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wfmag.cc \ 11WHAT’S IN
A NAME
Aside from the title, a
wordplay on the Spanish
spelling of crystals, it’s also
no coincidence that the
protagonist is called Crisbell,
while another companion
who joins you early on is
named Cristopher – and it’s
likely not the last character
you’ll meet whose name
begins with Cris. Silva teases
that there’s a tremendous
significance for this in the
game’s lore, though of course,
he doesn’t want to spoil
anything here.from the left, then chances are there’s
something in the past worth exploring.
Cris Tales also stands out from a visual
standpoint, neither leaning on predictable
pixel art or anime styles, but instead opting
for a unique and strikingly beautiful hand-
drawn 2D look that’s animated frame by frame.
Even though there are clear influences from
classic and modern JRPGs – there are genre
staples like magical girls
and a pint-sized sidekick
with a knack for running its
mouth – Colombia-based
Dreams Uncorporated
is keen to celebrate
its country’s own identity. It’s a refreshing
break from the usual negative stereotypes.
“We actually want to create something called
‘Colombian Fantasy’,” Silva explains. “A new style
of magical world and the creatures within it,
focused on Colombia as our main inspiration.
Hopefully, it will motivate lots of people to learn
more about our roots.”
Indeed, the game frequently references its
country of origin: the town of Narim with its
cathedral in the centre is directly inspired by
Nariño, home to a beautiful Gothic basilica
called Las Lajas Sanctuary. The protagonist
Crisbell was the result of art director Sebastian
Villarreal envisioning how a Disney princess
would look if she was from Colombia (and could
fight with a really big sword).
“For Cris Tales, we created our own look
and feel, based on Sebastian’s background
as an artist, and combined that with many art
styles, as well as references to our country,”
says Silva. “The way people dress, the way the
environments look, and even the architecture is
inspired by Colombia and
its culture.”
There are still a few
genre elements the studio
has purposely kept in Cris
Tales, so you can expect
the final game to include random encounters,
dungeon crawling, and minigames. Right now,
though, the team is still focused on perfecting
the core aspects of the game, which are still
under wraps.
Before embarking on Cris Tales, its dev team
was called Below The Game, and cut its teeth on
kid-friendly, fairytale games for mobile, so taking
on an ambitious RPG like this is a considerable
evolution for the studio. With its release several
months away, there’s still more work to do.
You might not be able to peer into the future,
but if you’re impatient to try the game out, the
opening demo is available on Steam.“Even the architecture
is inspired by Colombia
and its culture” Sending this enemy into
the future makes it too old
and frail to wield its axe,
so it resorts to magic
attacks instead.wfmag.cc \ 11 With three eras displayed
simultaneously, you’ll see
some NPCs at different ages,
though it gets disturbing
when you see nobody at all. Given Cris Tales is a JRPG-inspired
indie game, it’s a pleasant surprise
that voice acting features throughout.Early AccessAttract Mode