Crescent Pale Mist is an imaginative beat-em up style platformer game developed by ClassiC Shikoukairo and published here in the states for PSN by Rockin’ Android. It is the story of Gasyuki, a magical world, filled with forbidden magics, and a pale mist. It is a title with a small release without much fanfare (even for a PSN title), but is it a good one?

The answer, in this case, is yes. The reason is pure and simple, the gameplay is magnificent and it is in the top echelon of its respective genre. The game uses a simple system of attacking to get pale mist (this games version of energy or mana), with the addition of daggers for ranged attacks, a couple of specials, and upgraded versions of those specials. The player can ‘defend’ using R2, and even attack while defending, this is not always suggested however, since it means they are not able to get the much needed Pale Mist, which is crucial for specials and such. There are even teleport daggers that instantly put the player right in front of the enemy. The tutorial does an incredible job of introducing each element, and the game does an incomparable job of using each component to induce the most amount of carnage and chaos on screen.

The gameplay and basic battle system is one of the two great strengths of the game, it is an honest joy to play thanks to all the elements it integrates with little to no flaw. The game does an incredible job of making each fight interesting. The player has to carefully balance specials, normal attacks, and pale mist supers, making each fight tense and fun.

The second part, that’s quite frankly nice, is that the game makes ALL The abilities useful. Even daggers, which would seem like a bit of a gimmick, but become crucial in boss battles, teleport daggers are needed to get past certain obstacles, and some enemies can only be harmed by supers. Wall-jumps, blocking…everything becomes useful, and has a time and a place. It is difficult to place this game in with the likes of Streets of Rage or Final Fight simply because there are some very platformer based elements that heighten the gameplay, but the core of it is certainly one of the craziest and flashiest beat-em ups I have ever played. It’s really gratifying, and a lot of thought was put into the mechanics.

Pity I actually sorta disliked the level design. The levels feel a bit too long, though there are only six stages, and oftentimes the levels are quite maze-like. The game lacks a real mini-map, so the only way to tell which map the player is on, is by small optional numbers, and it is really hard to tell which areas are side-tracks, and which are not. It doesn’t help that the levels don’t have much within them to help distinguish the different areas, most areas in a particular level look a lot alike, and that can make navigating them that much harder. Dying can bring the player back to the start, though item power-ups do respawn at least. The levels are also a bit too long, and begin to get annoying, but…

Final Call: Crescent Pale Mist is a game that I can spend hours playing and not regret it. It’s a game I genuinely desire to play. I truly had a lot of fun with it. It has decent graphics, a fun sound design, incredibly enjoyable gameplay, and a decent, if cliched story. The bosses are cool looking, the story is the standard ‘introduce a character each stage, then a wrap-up’, with stereotyped personalities. Stage 4′s boss battle does have a neat conversation, but it is the gameplay that makes it all worthwhile. This is a game that any fan of fast paced platformers or beat-em ups should give a chance, and given the low price for PSN titles, it is not a difficult purchase to consider.

Pros:

• Fun Gameplay
• Neat Boss monsters
• Great options
• Lots of difficulty levels

Cons:

• Standard story
• Level design is annoying

Rating:

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