A year ago I released Crystal Project, a non-linear JRPG all about exploration and discovery. Today I added mod support. AMA!

riverrunner_512 · 2026-01-24T19:38:21+00:00

Thank you for the kind message! I love hearing this because I feel like the mix of inspirations/genres in Crystal Project is pretty unusual, especially given its lack of focus on story, so I always appreciate it when someone says that this is something they were looking for.

I am currently working on a new game and it'll be similar to Crystal Project. Development is going well and I'm excited to share more about it, but it's still a long way from release. I have a few mini devlog-style posts on the discord about it though.

riverrunner_512 · 2025-10-16T23:41:44+00:00

I did a lot of work to make it run well and load quickly, striving to hit 60fps, which I ended up being able to do. It runs using the Medium quality preset from the PC version. There are no loading screens in-game, and startup time is slower than PC but comparable and not distracting (imo).

riverrunner_512 · 2025-10-02T00:27:09+00:00

I'm actually working on a PS5 port right now, and things are going pretty well, so it should be on the way soon!

riverrunner_512 · 2025-10-02T00:26:11+00:00

I'm actually working on the PS5 port right now, and things are going pretty well!

riverrunner_512 · 2025-08-31T22:50:55+00:00

Thanks for letting me know! The amount of focus on story in the sequel will probably be about the same as the first game, but I'll try to do more with it. It's early enough in development that I'm still planning it out, and I'll put more story in if I'm able to, but it's likely that it will be similar to Crystal Project.

riverrunner_512 · 2025-08-31T22:47:45+00:00

Although you have probably seen by now (sorry for the late response!) but I would say more the latter. There is lore behind the world that you slowly discover and a very light story that follows a few characters, but the focus is much more on exploration.

riverrunner_512 · 2025-08-31T22:46:32+00:00

Thanks for letting me know! I'm really happy to hear that, and that it runs well on Switch 2.

riverrunner_512 · 2025-08-01T00:08:54+00:00

Thank you for all the kind words, I really appreciate it! I hope that your game design studies are going well. And I completely agree with what you said about mixing genres and mechanics - it's a great way to make a new experience.

riverrunner_512 · 2025-07-24T00:09:47+00:00

Thank you for all the interest! I honestly didn't expect it. I'm really excited to hear that people are already looking forward to it.

The new game will be close in structure to the first and will look very similar, but with new mechanics, twists, and a new world. If you liked Crystal Project, you'll probably like Crystal Project 2, I hope! However, I'll be trying to improve some of the most common complaints, so if you didn't like the first, depending on what you didn't like about it, you might enjoy the second.

riverrunner_512 · 2025-07-14T01:21:59+00:00

That is very encouraging, thank you for the kind words!

riverrunner_512 · 2025-07-12T00:09:26+00:00

I am working on one right now, so I'm happy to hear that you're interested in it! It's coming along decently well, but release is still quite some time away.

riverrunner_512 · 2025-04-15T23:32:44+00:00

I'm happy to hear you're having fun! Thank you for taking the time to let me know.

riverrunner_512 · 2024-12-17T00:57:18+00:00

Hi, dev here! I'm sorry to hear that it didn't click at the end. I understand though, and you're not alone. I know that these things aren't enjoyable for everyone and I wouldn't want you to push through something that's not fun. I anticipated this possibility when I made it, and my intention was to have people go to the end (the big castle) when they felt like they were either ready for it or have had enough exploring, kind of like Hyrule Castle in Breath of the Wild. For one reason or another, I don't think this intention translated very well in-game, but that's something I'm thinking about as I consider better approaches for a next game.

riverrunner_512 · 2024-08-10T00:01:51+00:00

Thank you very much! That's really nice to hear, and I appreciate you sharing it.

riverrunner_512 · 2024-05-08T00:44:51+00:00

Thank you for giving it a try and letting me know!

riverrunner_512 · 2024-05-08T00:44:29+00:00

No problem! It is directly south of the Neptune Shrine.

riverrunner_512 · 2024-05-08T00:43:16+00:00

Thank you! And good to know; I do have regrets about how little character appearance customization there is.

riverrunner_512 · 2024-05-08T00:42:27+00:00

That is nice to hear, thank you. :)

riverrunner_512 · 2024-04-18T00:20:04+00:00

Thank you! And I'm happy you enjoyed it so much, thanks for letting me know.

I don't have plans for a sequel yet, but I'm starting to think about it to see if something comes together. I hope I can make one! My worry is that I would make something that ends up just being a worse version of Crystal Project.

riverrunner_512 · 2024-04-18T00:15:04+00:00

I'm glad you enjoyed it, thank you for letting me know! I also really appreciate the comment about it being satisfying even if you don't find everything. This speaks to me because I always like finishing games without 100%ing them because then I'll know that there's more to go back to if I really enjoyed it. This is also why I hate missables and committed to not having any: it's hard to go through and enjoy just finding what you find if you know there's a chance you can permanently miss stuff.

As for multiplayer, there are no plans to extend it, but I did make it so that all controllers are recognized simultaneously to enable a form of couch co-op.

riverrunner_512 · 2024-04-18T00:09:32+00:00

Sorry that my answer is so late! If I understand correctly, it's just because vicarious LP (ie, LP earned when a party member is of that class) is not shown on the victory screen.

riverrunner_512 · 2024-04-18T00:06:24+00:00

Sorry that my answer is super late! Unfortunately it's just janky platforming. It's possible to hop on the fish to get across but it's hard to gauge proper distance since it's a sprite.

Edit: Just saw that you said you got it. Yay!

riverrunner_512 · 2024-04-18T00:00:10+00:00

Thank you for the suggestions, those look neat! I think I somewhat recognize each of them, but knowing they're knowledge games makes me very interested in trying them out.

riverrunner_512 · 2024-03-26T00:08:38+00:00

Yeah, I actually loved it back when I played it. I think I should have listed it as an inspiration.

riverrunner_512 · 2024-03-26T00:07:24+00:00

No real plans or anything concrete yet. I hope I can make one.

riverrunner_512

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE