Nowadays there seems to be no shortage of 80s-themed adventures, where a group of kids from small town America get wrapped up in otherworldy perils and have to save their home from shady government agents and supernatural forces. "Crossing Souls" leans heavily into that formula. This top-down adventure aims to capitalize on pop culture's obsession for this bygone decade while replicating the style of top-down 16-bit adventure titles.
"Crossing Souls"'s presentation is perhaps its most winning element. I enjoyed the greatly varied environments, excellent animated cutscenes that look like they are pulled directly from a beloved VHS tape, and an atmospheric synth score from Chris Kobke and Timecop 1983.
Despite following so many traditional tropes of 80s nostalgia adventures like you might see in "Stranger Things" or "Super 8", the game does present some unique ideas with its connections to the spirit realm. You are able to flip between the tangible world and the spirit realm at will where you can talk to ghosts of the past, who will provide clues on how to progress through the world. "Crossing Souls" seems unwilling to really explore its more creative ideas until the very end where it does spiral off in its own bizarre direction toward and really dives into its bizarre mythology. The out-of-left field developments lead to a bit of an anti-climax, and the ending left me scratching my head at its peculiarity.
You play as a group of friends who you can switch freely between at will- each of which has special abilities and different combat techniques which will come in handy against the various enemy types and puzzle scenarios. None of the brain-teasers will have you stuck for very long, though these sequences can frustrate with some wonky top-down platforming. While the game has a few boss battles toward the end that prove quite difficult, I found myself breezing through most of the game and rarely getting tripped up for long at the puzzles. A few segments pay tribute to classic gaming levels like an homage to the infamously difficult "Battletoads" vehicle segment, but for the most part you'll be solving simple environmental puzzles and mashing your way through enemies.
I enjoyed my time with "Crossing Souls" as a mostly mindless, almost wholly linear adventure, though couldn't help but feel a little let down by what felt like much missed potential. The game seems comfortable standing as a serviceable but somewhat generic tribute to the pop culture of times past, with fairly standard retro action-platformer gameplay and a disappointing story. For a few bucks it might worth your time as a light palette cleanser between bigger games, but it is not the sort of adventure that will stick with me for very long.
"Crossing Souls"'s presentation is perhaps its most winning element. I enjoyed the greatly varied environments, excellent animated cutscenes that look like they are pulled directly from a beloved VHS tape, and an atmospheric synth score from Chris Kobke and Timecop 1983.
Despite following so many traditional tropes of 80s nostalgia adventures like you might see in "Stranger Things" or "Super 8", the game does present some unique ideas with its connections to the spirit realm. You are able to flip between the tangible world and the spirit realm at will where you can talk to ghosts of the past, who will provide clues on how to progress through the world. "Crossing Souls" seems unwilling to really explore its more creative ideas until the very end where it does spiral off in its own bizarre direction toward and really dives into its bizarre mythology. The out-of-left field developments lead to a bit of an anti-climax, and the ending left me scratching my head at its peculiarity.
You play as a group of friends who you can switch freely between at will- each of which has special abilities and different combat techniques which will come in handy against the various enemy types and puzzle scenarios. None of the brain-teasers will have you stuck for very long, though these sequences can frustrate with some wonky top-down platforming. While the game has a few boss battles toward the end that prove quite difficult, I found myself breezing through most of the game and rarely getting tripped up for long at the puzzles. A few segments pay tribute to classic gaming levels like an homage to the infamously difficult "Battletoads" vehicle segment, but for the most part you'll be solving simple environmental puzzles and mashing your way through enemies.
I enjoyed my time with "Crossing Souls" as a mostly mindless, almost wholly linear adventure, though couldn't help but feel a little let down by what felt like much missed potential. The game seems comfortable standing as a serviceable but somewhat generic tribute to the pop culture of times past, with fairly standard retro action-platformer gameplay and a disappointing story. For a few bucks it might worth your time as a light palette cleanser between bigger games, but it is not the sort of adventure that will stick with me for very long.