CRYSTAR

This is one of those games that makes me wish there was a third option between Yes or No for recommendation. The gameplay isn't particuarly good and the story isn't outstanding.
The gameplay you get at the start is what you're going to get throughout the whole game. The most fun skills are all in the endgame, but even then, they only marginally improve the game's experience. I played on Normal mode until Chapter V, but most of the time I was just ignoring enemies, so I eventually switched to Easy because I wasn't much interested in the combat part of the game. You will spend 99% of the time inside the dungeons and the only other location you will ever see is Rei's room.
The narrative takes a good while to get going and, even when it does, it's not that great. Rei, the protagonist, is unlikeable until the point where the story opens up and you finally understand what themes it's going for. On that front I'd say the main characters are the best part of it: they're flawed, they commit mistakes and they can be VERY annoying at certain points, but those reasons are why the themes of the story work well, despite the narrative not being great, because all of them are very human in how they got their share of problems and they're trying to deal with them their own way.
I want to emphasize that this is a character driven story and, a lot of the time, the characters aren't taking the most rational decisions to deal with the conflict at hand (or even when they try to, the narrative just says "nope"). I was thinking "Why didn't she just say or do X?" or "Okay, she said or did X, but why didn't she say or do it more assertively?" a LOT early on, but once I understood more of the themes and characters it became easier to accept why the characters act the way they do.
None of the songs played in-game stood out for me, they work for what they're intended.
A plus for the game is that it is completely voice-acted. I played it with the JP VAs and have a penchant for the kansaiben, so Kokoro was a real treasure to listen to. The bad side of the JP dub is having to listen to Mephis and Pheles because there wasn't one single time they weren't annoying to the point I was just skipping their lines.
You definitely need the right mood/mindset to enjoy it for what it is and it's hard to recommend it for everybody. Overall it was an okay game, I would put it in the 5-6/10 or 3/5 range.

I initially played this game when it came out for $60 in 2019 and I thought back then wow it's such a terrible game. The whole thing ended up being pretty funny though and I would think about it every now and then for just being so bad but having such a silly story.

For $2 it's totally fine. This should have initially dropped at $20 on release but even then the gameplay is the most basic hack and slash you can get. If you're gonna play it then it's worth sticking to the end for how silly the story gets.

Focus on what you can actually see, try not to worry about filling out the map. That thing is your enemy and if you feel the urge to fill it out entirely you're going to be sorely disappointed. If you can't visibly see something of interest then it's not worth the trouble of going out of your way to check things out. I'm sure it would have saved me a few hours when I first played this..

This game is not for everyone, so please don't see mixed reviews and believe this isn't for you. If you are deeply fond of emotional media following young women struggling to process their feelings, this will hit you. If you like Wonder Egg Priority, Black Rock Shooter, Selecter Infected Wixoss, you will love this game and the story that it holds. Chapter 5 made me cry like a baby.
Not every story is for everyone who beholds it. The gameplay feels like something I would play back on the PS2, so is absolutely outdated, but I don't mind it for the story and characters. I even like the combat at times.

Crystar is a great, depressing story trapped in a boring game
if you value your time, I'd suggest just watching a story summary on youtube. however, the game is so niche that finding a good one is tough, meaning you'll likely have to endure dozens of hours of routine yourself.
it's only worth buying on a deep discount, and solely for the sake of its powerful ending. the story is the only reason not to drop Crystar, as it tackles heavy themes of guilt and redemption, backed by some genuinely unexpected plot twists.

Haaaahhhh finally comepleted it.I enjoyed it pretty well.Now ill list the pro and cons of it.....
Pros
There are 4 characters to choose from each has their own attack style,and their Guardians design is pretty dang nice for me
The story imo is pretty good,the true ending is pretty heartwarming
Costumes,while there isnt alot of em unless u buy the DLC for the outfits there are a few color swaps and other that makes it kinda nice for replayability id say
The Sentiment system is pretty unique for me personally and u unlock some pretty strong ones later
The Dead Memoir adds a layer of characteristics for the enemies altho they are just mostly reskins with diffrent names given to them,but i appreciate them for trying to make each having little of their backsory and stuff
Each protagonists and antagonists characters have pretty decent story behind their actions,i like that
Cons
The enemies,there are alot of reskins that are just more tougher and hit harder,but this maybe because at the time,the develepors have a budget so understandable.
The map is also pretty much reskins with diffrent layouts but in game it is Purgatory so....makes sense i guess(?)
Combat can be pretty boring and dull after a while for some.
Thats pretty much it I guess,would i recommend the game? yes but its definitely not for everyone id say.Some might even say its grindy i guess it kinda is.....? But if u like stories the game has a decently good story and pretty enjoyable.Mybe not at full price tho i did get it durning sales and its worth it if u have it on sales its totally worth it.

