Crymachina Review: A Gold Star For Effort

You know, the number of recent games that have centered around the idea of machines obtaining humanity makes me really concerned about potential uprisings in our near future. It’s a novel concept that’s been tackled to death and then some in common science-fiction, but its universality and potential for realization certainly lend it to creative usages. Developer FuRyu brings to the table their latest anime action RPG, Crymachina, which really follows the whole idea pretty on the nose, but as far as philosophical ponderings go, it’s off-and-on with how well it’s handled. Some slack should be given, as the idea of machines learning how best to become like their creators hasn’t actually happened, so liberties are often realistically taken, but boy, does Crymachina have an identity crisis in more ways than one.

The End Of The World As We Know It

Sometimes, you just wake up, and you’re a robot. Totally normal, right?

Let me preface this review with a quick statement: Crymachina is technically set in the same universe as Crystar, the anime action RPG FuRyu and Aquiris developed in 2018. If you haven’t played Crystar yet, I very much recommend giving it a go. Despite some rather rough gameplay, the story, characters, and especially the music are in top form. I struggle to recall any game I’ve played in recent years so soul-suckingly sorrowful and harrowing in story and characters, which is why Crymachina confounds me with some of its storytelling and character development choices.

The story, put as simply as I can get it without hitting one of the innumerable spoiler landmines, boils down to this: An illness called Centrifugal Disease sweeps the earth, having a 100% fatality rate and claiming the lives of more than 20% of the world’s population right off the bat. Humans never figure out what in the hell caused it, and it’s created quite a stir in the world. Adding to this, resource scarcity causes us to kick off a world war that renders Earth useless. As a last-ditch effort, mankind creates a rocket ship called Eden whose sole purpose is to take eight Dei Ex Machina, fully-functioning mechanical lifeforms with no limiters on their growth, to the stars and see if those AI can bring about the second coming of humanity. Of course, it isn’t a simple affair to make a robot that’s so much like a human it can become one, so these Deus Ex Machina expand outwards.

The thing is, despite all eight of these AIs having their own roles and designs, they don’t exactly work in perfect unison. The plot kicks in when benevolent Deus Ex Machina, Enoa, cooks up the digital soul for a young German girl named Leben, one of three of these digital souls given mechanical life. Shortly before Leben comes around, the first Deus Ex Machina vanishes, and so does world order for Eden. Several other Deus Ex Machina decide to pick on Enoa, taxing the group heavily while they fend them and their mechanical subordinates off. The four of them venture forth, defending themselves from the attacking armies, learning what’s happened to the other Dei Ex Machina, and leveling up their humanity since how “human” a machine is depends on how much ExP they have. If our heroines can gain enough ExP, they’ll become “Real Humans” and thus be able to pacify the hostile Deus Ex Machina, because they are at least 3 Laws compliant.

The War Machines March Along

Nothing strikes fear into the heart of machines and man everywhere like a boss named Murphy.

The RPG-ification of the concept of making a robot into humanity is a bit middling to me. On one hand, it seems insincere as it doesn’t address the implications of machines attaining emotions and doesn’t feel like it really contributes to our heroines becoming more humanlike. On the other hand, it does make sense in the game’s lore, as the one that’s defining what a “human” constitutes as is a Deus Ex Machina itself, so it’s understandable that something whose only definitions come from calculations and logic to use those same calculations and logic to define what a human is. Middling as it is, it does help simplify the mechanics in-game. You gain ExP, which you level up your characters with, gain EGO points to upgrade your individual stats and upgrade Enoa’s mid-combat support, and can gather up “armor pieces” referred to as Sentiments and little floating side weapons called Auxiliaries. Out on the field, you’ll find Personality Data you can have Enoa crack open for loot, like new weapons and Auxiliaries, as well as EGO points. It doesn’t really try anything new that any other action RPG would, but in its defense, it also doesn’t break any systems with ambition placed in the wrong places.

Where this goes downhill is during actual combat. It actually pains me to see so much style and unique animation spent on what I have to admit is very plain and repetitive battle system. Going up against an enemy does incorporate a couple of mechanics that are key to participating in combat, to Crymachina’s credit. You have special abilities that are tethered to Auxillaries, two extra weapons that float near you and can be anything from giant buzzsaws to artillery cannons to shields and chakrams. Something else vital to combat is breaking the enemy’s guard, which makes it to where they’re stunned, and you’ll be prompted to “Launch” the enemy, then use a Combo Finisher for massive damage. You can even transform your weapon into a gun for long-range attacks.

Seems reasonable for an action RPG, right? On paper, all of this works as intended. Do note that all of this was done on its default difficulty setting, which you can only change up by toggling it to Casual mode, which reduces damage taken and the amount of health enemies have, but as long as you don’t go after anything ten levels above you, you shouldn’t need to deviate from the normal difficulty.

