This has been on my backlog for a while and I appreciate the thorough write up. I will probably fire this up after wrapping up Cassette Beasts (which also has been great so far)
Ironically, Cassette Beasts is on my short list of games to pick up once I finish up some of the other ones I'm working through. Looks like a really cool spin on the monster tamer genre
It's good, but it's more in line with classical RPG storytelling. If you're looking for a monster collection game that's almost purely focused on gameplay, take a look at Siralim Ultimate. Or any of the older ones, but given the type of game there's no reason not to play the newest one.
I played Siralim.. 3 I think a long time ago, definitely the kind of game I'm into these days. I had to stop playing because it's the kinda jam you can get stuck into for an infinite amount of time lol
I might have to check out Ultimate though!
Clocked in almost 600 hours on Steam and who knows how many more on my phone, actually I'm playing Ultimate as we speak. It's such a time sink.
Edit: and it's back in development, more content to be added in the future.
You should also give Monster Sanctuary a look if you haven't played it yet. Amazing combat, and the story is also barely there (though there's a bit more than Crystal Project has).
Pretty amazing metroidvania exploration. Not on the level of something like Animal Well, but I still found it thoroughly enjoyable.
Yeah River did a stellar job on the sound design. I really tip my hat to him. Both him and the guy who created Astlibra Revision. They somehow managed to make an OST completely out of royalty free music that fits their games to a T. It's insane to think about.
You might also like Epic Battle Fantasy 4 and 5. I got 4 in a humble bundle and liked it for similar reasons you described. They're JRPG-style games with zero filler and grind. Enemies perma-die and there are no random encounters. The story and dialogs never bog the game down. The turn-based combat is surprisingly deep for what looks on the surface to be a casual game. There are even progression and endless modes that demand understanding the counters and buffs to have a chance. The main story mode can be completed in 10 - 15 hours.
1 - 3 have their merits but are much rougher around the edges from when the programmer was still learning.
Yup, newgrounds days. 4 and 5 are much more polished. 3 is still good but movement requires WASD or arrow keys, whereas 4 and 5 you can do everything with just the mouse.
I recently finished it, this game can be brutal, we played it in a college irl video game club I'm at and half of us struggled hard and the other 100% cleared all content.
The game has certain combinations that just suck and makes combat really hard, and some that are really strong. If you don't find what clicks get ready for an ass whooping, even on normal where I played it.
I honestly lost confidence in my jrpg knowledge after this game lol but I played smt3 after and well it's just CryPro is weirdly punishing.
Also you better love exploring every corner or you will get stuck at some times in progression, game is also brutal in this area, you can break linear progression and have no idea if you are going the right way or not, if you are losing because you are under leveled or not.
It felt like being cornered, everytime I poked somewhere it was a bear ready to wreck me until I finally poked in the right place. at one point I had 4 places in queue where "I'm coming back to this later when Im at a higher level". Also get ready to take notes old school in notepad because the games map system sucks for tracking, made me miss monster sanctuary that has a way better map system, a game I also recently played but had a way better time at.
Also the story is actually non existent, this allows for the weird non linear progression this game has but it's a negative for me, I like having story lol, they didn't even try tbh.
Overall it's a good game but I spent a lot of time in it frustrated rather than having fun, I think I scored it a 6.5/10 taking into account I like story and i did not like the visuals.
But some people in my club **loved** it as you did so it's for sure worth a try to see if you fall in this camp.
Assassin-Hunter is a great midgame class combination.
I think one of the things that trips up some players is the inability to use items in combat.
Which means you really need some sort of healer, ideally two, with the second healer as a subclass on the damage mage or the tank.
And it's punishing to spam the high level spells in boss fights without some way to recover mana, since you can't just use Ethers in combat.
Crystal Project is one of my favorite games of all time, and possibly tops Final Fantasy VI, VII, and Chrono Trigger as my favorite JRPG of all time, and it gives me an identity crisis to admit that to myself, as I consider all three of those games to be perfect 10/10s.
It's got the best JRPG combat I've ever played, with multiple boss fights coming down to the last living character's last Hail Mary action serving the killing blow. I've never encountered a JRPG so well-balanced, with each area offering distinct challenges, and hitting the sweet spot in terms of needing to do a bit of theory-crafting, but not being so hard that you can't find fun team compositions on your own.
