Stylish JRPG Cris Tales hits PC in July

Cris Tales seems to have a lot of what you'd expect from a JRPG: turn-based combat, very dramatic voice acting, and a seemingly inexplicable name. But it's also distinctive enough to warrant attention, with its gorgeous hand-drawn art style and time-bending approach to combat. Initially scheduled to release in November last year, Cris Tales now has a July 20 release date.

The time manipulation stuff sounds pretty cool: protagonist Crisbell can warp between past, present and future, and combat plays out differently depending on which one you're in. Back in October a spokesperson for studio Dreams Uncorporated said that developing Cris Tales is like "developing three different videogames at the same time."

It definitely looks like an ambitious effort for a small studio. When it lands in July it'll do so on the Epic Games Store and all the consoles (even Stadia).

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.