Crystalis (1990 Video Game) User Reviews

Great fantasy RPG filled with darkness and magic.

[insomniac_rod · 8/10 · 15 October 2006]

Probably influenced by the Zelda NES video games but being a sui generis RPG. "Crystalis" is one of the best games to ever come out fro the NES. The story is dark but magical, heroic but sinister, and you can't help but truly feel you are into the game.

There are magical situations that only a fierce warrior could handle. Also, the dark atmosphere in the game mixed with the colorful characters creates a great gaming experience.

The game is somehow hard but it's worth your time. There are many complex puzzles but once you solve them, you will feel powerful. The main situations to solve in the game are truly magical and could be considered as taken out from a Fantasy movie.

"Crystalis" is an excellent video game with a magical story and a high fun factor. Please, get this hidden gem you won't regret. One of the most underrated and great RPG's of all time. Sadly this is highly overlooked.

An early action RPG that still is satisfying!

[Aaron1375 · 9/10 · 9 February 2012]

This is a game I played quite a bit in my youth as I rented it several times. I enjoyed how different it was for the time. A lot of people compare it to Legend of Zelda; however, I always balk at these comparisons as it is a much different game. Zelda was an adventure game with light RPG elements. This one was an action RPG and it included speaking to townsfolk and completing quests for them and climbing mountains to free people imprisoned and trying to stop a tower from destroying the world! You also get to ride a dolphin on the sea! So it is varied and interesting to traverse this rather well done interconnected world.

The story has a young man waking from a deep sleep where he finds himself in a strange world filled with monsters and towns, swords and sorcery! A cataclysmic event has reduced the world to an earlier era and it is up to this young man to help the people of the world however he can and defeat an empire that has appeared in the land, taking over towns and enslaving the people! He will be given swords with the power of the elements to aid his quest and will learn magic to help him progress.

Very good game, the game play is very similar to the later game Secret of Mana as you walk through the world gaining levels to help you get through the vast world and its many monsters. I will say, at times the world is incredibly annoying as the monsters will respawn indefinitely; however, the save system in this one is good as you can pretty much save anywhere. The swords are cool as they power up to shoot the element the represent and the magic is cool too having various effects such as healing, flight, barriers and even one that can change your appearance! The game also features something I do not like, and that is a very low level cap. Once you hit 16, you're done, so if you are having trouble with the monsters, getting stronger is not an option.

So, a very fun game with very few faults. As far as length, for a game of the NES era it is rather lengthy; especially considering the interconnected world. It is also very winnable without the aid of guides as I won it a few times back in the day. I mention this, due to the fact a lot of the earlier era RPG games were hell to get through without help! Making you do vague things, with only the barest of clues. This one, most of it is very easy to figure out with the exception of a certain item needed to defeat the second to last boss. Overall, though this is super enjoyable and I played it recently and it is still a blast!

One of the Best Games ever made

[FrankyD45 · 13 January 2005]

Crystalis is very similar to The Legand of Zelda and is just as good if not better. The adventure is amazing - Going from Town to Town buying weapons and armor and herbs, and talking to townsfolk and defeating dungeons/temples, and riding dolphins through oceans, killing bad creatures, a lesbian land. It's great. The only annoying part of it is in order to gain strength you must kill a vast amount of enemies which also increases your life span. Before entering the first dungeon it gets annoying running back and forth in the first land killing boring enemies for only one increase in strength as apposed to killing awesome enemies later in the game for 5 to 20 increases in strength. Although you can enter the first dungeon without increasing too high in strength but you will most likely die in that dungeon.

You have to wake up the guy in the windmill dungeon with the flute so that he will give you a key to turn on the windmill to allow the wind to blow away the rocks blocking the entrance to the first temple - it's an awesome concept.

The game is absolutely worth it and was completely overshadowed by the Zelda franchise which is a shame because Crystalis is an unbelievable game. I'm a huge Zelda fan and I like Crystalis better than the original Legand of Zelda. It would be awesome if they made a sequel. Maybe it'll still happen. This game is equal to greatness put into a single cartridge - go out and play it if you never have played it before because you must experience its greatness before your life ends. 10 out 10!