I’m pleased to wish Carlos Rocha Silva, Dreams Uncorporated, SYCK, and the entire team at Modus Games on the release of Cris Tales, an homage to JRPGs of the past that seeks to finds its own place in the canon with a striking art style and ambitious time mechanics.
Although it’s not a big news day, this Kotaku article snagged by attention. (Thanks, Google!) Working with Dreams Uncorporated on Cris Tales was a fascinating experience, and the passion with which Carlos and his team approached their worldbuilding was uniquely impressive. I’m glad they’re leveraging that unique aspect of the game in its PR and marketing.
Colombian landmarks and their Cris-Tales counterparts.
The Kotaku piece concerns a concept that Carlos Rocha Silva, CEO of Dreams Uncorporated, calls Endemic Fantasy, which involves modeling fantasy locations closely on real-world landmarks. In this case, the developers sought to bring a handful of notable areas from their native Colombia to life via Cris Tales’ vibrant art style and fantastical setting. It’s always interesting to get a glimpse of how creatives express their own identities and experiences through their work.
Here’s a presentation from EGX 2020 that goes into more detail about the studio’s Endemic Fantasy approach to worldbuilding.
It’s very exciting to see Cris Tales nominated for several awards at Gamescom 2020, including Best Indie Game and Best RPG.
Along with a boatload of new media, interviews, and demo previews, Modus Games has formally announced that their Colombia-inspired, vibrant “love letter” to JRPG classics, Crist-Tales, will be available on Nintendo Switch and PS5, along with all the platforms announced earlier (um, all of them).
Buzz about Cris-Tales continues to build, thanks in no small part to its striking style and unique Colombian spin on a classic JRPG. Today, Gamespot and several other outlets began posting new previews of the game, which include footage of St. Clarity, a sweeping seaside setting and one of the first kingdoms visited by Crisbell and her pals. This is one of my first glimpses of the city as well, and I’m not disappointed.
Dreams Uncorporated responds to its demo's amazing reception with updates and plans for the future.