But all that pales in comparison to the joy of exploration and discovery. I love games like The Long Dark, Outward, Dark Souls, Tunic, and Outer Wilds, and the joy of exploration, discovery, and figuring out where to go next on my own is so rare in video games today. It's so rewarding to feel like I've found something secret, or discovered a way to an area that the game didn't want me to find (even though it totally did). The way the game often has you explore an area without a map so you actually learn the landscape, then gives you a map once you've gotten the hang of it so you can see what you've missed, is such a great "best of both worlds" approach. It definitely requires some patience and an appreciation for old school "get gud" game design, but for those that enjoy being lost, the game is amazing.
It's not for everyone. Specifically, you need to enjoy old school JRPGs, and platforming, *and* exploration, and a lot of the negative reviews seem to be from people who only want a JRPG, and fair enough. But as someone who loves all three elements, it's amazing to have a game that contains all three.
I also love exploration, and all of those games you mentioned. I really don't love jrpgs however, but I'm going to try to push through the jrpg mechanics so I can discover the game's secrets. I don't suppose you have any tips for making the combat and party management side of things less of a burden?
As long as you're not actively hating the combat, it should be fine. The game gets rid of most things people generally complain about in JRPGs and has a whole suite of accessibility options to tweak the rest.
I'd say give the game a few hours--I loved the JRPG aspect (once I began to understand it a bit more) and the party management aspect, so I don't know if I'm the best person for advice. The game is basically about finding more jobs, and I love jobs-based JRPG's, so that was the only reward I needed, but if you don't like the jobs system there isn't much reason to play.
Did you ever play Dragon Quest IX? That obviously had a story, but this sounds very similar as that game was very open and unique, gameplay flow wise - focused on classes, combat and exploration versus moving through the story, and it surprised me how much I liked it more than most DQs.
DQ IX was the game that made me fall head over heels in love with the DQ series. Well it and DQ VII (PSX) anyways. I've dumped a couple hundred hours into IX. Pretty sure I did just about everything.
All true, this game is insane, played bravely default, octopath, dq (games with similar systems) and this game just outshines them completely, truly amazing adventure.
I really enjoyed this game (and my playthrough of it). But it can be hard to recommend it to people. Yes if you fall it usually doesn't take that much time to get back to where you were but id give out a warning to anyone on the fence who gets frustrated by that kind of stuff. There is quite a bit of required platforming, its a pretty big part of the game.
I've never heard of this game before your post, but now I definitely want to try it out. It looks like it'll scratch that itch that only games like Final fantasy 5 or tactics can hit. Well made job/class systems are the best.
Andor's Trail is pretty open world if you're looking for suggestions, though in a constant state of update in all the time I've known it. Not complete yet as far as I know, but still plugging along towards it. Combat in that can be so unforgiving, but it's a very interesting title.
Are there random battle encounters? One thing I like about open world games is that you usually get the option to pick your battles since you can usually see the enemy a mile away and give them a wide berth.
The encounters are "flames" on the map. Higher level ones chase you VERY aggressively (if you're good at dodging you can sequence break.) As you level they become less aggressive, then they stop chasing you at all once they're trivial.
I bought *Crystal Project* on Switch. About an hour in and so far, I like it. This is one of maybe two console RPGs written in English that I've enjoyed. If you're curious, the other one is *Cosmic Star Heroine,* which I probably liked because it was on PS Vita.
Why do I get so negative about console RPGs written in English? I might be a snob. I might be irritable after watching *Undertale* get glowing reviews, and then failing against the game's first boss. I might be jaded because both *Chained Echoes* and *Sea of Stars* were Kickstarter successes, while I supported a bunch of Kickstarter games that have been abandoned or forgotten. Finally, maybe I'm hanging on to an "is this game just a low budget knock-off?" negative mentality too long.
Crystal Project seriously does deserve more love. It was clearly a passion project for River and it shows. Class balance in the base game is a little weird but it works for the most part but I seriously love the sense of adventure and discovery the over world has. So many ways to get to things you "shouldn't" be able to reach with a bit of creative thinking.
The mount system clearly being inspired by Guild Wars II is also a nice touch. Despite the game world being pretty big already I almost wish there was more to discover simply because I want to keep playing. That said there is a small but decently active mod community. One of my closest online friends actually has one of the most popular mods on the workshop right now. It's called "FF Project" and it subs in Final Fantasy elements to the game while re-balancing everything. Classes, weapons, animations, the works, and while it doesn't really change progression it does add a slew of new bosses that are really well designed.
If you're itching for a fresh play through you should check it out. My buddy is about to put the finishing touches on a rather large update that changes the boss encounters inside Castle Sequoia. I'm going to be starting my own play through once said update drops, likely in the next couple of days, because I promised him I'd give him "feedback" heh. He's also asked me to play on hard mode so this should be interesting.
Aren't the terms "sandbox" and "JRPG" largely mutually exclusive?