The problem that lies with Crymachina’s combat is a lack of any real variety. There are no combo patterns, no extra mechanics added to bosses or enemies, and no reason to shy away from popping the abilities of both Auxiliaries, charging in, and mashing the attack button while occasionally dodging. Basic enemies can’t soak up hardly a spot of damage if they aren’t ten levels above you, so you waste more time getting to them than actually killing them, while any and all bosses are tanky and don’t feel rewarding to kill at all. Add in some very simple and barebones level designs, and there isn’t much left to really enjoy with the gameplay side of Crymachina. Crystar already proved that the action RPG approach was not a winning formula, and it’s only marginally better here.

What Happens When Machines Try To Play House

The real gold star of the show.

When you aren’t fighting, you’ll be hanging out in a safe, digital place called the Imitation Garden, where Enoa can talk casually with the trio of heroines. Actually, a lot of the time, when you finish a combat mission, you’ll have a few dialogue scenarios to go through before you can proceed with the next mission, along with plenty of optional dialogue scenes. The thing is, everyone talks to each other with such camaraderie, none of them really sinking too much grief or angst into the fact that their consciousness is now uploaded into a robot body. Granted, they look like their old Earth selves while in the Imitation Garden for comfort’s sake, but I’d like to believe they should be going through at least some level of duress, and yet it never seems to cause any real distress or confusion for the cast, not even for the freshly awakened Leben.

Let me be absolutely clear here: I do legitimately enjoy the characters in Crymachina. They are well written, though they do lean heavier on the trope-y side. There’s some degree of character growth coming along with them getting in touch with their human-like side, with Enoa being the big gold star of the bunch. But for all the good these characters do, I can’t help but feel like they don’t fit in as well as they could. The situation going on in Eden is dire, and there’s no uncertainty about that, yet while the vibe of the Imitation Garden can sour a bit depending on what part of the story you’re in, there’s never any real, lasting conflict between the cast, and if there was, it’s all in the past. The best way I can describe it is if you were to accidentally hop into a sci-fi, slice-of-life anime, but it’s two seasons in and had a prequel series you have to watch to get the full experience.

Maybe I’m a bit spoiled by how well Crystar conveyed their characters, and realize I have a degree of bias as a big fan of it, but still can’t help but draw the comparisons given how good I know this series’ characters can be.

If there’s one thing I was sincerely looking forward to with Crymachina, it was the return of talented artcore musician Sakuzyo. The theme of the Imitation Garden is so hauntingly sweet and soothing, and while it’s sometimes hard to hear, the boss music doesn’t hold back at all. It’s such a distinct style of music that you’ll want to hear more and more, and while I don’t know that it’s quite on the level that Crystar was, I can still say it’s fantastic stuff nonetheless.

While on the topic of sounds, Crymachina’s entire voice cast knocked it out of the park, just as I had hoped. Crystar actually started to make me uncomfortable with how horrifyingly accurate the voice acting was, like these people were actually going through everything the characters were, and Crymachina does not shy from that very same pedigree. Believe me, I say this in a very positive light; as harrowing as it was to listen to, that’s exactly what I want from acting! I don’t mind one bit that all of it is in Japanese; it worked phenomonally in conveying what emotions Crymachina did bring to light, and the wonderful folks that captured these girls in full form deserve all the praise they get.

Lastly, I simply have to praise the art direction for Crymachina. I legitimately cannot stop staring at the cutscenes, the artwork that’s coming with the Limited Edition, all of it. I can honestly say, if someone made an entire anime in this style, I’d watch it front to back, no questions asked, just to keep seeing this level of jaw-dropping fluidity and stellar art design.

Almost Brings A Tear To The Eye

When I finished Crymachina, I could only really describe my feelings as complicated. I really want so much to like what FuRyu was doing here, but I find it hard to recommend it over its superior predecessor. It strives so hard to be a character-driven tale of the sorrow and pain that comes with learning how to be human, and yet the connections between the characters couldn’t have come across as more insincere and artificial. And while Crymachina’s flashy and striking character designs certainly shine, they can’t save a game that’s unfortunately hampered by uninspired, repetitive combat and painfully linear dungeons.

And yet, I see things here that I haven’t seen in any other title besides Crystar. The art style is so vibrant and unique that I’ll be proudly hanging up the Limited Edition’s cloth poster up in my gamer cave, and if you have a taste for a fine mixture of classical music and EDM, Sakuzyo’s work should be heard for yourself. For all of its missed opportunities and misfires, I still absolutely have to give credit where it’s due. Truly, the saddest thing about Crymachina for me, is how much I want to absolutely love this game, but can’t find it in myself to overlook its frequent faults.

Final Verdict 3/5

Available on: Steam (Reviewed), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5; Publisher: NIS America; Developer: FuRyu Corporation; Number of Players: 1; Released: October 20th, 2023; MSRP: $59.99

Full disclosure: A copy of Crymachina was provided by the publisher.