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Regular readers will know I’m a little bit obsessed with Alice in Wonderland, so I was always going to give CRYMELIGHT the time of day.
Launching on 5th November, this is one of the few titles to occupy the GTA 6 exclusion zone, which I personally find hilarious.
Developed by FuRyu, this is a spiritual successor to CRYSTAR and CRYMACHINA, but I don’t think you’ll need to be familiar with either title to get to grips with Lewis Carroll vibes on offer here.
In essence this is a bishoujo adaptation of the iconic novel, with a roguelike format that sees you dipping in and out of Wonderland to progress the plot.
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I was pretty surprised by the depth of the gameplay on display during my demo at Gamescom, as I’d honestly expected this to be quite straightforward.
But playing a vertical slice on the showfloor – which lasted around 30 minutes or so – I found myself constantly bombarded by tutorials, which were admittedly a little tricky to keep up with.
Effectively, though, you find yourself working your way through combat encounters to collect playing cards. These augment you with different buffs, and can be used to create hands, which amplify their effects.
I was able to draw enough cards to add a “bomb” to my dodge, so each time I slipped by an enemy I’d leave an explosive item on the field, which obviously helped add to my damage output.
The combat and movement feels a bit stiff, and is perhaps not helped by the papercraft presentation, but I did feel like my power was escalating the more I played. That’s important for a roguelite, of course.
I also was quite surprised by the depth of my abilities; for example, there’s even a “grab” attack you can do which allows you to toss foes around the screen, like they’re pinballs.
While it is a bit generic, I liked all of the portrait art and character designs, although I think the team could have been a bit more experimental overall. I’m a big fan of American McGee’s Alice because it twists established lore into something much more sinister, for example.
But with a paltry price point attached, I do think this will find an audience.
It’s not like there is a shortage of roguelites on the PS Store, but I expect the art direction and Alice in Wonderland vibes to carry here.
Assuming the build crafting remains interesting across the course of the campaign, I can see this being a bit of a sleeper hit. The Alice in Wonderland influences mean I was always going to play it anyway.
