Recent reviews by Spoopy Lamp

"Only chumps would play games when they have other responsibilities"

Crushing... you got me.

This crazy game makes me actually want to go out and talk to people. What kinda ♥♥♥♥ is that?

There is not much left to say that hasn't already been said, but I love absolutely everything about this game. It is one of the few that have left me hyped up for a sequel. When I bought this game I dove in with my expectations already very high, What I got out of it was so much more.

It's not so easy to explain, but when games like these come out it's so inspirational to play through them and see what may have inspired the different aspects of these games. For instance, All of the enemies - including bosses - are completely unique and and fit with the themes well. The level design is perfect; extensive, very detailed and interesting with memorable soundtracks to boot.

There are secrets everywhere with hints of metroidvania exploration. However, the game retains it's own style. npcs and vendors have a plethora of personalities as well as enticing dialogue. It's always fun to talk to them and then come back after progressing to see what else they have to say. Play this game for 30 mins and see what you think. even for someone who isnt a fan of platformers the story itself is nothing to shy away from.

Completed the game, went back and instantly married chomp the flower. Amazing style and loads of fun cause I love seeing games like this and enjoyed every second of it.

Gameplay: 10/10

Music: 11/10

Graphics: Nostalgia/10

Writing: Very punny indeed.

My only qualm is I wish it was longer and I would hope to see more content like this in the future if there isn't already. Definitely worth a playthrough.

Now, this is one of those games where if it were made and published around 10 - 15 years ago it would be a world renowned classic. Where do I even begin? Well, for starters this game has a really great sense of humor that more than a couple times made me burst into laughter with it's witty puns and sarcastic jokes. I don't know how but this game has intense levels of irony that can only be rivaled by it's character development. It also tends to be faintly self aware at times and has you going into some comical situations that you would not even expect in a game like this.

For the record: I did try out the demo around a year back and I saw mega potential in this game to grow into what it has become today, and with that I am happy to say I was not dissapointed.

There are a lot of things remeniscent of early 2000's classics like Zelda: A Link To The Past and Metal Slug; more specifically the art style, of course, which is one of my all time favorites. All of the sprites look wonderful. When I play Cross Code it feels like I'm reliving my childhood through a spiritual successor to all those games I once loved to play.

MUSIC
Had I never seen, nor experienced anything about this game besides the music and I didn't know any better I'd have thought this game was made by nintendo. Every track in this game is simply brilliant, and they make every area feel as diverse as ever. The instruments used in each track match up very well with scenery and give you a peculiar sense of wonder every time you discover a new town or come across an ancient monument. Whenever I hear a new song it leaves me with a strong urge to start exploring the new places I've found.

STORY
As stated in the game description, this story is gripping and very sci-fi. I was drawn to the characters in multiple ways. Partially because of their bubbly over-the-top personalities and partly because of how well I can imagine their voice/accent. That's also part of the reason why I love games with silent protagonists because it's part of the fun to assert your perceptions onto them. The story telling is divided meticulously through certain interactions Lea (Main character) has with others, through dream-like flash back sequences, and through catagories upon categories of plot scattered about the Encyclopedia (which won't help you all that much if you aren't willing to take the time to read the entries)

LEVEL DESIGN
All of the sprites and environments look so nice with the various animations. The enemies, although they aren't perfect, are unique and stylish aswell. All of the areas are nice and detailed although there can be a few minor inconveniences that, otherwise could be tweaked with small fixes. What I'm talking about in particular are the ledges. Alot of times it's hard for me to distinguish the verticality on some ledges I want to hop to so I end up jumping towards a platform that was one level above me. Or, when enemies fly just above you when you try to shoot them but you can't tell because the only thing indicating their altitude is a tiny shadow underneath them. It would be better if it were more clear whether or not something was below or above you. Some subtle details could be added to make it a little easier on the eyes.

GAMEPLAY
Overall, the gameplay is truly engaging with some captivating challenges and puzzles that will test your reaction time and accuracy. Playing with some type of gamepad is recommended for an optimal experience, but I recall the game playing rather well with a mouse and keyboard too if that is all you can use.

