CrossCode

CrossCode is an action role-playing video game in which the player controls the character Lea from a two-dimensional top-down perspective. Players explore an overworld, where they can either engage in combat, or solve puzzles, which is sometimes required to progress. During combat and while solving puzzles, the player can instantaneously switch between different "elements", each granting Lea different puzzle-solving and attack abilities. As the game progresses, the player unlocks more elements by visiting different dungeons, each of which culminates in a boss fight. The game's options menu allows the player to customise the difficulty of both combat and puzzles.

The combat system involves attacking enemies in real-time using either a melee strike or a ranged ball launch that deals damage. Players can also dodge or block enemy counter-attacks. Attacking earns experience points and circuit points. Experience points increase the player's statistics, and circuit points can be spent on a "circuit board" that allows the player to choose between different ability bonuses.

In CrossCode, players primarily control a silent protagonist named Lea as she plays a fictional massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) known as CrossWorlds. It takes place in a physical environment on the moon Shadoon, where players control artificial "Avatars" that can regenerate at will and interact with in-game attacks and items.

The game begins with a young woman called Shizuka Sakai fighting her way to rescue her brother, but once she finds him, he dies in her arms from heart related injuries. Some time later, a girl called Lea awakens inside a cargo ship with no memories of her past and is informed by a man called Sergey Asimov that she must play CrossWorlds in order to regain her memories. Shortly after, Lea is attacked by a mysterious man known as the Blue Avatar, and is forced to escape into the gameplay area. Once reaching the game area, she befriends another player called Emilie and the two explore the game together, eventually joining the "First Scholars" guild.

Development of the game was started in 2011 by German studio Radical Fish Games. In February 2015 it was introduced as an Indiegogo project, seeking €80 000 in crowdfunding alongside a web-based demo version, which is still accessible on the game's website. The game's early access version was released for Linux, macOS, and Windows on Steam later that year. Initially, the game was envisioned as having a 2016 release date, but development "just took much longer than expected", so it was delayed several times. Although it was initially intended as a crowdfunding reward, the Steam early access release allowed the developers to have a continuous source of income to keep working as needed, and employ player feedback to add more features and balance the game.

Due to the story's importance, the team worked first on gameplay elements, then on the game map, only adding narrative content once all other elements were completed. Around half of the story was delayed until the full release, to allow players to experience the gameplay during early access, since "people only play the story only once mostly". Crosscode's gameplay elements were based on a "lot of different inspirations". The ball-throwing mechanic was taken from Yoshi's Island, while questing and exploration was inspired by games such as the Xenoblade series.

CrossCode received "generally favorable reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received "mighty" approval, being recommended by 87% of critics. IGN Japan scored the game 9.5/10, labelling it a "masterpiece", and German outlet PC Games described it as a "huge, motivating adventure [that] bows with dignity to genre classics of the 16-bit era". Conversely, GameSpot reviewer David Wolinsky called it "overly ambitious and complicated", criticising the puzzles and navigation, but still praising the combat.

Reviewers largely praised the game's combat, with Wolinsky describing it as "deep and deceptively tactical". Writing for IGN Japan, Shohei Fujita appreciated the rewarding nature of its difficulty, stating that the player would cherish the wisdom gained after an intense boss battle. Nintendo Life reviewer Mitch Vogel enjoyed the game's circuit board system, stating that it "ensures that you feel empowered to play CrossCode the way you want to play it".