excitable spirit. A victim of unfulfilled ambition, Cris Tales doesn’t quite deliver on its clever premise or its chrono-combat. There’s no denying the passion and talent of the developers, however, manifested in stunning visuals and a wonderful cast. Cris Tales will definitely ostracize some players, but those with a little patience may see past its flaws to embrace its heartfelt homage to gaming’s bygone era.

For a game so favorably-regarded and closely-monitored in its build-up to release, it's hard to shake off the minor disappointment and frustrations that Cris Tales generates in its final form. As attractive and thankfully successful its visual style and aesthetic has remained over the course of its total run-time. Both the design and presentation of its world, its setting and even its character design alike, bringing a genuine flair that allows the game to stand out in that regard. But the lack of similarly-lofty ambition and care with its general journey -- as well as some occasional annoyances with its combat -- do eventually drain some of the deserved joy out of one's experience. Whether that's a misgiving of its nostalgic reminiscing is at the end of the day neither here nor there. The journey itself Crisbell and co take doesn't hit the highs the striking aesthetic conjures, but Cris Tales delivers on a satisfying-if-uneven twist to turn-based RPG affairs.

Cris Tales has a lot of positive elements but they start to fall apart at the end. Much of the title's end game could've been stripped down and the game would've benefited from this. The great cast of characters, visual design, and the promising combat system has a lot of positive features. It seems that the developers decided to try and extend the game's life by adding unnecessary tasks towards the end. Turning what could've been a great 25-hour fantasy adventure into a 40-hour adventure that fizzles out at the end. Cris Tales is a worthwhile RPG to experience but you'll have to endure a lot of redundancy.

RPGs and JRPGs are nothing new, but Cris Tales developed by Dreams Uncorporated and Syck, and published by Modus Games is not your typical version of either type. It’s best described as a “love letter” to JRPGs, with its most notable source of inspiration being Chrono Trigger. With its eye-catching art design and its implementation of a time manipulation mechanic, I was intrigued upon watching the very first trailer for it. After a while of waiting, Cris Tales finally released, much to ...

I’ve been riding an RPG high these past couple of months. After spending a lot of time running around a futuristic world with the Scarlet Nexus crew, tackling another story in which time plays such a huge factor set off my Spidey senses. PSLS offered me the Cris Tales review opportunity. Promos promised me a stylish adventure. Never one to turn down the chance to cover a game on my wish list, I weathered my way through thunderstorm-induced power outages to see Crisbell’s story play out.

In Cris Tales, you possess the power to make the world around you go back or forward in time but does this time-traveling mechanic offer something substantial or is it merely a gimmick in this stylish turn-based RPG? Let's find out.

Despite this, it’s clear a lot of heart went into this project. There are good character interactions and moments here, but the actual meat of the game—the gameplay and overarching thrust of the story—falls too short of the bar raised by its presentation to make it an easy title to recommend for its length. As it stands, it’s a quintessential example of style over substance. If Cris Tales fails to grab you by the end of its opening few hours, it won’t do anything to change your mind...

The incredible world-building found in Cris Tales is often overshadowed by lackluster combat, regardless of the unique time travel mechanics.

We tell you, it’s a good game! It’s not average! It might have some problems here and there, but you have to admit it is a “Good” game.

Cris Tales would have been better off leaning into Crisabell's time powers more. It's a really neat idea that should have been beaten over the player's heads far more than it was. Instead, Cris Tales pulls its punches for some reason and the whole mechanic ends up feeling half-baked.

Cris Tales is an enchanting story wrapped in a gorgeous visual style, but lacks sustained imagination in gameplay. JRPG players will find enjoyment within, but those less patient may be turned off after a few hours.

There I was, about 6 hours into Cris Tales. The game was starting to make sense; there’s some timey-wimey stuff going on, classic JRPG combat, an unassuming hero. All in all, a classic formula. Suddenly, I’m presented a choice – who is going to lead the town of St. Clarity? Will it be the salt-of-the-earth, social activist who wants equality for all, or will it be the cashed-up aristocrat with enough money and power to lead the citizenry to prosperity? I choose the former, and I’m giv...

