Crossed Paths is a traditional console RPG. This game is designed for gamers who think storyline is an extremely important part in gaming, but it doesn’t have an unreasonably small amount of gameplay either. It probably has about the same story/gameplay ratio as Final Fantasy 7.

The basic story is as follows. The main character, Dennis, is a young man living on the futuristic world of Nandor who has recently enlisted in a counter-terrorist unit. However, on his first field mission, he is killed in battle…supposedly. To his surprise, he wakes up in a world very unlike his own called Serinya, a place that seemingly could only exist in fantasy. As time passes, Dennis meets new friends, finds love, learns of the turmoil in Serinya and how it is connected to his own world, and eventually gets caught up in a struggle to save both Nandor and Serinya from certain destruction at the hands of his own worst nightmare…

Now, the gameplay. Basically, anyone who has ever played a traditional console RPG before should be able to figure this game out. It’s turn based, you can attack, use magic, use items, defend, run…all the typical stuff you can do in RPGs. However, as in most RPGs, there are several differences Crossed Paths possesses as well.

The party setup is similar, but not exactly like, Final Fantasy 10. When you have all 6 characters in your party, 3 will fight in the front row. These are the active characters. There are also 3 in the back row; these characters cannot do anything, but they cannot receive damage from enemies. The player, however, has the option to use a character in the front row and target a character in the back row with an item or spell if he/she desires. Also, when a character’s turn comes up, that character can be moved to the back row while whoever was directly behind that character is moved up to the front row. In addition, if a character in the front row is KO’ed, whoever was behind that character will automatically replace him/her. The player can only lose the battle if all 6 characters are KO’ed.

Though magic works the way most RPGers are used to (get new spells by leveling up, spells cost MP, spells can be used to attack, heal, etc.), MP itself works a bit differently. As it says in the script, "Each spell has its own pool of MP. For example, let’s say you had 15 MP. This means you would have 15 MP for every spell you possess. Using your MP for one spell will not decrease your MP for other spells. Also, when you use an item that restores your MP, it will specify whether you get to restore MP for only one spell or for all your spells." This essentially allows the player to burn all their MP on their attack spells away without having to worry about saving MP for healing or defensive spells, in addition to other various tactics.

The characters also have a variety of unique AP Abilities at their disposal. AP Abilities cost AP to use (duh). A character gets 1 AP for any action taken in battle, except when using an AP Ability. Most AP Abilities are powerful attacks, but others have healing or defensive purposes as well.

Each character also eventually receives the ability to Morph into a powerful creature. Morph creatures have their own stats, magic, and AP Abilities, and are about twice as powerful as an un-Morphed character. However, there is risk involved in Morphing. Morphing takes a turn to execute, and while your character is in the process of Morphing, his/her defenses drop to 0, meaning they will take extra damage by any attacks that turn. I implemented this to force the player to use more strategy than "Morph everyone on the first turn and go all-out," because if you try that you’re likely to be killed in a hurry. But once you Morph, it’s time to wreak havoc. When a Morph creature runs out of HP, that character simply reverts back to his/her normal self. You can also un-Morph prior to that if necessary.

One last difference in this game is the weapon and armor add-ons. You can attach 3 add-ons to any single weapon or armor. Weapon add-ons give you enhanced attack abilities, such as extra damage or changing your physical attack to an elemental attack. Armor add-ons enhance your defensive capabilities. They may reduce the amount of damage you take or do something special when you defend.