Cross Blitz Review

Two years ago, I had the opportunity to preview Cross Blitz, a card-battling game developed by Tako Boys Studio and produced by The Arcade Crew with Gamera Games. I really enjoyed my time with the RPG deck-builder, so I’m excited to see what has changed since I played it in November 2023.

There are three modes in Cross Blitz: Tusk Tales, where you travel to many regions of Crossdawn Isle to battle in this roguelite adventure; Fables, where you play through the story of one of the characters and unlock new cards; and a third that is currently locked up with a chain and padlock. Cross Blitz does a great job with auto-saving, so you can resume exactly where you left off when you stop playing, meaning you won’t lose a bunch of progress, which is always frustrating!

If you play Tusk Tales, you will be working your way up a map to fight the boss at the end of the route, which is similar to Slay the Spire and many other deckbuilding titles that have you visiting shops to buy more cards for your deck and stopping at campfires to heal. The world map looks so cool, like it belongs in a storybook, with numerous areas such as The Hollows, Frostfall, Sproutwood, and Starscape Plains to battle through. 

The first thing you do is head to the tavern to select the mercenary you want to play as, though at the start, the only one here is Admiral Brass, a toad who is the first mate and best friend of Redcroft the Mighty. You have feats to complete, and you collect purple husks for each one you manage to finish. These can be used to power up your character by visiting the tavern and redeeming them for additional HP, new relics (weapons), extra Blitz Burst cards, along with hiring new recruits.

I started playing the story mode, Fables. When you play, there are five characters to select from, including Redcroft, a mighty lion pirate who is sailing the seas looking for treasure and adventure and, like any good pirate, has a parrot too. Violet, whom I met in my preview, is a pop star known for her amazing musical performances. Quill is a skilled, expert thief who happens to be a mouse. Seto, the shark (I think? It’s hard to tell), is a warrior monk from another land. Mereena is a forest guardian from a noble family who is seeking peace. 

Each character has three chapters in their story to play through. At the bottom of the screen, you will see a description of the chapter, and then on the right, you will see your objective and how many accolades you achieved on a previous attempt, if you had tried it before. The story intro has whimsical drawings to illustrate the text; it looks like someone has spent a lot of time drawing them all by hand with a pencil. Once the short intro is done, we are taken to the world map to see where our journey leads us. When you reach your next stop, Mawson, the flying purple cat, shows up to teach you the ropes. It has been a long time since I last played, so I really needed a refresher!

When you begin a battle, the game determines which player gets to go first; if you are second, you are rewarded with a prism that will give you extra mana for the battle. I was always happy to go second because that bonus really helps with your first attack. Each side of the table you battle on has eight spots available for cards — a front and back row with four slots each. Your side, the blue one, is the closest to you at the bottom of the screen.

Each turn you play, you earn one mana to spend on playing a card. On the first turn, you only have one, so you are stuck playing a weaker minion or passing your turn to save that energy for a larger attack. When your next turn starts, you will have two mana, and it will increase by one every turn, so the longer the battle goes, the better the cards you can play.

Once you have selected what you want to play, place it on a spot where there are no enemy cards in the way, if possible. This way, you can attack the main player directly, or instead put it somewhere to block your opponent from hitting you. When your opponent has finished their turn, you will draw a random card from your deck to add to your hand. The battle is over when either player drops to zero hit points.

You can see how many health points you have, and once the battle is done, your health will be totally replenished, which is awesome. There is the option to take a peek at your starter deck. Here you can swap your deck or edit the cards you currently have. The stage is set on a hex map, with nodes that you can travel to as long as they are on a visible pathway; if there is no path, you are out of luck. If you visit all the available stops, more roads will open for you to follow and explore.

The look of Cross Blitz is incredibly fun and vibrant. The pixelated character sprites are highly detailed, with a ton of personality, so you never feel like you are fighting the same character over and over again with a different skin. The soundtrack fits perfectly with the game’s look; it is super energetic and catchy. There is no voice acting here, but I think that is a good thing, because it would be strange if there was; I think it would get annoying fast.

Cross Blitz is still one of the most entertaining deck-battling games I have played. The light-hearted world, gorgeous visuals, great sense of humour, and characters that are so fun to play as all make for an excellent experience. The battles really challenge you, and when you lose, you just want to start again, because altering your strategy and changing up a few cards can really make a difference!

This game is so much fun and incredibly addictive. Cross Blitz is a great deckbuilding title, with a large variety of cards to collect and create for use in fast-paced tactical combat with a cast of eccentric characters. The main thing I would change is adding controller support so you aren’t restricted to only using the mouse. Fans of the genre: Cross Blitz is a game that you need to try for yourself!