Retro-inspired indie titles that fully embrace the pixel art and aesthetics of the early days of gaming have exploded in popularity over the last few years, bringing us modern classics like Undertale, Celeste and Dead Cells, just to name a few. And while gems like these have become increasingly rare in the oversaturated indie market, every so often a game comes along that stands out as something truly special. CrossCode is one of those games.

Developed by Radical Fish Games and first released on PC in 2018, CrossCode employs a clever mix of open-world exploration, puzzle-focused dungeons and deep RPG mechanics that come together to form one of the most intriguing indie game concepts in recent memory.

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CrossWorlds: MMORPG of the Future

CrossCode is set in the distant future and takes place almost entirely within a fictional MMORPG called CrossWorlds. CrossWorlds itself is a real place in this version of the future, located across the galaxy on a small moon that's been terraformed by the company behind the massively-multiplayer online game. Players are able to remotely connect to artificial bodies on the moon using Cross Gear, controlling these avatars as if they were their own flesh and blood; this allows for an incredible amount of immersion that's part of the reason why the MMO has become so popular in this world.

This unique setting is one of the biggest reasons why CrossCode is so engaging and refreshingly different from your standard RPG world; the developers went above and beyond to make it feel like you're really inside of an MMO, with NPCs running around to simulate other players, tons of interesting side-quests to complete, customizable skill trees, an achievements system and even party members who occasionally have to log off to do real-life things like sleep or go to school. The fact that CrossCode fully commits to its extraordinary setting greatly benefits both the storytelling and its characters, creating a surprisingly believable online world for players to explore without the stress of actually interacting with real people.

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(Not) Your Typical Silent Protagonist

CrossCode puts players in control of Lea, a blue-haired avatar with a prominent scar across her face and a strange metal headband covering her ears. Lea is both a mute and an amnesiac, two overplayed RPG tropes often used to create self-insert characters that players can more easily relate to. But in CrossCode, Lea's disabilities are actually important story threads that tie into the overarching narrative of the game and result in some excellent character development that pushes the plot forward in interesting ways.

That's because Lea is very much her own character and a far cry from the typical silent protagonist in most other RPGs with similar archetypes. She's both expressive and outgoing despite her inability to speak, conveying her emotions solely through the facial expressions on her character portrait or her body language when interacting with other characters in the world. She also begins to learn several words like "Hi," "Why" and "Sorry" as the game goes on, allowing her to communicate more effectively and fleshing out her personality as the story evolves alongside her.

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Many RPGs put the focus of the narrative on the world and the characters surrounding the protagonist, but CrossCode's overall plot is intrinsically tied to Lea's own journey to discover the truth behind her amnesia and inability to speak. The story itself is as engaging as the world and its characters, sending Lea on an adventure across CrossWorlds to discover her true origins while simultaneously unraveling the mystery behind the game itself. And while this excellent combination of story, setting and characters makes this a special experience on its own, it's the rewarding and incredibly addicting gameplay that truly brings it all together.

Puzzles, Circuits and... Balls

While the game's setting simulates an MMO, the actual gameplay of CrossCode leans more towards that of action-RPGs like Hyper Light Drifter or The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Lea can use a ranged weapon called Virtual Ricochet Projectiles, more commonly referred to as Balls, which she can fire directly at enemies or charge up and bounce off objects to solve puzzles. The dungeons in CrossCode are definitely inspired by the Zelda series, with a focus on problem-solving and utilizing all of your skills to reach the final boss of each area.

Lea also has a deeply customizable skill tree called Circuits, which affects everything from the elemental affinity of your Balls to the nature of your melee attack. There's a ton of customization options for you to tailor gameplay to your own personal tastes, with an extensive selection of combat arts and passive abilities that completely change the way you can engage enemies in battle. You can also jump back and forth between different skill paths on the circuit if your build isn't working on a particular enemy or boss encounter, allowing a vast amount of flexibility in how you can approach particularly difficult situations.

With its engrossing story, unique setting, well-developed characters and addicting gameplay, CrossCode is an experience quite unlike anything else out there, and that's without mentioning its fantastic 16-bit art style or the incredibly catchy soundtrack. If you're a fan of retro-inspired action RPGs and looking for something to satisfy that itch, then CrossCode is the one indie title you should not miss.

CrossCode launches July 9 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

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