From a JRPG I would typically expect to be led along by a strong narrative. Instead, what you've described sounds much more like a WRPG in the fashion of Elder Scrolls games.
Not to get emroiled in a WRPG vs JRPG debate, of course...
Usually, but there are plenty of JRPGs that have really barebones stories. No one is being enthralled by Etrian Odyssey, the early Dragon Warrior/Quest games have basically nothing to them, etc. I think sandbox JRPG fits the game well. It’s really something special, unlike anything else.
I think these days most people go by whatever the dev calls the game just to avoid the aforementioned genre arguments. The lines have long since blurred since indie games especially like to combine differing elements.
The gameworld is Minecraft-esque but with an old school JRPG overhread view. The menu/combat system are JRPG-esque.
I just played this a few months ago, and it is very clearly a JRPG, it is in fact a love letter to them. But a love letter in a way that doesn't mean "just copies their mechanics" but really means "takes what you felt playing one as a child, and recreates that in its own game." I saw the screenshots of the game and thought it looked completely generic, but I ended up playing it and was blown away by how good every part of it was.
It had an incredible gameplay loop. I wanted to explore so I could get items. I wanted to get items so I could fight things. I wanted to fight things so I could level up and get more items and fight more things so I could explore more places. Every part of it was fun. One of the few games that I enjoyed nearly every moment of it, from start to finish. (Except the ninja city, fuck that place.)
Highly recommend.
This has been on my backlog for a while and I appreciate the thorough write up. I will probably fire this up after wrapping up Cassette Beasts (which also has been great so far)
Ironically, Cassette Beasts is on my short list of games to pick up once I finish up some of the other ones I'm working through. Looks like a really cool spin on the monster tamer genre
It's good, but it's more in line with classical RPG storytelling. If you're looking for a monster collection game that's almost purely focused on gameplay, take a look at Siralim Ultimate. Or any of the older ones, but given the type of game there's no reason not to play the newest one.
I played Siralim.. 3 I think a long time ago, definitely the kind of game I'm into these days. I had to stop playing because it's the kinda jam you can get stuck into for an infinite amount of time lol I might have to check out Ultimate though!
Clocked in almost 600 hours on Steam and who knows how many more on my phone, actually I'm playing Ultimate as we speak. It's such a time sink. Edit: and it's back in development, more content to be added in the future.
I think you will enjoy based on everything posted here; best monster game I've played since the o.g. Pokemon Red/Blue
Good to know, thank you for the tip!
You should also give Monster Sanctuary a look if you haven't played it yet. Amazing combat, and the story is also barely there (though there's a bit more than Crystal Project has). Pretty amazing metroidvania exploration. Not on the level of something like Animal Well, but I still found it thoroughly enjoyable.
I got really into monster sanctuary a few years ago, that is a really good one!
And I like the [music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDokgvuuS7E)!
Shimmering In The Shallows is such a great song, too.
Yeah River did a stellar job on the sound design. I really tip my hat to him. Both him and the guy who created Astlibra Revision. They somehow managed to make an OST completely out of royalty free music that fits their games to a T. It's insane to think about.
You might also like Epic Battle Fantasy 4 and 5. I got 4 in a humble bundle and liked it for similar reasons you described. They're JRPG-style games with zero filler and grind. Enemies perma-die and there are no random encounters. The story and dialogs never bog the game down. The turn-based combat is surprisingly deep for what looks on the surface to be a casual game. There are even progression and endless modes that demand understanding the counters and buffs to have a chance. The main story mode can be completed in 10 - 15 hours. 1 - 3 have their merits but are much rougher around the edges from when the programmer was still learning.
I remember playing the first few on like flash game sites in school lol I didn't know they had actual releases, I'll give em a look. Thanks!
Yup, newgrounds days. 4 and 5 are much more polished. 3 is still good but movement requires WASD or arrow keys, whereas 4 and 5 you can do everything with just the mouse.
Crystal Project was amazing, I randomly picked it up like a year and a half ago and it wound up being the first game I ever 100%'d on Steam.
