Let’s find out together, in this dedicated preview, what were our first impressions of Crymachina after the test carried out via the demo released a few days ago by the developers
Among the titles coming out in this still summery month of October, in addition to the highly anticipated Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Alan Wake and the already arrived Assassin’s Creed Mirage, there is still a lot of interest. And we’ve had our eyes on Crymachina for some time now, an exquisitely Japanese action-jrpg developed by Furyu Corporation and published by NIS America. What struck us, if the aesthetics weren’t enough, were the powerful Nier Automata vibes that it sent us through the trailers released over the months. And since the demo has arrived, why not try it and give you our first impressions? Welcome to our preview of Crymachina.
Post-apocalyptic here we go again! | Crymachina Preview
New spin, new post-apocalyptic world. In Crymachina, humanity became extinct thousands of years before our adventure began. First a pandemic, then a global war due to resource scarcity have thrown the world into the most complete apocalypse, without any possibility of reversal. The only hope for humanity is Eden, a spaceship launched with eight entities inside known as Dei ex Machina, synthetic beings who have the task of bringing mankind back to life.
At the beginning of the demo we took control of the life of Leben, a young girl who in the very first moments of the game simply dies due to the disease that has afflicted millions of people. Two thousand years later, Leben wakes up in a synthetic body and finds herself to be an EVE, which conceptually is the recreation of his memory, his memories and his psyche, this time however instilled in a robotic and potentially immortal body. The purpose of the EVEs, created by one of the Dei ex Machina (the young and very cute Enoa), is to create a Real Human, a true human being, who can bring order to the internal struggles between the various Dei ex Machina.
E-cross-Pi | Crymachina Preview
To do this, we will have to accumulate ExP (pronounced, in the game, “E-cross-Pi”) by defeating the Cherubim and the other Dei ex Machina, grow in power and consciousness and rise to the status of God. These words are not used, but the concept is essentially this. The starting point is therefore one very basic narrativebut which seems to have been in-depth with many elements of lore and background for every single character, event and situation that appears on the screen.
Basically, during the couple of hours we spent in the company of Crymachina before this preview, we interspersed moments from visual novels, with long parts of text essentially composed of dialogues between the four protagonists shown so far, others exploring small -medium areas and others of pure combat. But let’s go in order. Except that we are still talking about a demo, the narrative parts are very well managed, with alternation of lighter moments in which the protagonists get to know each other and others that are more purely foundational to the story of Crymachina. To continue we will necessarily have to carry out some specific dialogues, while we will be able to overcome the secondary ones: all of them will still be accessible via the “Tea Party” menu item, very British in terms of choice.
Exploration and combat | Crymachina Preview
If and when we decide to go on an adventure, we will have to talk to Enoa and have him send us on an exploration. These phases are, at least from what we could see from the demo, rather limited. The settings are bare and devoid of particular details, there are some side roads that lead to particularly powerful objects, collectibles or monsters, but nothing that gives the impression of being faced with something memorable. We will then see in the full version of the game whether, perhaps in more advanced areas, the crossroads will be more numerous. However, everything is made very simple by the very clear minimap located in the lower right part of the screen.
The main core of the production is the combat system. In this demo we were able to try two EVEs, specifically the protagonist Leben and another of the EVEs, Mikoto. Both have melee weapons, a spear for the former and a sword for the latter, with which it is possible to chain together a long series of very rapid attacks with the simple press of a back button. It is then possible to chain together attacks that launch enemies upwards and particularly damaging final moves, in a whirlwind of lights, numbers and everything that makes action-JRPGs enjoyable for Western audiences.
But is it also TPS? | Crymachina Preview
There are also two types of firearms: automatic ones, which can be activated as support fire simply by pressing the back buttons, and active ones, like the one in Mikoto’s possession, which it also introduces some TPS elements that are not too invasive. Also present are dodging and parrying, which if carried out with the correct timing trigger positive effects for our character (and negative for the opponent) such as, for example, the slowing down of time. In short: everything you can think of as being present in an a-jrpg is there in Crymachina.
And we admit that everything works rather well, from what we have been able to see in these first hours of play. By going around the maps and defeating enemies we will be able to find new equipment for our EVEs, both offensive and defensive, to strengthen them properly. For now, one of the biggest flaws we’ve found is the confusion of the menus: there are many (too many!) and very intricate, often you don’t even understand what you are selecting until you press the confirmation button. A little sprucing up definitely wouldn’t hurt. The HUD is also rather intrusive, but once you get a feel for it it doesn’t bother you too much, we admit.
…Nier? | Crymachina Preview
We tried the Crymachina demo for this preview on PlayStation 5 and, despite the fact that the production does not shine in detail, especially in the settings, the test went smoothly without too many hitches in the frame rate, despite the thousand effects on the screen . Unlike the scenarios, the models of the protagonists are very well detailed and in a CGI particularly suited to detaching itself from the gray of Eden. The dialogue sprites are also very well done, reflecting the mood of the game a little more.
From the soundtrack point of view, we found a certain affinity with the tone and style of Nier, in particular Automata. And actually the entire production seems to want to follow the work of Platinum Games, differing greatly in terms of aesthetics, but still emitting those powerful vibes that we have learned to love and appreciate. Once we have the complete game in hand we will see if it is just an impression or a real reference.
Let’s wait!
This fleeting preview of Crymachina ends here. We don’t want to expose ourselves too much, considering that the demo lasted just over two hours, but despite some shortcomings and a narrative that isn’t so interesting for now (except for some lore cues), playing it was particularly fun and frenetic . We really like the vibes from Nier and make us want to discover more, so we can’t wait to get our hands on it on October 27th. Stay tuned!
Crymachina is out on October 27th on PC, PS4, PS5 and Nintendo Switch. Let us know what you think below in the comments and stay tuned with us at techgameworld.com for all the news, guides and reviews on gaming and tech themes! And if you are interested in game keys at advantageous prices, we recommend you take a look at the InstantGaming catalogue!