This love letter to classic JRPGs has a lot of heart & charm, but is a bit rough around the edges.

Cris Tales isn't going to set your world on fire, but it proves to be good turn-based RPG comfort food. If you don't mind titles that drag a bit, this one is for you.

So while Cris Tales’s story and gameplay may come up a bit light for some, it manages to provide a fun, unique experience that, rather than simply imitate the games that came before it, takes inspiration from them and strives to build something unique.

Cris Tales is a unique blend of ideas and influences. In my two previews of the game, I most frequently compared to the game to Paper Mario, which is still apt, but the game also borrows from other 16 and 32-bit JRPGs like Chrono Trigger and Valkyrie Profile, classic Disney movies, Cartoon Network favorites, and the developers’ own Colombian culture and landmarks. On top of all that, the game also forges its own path with innovative time-manipulation mechanics that will have you jumping between the past, present, and future at will.

Cris Tales is an absolutely incredible homage to classic JRPGs, whilst taking care to modernise their core mechanics for modern audiences. The gorgeous visual style, superb voice acting, clever mechanics and emotive story-telling all combine together here to make an incredible title. Then, with the addition of comprehensive and innovative uses of time in all parts of the game, it becomes a near perfect experience. Cris Tales has arguably surpassed its JRPG inspirations and absolutely deserves your time (pun entirely intended).

A striking RPG that fails to deliver on its temporal premise.

Cris Tales sets a high bar when describing itself as a love letter to some of the best JRPGs of all time, but indie studio Dreams Uncorporated manages to exceed expectations by delivering a charming game with unique and challenging combat mechanics and a gorgeous artstyle. The characters are interesting, and the ability to peer into their past and future makes you care even more for them – especially the protagonist and its allies, which will travel alongside you during the game’s 20-30 hours of gameplay.

An attractive JPRG with a hugely innovative central time manipulation mechanic, it seems as though the developers behind the game fell head over heels in love with that element of Cris Tales design at the expense of crafting a world with memorable characters, motivations, places and events. That said, Cris Tales non-linear story and neat use of time manipulation will still hold a fair amount of allure for genre newbies and stalwarts alike.

Another big issue I ran into was the promise of Crisbell being able to make big decisions in order to affect the future. Cris Tales even starts you off by making a small decision early on, determining whose house to provide the house healing salve to, changing the future for one family and resigning another to their fate. This is conceptually a neat idea. The next town asked Crisbell to help them make a decision and instead of a pop-up asking me to make the decision, Crisbell just had unvoiced text on the screen and I couldn’t choose an option. Pressing the ‘okay’ button to move on had Crisbell respond as if she had made a decision, but I wasn’t given the option. Cris Tales is riddled with bugs that really killed any excitement I had for the game. I was treated to missing sound effects, soft locks, quizzical NPC responses based on what was happening in the plot, and a boss fight that I was able to complete in about 5 moves without the boss running out of HP. I entered a boss fight, applied poison and speed to my teammates, planted a heal potion for later and when it was the bosses turn the game glitched and just ended.

Though it doesn't quite stick the landing, Cris Tales is an enjoyable turn-based RPG adventure with a lovable story about a found family bending time to save the world.

A loving tribute to the past and present of Japanese role-players, with some impressively clever time travel powers and gorgeous artwork – although it’s a shame about the random battles.

Cris Tales takes the best parts of classic RPGs, mixes them all together, and adds its own spin to make it truly unique. While it can stumble a bit near the end, fans of the genre don’t want to miss this gorgeous game.

Cris Tales is an idealistic and earnest RPG with loads of heart, beautiful art, and a seriously groovy time travel twist to combat.

Regardless of its issues, there’s no denying that Cris Tales fulfils the mission its developers set out to achieve, and with gusto: this truly is a gorgeous love letter to classic JRPGs. An epic story combined with a truly beautiful visual style will keep you hooked until the credits roll. With a small update here and there, Cris Tales has all the makings of a modern classic.

Cris Tales starts strong as a time travel RPG set in a beautiful world, but suffers from a misguided plot and combat woes