Seraphis Cain
bad gameplay lol
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Dream Factory (Tobal, Ehrgeiz), Spike
Screenshots:
What it is:
Crimson Tears is a beat 'em up with many elements of the roguelike genre. The stages are randomly generated, item drops are random, weapons degrade and break (though not as often as in true roguelikes), and you lose all of your items (but not levels) if you die. You also have a choice of three characters: Amber, Kadie, and Tokio, each with different specialties and fighting styles. Also, instead of the roguelike "hunger" system, Crimson Tears instead employs an "overheating" system (as your characters are cyborgs). Basically your characters slowly overheat as they perform attacks, and you have to use items to keep your heat down.
Why it's awesome:
Remember Ehrgeiz? Remember the awesome RPG Mode in the PS1 version that was arguably better than the main game itself? Yeah, Crimson Tears is basically that, taken to the next level. Also, it features some of the absolute best cel-shading seen on the PS2. Seriously, it still holds up visually even today. The combat system is also pretty fun, with several different fighting styles per character and upgradeable combos. There's also a pretty nice weapon system where you can collect different components to combine with weapons to make new weapons.
Crimson Tears also employs the rescue system from Ehrgeiz, wherein if you die while in a dungeon, you can send another character to rescue the fallen character. If you're successful, you don't lose any of your items. However, if you fail, say goodbye to all your hard earned loot. And to make things harder, the character that is sent in to rescue the downed character is unable to use any items or change equipment.
Crimson Tears got slammed in the reviews, as does anything in the West that even remotely resembles a roguelike. Though in fairness to the reviewers, the game DOES get repetitive. However, if you're into that sort of thing, you won't really mind. But still, Crimson Tears is really an unjderappreciated gem of the PS2 era, and can be found for a pittance ($2.99 at GameStop, likely around the same price at Amazon/eBay). It's cheap, really fun, and quite nice looking to boot. What have you got to lose?
