Hi, I’m not a 100% sure what the etiquette regarding Itch comments is, so I hope it’s okay that I leave a review kind of thing.
Going into a game called Cryptid Crush I was expecting like a run of the mill kind of visual novel style game apart from cryptids but oh man was I surprised! The battle mechanic is really neat, I think the TTRPG point and rolling system is SO much fun and I haven’t really seen it done like this before. I feel like there might be some balancing issues with the moves and their effects and how karma works in the future, but obviously that’s just the first chapter so I’m assuming the monsters are supposed to be easy and some moves can’t really be exploited too much thanks to the stamina system. I’m no expert when it comes to that kind of stuff since I just finished the game so I haven’t really analyzed it that deeply and I could be completely wrong because it’s way too early to really know that. But like, I’m just rephrasing some notes I left for myself while playing the game.
Besides the battle system being incredibly cool, the UI for it is also sick. It’s cool that you can open the menu with right mouse click (even though I constantly keep opening it by accident lol) so you can play the game with just a mouse. I do however wish that during the parts of the battle when there’s no dialogue, you could still have the little button on the left of the screen that opens the options for different menu stuff. Also, in battle, it would be cool to be able to go back to selecting which character you want to act with by clicking somewhere outside of the little boxes that open up! Clicking “Go Back” is not a big deal but I feel like not having to do that could be a small quality of life change.
And continuing from that, before I get to the part where I gush about this game, I have a few more notes/suggestions regarding some aspects of the game.
- The player character’s battle icon always displays a hair pin and glasses regardless of the customization options used
- I think it would be cool if there was an easier way to change your name and pronouns. It’s kind of a hassle to notice mid battle that you picked pronouns you didn’t mean to pick and having to go to main menu, click start, talk to mothman, ask him to change them, and then restart the chapter. It’s definitely the right way to go for stat changes in my opinion though.
- I also think you shouldn’t have to rewrite your name each time you wished to switch pronouns
- If the name/pronoun options were in the in-game menu, it could also display the currently used name and pronouns, it would be nice to be able to check them. Also, I think it would be cool if you could have a slightly longer name
- Oh, also after you write your name, it would be great if there was like a “Is this correct?” kind of thing. It can be a bit frustrating to have to go through the whole dialog tree just to fix a typo.
Okay back to what I was originally wanting to say about this game. The atmosphere in Cryptid Crush is incredible. The use of colors, music, backgrounds (and how they move and are so detailed!!!), character designs, it all, is phenomenal! I took so, so many moments to just appreciate everything going on in the background of all places. I took even more pauses to just listen to the absolute banger of a soundtrack (I’m even listening to it as I write this). I love it when there’s a sound effect accompanying something someone does (and how everyone has their own dialog sound. Oh! And the partial voice acting is an amazing touch, everyone’s got the perfect voice). Other things that REALLY add to the whole vibe in this game is how the characters move. I love seeing the sprites flip and rotate and just move around the screen, it’s so fun to look at. I also really love how, well, for a lack of a better phrase, the camera cuts when someone interrupts someone. It looks so cool and adds so much to the gaming experience and atmosphere. Also, it can be really funny, I overall love the dialog and the faces/movements/sound/it all that accompanies it. I’m actually kind of at a loss for words to describe what exactly I love about it since it all just fits together seamlessly. I can’t believe I found this game on Itch by accident instead of having like a thousand people recommend it to me.
Oh! Also, about character design. It’s stunning, the art is beautiful and the style of the characters and everything else in the entire game fit together so well. I got to say, when it comes to customizing a pre-existing character, this game has the best example of that. I really enjoy that there’s only one playable character base (as is the case with most VNs) but you can customize it in little, yet so meaningful ways. Often times when it comes to VNs with character customization, they let the player customize the whole character, which in turn doesn’t let the people making the game do as much fun stuff with the character since I assume it must be a pain in the butt having to do full customization, and it really would limit how the character could emote and move etc. But having a, I’m going to call it a “character base” you can modify some small stuff on? Absolutely fantastic!! Definitely one of my favorite parts. I hope what I’m gushing about makes sense since this, for me, is a difficult thing to express as English isn’t my first language so my grammar can be a bit wonky at times.
Anyways, the rest of the characters also have such amazing designs. I even visited the game’s website to take a look at them, and oh wow! I’m in love with every single one of them. Nothing brings me more joy than seeing characters created by people that clearly hold their characters dear. Everyone looks so cool and unique! Tessie and The Lizards Man stole my heart. Some notes that I left about the characters while playing include “Atlas’ dad has got me down bad” “Oh hell yea dilf rights” (directed at both Mothman and August) “I’m going to be such a great stepdad” (August, adding a moustache on a werewolf is hands down the best character design decision anyone has ever made in the history of video games. Words cannot express how great of a character he is overall, but that is my personal bias since he’s literally perfect in every way and seeing him feels like whoever created him really gets me because that is honestly the perfect man.) and “ahsfgakfakjsghuaskbga oz!!!!” followed by several eyes emojis. I hope that manages to convey even the smallest of fractions on how much I adore these character designs.
Anyways I definitely forgot to gush about something else regarding this game, but I hope every single person making this game knows what an amazing job they’ve done. I can’t wait to play more of this!