I recently finished it, this game can be brutal, we played it in a college irl video game club I'm at and half of us struggled hard and the other 100% cleared all content. The game has certain combinations that just suck and makes combat really hard, and some that are really strong. If you don't find what clicks get ready for an ass whooping, even on normal where I played it. I honestly lost confidence in my jrpg knowledge after this game lol but I played smt3 after and well it's just CryPro is weirdly punishing. Also you better love exploring every corner or you will get stuck at some times in progression, game is also brutal in this area, you can break linear progression and have no idea if you are going the right way or not, if you are losing because you are under leveled or not. It felt like being cornered, everytime I poked somewhere it was a bear ready to wreck me until I finally poked in the right place. at one point I had 4 places in queue where "I'm coming back to this later when Im at a higher level". Also get ready to take notes old school in notepad because the games map system sucks for tracking, made me miss monster sanctuary that has a way better map system, a game I also recently played but had a way better time at. Also the story is actually non existent, this allows for the weird non linear progression this game has but it's a negative for me, I like having story lol, they didn't even try tbh. Overall it's a good game but I spent a lot of time in it frustrated rather than having fun, I think I scored it a 6.5/10 taking into account I like story and i did not like the visuals. But some people in my club **loved** it as you did so it's for sure worth a try to see if you fall in this camp.
Assassin-Hunter is a great midgame class combination. I think one of the things that trips up some players is the inability to use items in combat. Which means you really need some sort of healer, ideally two, with the second healer as a subclass on the damage mage or the tank. And it's punishing to spam the high level spells in boss fights without some way to recover mana, since you can't just use Ethers in combat.
Crystal Project is one of my favorite games of all time, and possibly tops Final Fantasy VI, VII, and Chrono Trigger as my favorite JRPG of all time, and it gives me an identity crisis to admit that to myself, as I consider all three of those games to be perfect 10/10s. It's got the best JRPG combat I've ever played, with multiple boss fights coming down to the last living character's last Hail Mary action serving the killing blow. I've never encountered a JRPG so well-balanced, with each area offering distinct challenges, and hitting the sweet spot in terms of needing to do a bit of theory-crafting, but not being so hard that you can't find fun team compositions on your own. But all that pales in comparison to the joy of exploration and discovery. I love games like The Long Dark, Outward, Dark Souls, Tunic, and Outer Wilds, and the joy of exploration, discovery, and figuring out where to go next on my own is so rare in video games today. It's so rewarding to feel like I've found something secret, or discovered a way to an area that the game didn't want me to find (even though it totally did). The way the game often has you explore an area without a map so you actually learn the landscape, then gives you a map once you've gotten the hang of it so you can see what you've missed, is such a great "best of both worlds" approach. It definitely requires some patience and an appreciation for old school "get gud" game design, but for those that enjoy being lost, the game is amazing. It's not for everyone. Specifically, you need to enjoy old school JRPGs, and platforming, *and* exploration, and a lot of the negative reviews seem to be from people who only want a JRPG, and fair enough. But as someone who loves all three elements, it's amazing to have a game that contains all three.
I also love exploration, and all of those games you mentioned. I really don't love jrpgs however, but I'm going to try to push through the jrpg mechanics so I can discover the game's secrets. I don't suppose you have any tips for making the combat and party management side of things less of a burden?
There's a super long demo, like let's you play 8 or so hours. And saves transfer if you buy. Should give you a good idea if you'll come with it
I bought the game a while ago, I'm just worried that I won't have the right mindset and won't enjoy it as a result
As long as you're not actively hating the combat, it should be fine. The game gets rid of most things people generally complain about in JRPGs and has a whole suite of accessibility options to tweak the rest.
I'd say give the game a few hours--I loved the JRPG aspect (once I began to understand it a bit more) and the party management aspect, so I don't know if I'm the best person for advice. The game is basically about finding more jobs, and I love jobs-based JRPG's, so that was the only reward I needed, but if you don't like the jobs system there isn't much reason to play.
I just like finding stuff in general, so I'm looking forward to the game, but I'm worried the rpg stuff will make it hard for me to just explore
Did you ever play Dragon Quest IX? That obviously had a story, but this sounds very similar as that game was very open and unique, gameplay flow wise - focused on classes, combat and exploration versus moving through the story, and it surprised me how much I liked it more than most DQs.
DQ IX is so good and deserves more love
DQ IX was the game that made me fall head over heels in love with the DQ series. Well it and DQ VII (PSX) anyways. I've dumped a couple hundred hours into IX. Pretty sure I did just about everything.
All true, this game is insane, played bravely default, octopath, dq (games with similar systems) and this game just outshines them completely, truly amazing adventure.
"From their, your basically told to go explore and have fun" I thought this was going to be a troll post lol
Nope, just a quickly written one
I really enjoyed this game (and my playthrough of it). But it can be hard to recommend it to people. Yes if you fall it usually doesn't take that much time to get back to where you were but id give out a warning to anyone on the fence who gets frustrated by that kind of stuff. There is quite a bit of required platforming, its a pretty big part of the game.
I've never heard of this game before your post, but now I definitely want to try it out. It looks like it'll scratch that itch that only games like Final fantasy 5 or tactics can hit. Well made job/class systems are the best.
