Cross Tails

Cross Trails is a tactics based RPG and one of the best that 2023 has to offer. I will tell you right now that this game has a demo and it is one of the most substantial demos I have played in a game as it lets you play the first few chapters, this is a fantastic way to see if this is a game for you. I like tactics based RPGs, but I am not great at them, however, with this game here, I have gotten so hooked on the lore of the story that I wanted to get better at it and keep on playing.

Fighting Like Cats And Dogs

The premise of Cross Tails is actually really cool. We have these two warring nations that have been at war with each other for many years. To the north, we have the Kingdom of Ranverfurt which is populated by dog like characters. To the south, we have the Republic of Hidiq who are cat like characters. We get to experience the conflict from both sides and find out why they really hate each other, as well as a mysterious third player lurking and manipulating from the shadows!

Stay Classy People!

If you get that reference, you are awesome and we are now officially buds! Cross Tails has a very interesting character system at play. There are many different characters that have their own class, but they can also have a sub class as well! There are 24 classes in the game so have fun trying out different combinations. In addition to this, each class has a rather deep skill tree that lets you customize the class to your liking as you progress through the game. Passive skills, new equipment and there is even an interesting faith system too! As you can see the game is very deep when it comes to its characters.

Hitting The Battlefield

The tactics based combat in Cross Tails is turn based on a “3D quarter view stage” as the game puts it. You can move the thing around so you have a better field of view and character positioning and elevation play a key role in how you do things on the battlefield. I found the combat to be a bit on the challenging side and it did take me a while to figure it out. However, once I did figure it out, I was having a blast with it and I think that they have a good balance of being fun and challenging here once you get it down that is.

The Four Sided Stage!

I know that many tactics based RPGs get compared to Final Fantasy Tactics and I think that Cross Tails is not going to be immune to that when it comes to the visuals. It is played from a similar point of view, but the way the camera pans around makes this so much more cinematic. I love the character designs here, they have a ton of personality and there is some fantastic artwork that develops the story as well. I love the little touches, like seeing plants and grass moving in the direction of the wind or cool lighting effects, it gives the game a ton of personality.

Pros:

• The story is awesome
• I love the art style in this game
• The character class system is very deep
• Combat is fun, but also very challenging

Cons:

• There is a bit of a learning curve here until you get it all figured out
• I hope that they release a physical version of this on the Switch