"Croixleur Sigma" is an arcade styled hack and slash, beat 'em up hybrid PC game about two girls named "Lucrezia Visconti" and "Francesca Storaro".  Both girls are of different classes as Lucrezia is a member of the Aristocrats while Francesca is a member of the Knights.  Both girls also happen to be childhood friends and they get along just like "The Odd Couple (1970 - 1975)" as Francesca takes her role very seriously, Lucrezia is a bit of a goof and likes to joke around and make other people feel uncomfortable and goes on about how she wants to take a bubble bath with Francesca.  While their personalities are very different we see that their skills in battle are equal as they are both quite skilled fighters that are nearly graduates of their school.  Before they can graduate they must go through a tough task called the "Adjuvant Trial" to which they both have to battle their way through a tower with evil monsters lurking about.  That's not all as they have to also beat the tower within a certain time limit and that makes Lucrezia and Francesca treat this task as more of a race to see who can reach the top of the tower first.  I wonder what kind of evil creatures live in this tower?  Will our heroes get rewarded greatly for completing their task?  Will Lucrezia and Francesca live to bathe again?  (Click "Read More" to read the full review). 


The story in this game isn't the greatest that I have ever seen but it serves it's purpose at giving you some background to who the characters are and why they are there.  The best that I can compare it to is an arcade fighting game to where you get a story that's just there but you ignore it as you are more interested in the gameplay.  This game has four modes included: Story Mode/Arcade Mode, Score Attack Mode, Survival Mode, and Challenge Mode.  This game also has a "Tutorial" included and it does explain the game mechanics spot on.  You can also play this game with another player in local co-op but sadly I was unable to use that feature due to lack of a second player so I can't tell you if multiplayer in this game is any good or not.

The "Story Mode" in this game is quite short as you can beat it in around ten minutes.  I did feel a little weird about that at first until I figured out that "Story Mode" also doubles up as an "Arcade Mode" and that this mode was designed to be played over and over again.  Is this mode worth playing again and again and again?  The answer is: Yes, yes it is as it has some nice replay value. 


The gameplay in this game is very fun and easy to learn.  You've got your basic attacks which is just you slashing your weapon around and while that sounds grueling and repetitive, prepare to be surprised as this isn't a simple button masher as you'll require some strategy to get the best ending.  You've also got a dash move that also doubles up as a parry and is very useful to where you can get past some very powerful attacks and link up some awesome combos.  You've got a magic attack that can be activated by holding down a shoulder button and pressing attack although I didn't find myself using this attack much.  The magic and dash moves also run on a magic bar so you can only use them a limited amount of times but it also fills back up during gameplay.  Another kind of bar you have is a special bar and when you see a special icon on the bottom left corner of the screen you can press the special button to do an ultra powerful attack.

While the game is very easy to learn you'll find that it is very difficult to master and trying to master the game adds a lot more replay value and the more you play the better you become.  This isn't as grueling as it sounds as it is very fun replaying the game.  You also do not have to worry about beating this game on one life as this mode has a credits system to where you've got a certain amount of credits/tries to beat the game.  This game gives you better rewards the less lives you use and when you do improve in this game you'll have a satisfied feeling and you'll really feel good about yourself.  Heck, there's also quite a bit of bonuses to unlock during Story Mode and that adds more replay value to the game as you will want to gain them all.  As for the other modes?  I also found them to be enjoyable as they all bring something fun to the table and while you won't be playing them as much as "Story Mode" you will find them to be worth playing for quite a bit.


The controls in this game aren't keyboard friendly and you'll have a difficult time playing the game that way.  I ended up using my USB controller for this game and that worked much better and you don't need an overly complicated controller as well as a controller with a directional pad, four buttons, and two shoulder buttons is all that you'll need.  The controls in this game are very smooth and functional which is a great thing as tight controls is the main reason why this game is fun. 

One problem I had with this game was when I was first booting up the game as it asked me to input my controls without warning.  The bad part wasn't that it was asking what buttons I wanted for each action but my problem was that if you messed up you do not have an option to re-do the bindings and it just kicks right into the game.  How do you reset the controller and change the bindings?  You have to quit the game, restart the game, click on "Configuration" instead of launch game, configure controls, and Bob's your uncle.  Even though it's a very fixable situation I wished that they had an option that let you re-choose your bindings instead of the game kicking in right as you hit the last binding.


Graphics in this game look pretty decent with nicely designed characters that are anime/manga and fantasy inspired.  I enjoyed the weapon designs in this game as they just simply looked cool and worked with the fantasy theme well.  My favorite weapon in the game wasn't a sword though as I loved using the mace, so you don't only have swords in your arsenal and that's good as I like some variety in the weapons..  Level designs in this game aren't anything that special as all you are on is a big giant circle.  The backgrounds do change and are used in a good way where they indicate that you are on a harder level and the atmosphere also changes along with the levels which is very appropriate.  Some of the animations look really good and smooth but there are some animations that look a little floaty but rest assured the controls are not floaty.

The music in this game is pretty good with a nice hybrid blend of electronic and symphony that sounds very heroic.  The tunes will also put you in a very hyperactive mood due to the high energy nature of the sound.  Sound effects in this game were used appropriately to where I couldn't find anything wrong with them.  There is some Japanese voice acting in this game and it sounded good and suited the characters perfectly.  If you are worried about not understanding what the characters are saying then you do not need to as they are all translated through English text during the cut-scenes.  There isn't any English text during the gameplay itself but you'll be too distracted trying to kick butt  and beat the game.

Overall this is a very fun game that really captures the arcade feeling really well and I find it a bit of a pity to not see this game in an actual arcade cabinet.  I'm easily going to recommend that you check this game out as it is defiantly worth your time.  Really fun game.

Game: Croixleur Sigma
System: PC
Developer: Souvenir Circ
Publisher: Nyu Media
Genre: Action, Arcade, Beat-em Up, Hack 'n Slash
Price: $7.99 (Steam)
Recommended: Yes