Crystar

Crystar
Developer(s)	Gemdrops
Publisher(s)	JP: FuRyu WW: Spike Chunsoft EU: Numskull Games
Director(s)	Fuyuki Hayashi
Producer(s)	Fuyuki Hayashi
Artist(s)	Riuichi[1]
Writer(s)	Naoki Hisaya
Composer(s)	Sakuzyo
Platform(s)	PlayStation 4 Microsoft Windows
Release	PlayStation 4 JP: October 18, 2018 NA: August 27, 2019 EU: August 30, 2019 Windows WW: August 27, 2019
Genre(s)	Action role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player

Crystar^[a] is an action role-playing game for PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows, developed by Gemdrops. The game was released in 2018 in Japan, and released internationally in 2019.

Gameplay[]

The player controls a girl named Rei Hatada, who in order to revive her dead younger sister Mirai Hatada, makes a deal with twin demons of Purgatory, and the story progresses as the player fights the souls that drift about Purgatory. The concept of the game revolves around crying, which purifies new equipment to use. By defeating specific enemies, "Memoirs of the Dead," final thoughts of the dead, will appear, and crying will purify those thoughts and develop the protagonist mentally.^[2]

Outside of battle and dungeon exploration, the player can also return to Rei's room in the real-world part of the game and prepare for battle, view collectibles, pet her dog, and to enjoy everyday life through various angles.^[3]

Plot[]

Rei and Mirai Hatada are summoned to Purgatory by an evil revenant, Anamnesis who wants to kill them and take their souls so that she can achieve revival, having died in the past. Rei awakens to the power of an executor and fights Anamnesis, however she accidentally kills her sister during the fight and so agrees to work with Mephis and Pheles, the managers of Purgatory, to collect Idea, and the demons agree they will revive Mirai if Rei collects enough and gives the Idea to them, though Rei only has a certain amount of time before Mirai's soul is taken by the cogs of renewal and turned into a new soul, which would be a new person altogether. As she transverses Purgatory Rei fights against a strong revenant known as Epicurean and after defeating it, hesitates to kill it when she learns the soul belonged to a young girl. As it was about to kill her she is saved by another executor, Kokoro Fudoji, who had been working for the demons for months, and Epicurean escapes. Kokoro's desire is to get revenge on Anamnesis as she also summoned Kokoro to Purgatory and took the souls of her boyfriend and unborn child. Kokoro later learns that her boyfriend has become a revenant working for Anamnesis and so Kokoro and Rei kill him and absorb his soul, Kokoro unfazed as she was now in love with Rei instead. As they go further in, they learn that a girl named Sen Megumiba was the only survivor of a bus crash, which also took the life of Rei's only real life friend, Yuri Minano. They come across Sen in Purgatory who had been dragged in by a serial killer-turned revenant who had been prosecuted by her father, and after he defeats Kokoro and Rei he is about to absorb Sen's soul as revenge, however the demons give Sen Executor powers and she slits his throat which stops him from being able to devour souls, after which the group kill him. They are then sidetracked by a revenant named Nanana who for reasons unknown is in love with Rei. She forces them to play games such as hide and seek and eventually fights against the group, first as herself, and then as her transformed self Epicurus. After being defeated the group agree to let Nanana join them as otherwise she would continue being a nuisance. As they reach the middle layer of Purgatory Rei senses her sister's soul and starts to forsake her friends, acting cold to them as all she cares about is getting her sister and even becomes cold to her pet dog, Thelema - who dies after she got angry at her. As they get closer and closer to Mirai's soul, Rei ditches the group and goes on her own, not caring about the rest of the group, and after defeating the two dog revenants who guard the towers to the second half of Purgatory, Thelema appears in front of Rei, now a revenant, and fuses with the guardians to form Therion and fights Rei. As Rei hesitates again, not wanting to fight her pet, her friends arrive and Rei apologies for her actions and the group kill Therion. Now in the second half of Purgatory they defeat Anamnesis and her minions, the Bourbaki, though Anamnesis is able to escape. The group learn of the Revenant Princess from the Bourbaki, who the group assume is Anamnesis. They then reach the next area of Puragatory where Sen remembers she was pulled into this area year earlier, in which they find Rei's former friend Yuri Minano, who is now a revenant. Yuri merges with the remains of the bus and tries to kill Rei as Yuri had learned in the year since that the Revenant Princess pulled the bus into purgatory as she was Rei's friend, so her death was Rei's fault. After killing Yuri they reach the final layer of purgatory, where Mirai's soul is, however unknown to the rest of the group the twin demons had told Sen that Anamnesis is actually her mother who died in the bus crash, and also tell Nanana that being in the final layer of purgatory will cause her to lose her memories as the final area is not safe for revenants due to the fact they will be reborn as new souls there. As they reach the end of purgatory they find Anamnesis and defeat her. Anamnesis's plan was to murder Rei in front of Mirai as revenge, though Rei has no idea why Anamnesis hates her and Mirai, after which Anamesis would achieve revival to be with her daughter again (as a revenant could collect human souls to achieve revival. In addition, Anamnesis was unaware her daughter was Sen as she lost her memories upon becoming Anamesis). After defeating Anamnesis Sen protects her before Kokoro is able to get her revenge and kill her. Sen reveals to the group that Anamnesis is her mother, and Kokoro and Sen fight to the death over Anamnesis' life. As they fight, Anamnesis pushes Mirai into the cogs of renewal which would be enough for her to get revenge on Rei and Mirai even if she can't kill them, as Mirai would be reborn as a different person with no memories - this fails however as Nanana manages to stop Mirai from falling in and winds up inside it instead, causing Nanana's soul to be reborn instead. Rei's despair at losing Nanana causes her to get the final Idea needed for Mirai's revival, and Mirai is then revived by the demons with the fates of Kokoro, Sen, and Anamnesis being left unknown. As Rei and Mirai return to the real world, Rei loses her memories of the others as Mirai happily states they will be together forever, with it being revealed that Mirai is actually the Revenant Princess and wanted Rei all to herself. Rei's heartbreak at losing Nanana also caused Alcea to be created, which is even stronger than Idea, and Kuon Hatada uses to create a new timeline.

