Cry Machina

This game surprised me a bit more than I expected, in a few ways at least. I played Crystar a while ago and while I liked parts of the game, the gameplay was… quite honestly terrible. It was slow, it was annoyingly long, there was no creativity or flexibility really to it, and it dragged on for a long time too. Crymachina fixed a lot of those things to the point where I could say that while not perfect, I still enjoyed the game a fair amount.

To start with, the game is SO much faster it’s ridiculous. Crystar you move like a SLUG, and the combat is insanely boring. Moves are also much more flashy in Crymachina, and the flow of the game feels much smoother. Parries and dodges add a bit more depth to the game that Crystar did not have.

However, and unfortunately, the game is quite mashy. It really boils down to (at the start at least) mash light attack, launch when you can, do an air combo, do an air smash, then do the finisher. You get some modifications to it with the armaments but there’s not that many and tbh they never felt that useful outside some of the invuln ones (and some damage ones that help now and then).

But the best, best, best, best part of it, the levels are SHORT. In Crystar it felt like you could be there for 30 minutes per section because it was like 3 floors, in Crymachina it’s just a few encounters. I GREATLY appreciated this, because unfortunately I don’t really vibe with the gameplay.

What I did vibe with however was pretty much everything else. The art/character designs are outstanding, the music amazing, and the writing was surprisingly touching. I really liked the character stories, and I appreciate how openly gay they were for each other (cute girls with cute girls my favourite!!!!!)

To get a bit more into why I really liked the writing/story in general, it’s because I think it does a really good job at conveying the idea of living and fighting to live, and not giving up. It’s okay to be alive essentially.

The whole game is about the main group sort of fighting for their survival and their right to exist as machines (trying to become human at first, but it gets flipped later) in a world that is actively trying to deny their existence.

This is further built upon as the characters also try to come to terms with “why is it okay for them to live”, whether it be trying to find a goal just to survive or otherwise. Ultimately the characters learn that it’s ok to just be alive (something both Mikoto and Ami discover for themselves, and something that Leben and Enoa grow to learn).

I think it’s a really touching story in a game where the characters try to find a meaning for their existence, and ultimately come to learn that existing is good enough. As Enoa in the last two slides of the game says “Fight. Kill. Struggle. And despite it all, live. Live, live, live and survive. Please continue to share your life with us.” I think those phrases perfectly encapsulate the message the game is trying to share. Survive and live. That’s enough of a reason to survive.

Anyways, I also think Ami and Mikoto are really cute!!!! I love how Mikoto never outwardly says “I love you” to Mikoto, and that’s because she shows it all with her actions. The game doesn’t ever technically explicitly confirm it, but all of her actions (as well as some not so subtle hints that Mikoto drops with her words) show that Mikoto cares so much about Ami and it’s great.

Similarly, Enoa and Leben have a really cute relationship too!!!!!!!!!!! The way they both learn to express their feelings for each other, especially with Leben telling Enoa that it was okay to be greedy and to show her desires… cute… so cute… combined that with the art… cute………