Before 2007, I was playing GBA and maybe some NES games so I never really played any modern games or real games if you prefer. Games I played were all pixelated but this doesn’t mean that they were bad but the graphics, the visual, is also an important part of a game. That year, my dad went to Hong Kong for business and he brought back a PSP-1000, a thick little machine, with a game disk. That disk was REZEL CROSS.
REZEL CROSS was absolutely a masterpiece to me at that time. It has a full story containing 21 chapters and 5 main characters. The story can be quite boring now but it was just amazing to me back then. You cannot control all 5 characters from the beginning but slowly, they will meet each other and will fight together so that’s why CROSS is in the title. It is about crossing with each other. This makes the game much better because the story unveils just a tiny bit in each chapter and each chapter focuses on certain characters. However, there is always a climax near the end of each chapter. That’s when something will unveil and drive the player to play more.
Unfortunately, I never finished the game because I was stuck. The game was in Traditional Chinese but it wasn’t 100% translated. This game had lots of puzzles to solve and around chapter 13, there was a puzzle about NORTH, SOUTH, WEST and EAST. The game will choose one direction and rearrange the spelling so NORTH will become ORNTH. However, I had no idea. My English wasn’t great back then so I never got past it. I tried many times and I was so close once but never succeeded not until I played it again in 2015.
It was always something in my mind because I couldn’t finish it. That’s why during my break in 2015. I played it again using PPSSPP simulator. The disk was given to my brother so I don’t have it anymore but I will buy it back on eBay one day. I finally cleared the game in 2015 with cheats. Yeah, the game was very hard near the end so I had no choice :). The game was still enjoyable in my second playthrough. This is how much I like this game.
Now, I understand why I enjoyed this game so much. 5 characters are unique and they all have different backstories. However, they came together for the greater good. The storytelling and character design were great. I am glad this was my first game. There are also some messages from this game. I cannot write everything here so you can watch playthroughs yourself on YouTube.
It was a long journey completing this game. Even after years, I still enjoy the story. I replayed this game again in 2019 and still liked it. REZEL CROSS is not a good game in today’s standard, but is it? Modern titles are miles ahead in terms of the visual but how about the inside? What messages do they want to tell the player? It is unfortunate because even though we have better graphics every year but not many stories can be remembered by players. REZEL CROSS came out in 2007 but until this date, it is still somewhere in me. Maybe, it is not games, it is me changing, I don’t know. All games should have something in them. Not just fancy graphics but something deeper and only those who spend time playing may understand. Games can be life changing sometimes but now, I cannot see that happening anymore.