Conclusion
Honestly, this game is a dream come true for me because you can tell that some proper time was taken to polish and optimize it. The sheer quality of all of the content is something that is worth cherishing given that this is an indie game that's currently in beta. Kudos to the developers since I can tell that they had a blast creating and designing this awesome game. You may have a blast investing some time into this one.

I'm no expert at games like this, and obviously I haven't put that many hours into the game yet since I just got it (at the time you're reading this it's more). However, I will try to explain why I fell in love with this game at first sight (from an analytical point of view).

Side note: I'll be honest, I was reluctant to buy this at first simply due to the price and even found myself regretting the decision once I opened up that CC menu, but it was indeed worth it and I'll explain why later.

At first glance this game doesn't look like much. Just another dumb 2d flash game, right? That's what I thought. The first time I loaded up the game as a knight I wasn't expecting the damn near perfect swinging animations from my sword. Almost every good thing about this game took me by surprise. I was blown away by the amount of production value and time and effort that's just so apparent in every corner in the first few starting areas.

THE COMBAT
The combat is lovely and fluid and beautiful. It's everything I could ask for in a hack and slash rpg because unlike in Dark Souls you can perform Air Combos and finish off with a powerful downward strike which obliterates your enemies into a mesmerizing spray of red liquid. The enemy/boss ai works well to keep you on your toes and wastes no time punishing your mistakes and trying to put you in inconvenient positions. I got ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up several times by The Sodden Knight (First boss)
yet, had I known that you could roll that probably wouldn't have happened quite as much.

LEVEL DESIGN
Verticality is a must in 2d plat formers like SaS and it goes all out with the vast amount of detail packed into every area and the subtle creaks and croaks of old, moldy wood as you step on a board that may even give away underneath you due to pressure. The pick ups and drops are all easily attainable and don't divide into the action too much with long, tedious 'bend-over' animations. For once the developers decided to make it less of a fetching task to retrieve your lost currency (in this case 'Salt') in a Souls game. And, they did it by making a beast out of your salt which you have to kill every time you want to get your salt back. Otherwise, if you die again, as suspected, you permanently lose those piles of salt you worked so hard to attain and have to start all over from 0. Luckily to retrieve salt from a boss you don't have to kill him all the way. Just take his health down to a certain point.

SOUND DESIGN
Sound is a wonderful thing in this game, any game for that matter. It adds to the authenticity of being able to imagine these places. Hearing things adds levels of atmosphere to a setting. The rapid splashes of rain and mist and the sound of wind blowing through grassy fields gives the game that flavour; sells the vibe. I can't wait to get back into the world every time I hear that, it's amazing.

The music on the otherhand, even if there's little of it, is pretty good. Although it's very minimalist music, the background ost does well to add some tension throughout the areas you encounter. The boss fights are all made very epic with the addition of those fantastic chords. I believe there are like 2 boss fight tracks and 2 background tracks: In total 4 songs which shouldn't be too much of a problem given that the rest of the game is a masterpiece.

ART/VISUAL DESIGN
Last but not least we have the visuals. As I mentioned before, the visual effects of the blood spraying look absolutely mesmerizing. Some other visually stunning achievements would be the heat distortion near the torch flames and what not. It's always the little things like that which get my attention. Also, despite the mildy childish and cartoonish look of the world and it's characters, there is a certain level of realism to it all and I've come to like that a lot about it. Especially in the darkest areas is where the game's art direction can really stand out. It's so unique and interesting.

All in all this game is great because it was made well. A couple of glances on the surface don't mean much with gameplay this brilliant it will definitely have you hooked for hours no matter what your experience with rpg's is. I did my best to try and avoid references to Dark Souls and the like. Now I should probably stop typing because I've been typing this review for about an hour and a half now and I have exams.

One of the most innovative 2D platformers I've come to know and love. My one dissapointment is the lack of any dlc content.