Crosscode, there's so much to talk about but I can proudly say its my favorite of all games around here.

(Very minor spoiler ahead!)

CrossWorlds is an MMORPG devoloped by Instatainment using virtual reality WITHIN an actual physical environment and virtual playground. Game starts in Crossworlds' tutorial area and you play as Lea, a very living soul with a little speaking funcion (you gather new ''words'' throughout the game but my god, how could they ever put so much characteristics to someone who can't even talk?).

There's two diffrent stroies connected in CrossCode. One is the main plot which is the serious one and the other one is CrossWorlds plot and is full of cliche : ). With absolutely great music combined with long (sometimes boring) puzzle elements, you can check it out.

A hidden gem and one of the best experiences I have had playing a videogame ever. Let me give you a list of a few amazing things this game has to offer:

- The game is overflowing with love and care, it is obvious that the devs put everything into crafting this masterpiece.
- The story unfolds in a very very nice way, and there actually two stories (mind you, this is an isekai): the game's story per se, and the MMO's story.
- Lea, the main character, is so beautifully designed, and it makes the strongest case I have ever seen for the inclusion of a "silent" protagonist in videogames. While she cannot speak, she definitely is not a passive agent in the story, you'll have to check that out for yourself ;)
- The characters in general are greatly crafted, with nice dialogues and personalities and very nice inclusions in the story.
- The game looks so good, and the character's art sprites are incredible. One just can't get enough of Lea's expressions.
- The level design comes off as very clever and intricate alike, both in the overworld and in the dungeons. Plus, the puzzles very rarely feel too difficult, and the game does an amazing job at subtly teaching you how to solve them.
- The final boss battle HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
- CrossCode also has a vast offering of quality of life elements that make you wonder why barely any other games have them, when they come off as obvious once you experience them here.
- It actually has a playable demo!
- The game features a Pippi Långstrump reference!
- Hi. Lea!

I am very grateful to have been able to experience CrossCode, and I hope you get to experience it someday as well.

The video game that is hyper-aware of its role as a video game is a pretty well explored trope at this point, although a lot of that exploration boils down to shallow references to game culture and design. “Ooh that quest you played sure sucked right, also remember Zelda?”. After a quick laugh, I’m left wondering what the point of echoing other games like this is. This is hardly an exclusive brand of humor to people making their own games either, as seen in the eternal presence of webcomics making Mario mushroom drug jokes. So, why is this such a common thing to see in online communities, anyways?

I could just chalk it up to gamers not being funny and spamming the easiest ways to get a quick laugh like it’s a PK FIRE (you may exhale manually). I probably should, honestly. But on some level, the core drive behind this sort of humor is to play with our perceptions of games, right? Whether it’s injecting the standards of the real world into a video game setting, or just poke fun at the annoyances we recognize as a part of escort missions, even when no part of the game will ever remember how obnoxious we thought they were. There's this common link of thinking about the way people interact with games, separate from a game's own canon.

CrossCode plays with this connection in such a fascinating way that it's definitely a massive disservice that I'm somehow implying it's the final form of gamer humor. Although there is a boss called Sephisloth in it.

The central premise is that the game takes place in a virtual reality MMO, with the exception that the game does take place in a physical space. And this game (which I will be calling its ingame name of CrossWorlds), is such a blatantly gamey video game that it almost hurts. It is undoubtedly an ode to the Skinner Box design of grinding through satisfying combat to get the experience points and gear drops necessary to have high enough numbers for the game’s Zelda dungeons. While those dungeons are an enjoyable enough set of puzzles, the dungeons themselves are quite linear and lack the art of traversal through confusing spaces that fuels the best in Zelda. The story is a rather aimless McGuffin hunt that even has its own generic Kirby lore guff, complete with the staple of “who cares” lore: The Ancients. The name of the space you play in is pretty apt: the Playground. It’s a very plastic experience that resists any meaning beyond “I like playing this”.

While CrossWorlds intentionally lacks a story with much of anything, CrossCode as a game enhances this experience with the people you meet along the way. You form parties with a couple of characters also playing the game, and it’s pretty clear they’re just regular gamers. The French girl who talks about her struggles with homework, the mage guy whose biology facts would definitely warrant a slew of nerd emoji gifs, your sort of rival who’s just kinda mad you cheated and brought dishonor to the class he mains, I buy that these are gamers that could exist. And they do a lot to make CrossWorlds far more memorable than it otherwise would be. The Zelda dungeons being pretty simple makes a lot more sense when you and the French girl have an ongoing race to see who can beat each dungeon first. I certainly wouldn’t want to try and blaze through something like the Water Temple. And I’ll remember the experience of my character confidently exclaiming “Lea wait [at the end]” only to come in last place with all the hubris of Respect Your Elders before I recall the solution to whatever ricochet the bullets puzzle I had to solve. Playing with them transforms CrossWorlds from simply being the game itself into a chance to chill out with some pleasant characters. CrossCode uses both its real and fictional spaces to explore the experience of playing a video game, of the value of what one and their friends bring to a game by playing together, hanging out, and maybe even having a couple dumb gamer in-jokes. Also I like how when you add them to your party it’s like pinging them Discord to join your game, that’s a nice touch.

If this were all that CrossCode was, it would be a great time for this band of fictional gamers, but the main protagonist, Lea, doesn’t get the luxury of having a clean divide between the game and reality. We only see her as an avatar ingame, as when she logs off, instead of just getting to live real life like anyone else, she dreams about her memories. She has an amnesia plot going on, but by experiencing more of CrossWorlds, she begins to recall more memories, so it's clear that for her this is more than just a game. Even in the intro, some player character is out to get her, so there is always this looming threat to her wellbeing.

There's also the part where due to a module issue, she's unable to talk. She communicates mainly through body language, and eventually a couple key words get hard coded in, like "Hi!", hence the "Lea wait" thing I talked about before. The facial expressions put in a lot of work to make her an extremely expressive character. Even with her limitations, she's open to meeting new people and making the most of her time in CrossWorlds. While her friendship sometimes gets strained by her inability to communicate, and there are points where her being stuck in the game can feel isolating, she and her friends care too much about each other for those stresses to be permanent. Even beyond being a novel twist on the silent protagonist trope, she's probably one of my favorite game protagonists.

All in all, CrossCode is a game that wraps a rather fun Zeldalike experience with an engaging story running in parallel to the usual process of clearing quests and making combo chains. This game creates a pretty well realized video game setting, but understands that the process of playing through that game, the people you meet along the way, and the experience you get out of it all mean more than that simple gameplay loop ever could on its own. It’s brimming with passion for the medium, and crafts a great story all about that passion.