I’m always eagerly on the lookout for updates from Modus Games about Cris Tales. This love letter to classic JRPGs features a stunningly beautiful illustration-style and an interesting time-hopping mechanic in the game’s narrative and combat system. After a delay in late 2020, Modus has finally announced the Cris Tales release date will be this July on PC.
The launch date announcement is accompanied by a new trailer that shows off more of the locations in the game. It also gives you a look at what Crisbell’s unique companions will bring to your time-hopping adventure. Modus has also released a blog post that details many of the game’s features. It covers topics like exploring the world, questing, cities, dungeons, and combat.
We’ll get to all that shortly. First, take at the work of art that is the latest Cris Tales trailer.
Storytime
Modus describes the story of Cris Tales as ‘a dark one.’ You play as Crisbell, a fledgling Time Mage on a journey to stop the Time Empress from taking complete control of the world. Along the way, you’ll also uncover mysteries from Crisbell’s past as an orphan. Choices you make on your adventure will impact the world, often in real-time.
You’ll explore the world in classic JRPG style through the large overworld map. This allows you to quickly travel between different dungeons and cities. As the game progresses, you’ll unlock new methods of travel, which will grant you access to more parts of the map.
The world of Cris Tales has five major city hubs: Narim, St. Clarity, Neva Tulira, Cinder, and Crystallis. Cities are the peaceful areas of the game where you’ll be able to resupply, take stock, and learn about the world. Through engaging with NPCs, delving into the past, and snooping on the future, you’ll also be able to change the course of history.
Delve into dangerous dungeons
Dungeons are where the danger lies. You won’t be able to bend and hop through time as you can in cities unless you’re in combat. Inside dungeons, enemies will attack in random and scripted encounters, you will discover new loot, and you’ll need to use your time magic to solve puzzles.
Battles are a unique take on classic turn-based combat. You will face foes on both sides – left and right. Crisbell will be able to regress enemies on the left side by sending them back in time to younger versions of themselves. On the right-hand side, she will be able to move her foes into the future. Moving enemies through time will expose different strengths and weaknesses. However, some enemies are also capable of manipulating time. The unique mechanics of Cris Tales combat will take some getting used to, but once mastered, you’ll be a force to be reckoned with.
The Cris Tales release date for PC will be this July. You can get it through Steam, the Epic Games Store, GOG, and Stadia. You’ll be able to pick up the JRPG for $39.99 USD. If you simply can’t wait to get your order in, you can pre-order Cris Tales from the Modus Games website. There’s also a Collector’s Edition available that boasts a beautiful extended artbook, pins, stickers, a Matias plushie, and two prints. However, it only ships in the USA.
