enjoyed the game's circuit board system, stating that it "ensures that you feel empowered to play CrossCode the way you want to play it". Critics generally found the puzzles in CrossCode challenging, but were divided on their quality. While Vogel praised the "heightened focus on more complex puzzle design", and Jenny Jones of Push Square referred to the puzzles as "tough but satisfying", other reviewers were sometimes more negative. Wolinsky claimed they could sometimes be "obtuse and annoying", making progress "halting and confusing", but he praised the ability to adjust their difficulty. Though he commended them as "fair and logical", PC Games reviewer Felix Schütz stated the site repeatedly encountered "puzzles that we only crack after dozens of attempts, although we had long understood the principle". GameStar criticised the side quests, stating that many of them "degenerate into lengthy collecting and offer only meager rewards". Most reviewers positively commented on the game's narrative. Schütz found the MMORPG-like companions amusing, and stated the game "has serious and touching moments to offer". Praising the "game within a game", Vogel described it as "a unique and interesting way of approaching storytelling". Although he appreciated the overall narrative, Fujita stated that it "should have been deeper", claiming that the premise of the game lead to some missed opportunities. Multiple gaming publications praised the game's artstyle, with Schütz stating it "awakens wonderful memories of 16-bit classics such as Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana or Terranigma at first glance", and Vogel calling it "pleasingly fluid" and "packed with all kinds of detail and colour". Reviewers playing the game on the Nintendo Switch had minor issues with the game's performance; Vogel noted that "the framerate takes a dive that... is quite noticeable" during busy moments, and Schütz considered the port "a little unclean here and there, but the problems... not so serious that one should therefore advise against buying". Accolades Jason Schreier of Kotaku ranked CrossCode'' among his top 10 games of 2019. The game won the award for "Most Fulfilling Community-Funded Game" at the SXSW Gaming Awards. References External links 2018 video games Action role-playing video games Deck13 games Early access video games Indie video games Linux games MacOS games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation 5 games Single-player video games Video games about video games Video games developed in Germany Windows games Xbox Cloud Gaming games Xbox One games Xbox Series X and Series