In the second timeline, the events are the same up to Bourbaki. In the previous timeline Rei and Nanana were split up from Sen and Kokoro before Rei and Nanana fight the Bourbaki and Amanesis, however in the second timeline Rei and Sen are instead spilt up from Kokoro and Nanana. As they fight Amanesis and the Bourbaki, Anamnesis reveals that she is Sen's mother, having regained her memories of her real life after seeing Sen. As Nanana was with Rei at this point in the previous timeline, Amanesis gains her memories much earlier than last time, and Sen learns about her mother much earlier as well (meaning the demons didn't need to tell her in secret). As Kokoro and Nanana regroup with Rei and Sen they try to kill Anamnesis, however Sen protects Anamnesis who manages to escape. As they travel through the area where Sen was originally pulled into Purgatory a year earlier, Sen says she will eventually tell Kokoro why she protected Anamnesis and after killing Yuri, Sen tells Kokoro that Anamnesis is her mother. Once they reach the final level of purgatory and defeat Anamnesis, Kokoro decides to give up on her revenge and states she will allow Anamnesis and Sen to be a family again in Purgatory as long as Anamnesis agrees to a contract with the demons just like Nanana, agree to never kill another human again, and never try to achieve revival, however just as she agrees to Kokoro's demands Mirai arrives and reveals herself as the Revenant Princess having regained her powers in this timeline, and kills Anamnesis. As Mirai boasts and taunts about how she will have Rei to herself, Nanana snaps having lost all her memories and attacks the group, though Kokoro and Sen fight Nanana in her Epicurus form, allowing Rei to chase after Mirai. After defeating Mirai, Mirai readies one final attack, which impales both sisters and they die in each other's arms, the fate of Sen, Kokoro, and Nanana being left unknown once again. The shock of her sister's betrayal creates a second Alcea, and Kuon once again uses it to create a new timeline.

In the third timeline the events are the same once again, only this time Rei and Kokoro are split up from Sen and Nanana. Unlike the previous two times (as she would escape in the previous two timelines) Anamnesis is defeated and killed by Rei and Kokoro, and with no heartbreak caused this time, which is needed to create Idea, the demons pose as Anamnesis and appears to Sen, telling her that she used the last of her power before dying to tell her that she is Sen's mother, and that Kokoro knew this and laughed and killed Anamnesis not caring that she was Sen's mother, whilst also stating that Kokoro made up the stuff about Anamnesis killing her boyfriend and baby. As the group meet back up, Sen and Kokoro become at odds because of this (though Sen doesn't reveal why she's pissed off at Kokoro). In the area where Sen was originally summoned, the demons split up the girls and pose as them, mocking and insulting each girl to cause distrust and hate between them. As they reach the final area of purgatory the girls continuously butt heads and as they reach the cogs of renewal (Mirai's revival being the only reason Sen was still with the group as she wouldn't go back on her promise to help Rei grant Mirai's revival) Mirai reveals she is the Revenant Princess and that she was the one who summoned the bus with Sen, Yuri, and Sen's mother on it as she was pissed off that Rei had a friend in real life. Mirai had died a year earlier and collected enough souls for revival and decided to take Yuri's soul so that Rei would be only hers, with Sen and Anamnesis being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Revival causes people's memories to be altered as though the person never died, and thus Rei was unaware that her sister had died, gone to purgatory, and then achieved revival. After Mirai had pulled the bus into Purgatory, Mirai forced everyone on the bus to kill each other until only one remained, with Sen as the only survivor (as she hid, with her mother being the final survivor who then killed herself so Sen could escape) which is why Anamnesis hated Rei, as she was the reason that she died in the bus crash. Still manipulating the girls to get more Idea, the demons give Mirai two prisons which are impossible to escape from and Mirai, hating the fact that Rei had made three new friends, traps Rei and Nanana in one, and Sen and Kokoro in the other, and then tells them to fight to the death and that only one of them could survive to fight Mirai. Still thinking that Kokoro killed her mother for no reason and "knew" about their relation, Sen murders Kokoro and escapes her prison, whilst Nanana eventually snaps after losing the last of her memories and Rei kills her in self defence, which allows her to leave her prison. Rei meets up with Mirai who laughs and taunts about how she will have Rei all to herself as all her friends are dead, however she does this for too long and Sen stabs Mirai from behind, killing her, getting revenge on Mirai for what she did a year earlier. The demons still keep the rule that only one of them can escape however, and Sen attacks Rei since Rei was technically responsible for her mother's death due to Mirai pulling them into Purgatory, however Rei wins the fight and kills Sen in self defence. As Rei wallows in despair she creates a large amount of Idea, and deciding to upset Rei even more the demon twins reveal that they had been manipulating the girls all along, and that they were responsible for all the revenants they had fought, and had even murdered Rei's dog (rather than Thelema dying of natural causes) just to create Idea through despair. Realising that everything bad that had happened was their fault, Rei decides she will kill the twins in revenge however she is easily defeated and the twins kill Rei, bored of their playtoy. Rei learning about the demons true intentions created a third alcea, and Kuon uses it to create a fourth timeline.

