If this image makes you want the game, Croixleur is for you.
By: Casey Curran
Croixleur is the opposite of the kind of game you expect to get for $5. Rather than being some 2D side scroller, maybe with a retro or artistic style to it, this is a full 3D action game full of Lolita girls. That last part is especially important because whether you enjoy it is very dependent on whether or not I would recommend the game. That’s not to say it’s the only thing Croixleur has going for it, it’s just a forgettable game unless you like its style.
The gameplay takes place entirely in a small room filled with enemies. When you clear the enemies, you get to move onto the next room. That’s it. The combat is fine, but is not necessarily deep as say Bayonetta or Metal Gear Rising. It mostly consists of spamming the attack button early on while latter portions require a lot of dodging. There are also other weapons you can start out with, but they were not too different from your main sword. It’s a very basic combat system that works.
This gets annoying, however, when you reach a flying enemy as there are no projectile attacks and it’s too easy to jump and just attack air while they get out of the way. This made dealing with flying enemies an exercise in frustration, and as they showed up a lot it became hard to overlook. There are eventually waves containing bosses, and by defeating them you get an item that restores some health. That last part may sound like something small, but it worked in the game’s favor for me as surviving waves of enemies felt more challenging while defeating bosses was more rewarding.
The game’s biggest issue is that it was very short, clocking at under an hour with little reason to go back. It sets itself up like an arcade game where you’re constantly seeking a high score, but unlike most Sega games, which do a very similar thing, I found no motivation to want to go back and get a better one. It really depends on how much you like the combat and character designs though, as I can see some people coming back to chase a better score.
One thing that I hope gets fixed in the future is the controller mapping. It recommended that I use a gamepad, yet would only let me manually map the buttons to the controller outside the game in a different program. There was no in-game menu, and the method it uses is awkward where the analog stick only registered 8 directions. To make matters worse, some inputs could not be unmapped so I had to reach down to the keypad for certain actions. It may get patched in the future, but as of now, the keyboard function is superior though still awkward.
OVERALL (2.5/5)
It is a good thing Croixleur is priced at $5 because there’s not enough content on here to justify a higher price. I have a hard time recommending it to most people, but there are some who will come away satisfied.
RotoRob GAMING 