Disclaimer, I played through Crystar twice previously on two different platforms. Additionally, some indirect spoilers may come up.
Crystar is a both complicated, and simple game. Very sad, yet very bittersweet. Quite short, but also quite long in some ways. Confronting you with the miseries of being alive, yet also showing the beautiful aspects of life. Injuries from the past will never truly heal, yet you can learn to live with them.
There's no law that enforces kindness in the world. The world is empty. The world is unreasonable. But, however, because of that. You must give meaning to your tears through your will. You must give meaning to the sadness and pain you endure. Because it'll be unrequited. Because it is unfair. Most importantly, use your tears to smile. I'm sure your future will be wonderful. So give meaning to the tears.
That is the message of CRYSTAR.
Its story is definitely its strong suit, though I cant help but wonder why people dislike the gameplay that much. In many ways, it indeed is repetitive and slow. Yet it also compliments its story and message beautifully. A story about the hardships of losing a loved one, even through your own hands doesn't need to be hectic in my opinion. It highlights the dreadfulness of the day to day life even more.
The visuals are also quite noteworthy, for a game this size it is really pretty. Not to mention the quite cool emo/lolita-esque aesthetic.
One thing I want to mention lastly, the budget for this game was distributed really weirdly. The intro may seem a little low effort, but pushing through that is very worth it. If the game had a higher budget, it could have maybe been one of the most successful JRPG's ever. This game is really special to me, so I would highly recommend anyone a fan of sad yet bittersweet stories to give it a try.

Crystar doesn't really feel up to par with classic action RPGs, but it's a playable game despite some severely repetitive content that will eventually numb your mind into boredom. This really should have been a 20-30 hour game for 100% completion, but the devs drag it out to 40-50 hours in the worst possible way by making you fight the same enemies and bosses over and over until your brain pretty much shuts off.

It's an interesting concept, but the story doesn't make much sense. You play as a girl who seemingly enters a nightmare-type alternate dimension with no explanation to save her sister. The idea of crying being a sort of super power is interesting, but the game's mechanics are so shallow that it never really makes you invested in it. After a beautiful anime intro cutscene that is completely disconnected from the rest of the game, you start in a bedroom and have access to a menu that is mostly just used to go into labyrinths and do minor upgrades to your stats.

The combat is mind numbing hack and slash, but you do eventually get four total playable characters so you can switch up your style whenever you want. I played on hard and I started to get very tired around the 15 hour mark because you will fight the same 9 or 10 palette swapped enemies again and again until the movement patterns are burned into your muscle memory. There are these flowers with mouths that are on almost every stage that can instakill you so you want to immediately take them out, then take out the lesser enemies like the ghosts, and then the bigger ones. The thing is that the combat actually is fun, but since every level is the same and the enemies hardly ever change it just feels like the game is out of content by the second chapter.

Fortunately, there are some variations that pop up eventually. Around level 50 you start getting ultra powerful attacks, and there are a ton of unique bosses- about 16 or so. The final boss in particular is a lot of fun because there is skill involved in dodging his attacks and countering at certain times. Certain characters are better against certain bosses. Nanana is like a demon girl character who has a projectile attack that makes her super useful during some fights since she can snipe at a distance. Later on she gets a paint flamethrower type attack that refills constantly and basically melts the bosses. This game is very easy either way because if you run out of health the game will automatically use a large number of healing items and you also have revives. I only died one time the entire game.

Beyond this, the game is mostly story driven and there's not much else to do other than upgrade the abilities, which you can skip completely because the game is so easy. Certain enemies have a purple halo around them and killing them grants "torments" which can translate into skills you can equip. You can upgrade these by adding modifiers purchased at the store or combining two like torments to level them up and make them stronger. It seems complicated in the beginning, but it's actually very simple.

While the story didn't really interest me it got a little better around the end of the game, and it's also really cool that this game has hours of recorded cutscene dialogue. When you actually finish the game the first time, the game will spit you back out at chapter 6 out of 8 to continue on in kind of an alternate story. You do this four times until you actually finally face the final boss. It's an odd structure and I don't fully understand it, and it's particularly annoying because there is this stupid mage fight in the late stages of the game that you will be forced to repeat over and over until your brain turns to mush.

Once you complete the game you can go into endless boss rush mode to gain the experience to reach lvl 99 (This is an achievement) and there is also a bestiary you can fill that is kind of obnoxious since the game doesn't tell you where the enemies you need to find are located. I used a guide and this still took me like eight hours. You also have to beat each enemy and boss three times to collect a new "memoir" (Which is a bit of nonsense prose) to fully fill the journal, which means on top of repeatedly killing the bosses in the boss rush mode I also had to go walk through the entire levels, sit through some of the cutscenes and kill many of the bosses two or three more times to get their memoir and 100% complete the game. It was too much, really, and I would've liked a more lightweight game that focused more on quality content than repetition. With that said this game has a fantastic musical score and tons of boss fights and it's worth playing for that, but keep in mind you will be grinding and grinding the same enemies over and over with little challenge to get to the finish line.