Cris Tales

Cris Tales offers up a satisfying take on classic JRPG tropes while sprinkling in some interesting new gameplay ideas and an incredible art style. Though some aspects of combat can be frustrating and the pacing can occasionally feel like it’s wasting your time, we’d still give this one a recommendation to anyone looking for a cool new RPG for their Switch.

Cris Tales tells a charming JRPG tale in a gorgeous and weird world, but it's hobbled by incredibly monotonous combat. Its battles undoubtedly overstay their welcome, but this unique odyssey still manages to shine through them a bit thanks to its style, characters, and the inspired (non-combat) time travel mechanics that make it so memorable.

Cris Tales is a lot of fun, and a really solid title overall. It’s great to see that smaller indie studios are able to pick up the slack when it comes to delivering more classically inspired RPGs, and that they even have the creativity to go above and beyond what’s expected of them. While Cris Tales might be lacking a little bit here and there, anything bad is absolutely outshined by all of the good—you’ve got nothing to lose by checking this one out.