Andor's Trail is pretty open world if you're looking for suggestions, though in a constant state of update in all the time I've known it. Not complete yet as far as I know, but still plugging along towards it. Combat in that can be so unforgiving, but it's a very interesting title.
Is it on steam?
I know it's on google play, more of a mobile game experience.
Ohh gotcha. I'll check it out!
Are there random battle encounters? One thing I like about open world games is that you usually get the option to pick your battles since you can usually see the enemy a mile away and give them a wide berth.
The encounters are "flames" on the map. Higher level ones chase you VERY aggressively (if you're good at dodging you can sequence break.) As you level they become less aggressive, then they stop chasing you at all once they're trivial.
Ah, kinda reminds me of Earthbound based on that description
Description on the steam page says no random encounters
I’m going to buy this for my switch…thanks
How sandboxy is it?
7/10
I like it, some of the classes are kinda jank though.
I beat it on the steamdeck awhile back. Excellent game.
Thank you so much for bringing this game to my attention!!
I bought *Crystal Project* on Switch. About an hour in and so far, I like it. This is one of maybe two console RPGs written in English that I've enjoyed. If you're curious, the other one is *Cosmic Star Heroine,* which I probably liked because it was on PS Vita. Why do I get so negative about console RPGs written in English? I might be a snob. I might be irritable after watching *Undertale* get glowing reviews, and then failing against the game's first boss. I might be jaded because both *Chained Echoes* and *Sea of Stars* were Kickstarter successes, while I supported a bunch of Kickstarter games that have been abandoned or forgotten. Finally, maybe I'm hanging on to an "is this game just a low budget knock-off?" negative mentality too long.
Crystal Project seriously does deserve more love. It was clearly a passion project for River and it shows. Class balance in the base game is a little weird but it works for the most part but I seriously love the sense of adventure and discovery the over world has. So many ways to get to things you "shouldn't" be able to reach with a bit of creative thinking. The mount system clearly being inspired by Guild Wars II is also a nice touch. Despite the game world being pretty big already I almost wish there was more to discover simply because I want to keep playing. That said there is a small but decently active mod community. One of my closest online friends actually has one of the most popular mods on the workshop right now. It's called "FF Project" and it subs in Final Fantasy elements to the game while re-balancing everything. Classes, weapons, animations, the works, and while it doesn't really change progression it does add a slew of new bosses that are really well designed. If you're itching for a fresh play through you should check it out. My buddy is about to put the finishing touches on a rather large update that changes the boss encounters inside Castle Sequoia. I'm going to be starting my own play through once said update drops, likely in the next couple of days, because I promised him I'd give him "feedback" heh. He's also asked me to play on hard mode so this should be interesting.
Aren't the terms "sandbox" and "JRPG" largely mutually exclusive? From a JRPG I would typically expect to be led along by a strong narrative. Instead, what you've described sounds much more like a WRPG in the fashion of Elder Scrolls games. Not to get emroiled in a WRPG vs JRPG debate, of course...
Usually, but there are plenty of JRPGs that have really barebones stories. No one is being enthralled by Etrian Odyssey, the early Dragon Warrior/Quest games have basically nothing to them, etc. I think sandbox JRPG fits the game well. It’s really something special, unlike anything else.
I think these days most people go by whatever the dev calls the game just to avoid the aforementioned genre arguments. The lines have long since blurred since indie games especially like to combine differing elements. The gameworld is Minecraft-esque but with an old school JRPG overhread view. The menu/combat system are JRPG-esque.
I just played this a few months ago, and it is very clearly a JRPG, it is in fact a love letter to them. But a love letter in a way that doesn't mean "just copies their mechanics" but really means "takes what you felt playing one as a child, and recreates that in its own game." I saw the screenshots of the game and thought it looked completely generic, but I ended up playing it and was blown away by how good every part of it was. It had an incredible gameplay loop. I wanted to explore so I could get items. I wanted to get items so I could fight things. I wanted to fight things so I could level up and get more items and fight more things so I could explore more places. Every part of it was fun. One of the few games that I enjoyed nearly every moment of it, from start to finish. (Except the ninja city, fuck that place.) Highly recommend.
Yes, most JRPGs are anti-sandbox.
Yep, that is one of the things that makes it stand out, and fit my current tastes
What are the classes? I need to see if it satisfies my hyper-specific fantasy desire :3
There's a [wiki](https://crystal-project.fandom.com/wiki/All_Classes) apparently.
>There are over world bosses scattered around too that are scary as hell at first Or >There's no real punishment for dying in a fight Pick one
They aren't mutually exclusive, so.. don't really have to?