Review: Journey to Kreisia (Nintendo Switch)

Well, we’ve reached the point with KEMCO that we now have throwbacks to their throwback RPGs. Maybe we’d reached that point already, but no game has made it feel more obvious to me than Journey to Kreisia.

This JRPG in the grand KEMCO style was originally released for mobile devices in 2014, then later repackaged for the Nintendo 3DS in 2016. It’s now on the Switch, bringing along its simple gameplay mechanics and basic presentation. It also brings its knowing sense of humor and lively cadence, so it still works to a certain degree.

Journey to Kreisia centers around a real world kid, Yusis, who’d rather watch “the latest anime” than get his homework done. He considers writing his name on the paper to be 5% completion, and that’s enough for him to head outside where he’s immediately summoned into the world of Kreisia. Seems they need a savior every ten years to deliver them from the Overlord, and this time, Yusis is the guy.

His summoner, Cynthia, explains to him what’s going on. Yusis, initially thinking it’s all a dream, is immediately up for the adventure, so off we go. Yusis is also a gamer, of course, so he greets all the JRPG tropes with familiarity and enthusiasm. Thankfully, Cynthia provided him with a magical knowledge of swordplay to help him survive his initial eagerness.

You know where the story goes from here. Yusis and Cynthia meet allies to add to their party. They go on side quests to obtain items and increase their levels. They go on treasure hunts. They earn money to improve their weapons and armor. And they engage in many, many random battles in the dungeons and on the world map.

The battles are turn-based, with the combatants moving along a timeline as dictated by their speed. When it’s their turn, they can use a standard attack, an inventory item, one of their unique skills, or the occasional special combo move. They can also choose to defend to minimize any damage they may receive. It’s all as typical now as it was in 2014, but the strategy does go a bit deeper. You can place each character in the front or back row to maximize abilities and/or compensate for vulnerabilities. You’ll also attach orbs to weapons and armor to improve effectiveness. Orbs can be combined to increase their power, and weapons gain new traits the more you use them.

So, although the combat system is quite simple, there’s still some customization in how you approach it. Whether you need to spend much time on the character screens, however, will depend upon two things. First, if you’re at all familiar with turn-based JRPGs and don’t mind a little level-grinding, you can push your way through Journey to Kreisia quite easily. Second, KEMCO provides inexpensive DLC that simplifies the game considerably. For example, for $2.99 you can buy an add-on that increases weapon leveling by 200%. If your levels are fine and you’re becoming annoyed by the random encounters, you can shut them off completely (or just minimize them) with a $1.99 purchase. I greatly prefer this kind of DLC over cosmetic changes or accessories.

No matter how you approach the game, it’s a pretty breezy adventure. The story remains light throughout (when compared to most JRPGs, anyway), and it’s easy to hop back into its flow at any point. The UI could use some adjustments, however. The map, for example, will show your destination, but it’s sometimes difficult to determine how to reach it. And when you try to pull up a map when in a dungeon, you’re only shown where that dungeon is on the world map. Considering the amount of backtracking required to obtain treasure and find the hidden paths in the dungeons, the ability to more easily see where you’ve been would’ve eased some confusion.

The equipment screens were oddly cumbersome to use, too; perhaps because of their mobile origins. Most annoying, however, is that the orb purchase interface never defined who could use them. Numerous times, I bought weapon orbs for Yusis only to find he couldn’t equip them for some reason. I quickly learned to save my game before making such purchases to avoid buyer’s remorse.

Visually, Journey to Kreisia is a mixed bag. The character illustrations are good and the battle movements are nicely animated. The environments, however, are quite basic and repetitive.

There’s also nothing to indicate which items are worth investigating. I spent more time than I’d care to admit trying to interact with objects just because they seemed out of place.

These complaints likely won’t determine whether you’ll have fun with this game. That will instead fall squarely on how you feel about retro RPGs like this. At 10 years of age, Journey to Kreisia is a by-the-books KEMCO/EXE-CREATE title from the period before they started to diversify their development approach. You’ve played this game countless times before, but isn’t that the same when you pick up a new platformer or bullet hell title? Familiarity can sometimes provide comfort, and that’s what you’ll get here. It’s not going to make your top-10 list—not even of KEMCO-specific titles—but it gets enough right to keep genre fans entertained.