Crystal Project is a non-linear JRPG where you are the maker of your own adventure. Explore the world while you find Crystals, unlock classes, learn abilities, and create a strategy capable of taking down the world's toughest bosses. Or just stick to exploring; it's up to you.
The game world's vertical design and lack of invisible walls or loading screens between zones encourage thorough exploration. Players can access new areas and routes by unlocking abilities like climbing, jumping, and using mounts. Reviewers highlight that as they gain new traversal options, the scope of the world opens up dramatically, allowing them to reach previously inaccessible locations. This Metroidvania-style progression keeps exploration feeling rewarding, as players can continually revisit early zones and discover new paths, items, and challenges.
The turn-based combat system emphasizes strategy and customization. Players can see enemy attack orders, damage calculations, and status effects, enabling proactive, preventative tactics like using status effects to disrupt enemy actions. The robust job system and class-based character progression allow for a high degree of party composition experimentation. Reviewers praise the ability to assign a main class and secondary class to each party member, along with a customizable pool of passive abilities, drawing comparisons to classic Final Fantasy job systems.
While the game can be quite challenging, especially in its later stages, reviewers appreciate the inclusion of adjustable difficulty settings and accessibility options. Players can tweak parameters like experience gain, damage output, and disable certain mini-game challenges to customize the difficulty to their liking. The lack of permanent missables and the ability to acquire missed items through a "Lost & Found" vendor further reduce frustration, allowing players to explore at their own pace.