Five children, a mysterious stone and a vicious villain: three ingredients for a classic adventure. Does this game from developer Fourattic know how to translate this adventure into a great game? The answer is yes, but also a little no. Read all about it in our Crossing Souls review!
Developer Fourattic raised more than $50000 in 2014 through Kickstarter to make Crossing Souls. A sloppy four years on and the game is really on the digital shelves. Does this retro adventure know our nostalgic leap, or does it only bring back painful memories?
Between life and death
Crossing Souls tells the story of a group of children in the 80s. After a storm, the group comes into contact with the Duat, an ancient object that lets you connect the world of the living and the dead. Of course, such power does not go unnoticed and the villain Major Oh Rus falls into the village of the children in search of the Duat. From that moment on it is an adventure to avoid Major Oh Rus, to protect the Duat from him and to save the world from its nefarious plans.
If this sounds like a storyline straight from a movie like Goonies or It, then that's not crazy. Crossing Souls is proud of its retro influences and does not attempt to conceal what has influenced the setting and the storyline. Normally this is fine; after all, it is often done enough in different TV series, films and other games.
Unfortunately, in this case it does not quite fit with what Crossing Souls tries to put down. On the one hand, the references are fun, but it is ultimately also distracting and unnecessary when the game sometimes seriously tries to order a story. If a complete point in the story revolves around an extensive nod to Back to the Future, it is no longer certain how seriously the story presents itself. That while at other times you must clearly have sympathy with the characters and the events.
Back to the 80s (again)
The game has a typical minimalistic pixel art graphic style that we have come to expect from numerous indie games. Not unique, but certainly beautiful enough and matching the atmosphere that Crossing Souls tries to put down. A lot better than that is the background music. Instead of the clichéd chiptunes that we might hear too often, Crossing Souls chooses a retro retro soundtrack.
You will be presented with cinematic music that is reminiscent of music from Back to the Future or Ghostbusters, alternated with electronic synthwave music. In contrast to the story, the music sounds more like a nod to these films instead of a direct parody or reference. It is the good kind of inspiration that was lacking in the presentation and the story, but which thus strongly emerges in the music.
The gameplay functions similar to an RPG action such as Secret or Mana, without the RPG elements. From a birds-eye perspective you can see the characters from above. You do have to deal with enemies and life bars, but things like levels go up or equipment does not come in handy. Fights are unfortunately a bit boring towards the end of the game.
Not the bottom of the can
The most interesting thing Crossing Souls does with the gameplay is how all children have their own strengths and abilities. Chris has a baseball bat and can climb, Matt can float and shoot a laser gun, Charlie has a whip and can shoot himself like a catapult, Big Joe is so strong that he can drag heavy objects. Finally there is also Kevin, who dies early in the story. Do not worry, because this allows you to control him in the dead world through the Duat.
This is also immediately where Crossing Souls is the most interesting. The game does enough interesting things with the four 'normal' characters, but it is between the living and dead world where the most potential lies in making the gameplay really interesting. Unfortunately, this never really comes true. Certainly there are times when switching between characters makes sense (dead characters can go through closed doors for example), but it seems like these moments are scarce.
Too bad, because it feels like the developers could have done much more with this. Just when you get the taste, the Duat is taken away from you. The bottom line is that you play with Chris most of the time, the dullest character. It is simply disappointing that the puzzles in the game never really stand out and that especially a thick one remains sufficient.
Conclusion
It is difficult to get really angry at Crossing Souls, but really love it goes very far. The game has become an average indie game that mimics many of the now clichéd elements from other indie games. The disadvantage is that the game does not elaborate on the elements in the game that are unique and / or original. Crossing Souls is therefore a game that does what it has to do and dares to have its own stamp on it.
Of course, the new elements such as changing characters in the living and dead world are only very cool. The music is surprisingly good and varied, certainly a highlight in the game. Crossing Souls may be sure, although the game is somewhere between life and death.
Crossing Souls is now available on PlayStation 4 and Steam.
The plus and minus points
✔ Excellent music
✔ Lots of gameplay potential with the Duat
✔ Interesting storyline
✖ Too many cliché indie game elements
✖ Unique gameplay possibilities are not utilized
Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it!
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