Twinkle Crusaders (ティンクル☆くるせいだ) Review

First off, let me confirm that Twinkle Crusaders (ティンクル☆くるせいだ) is indeed a galgame. (dead serious)

Visual novels have always been treated as digital novels, and some studios have tried to do something with the systems to make us feel like it’s a game, but most of them failed…

Twinkle Crusaders is the first game that changed my mind about that…

Twinkle Crusaders has the story of the first game plus a PSS sequel. The first one is devoted to the protagonist’s past and the fact that he’s the Demon King, while the second expands on some of his past-life romances.

Even so… the story is still very… simple. The protagonist is the Demon King reincarnated. After defeating the first game’s boss, his past-life lover splits into two and comes looking for him. In the end one of them goes dark and becomes the final boss, the other joins your party, and the final battle kicks off. After it’s over, the protagonist and the twins go for a threesome, the twins merge back into one, and she rejoins the harem. The end…

Honestly there’s not much to say about the daily-life segments either. Plot-wise it’s similar to Osananajimi wa Daitouryou: lots of banter in the slice-of-life scenes, plus cutesy dialogue with the bosses. It’s just that the level of fun is a bit more reasonable here and doesn’t wear out its welcome.

Story is average, daily life is average. So where’s the highlight of this game?

It’s the combat.

Yes, a galgame with combat. Semi-real-time turn-based combat, no less.

The battle visuals are gorgeous, though unlike a normal RPG it doesn’t draw both sides facing off on screen. I actually think that would have been better. The game compares speed bars based on agility, letting you choose your opening move and battle mode. Attributes are split into elements plus light and dark, with a rock-paper-scissors relationship between them.

What’s more fun is that skill activation is reaction-based. When a character’s release bar shows up, you have to quickly hit the arrow keys to fire off an SP-consuming special skill. Skills can heal, defend, or deal huge damage.

If both sides fill their action gauge at the same time during battle, you enter VS mode for a duel to the death. Attributes first, then level.

This battle system is honestly too goated, and it brings a ton of rhythm and tension. So much so that I got my ass handed to me by the final boss for two whole days…

Later I figured out that to win the final battle, you absolutely cannot let the boss get a turn… but this isn’t Xianjian 1, and you don’t have the Invisibility Gu. Can you actually pull it off? Or is it even possible?

Yes, it’s possible.

1. First, when it counts down 3, 2, 1, Ready Go, quickly hit the left mouse button to sprint ahead and get the first attack. Didn’t get it? Sorry, the boss one-shots you.
2. Don’t worry about attributes or damage on your attacks. Go all-in on knocking the boss’s action bar back so she never gets a turn. What? You couldn’t stop her? The boss got two consecutive turns? Sorry, the boss one-shots you.
3. If you can’t stop the boss’s action, make sure she reaches the action point at the same time as you so you enter VS mode for a blade clash. Keep your level and party count higher than the boss’s. Winning one clash stuns the boss for a turn, so you get another attack window. What? You lost the clash? Sorry, the boss one-shots you.
4. If you get a chance for everyone to act together, say on one line, dump all your skills and burst the boss down in one wave. With the right setup, 100k damage from one combo is no problem, and the boss only has 90k HP.
5. Last and most important, you need good luck. Pray the boss’s action bar lines up reasonably… if it’s all clumped together? Sorry, the boss one-shots you.
6. The boss has no real attribute, just a god attribute, so don’t bother with elemental counters. If you really can’t chain attacks, remember to use Lolotte’s damage-nullifying barrier. It blocks one boss attack. What? You got combo’d by the boss? Sorry, the boss one-shots you.

Overall, Twinkle Crusaders’ battle system is a genuinely fun highlight. It’s kind of like the Overdrive state in the Trails games, except this game is in permanent Overdrive mode, the pacing is lightning fast, and it feels great. For a galgame, that’s extremely rare. Someone on YouTube even pulled off 720k final damage…

Oh, and the combat is so much fun, plus there’s a rating system, so it’s highly replayable. The final battle is no joke and offers a real challenge. Compared to the usual galgame you finish and then delete, this is on another level entirely…

I genuinely love this game’s battle system. It’s just that after 2012, when Twinkle Crusaders got PSS, the series went quiet. I don’t know if there’ll be a sequel, or when…

Anyway, can’t wait. If a PSV version ever comes out, I’m buying it day one, no question.