Review: Cross Edge (PS3 Only)

Cross Edge is a JRPG mashup that features characters from Disgaea, Darkstalkers, Spectral Souls, Atelier Marie, Mana Khemia and Air Tonelico franchises. This game originally came out in Japan nearly a year ago and I've been patiently waiting ever since for someone to port it. But, was it worth porting?

Graphics

Yes, the graphics are simple – mostly 2D sprites that remind me of the SNES or PSX days. To me, the graphics bring back a very sweet nostalgia. Furthermore, the spells, elemental attacks and EX skills that you can pull off are very flashy and smooth. The EX skills will encompass the entire screen in a colorful display.

One issue with the game is that there are moments of slow down; especially when you enter into battle (the first few times I thought the game had frozen). This could have easily been a PSP or PS2 title, so to come to the PS3, there shouldn't been any graphical/gameplay issues/glitches.

- 14/20

Sound

The voiceovers can be put to English or Japanese. Unlike some ported titles, I found the English voiceovers to be excellent. The music in the game is great, too.

- 17/20

Story

The main three characters are original creations for Cross Edge. As you start the very beginning of the game you'll start running into characters that join. Eventually, you find out that the Fantasy World, Demon World and Earth have all been thrown into an apocalyptic event. Basically, it's up to you and your crew to stop the approaching catastrophe from happening and to return everyone and misplaced souls to their rightful world. The story is written very well and the voiceovers make it all the better.

- 18/20

Gameplay

This game plays out like your standard RPG, but with a twist. You can place up to 4 characters into battle on a 4 x 3 grid in order to attack. You have a counter that ticks down. Each of the character's attacks cost AP, as long as they have AP they can use skills and attack until the counter reaches zero and your turn is over. The game doesn't really do a good job at running you through its unconventional and unintuitive battle system and menu structure. I found myself going to the internet and message boards for help on how to play the game. The instructions help a little bit, but basically you just have to play the game for a long, long time to get use to everything.

- 12/20

Replayability

This game offers a New Game+ option that will allow you to bring a certain amount of stuff over from your previous game, depending on what difficulty you played on. There are a lot of different characters to use and level up and unlock skills and costumes, too. As far as replayability goes, this title is pretty solid.

- 18/20

Conclusion

Cross Edge is a huge fan service product that involves many notable franchises. It has a very unique battle structure, which in some ways hurts it. The sound is good, but the graphics and gameplay issues hinder this title greatly. If you're a fan of the other series, then you'll probably enjoy this a lot.

Final Score

- 79/100

You can check out the full, in-depth review here.