Review: CRISTALES Is A Slightly Cracked Crystal Of Style and Gaming
Art and beauty are subjective. But I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Cristales is objectively one of the most beautifully made games in the last few years. But Cristales is also so much more than gorgeous art, the gameplay is innovative and mostly well-balanced. While some of the pacing and load times are rough here or there, the game as a whole is a powerful experience.
Let’s talk about the most important part of any game; the gameplay. Cristales is a deep role-playing game that has some strong puzzle mechanics and light exploration. When playing any RPG, the battles and grind for levels have to be engaging and entertaining. Cristales adds some unique time elements to normal skills and magic to keep players experimenting with a variety of combos and characters. Also, in the midst of battle, players can land more effective hits and take less damage when hitting a button at the right time. This adds a solid layer of interactivity that can heavily impact each battle and keep players more engaged. Battles can be quite enjoyable but can feel a bit repetitive. The battles can also become a bit annoying because they are random encounters with longer load times.
Another major element to the gameplay is how players affect the places they visit by changing things in the past and present (this is the story). This system is quite bold and impactful, seeing certain places fall to ruins or houses being saved because of choices you have to make. I do wish there was a bit more freedom in how and when players could interact with these events and choices. A lot of the story elements and “time” choices are all just “walk here, talk to this person, walk their talk to this person and grab this item and place it here” etc. It is all heavily scripted and sometimes the plot points and character interactions feel more like padding for time than genuine gameplay and puzzles. There are a lot of complex systems in play, and I understand how amazing the feats are of making three living timelines, but a little more liberty in pacing and choice could go a long way.
As I’ve mentioned and as it is easy to see, there is a very clear and stylized design here for the game. The colors, shapes, animation, and creative approach to the visuals are immaculate. Every character, creature, environment, and movement brings this world to life. The voice acting also adds a lot of weight to the game’s story and the characters’ emotions. I could go on all day about how beautiful the game is altogether, but it is safe to say that this is easily one of the best-looking games of the year.
Now, there are a lot of positives about this game, but there are some big issues too. The biggest problem is load times, especially on the Switch. It is understandable to need bigger load times when entering a new area or reaching a certain point in the story, but every cutscene, battle, and area require more than five seconds of loading, and those things all happen a lot. It usually wouldn’t be a problem, but it is so frequent that probably about 5% or more of the actual game time is loading. Another issue with the game is the lack of direction at times. It can be fun to explore and get to know a city, but to progress the story, players often need to wander around, talking to a bunch of people or loading in and out for areas for just one item to progress the story. There are in-game hints (thank goodness), but they can vary in their usefulness. Sometimes a clue will say to talk to a certain person, and sometimes it is as broad as “we need to get inside the building.” This can become more frustrating as this hunting for plot points combines with the constant load times.
Cristales is a basket of good ideas and a stunning presentation. New mechanics and a sleek style are fresh and fun. But frequent loading, random battles, and lack of direction hold this game back from being the fantastic phenomena of art and gaming it could be.
