CrossCode

Hi! Lea!

CrossCode is a single player action adventure game, but it’s set in the world of a futuristic MMORPG. Its kinda like Sword Art Online but actually a good game. The combat system is incredibly in-depth, and the world design and story is so nice to get lost in. The story of the game is about your character, Lea, and her interactions with the other “players” inhabiting the world of the game in a game.

The combat is very active, and as a “Spheromancer,” you can specialise however you want, switching between different elements, and choosing what skills you want to take in each skill tree. Some of your skills are “Combat Arts” which are very strong attacks with a variety of effects that cost SP to use, but smashing enemies with your melee attacks or ranged strikes can recharge your SP to let you use more combat arts.

The dungeons are heavily zelda inspired and include a lot of puzzles and the occasional combat trial. Your charged shots bounce off walls, so sometimes you might have to line up trick shots to hit targets behind cover. The world is also fleshed out with a whole bunch of quests that reward exp and items.

There is a crafting system, or rather a trading system, where when you have enough items, you can exchange them for a piece of gear, but I’ve found that if you just smash all the bushes you see during normal gameplay on your way past, you’ll most likely have enough materials to buy all the equipment you’ll want to.

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/368340 £14.99 (Demo available)
Humble Bundle: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/crosscode £14.99
Itch.io: https://radicalfishgames.itch.io/crosscode $19.99 (Demo available, was also in a bundle, so check if you already have it.)
Switch: https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/CrossCode-1501057.html £17.99