Funny and Cute
Croixleur Sigma, the impossible to pronounce title, was released for the Switch back in March and in its original version on the PC way back in 2013. With loads of new content, new characters, and the most important addition of new outfits, the title is back on the Switch. Mixing RPG elements with arena style beat ‘em up, the game finds the target of doing something and attempts to do it well. The question then becomes if it does enough.
The first noticeable aspect of Croixleur is that all the stages are round, and the player cannot fall off. There are some variations in this, some stages are ice while others have lightning thrown at the player, but for the most part the only real difference comes in slight color variation and background changes. This, strangely enough, doesn’t really impact gameplay. When watching many of the launch videos, the impression can be received that things may get redundant quickly with this set up. Fortunately, there is enough enemy types, and enough chaos happening all at once that it never feels stale.
What can feel stale is getting stuck in the progression of the stages. The player characters that can be picked can be leveled up through play, and two continues are allowed on a run. The only thing that is carried over from run to run is money, weapon drops, and accessories bought after the runs with the money. The accessories are the real way the characters improve through the game. The problem becomes that later some of the items that are needed to progress further in the tower are expensive enough that it can feel that runs get stuck ending at a certain depth, and thus become a grind for money. While this doesn’t last long, it is slightly annoying.
Unfortunately, not everything is explained during gameplay. Two of the characters have breakable weapons. Those weapons have star rankings. What that means is anyone’s guess. The best way to find out most of the information is by digging through dedicated forums, although oddly that mainly comes back with the feeling of more disappointment on the lack of depth than whatever the player thought might have been there.
Croixleur Sigma is an enjoyable expansion to a game that was released a while ago, one that came out on pretty much every system out there now. At worst it takes some odd steps, but when it is at its best it is a quirky and quick brawler that is a great addition to any library. It is perfect for the Switch in general, because the way the game is designed is wonderful for short bursts of play, which the short battery life of the system is happy to help out with.
Also available on PS4, PC, and Vita.
By: Gillman