In the 30-or-so minutes that I've played Crymachina, an action-RPG released earlier this month, I have:
- Died of the sclerosis that apparently wiped out 20% of mankind
- Been reborn 2,000 years later as an android hand-picked by a small blonde machine girl, like some kind of weebed-out Destiny Guardian
- Learned of the fall of mankind, which was predictably caused by nuclear war
- Been reborn again as a simulated human in what is basically a slice-of-life anime
- Wombo-comboed another man-made machine god so hard that it pissed off back to space
Jokes on you: this all actually happened in the first 10 minutes. This game is absurd, and while it's uneven and a little repetitive, I'm finding it damn fun.
Crymachina is the latest release from developer Furyu Corporation, which I would classify as a specialist studio. Among various JRPGs, it makes exactly this kind of action-RPG, just with a different wrapper each time. Crymachina is strikingly similar to Monark and especially Crystar, for example, right down to the threadbare dungeons. But this time, Furyu's formula has actually clicked for me.
Crymachina is a blisteringly fast third-person action game with furious combo chains, Armored Core-esque rocket shoulders, Bayonetta-style witch time on perfect dodges, and a satisfying greatsword parry that leads deliciously into aerial juggles. I see glimpses of action greats in the altogether average combat system assembled here, and the highs are more than making up for the lows. Oppositely, it's produced some incredible illustrations, making for fabulous character expressions during the game's plentiful conversational scenes. Just look at this stuff:
The game's on PC and Switch as well, but nearest I can tell, it only has a free demo on PS4 and PS5 for some reason. You won't find it listed on the store individually; instead, it's under the other options of the main game listing. I went into it with modest expectations, hoping I might get some more of the anime junk food I described in my Code Vein review back in 2019. Turns out I was bang-on, except at first blush, Crymachina seems to play a hell of a lot faster than Code Vein. With the way the upgrade system piles on new weapons and status boosts, I only expect it to get more helter-skelter over time, especially as I swap between a few playable characters with subtly different attack styles. To help frame it, it's closer to something like Honkai Impact in my mind, or maybe a messier Scarlet Nexus.
I've had a lot more fun with the Crymachina demo than I expected, but to be totally clear, I know jank when I see it. It ran great on my PS5, but this game is obviously not perfectly polished. The story feels like overwrought AI tropes put through an industrial press. Enormous plot bombshells are presented so bluntly that it makes Nier: Automata look restrained, and between sending humans to space and all the android morality stuff, it reads like a page from Yoko Taro's playbook too. In one of my favorite contrivances (so far), the collection of EXP, now an in-universe resource representing human qualities, becomes the key to turning our android girls into real humans in the eyes of god. It's like if Pinocchio was a Shaft-produced anime, or if Lies of P didn't even try to make sense.
I can also see combat getting a bit repetitive after the 20-ish hours it seems to take to beat the game – which, for $60, may understandably put some people off. I'm relying on instinct and limited first impressions, but the OpenCritic consensus of 69 seems reasonable to me. That said, Crymachina clearly has an audience, and they've given it an 88% positive score on Steam.
But make no mistake: I love this stuff. I love games like this. I haven't played anywhere near enough to review it, but this feels unmistakably like the 3/5 anime guilty pleasures that I just can't quit. Pummeling and parrying dudes with these souped-up android battle suits just scratches something in my brain, and god help me, I'll probably come back for the full game sooner or later. Probably when it goes on sale.
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