Crystal Story

Overall Score: 8/10

"A Great Example Of A Well-Done RPG"

There are scores of games that claim to be RPG brilliance, but few live up to it. Crystal Story brings together all the elements needed for a good RPG and blends them together seamlessly, to bring us a great game which you can happily lose a few hours hacking out. With great characters, an easy to use combat system and nice difficulty curve, what more could you want?

Presentation/Graphics: 7/10

Once the game is loaded up, you're presented with a clear cut menu screen. Always a winner; there's nothing worse than a game with a cluster-fuck of options before you even get started. Once you create your new game, you're instantly presented with a cut-scene that sets the stage for the adventure you're about to embark on. It doesn't drag out too long, and after, you're introduced to the main characters, and given some direction as to what your goal is. Unfortunately, there is no voice acting involved, so you have to click to scroll through dialogue. Not a major drawback, but some voices would have been nice, and some people find scrolling through dialogue a bit monotonous.
From there, you're ready to begin and start tackling the Evil Cave. A simple help feature is available if you need it, but you'll find the game is easy enough to understand without it, provided you've played a few RPGs before, which I'm sure most of you have.
All the menu screens work great, and are easy to navigate, along with the game-world itself. The graphics are stylish and colourful, and you'll easily recognize all the various monsters you'll be tackling throughout the game. Everything has its own individual details, making characters and environments memorable.
That being said, I personally feel some more detail could have gone into the backgrounds in the dungeons. They don't look bad by any means, but a few little touch-ups here and there would have really helped to bring them to life.

Gameplay/Control: 8/10

The entire game is simply point and click. Whether you're moving characters or making choices, your mouse is all you'll need. This simplistic control system is a joy to use, and is very responsive. Some people may say that they would have liked to have seen hot-keys included, or have been given the option to use wasd or the arrow keys to navigate, but I really don't see much need for them.
You'll have no problem adjusting to the battle system. It cycles through everyone's turns, and presents you with clear options as to what you would like each character to do, and gives you the choice of which enemy to attack. Engaging in battle is as simple as walking into the enemy you wish to fight, but be careful, when you touch one enemy, you battle all the enemies on the screen!
After fights, you are awarded xp, and can use it to level up, and assign new powers to your players.
If you get tired of the main quest, there's mini-games and side quests to unlock and complete, so you're never going to get too bored focusing on the same objectives.
The games difficulty has a nice slope also, so you wont suddenly find the game has gotten too hard, or that you are ill-equipped to deal with its challenges.

Sound: 8/10

The sound quality in the game is great, with no quality issues. The music is quirky and appropriate throughout, and there's separate themes to let you know when you're facing a boss, although that should be apparent anyway. It really helps to immerse you in the games atmosphere, and doesn't become boring and repetitive.
The sound effects are nothing amazing, but work perfectly fine. Different attacks make different noises, and give killing enemies a satisfying twist. Even the noise it makes when you click a button is pleasant to the ear, and makes everything feel smooth.

Glitches: 1

I found that if there's a chest in the room when you enter, it disappears after you battle an enemy.

All in all, this is a fantastic RPG that keeps you interested, and simple works extremely well. You'll find yourself amused by the characters, and keep to level up and expand your arsenal. Better get started!