In the fourth timeline, Kuon finally has enough alcea to be able to change fate and so uses it on Rei after she is pulled into purgatory which gives Rei all her memories from the previous three timelines. Kuon reveals that she was Rei's twin sister that died in the womb, and that her soul was absorbed by Rei after her death, and when she was dragged into purgatory their souls split back into two, which allowed Kuon to work in the background to be able to get Rei enough power to defeat the demons. Kuon then fights Rei, and Rei is forced to kill the sister she just met, absorbing her soul, giving her her full soul back and making her more powerful as she was now whole again. The alcea also causes everyone Rei met to gain the memories of the previous timelines as well, though this includes the demons twins. As they attack Rei, trying to kill her again like in the third timeline, Epicurean suddenly appears and defends Rei, and Epicurean reveals that she was actually Nanana, and that she loved Rei because she had spared her life when she first hesitated to kill her first revenant. They escape together and try to defeat the twins without Kokoro and Sen though wind up finding them in Purgatory anyway. Sen refuses to join the group having learned that she was tricked in the previous timeline into hating her friends and becoming a revenge driven murderer, though joins after Kokoro says she forgives her as "this version" of Sen hadn't killed anyone yet. The demon twins invite the group to their domain and when they reach them, the girls are able to defeat Mephis and Pheles, however even though Rei, Sen, and Nanana hadn't agreed to the Executor contracts in this timeline yet (Kokoro having agreed months before) the contract transferred over to this timeline as well (which was the only reason they were even able to fight the twins in the first place) and thus the twins mind control the girls and try force them to fight each other to the death again - however Anamnesis and Mirai interfere (Mirai stating that she's the only one allowed to bully Rei) and transport the girls into their souls, and help them girls overcome their greatest insecurities, which is where the twins had placed the contracts within their souls. Rei gets over the despair that she was the one who killed her sister, Kokoro deals with the despair of Anamnesis taking the souls of her boyfriend and baby, Sen deals with the grief of Mirai killing her mother, and Nanana accepts the fact that she is actually Nanami Ataraxia and not Nanana, and this breaks the contract for the girls. Shocked that the contracts no longer have any effect, Mephis and Pheles merge to form Mephistopheles but are killed by the group. Nanana takes over as the manager of purgatory and a few months later (when time would run out to revive Mirai) the girls return to purgatory where they meet Mirai and Anamnesis. To atone for their sins, having murdered countless people in all four timelines, Mirai and Anamnesis decide to go into the cogs of renewal, causing their souls to be reborn as new souls, erasing themselves, as Rei and Mirai and Anamnesis and Sen say goodbye to their family members forever.

Development[]

The title of the game, Crystar, is a portmanteau of "cry" and "star." The idea came the producer Fuyuki Hayashi, who wants to replicate the feelings where one can draw shining things (akin to a 'star') in a sad event that also makes one 'cry'.^[4]

The base story is written by Naoki Hisaya, formerly of Key, known as one of Kanon’s scenario writers.^[5]

The opening and ending theme songs, "can cry" and "re-live" (respectively), are both composed and sung by Nagi Yanagi, and the opening cinematic was directed by Tatsuya Oishi at animation studio Shaft.^[6]

Release[]

The game was announced in the Japanese magazine V Jump, revealing the key staff and release date of October 18, 2018.^[7] A teaser trailer featuring the opening animation and gameplay was uploaded to YouTube in June.^[8][9] Pre-order bonuses for the game include an extra in-game costume, special soundtrack CD and a replica film sheet of the opening animation.^[10]

Spike Chunsoft released the game in English for Microsoft Windows and for PlayStation 4 in North America on August 27, 2019,^[11] and for PlayStation 4 in Europe on August 30, 2019.^[12] Arc System Works released the game in traditional Chinese in early 2019.^[13]

Reception[]

Crystar debuted at No.5 on the Media Create chart during the opening week in Japan, selling 10,473 retail copies.^[17]

The game received "mixed or average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.^[15] Japanese magazine Famitsu rated the game 30/40 (8/8/7/7).^[16]

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website