Crossing Souls Review - Bad guys are wonderful over-the-top

If a new game is very similar to a successful movie, series or other game, it immediately brings high expectations. It does not matter if it was deliberately chosen to 'copy' a formula or not. Crossing Souls falls under this category. The description of the game is very similar to the series Stranger Things. The game also takes place in the 1980s, has a group of young friends in the leading role and it is about the supernatural. This title will not win an originality prize anyway, but does the game have the same quality as the series or does the game try to compete with the success of Stranger Things?

Crossed souls

Crossing Souls is an action / adventure game that takes place in the 80s. A group of friends discover a corpse with a strange pyramid-like object. They decide to take that along, but this has major consequences. The object is in fact a way to see the deceased and such an object naturally attracts many people with bad intentions. For example, the village where the main characters live is quickly disposed of and residents, including the various parents of the group of friends, are taken away. The comrades decide to help them and find out what exactly is going on.

Of everything

The group of friends you have under control are normally normal people, so they have no special powers and they can not stand up. However, each character has a different skill. There is someone who is very strong and there is a whizzkid who has made shoes that let him fly. During your adventure you will encounter different situations where you have to use good skills. You can change characters at any time, so this will avoid unnecessary time loss. These kind of small puzzles do not require a lot of thinking, but are nice to each other. This is interspersed with some action moments, in which you tackle different enemies and very occasionally you are presented with stand-alone action scenes that have the form of a kind of minigame. All this gives the game a very varied whole.

Now it must be said that the action part of Crossing Souls in terms of control could have been better. The control is a bit of a log and then the focus from which side you want to attack is not very accurate. During the adventure part, the controls are not perfect, but that does not bother you because there is no question of lightning fast reflexes. There are also mini-games in which the intention is to avoid things and the control reacts much too quickly, so you can not control your character accurately. This can sometimes lead to frustration and that is of course never conducive to fun.

White lines

That does not mean that Crossing Souls is not a good game. There is plenty of fun to enjoy with the game. As mentioned before there is a lot of variation, but everything else is well worked out for the rest and the story is very nice. There is a lot of thought about the bad guys in the game, which are wonderfully over-the-top. These fit seamlessly with the 80's atmosphere of the game. You are also occasionally treated to a cut scene that takes the form of a cartoon from the aforementioned era, including the familiar white lines when you watch a movie on a videotape. The pixel art graphics also fit perfectly with that era, because video games then used that.

Pity

Voice-acting was not yet discussed in games in the 80s, so Crossing Souls does not use this either. The different dialogues are represented by written text. You might think that this would be at the expense of the experience, but the game is so well written that you really go along with the group of friends. You quickly feel connected to the teens and when something sad happens, you feel compassion. That you can do this with just the use of words is a big compliment to the developer.

That is why it is so unfortunate that the developer goes a bit wrong with one point. Crossing Souls manages to approach the 80's atmosphere almost perfectly in almost every part of the building, but in terms of music they regularly lose sight of it. Action scenes and cut scenes are accompanied by delicious bad synthesizer music, but this is often lost during the rest of the game. Then some more modern tunes will be chosen. It will of course do nothing about the game itself, but it could have increased the overall atmosphere.

Only for over-40s?

Because Crossing Souls takes place in the 80s, it is almost a must that you have actually experienced this period in order to fully enjoy the game. There are so many fun and funny references to actors, films and pop stars, among other things, that a lot of fun is lost if you know little or nothing about this period. The game is also good enough to appeal to everyone, but it loses a bit of its luster, as many things you encounter during the adventure do not tell you anything.

Conclusion

Crossing Souls is a very good action / adventure game that offers varied and fun gameplay. The story is fun, the bad guys are nice over-the-top and it is also very well written, so you really feel connected to the group of friends. It is true that the control during action scenes can stand in the way of the game and it is also a pity that the developer does not manage to hold the 80's feeling everywhere. Are you an older gamer and have you consciously experienced the 80's, then you will enjoy Crossing Souls to the fullest. The many references to, among others, actors, films and pop stars will curl your mouth corners many times. The game itself is certainly not wrong, so anyone who knows little or nothing about that era will surely enjoy Crossing Souls,

Pros

➕ Very well written
➕ Many nice 80s references
➕ Varied gameplay
➕ Bad guys are wonderful over-the-top
➕ Nice and bad synthesizer music...

Cons

➖ ...that is not used anywhere
➖ Control not ideal in action scenes
➖ You miss a lot of fun if you have not experienced the 80s

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