The Tofurkey of video games: it says it’s a game, but I know damn well it isn’t; but really it just makes me ♥♥♥♥ regularly – which at the end of the day is what I desperately needed in the first place.

A virtually perfect game that not only champions the spirit of classic JRPGs, but innovates on the entire experience JRPG veterans have come to expect.


In my opinion, the timeless JRPGs - those that we can play at any time after their initial release with great enjoyment - are those that innovate upon the initial winning formula that progenitor games like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest started, with their own unique twists. Final Fantasy 10 gave us a visible turn order, Octopath Traveller gave us the shield-break (quasi stagger) mechanic, SMT3 gave us enemies with multiple turns (my reference range is short), and many others with other changes. Crystal Project gives us all the battle information needed - turn orders, enemy stats, enemy abilities, ally ability hit percentages and damage, etc - to justify their approach to combat: strategy and (on the higher difficulty) careful preparation for success. This might not sound too enticing, but the end result is probably exactly what you want from a JRPG: it's strategic, ruthless at times, and gives you a real sense of reward when you beat a difficult enemy or boss.


Where Crystal Project's combat seems dated (it's perfect if you enjoy turn-based combat and i'll die on this hill) the open-world exploration and immersive experience of the world therein, definitely is not. To have a JRPG with this level of satisfying exploration is an absolute game-changer; to the point of this being the new standard for enjoyable world exploration for me. It begins innocuous, in the sense that you're a regular character in a world that can jump and traverse the environment to a certain degree, but it progresses into you mastering the landscapes you traverse, finding hidden treasures only available through a keen eye, inquisitive mind, and patient resolve. The beauty of the entire experience can be summed up as: the world is a pleasure to explore. There are no invisible walls, no locked-off areas - the whole world is yours to explore. You'll find hidden end-game bosses accidentally, areas that require certain "mounts" that you'll find later, areas that have enemies that are definitely too strong for you, and points of interest that you won't know what to do with for dozens of hours. You'll intuitively gain a sense for what the world and terrain requires of you, and this constant expanding of the explorative potential of the world you're a part of guides a fantastically enjoyable experience for the whole game.

Puzzles are all over the place: platforming sequences, time-dependant movements, classical puzzles, etc. - these elements of Crystal Project are never too laborious, but rather flavour the explorative element of the game.

The random encounters that you would expect from a JRPG aren't random: every encounter is represented on the overworld as a sprite that you can avoid through movement, baiting their movement, etc. You can tell which encounters are bosses by their different sprite appearance, and eventually you'll be able to tell which sprite is which encounter by their map placements and movements. This gives the explorative element an oddly stealth-like approach, where certain areas have you moving in a particular way because the enemies are sensitive to movement or sight, for example. It sounds weird, but it adds yet another enjoyable element to your journey in Crystal Project.

As the world opens up to you, you'll gain an appreciation for the verticality of the areas you've previously explored. As you continue to venture through the world and touch the open sea, you'll gain a new found fear for the water and depths below it. With the ability to traverse the world vertically, and the option of underwater and deep-sea exploration, the later side of Crystal Project is for me the most anxiety inducing world exploration i've had in a JRPG.

For a 3D, fixed-perspective game, it's about as enjoyable as it gets. The only fault (and, really, it's hardly a fault and i'm just nitpicking at this point) is that progression in points of interest (dungeons, caves, etc.) is expressly linear, so on paper it's "not ideal" but in reality it's familiar and wonderfully executed.


The combat is perfect for turn-based enjoyers, they've heralded in a new era of world exploration, but what about the quintessential element of the JRPG? The RPG! Crystal Project has you control 4 party members, each with the freedom to be any class and take any role. What these 4 party members are for you is, well, up to you. The game presupposes that you'll follow the classic tank-dps-healer-support (roughly) team setup, and as such provides you with a whole host of 24 discoverable classes to construct your party with. Each party member has a primary class and a secondary class, the only difference being the passive abilities that are afforded to each party member by virtue of their primary class. For example, the Wizard gives the character a 15% bonus to fire and lightning damage, the Shaman provides a 25% spell lifesteal to the character, and the Reaper converts 40% of physical damage done into temporary max HP that slowly degrades over time. You'll equip your party members with equipment and accessories that have certain effects, tailor your party member primary and secondary class combinations to be useful for your desired party composition, and overall just have a great time doing this as you progress through the game.

As you progress, you'll find certain bosses require a more tailored approach to beating them - for example, the cleric (white mage) has an ability that negates all fire damage for a few turns - so expect to fight a boss a couple of times. This is counter to, most likely, what a lot of JRPG enjoyers have come to expect with the difficulty of JRPGs where you can brute-force your way through the game. This is not necessarily the case here, as your party composition (equipment included) play a huge role in your success.


Chocobo Hot and Cold, Monster Arena, Chocobo Racing, Golden Saucer... ♥♥♥♥, is it only Final Fantasy that have these things? The optional elements of JRPGs are those quirky, eccentric mini-games or side-stuff that keep you occupied along your journey or are extracurricular goals post-game goals, are definitely here in Crystal Project. The most notable is the acquisition of the "best mount" which is a long-winded experience of doing an optional minigame that if you're not expediting it, is a real grindy and frustrating experience - perfect for the JRPG sadist.

Crystal Project has it's own series of optional content - from mini-games and secret areas, to super-bosses that will make you want to tear your eyes out. JRPGs that have a sea (literally) of optional end-game content just show me that the developers really appreciate and understand the journey of a JRPG, and it's done exactly how you would want it to be here.


BUY