Crystar Day 1 Edition - PlayStation 4

This game is not as stiff and rigid as it looked like during Tokyo Game Show. That was a huge turn off for a lot of people and they definitely smoothed things out. I have to say that first in case people still have that in their heads. +You. Can. Pet. The. Dog. Whenever you want. Plus you get an achievement for doing it so many times. :D +Really interesting story plot where you go between Purgatory and Real life. Sadly the IRL segment is limited to choosing where to go next and healing yourself. +Beautiful art. From characters to scenery, they went all out with this aesthetic and it Works. +Crafting is there to power up your equipment using what you find. +Costumes to unlock. The Day One version gives you 2 from the start as a bonus start. +Fascinating mechanic of carrying the regrets of monsters you kill. If you let too many thoughts build up you start to suffer so staying clean is key. Cleaning yourself also gives you crafting items so it's a win win. +Endless Dashing. I didn't see a limit--or didn't notice one--while playing. Mostly dashed through dungeons in record times since walking/running is far slower. Honestly I felt like a speedrunner mapping out the best dash routes. +/- Voice acting. I'm really on the fence on this one. Some of the characters are really well done and felt Triple A quality. Nailing the small nuances of their character and bringing life. Then there's some that are good but don't quite reach that level. And there's some here and there that are not impressive at all. It's honestly a mixed bag. You can hear them giving it their best, but they don't quite resonate. -RNG drops. Crafting needs drops from enemies more than anything else. A dungeon run could get you anywhere from 12 of what you need to only 3. It's all luck. -Enemy designs. For the most part, bosses and rare enemies definitely stand out and have that high level of polish. But for the majority of enemies, they're quite simple. They do fit the game world without question, they're just very same-y. Would I suggest this? I would simply from the art direction alone. It's genuinely really pretty to look at. Architecture, colors, fashion, it's all lovely. The RNG and mixed voice actors are the main reason for going 4 stars instead of 5.

Crystar is a great action RPG with good characters, a great story, nice art direction and amazing music. It plays well too! The only major problem is the game gets very repetitive if you are intent on seeing the entire story. As long as you can handle some repetition I highly recommend this.

Crystar is an interesting game. It has a really great well-told story but its gameplay has its faults that hold it back from being truly fantastic. For me, I didn't mind the gameplay being repetitive because it was fun enough for me, did sometimes feel like a hack and slash. But the story wow that was awesome, it basically twists your expectations and gives life to creativity. If you can enjoy an amazing story with simple gameplay you should give this game a try, it's one of my favorite games of 2019 and a big part of it was because of the narrative. I'd like to give it a 4.5 but since I can't and I rather not give it a 4 it gets 5 stars. Because for me it was fun throughout even with the gameplay and its faults.