hmm
its really good, but i wish you could see the items u equiped
Reviews for "Crystal Story"
How can you even feed the smile?
so yea... how?
One of the best Games on Newgrounds, Warts and all
Crystal Story strikes me as a the perfect kind of flash RPG- Its depth is achieved through all the right kind of sacrifices.
From an ascetics standpoint, your game hits as many key elements as it NEEDS too: there aren't a crazy amount of animations between the characters and monsters, and while it may get stale, it doesn't draw attention to itself- its not obnoxiously repetitive, its subtly repetitive, so it doesn't grate your nerves. The sounds were pretty standard-issue for flash-game fare, but by giving each sound its own distinct action associated with it (you never confused the 'basic attack' sound with a 'spell' sound, and so forth), and that helped to build the immersion where the visuals were lacking. The music was appropriate and varied, too, with a very heavy JRPG influence that fit the game well, considering it's a condensed JRPg.
Story-wise, it was pretty standard. The scarce dialogue was a treat- you weren't bogged down in exposition or story, so cut-scenes were actually a reward rather than something that simply had to be endured. This makes the characters more likable- they were all two-dimensional and lacking any real depth, but sense that wasn't rubbed in our face it was easy to simply take that for what it was. A lot of their personality, it appeared to me, was told more through what class you chose and how they did their attacks. Victory poses are telling, and those little details gave a player the freedom to construct their own 'characters' around the skeleton you provide.
In those terms, I'd really call this gaming 'minimalism' at its finest. It got better as you left things out- not an easy task to accomplish, but it defiantly turns this from a great game into an excellent one. You knew what needed attention and you gave it accordingly.
Gameplay wise, the first thing I'll have to do is give kudos' for the item leveling system. By having us able to pay to increase the level of items, it meant we didn't have to grind for newer equipment, and it meant we could actually build the stats we WANTED to increase- you wouldn't have to compromise or suffer sub-par equipment to get what you wanted out of your character. It was a simple idea that really transformed the RPG for me- and made inventory management a whole lot easier.
Dungeon crawling was pretty standard. Making some chests only spawn after you've defeated the enemies helps make me want to meet every encounter head-on, but usually the drops of these chests were nothing compared to the stuff you could get feeding the slime (Which is more or less an item lottery) so I wouldn't call it that great a reward. By the end of the game, I was positively SWIMMING in gold, by the way- while it made it easier to do everything, I think it could stand to be balanced somewhat. You don't want to make item management a grind, but all the same, making it too easy kind of negates the point of having currency.
Combat was fun, if not a tad easy. The variety of enemies are appreciated, and the fact that sometimes you need to use moves such as 'silence' and 'tranquilizing shot' speaks well for the balance, because oftentimes such moves just take up space, but I never really felt challenged by the enemies- it was only my frugal use of my abundant potions that caused me trouble, and I certainly could of afforded to be more liberal with their applications, seeing as I had so much money to spend on more, but still, there was enough variety to keep things interesting, even if there were no real strategies for boss fights other than "Empower, DESTROY!"
All in all, this is one of the best games on Newgrounds, hands down. It's fun, full of variety and depth, and if I had more characters remaining I'd defiantly take the time to mention all the other stuff it does right and wrong, but for now, rest assured- it's defiantly worth the time I've spent playing it, and I'm grateful you made it.
thanks!
Awesome game!
I love it a lot, but one thing I think would be great to add would be the option of upgrading weapons you have in your inventory too--not just the ones your characters have equipped.
Hiper cool but
Wtf dargon got 3 phases he is fucking invencible you must be level 20 or WTF to defeat him