A Dark Isekai Tale Hidden Behind a Seemingly Light-Hearted Atmosphere

Gameplay: Journey to Kreisia was a late feature phone era (2013) release from Kemco and EXE Create, that got a straight port to Android/iOS (now delisted) not long after its original release. It would then receive a poorly optimized port to the Nintendo 3DS a couple years later in 2016, followed by a proper port to PC/Consoles eight years after the fact. Journey to Kreisia, being an older EXE Create RPG, doesn’t have the QoL improvements (for example, monster pillars in dungeons, adjustable battle speeds) that newer releases such as the Alphadia 1/2 Remakes have, so keep that in mind. I should mention that the dungeons in Journey to Kreisia are hard to navigate, even though there is a minimap on the upper-left corner of the screen.
Controls: I played this on PS5 w/a controller so this was a no-brainer (Your mileage may vary if you’re playing on Android/iOS, though)
Story: Journey to Kreisia is the story of Yusis, an innocent slacker schoolboy who only cares about hanging out w/his friends, playing videogames, and less about studying/schoolwork/preparing for the real world. One day he’s prepared to leave his parents’ home to go out w/his friends when all of a sudden, he’s summoned to an alternate world called Kreisia, where he quickly learns he’s been summoned to fight an evil Overlord who comes back every 10 years. Unfortunately for our poor slacker schoolboy of a hero, he’s about to quickly learn that the things he will soon experience are VERY REAL and that NONE OF THIS IS A GAME. I really loved the story of Journey to Kreisia along w/it’s many twists and turns. It should be noted, however, if you wish to experience the True Endings and Postgame stuff, it will require a NG+/2nd playthrough w/your carried over data, which also unlocks some additional story cutscenes throughout the 2nd playthrough.
Battle System: Battles are your usual turn-based Kemco RPG fare, w/a party of 4 characters going up against as many as 6 enemies at once. You can change rear/front positions of characters mid-battle w/o any penalty, and this game has “Burst Skills” where your character unleashes a random burst of skills theyve learned in exchange for dumping out their Burst Gauge. Unfortunately the Burst Gauge can be hard to keep topped up throughout the game unless you buy Burst Cakes from the premium currency shop.
Skill System: The Skill System of Kreisia has to be the weakest point about this game. Characters learn skills based on how much they’ve used their currently equipped weapon in battle, along w/said weapons getting stronger. Armor pieces also get stronger over time the longer they’re equipped and used in battle, too. When you get new weapons and equip them you’ll need to be sure to go see a Chant Master in town to transfer your skill progress over to a new weapon EVERY TIME (and this can cost you quite a chunk of money to do.) Bonus attack power from weapon use doesn’t transfer over to a new weapon (and neither does armor for bonus defense points) which makes the skill system feel more penalizing for swapping in new equipment than helpful for enhancing old equipment that quickly becomes outdated.

Take one Grandia-style battle system; add challenging bosses and optional arenas; season to taste

Journey to Kreisia is a turn-based JRPG developed by Exe-Create and published by Kemco. Its battle system is very similar to games like Grandia or Final Fantasy X, and almost identical to Exe-Create’s Revenant Saga (which was made a year later). This review is of the 3DS version, which has no in-game purchases. Instead, the 3DS version has a “points shop” where points from grinding enemies can be exchanged for various powerful items.

The story of Journey to Kreisia invokes a common trope in fantasy literature, television, and games – that of an ordinary, modern-day person suddenly transported to a fantasy world.

Kreisia is a fantastic world inhabited by three races, and periodically menaced by the Overlord. Every ten years, a priestess of Kreisia summons a Savior to vanquish the Overlord and win a fleeting decade of peace; but the Overlord always comes back.

Kreisia’s latest Savior is Yusis, a 17-year-old who dislikes homework, gets nagged by his parents, and has an affinity for anime and video games. He is in way, way over his head.

Kreisia’s story is heavily predictable. What carries it is not the unsurprising turns of its plot, but the appeal of its main characters, especially Yusis, who struggles with things like physical exhaustion from hiking about. There is a fair amount of charm and humor to lighten the otherwise dark story, set in a world that has been repeatedly on the brink of annihilation for generations.

Journey to Kreisia’s turn-based battle system has one unique feature: equipment “levels up” in a sense. As characters fight battles with a specific weapon or piece of armor, it earns points that grants bonuses. But characters still need to upgrade their weapons and armor periodically. Transfering points is possible between weapons (this is needed to keep access to battle skills for much of the game), but not armor. Furthermore, transferring weapon points does not transfer attack bonuses with the weapon.

Ultimately, this unique feature feels unnecessary, even annoying (found a shiny new weapon? Better go back to town and transfer points!)

What makes Kreisia’s battle system memorable is its level of challenge. There are three difficulty settings, Easy, Normal and Hard; they affect the rewards of battle, but not the story. The game’s difficulty can be changed on the fly, but when the difficulty is raised it can’t be lowered again until 20 battles have been fought.

On Normal difficulty, bosses steadily ramp up from “requires thought” to “one wrong move could be catastrophic” and beyond. This is Kreisia’s greatest strength, and gamers in search of a challenge can push the battle system to its limit in optional monster arenas.

Journey to Kreisia has multiple endings, but a second playthrough is required to earn some of its possible endings. Save data from completing the game opens a new game+ mode where levels and items carry over, hidden passages become visible on the in-game maps, additional story scenes are present during the second playthrough, and a cutscene skip feature is added.

The carried-over levels turn 9/10 of replaying Kreisia into a visual novel – but if the player chooses to pursue one of the new endings, the last 1/10 brings back Kreisia’s challenge with an extra side of merciless monsters to go.

Overall, Journey to Kreisia is a game worth playing. Its story is not the best, but good enough. Its battle system is not the best, but good enough. Its sense of challenge is what sets it apart.