CrossCode

Caveat: I'm probably about half-way through the game. Though I technically haven't seen everything the game has to offer, due to its formulaic nature I'd be surprised if this opinion fundamentally changed. I have a love-hate relationship with this game. The care and attention to detail is genuinely impressive, and it has a self-contained approach to design that I personally think is a prerequisite for all great art; you can tell that the developers had clear design principles—limits within which creativity was encouraged. The result is a game with a very coherent vision. Really, there's so much to respect and love here—especially aesthetically. Sometimes I'll just sit for a moment in the intro screen because the visuals and music are so pleasant. And yet. My god. The game is mentally exhausting. The puzzles, as I think some other reviewer already said, insist upon themselves, Lois. They often span multiple screens requiring both mental and manual application. Sometimes you'll know the solution to the puzzle but it will take a dozen tries because it requires speed or precise timing or precise manual dexterity and often all three. Other times you'll sit staring at a puzzle with a four-step solution for five minutes wondering what the hell you're supposed to be doing. They're really challenging. Which isn't inherently a bad thing—they're pretty enjoyable in small doses—and I'd much rather they be challenging than trivial. But, my god, I feel like a Californian millionaire obsessed with life extension the number of pill-shaped puzzles I'm forced to swallow. The dungeons really are just puzzle after puzzle after puzzle btw. Like four hours of straight up puzzlin'. No rest. Guzzlin them puzzlins. More puzzles than I've used the word puzzle in this review. The combat, too, is often puzzle based. There are lots of encounters, especially bosses, that have a specific solution to 'breaking' (staggering) them. It rubs the puzzles on its skin. I like puzzles as much as the next numpty but I'm tired, boss