I did not expect much from Cris Tales, an upcoming RPG from partner developers Dreams Uncorporated and SYCK, when I first downloaded its demo onto my Switch. Simply put, this game just wasn’t on my radar, and I wasn’t even sure (based on a cursory glance at the cover art) that it was the kind of game I’d be interested in. I thought – erroneously – that it was going to be a game in the style of Kingdom Hearts Union χ Dark Road: flat animations; simplistic and boring gameplay; endless, voiceless, uninteresting text to read.
Literally none of my preconceptions were correct, I’m happy to say. I have – literally – never been so glad to be wrong. And I think you should play Cris Tales‘ demo right now so that you don’t have to wait until July to be blessed.
Okay, backing up from the superlatives for a moment: what is CrisTales? Put simply: it is an agile turn-based RPG with clear influences from games like Bravely Default, the latter Persona games, and Chrono Trigger. Developer Dreams Uncorporated is based out of Colombia, and according to interviews, they have incorporated a good chunk of Colombian iconography into the art, gameplay and narrative alongside the JRPG-inspired mechanics. Without knowing any of that context, the moment I started playing the game I was immediately reminded of the aesthetics of Lotte Reiniger. It’s such a gorgeous game, y’all.
The basic story (insofar as there was any in the demo) is that you play as Crisbell, an orphan girl who lives in the care of Mother Superior, an imposing, mysterious, yet caring woman. A yellow frog steals a rose you were pruning, and you give chase. One thing leads to another, and suddenly you have the ability to move between the past and the future, and you are swiftly inducted into an order of Time Mages. Not only does this new power serve you well in battle by weakening enemies or strengthening your own non-time-based powers, but it also plays a heavy role in many of the demo’s puzzles.
Ultimately, I enjoyed my time with CrisTales immensely, and I can’t wait for the full version to come out later this year.