Cross Edge Reviewed

For gaming geeks, there are few moments as pleasingly delicious as the crossover. The hybridization of two fictional universes in a single title tends to raise the cool factor of a game exponentially. From Alex Kidd’s exploits in the Shinobi world, to the amalgam of the Marvel and Capcom worlds, gamers love the synergistic fusion of two isolated realms. Evidence to support this assertion can be found in the message boards flooded with news over upcoming Wii fighter Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars, which mixes characters as diverse at Viewtiful Joe and Jun the Swan.

As it turns out, this combination of characters has a combat method reminiscent of Valkyrie Profile, carefully mixing strategy with turn-based melees, with just a dash of Disgaea’s combo system.  Players are allowed to place up to four characters on a three-by-four grid. Protagonists have three different reaches, from close-range hand to hand brawlers to marksmen and magic users that typically fill the flanks. Each character has a set amount of action points, which determines who strikes first, and the amount of attacks a player can execute on a single turn.

While initially daunting, I quickly grew accustomed to Cross Edge’s battle system. In order to be efficiently lethal, players strike with one of the face buttons, and then quickly switch to another character with R1 or L1 triggers. Subsequent strikes may trigger predetermined combos, or the R2 button can shift to a set of more powerful attacks. With the game’s counter time, battles vaguely resemble a combo-laden fighting game, especially on the harder difficulty setting of the game. While the combat mechanics are complicated, the depth and complexity of struggles helped maintain interest throughout the length of the title.

Beyond charming hand-drawn character portraits that fill the screen during dialogue sections, Cross Edge fails to impress visually. World maps and battle backgrounds look acceptable, but players may feel disappointed by the title’s sprites. Although characters are generally well animated, their pixeled visages look positively last-gen, and fail to harness any of the power of the PS3. With such visual simplicity, it’s hard to tolerate the occasional burst of slowdown during battle sequences. At least the title’s breaks, and combos are graphically impressive.

Despite the title’s strategic charms and enchanting cast of characters, I had a few qualms with Cross Edge. While spoken dialogue is delivered in either Japanese or via a respectable English voice-over, on-screen text is delivering painfully slow. Reading one line of conversation at a time can be become tiresome, although the game allows the character discussions to be automated with a press of a button. Inexplicably, your teammates serve double-duty in the game, manning the game’s storefronts. This can lead to a number of paradoxes, like when Morrigan was asking for currency to resurrect herself.