First shown off at the PC Gaming Show, Cris Tales wowed with its impressive visuals and unique time aspect. On my last day on the show floor at E3 2019 I got to see more of the game close up and see first hand the choices made can effect the future. First off the aesthetics of the game are deeply inspired by Colombian culture which is where developer Dreams Uncorporated hail from. Second, What an amazingly beautiful game! If you missed the original trailer check it out below.
Cris Tales is a call back to classic RPGs of the 16-bit era like Final Fantasy VI! Don’t think this is a straight retelling of a a old-school RPG however as Cris Tales is exceptionally unique. The screen is split into 3 different regions with the left being the past the center being the present and the right being the future. All three time periods are visible at the same time while traversing the world.
There is something wrong with the future and your actions in the present can effect the outcome. One of the early game examples we were shown involved 2 destroyed buildings, an apothecary and a families home. Both buildings were destroyed due to a wood rot that could be fixed utilizing a brew mixed up by the apothecary. The quest to make the brew showed off how the time travel aspect can be used. The ingredients needed to make the potion aren’t available in the present, but before the demo, we planted a seed. Sending our magical time frog companion Matias into the future we can now harvest the ingredient we need!
This isn’t the only problem we encounter that requires the use of time though. The apothecary has 2 identical looking bottles of liquid, one is toxic while the other isn’t and the labels have been removed. Matias is able to go back in time to check which bottle is filled with which liquid. Our character Crisbell finds the label that a couple of kids have mischievously taken. Now that our house saving potion has been brewed we must make the tough choice on which building do we save? Sadly there is only enough to save one building so do we save the apothecary or the home of the single mother with 1 child and another on the way? Cris Tales will be filled with numerous choices just as heart-wrenching as this!
The second part of our presentation showed off the combat of Cris Tales. The turn based combat system has a striking menu that looks inspired by the like of Persona 5. With this being a game involving time travel you best believe the combat system involves it as well! When you face off against an enemy you can cast them into the future where the become more powerful but weaker! One of the coolest combos we were shown involved getting an enemies shield wet and casting them into the future. This particular enemy was able to block all attack previously but now the shield has rusted and broke. Finally we are able to land hits and defeat this powerful foe!
Cris Tales is expected to release sometime in 2020 for PC, PS4, Switch and Xbox One and should not be missed!
