History VideoGame / CrystalStory

* ArcherArchetype: Kaeli in the first game. She wields a bow, and is a pretty emotionless person.

%%* DropTheHammer: Phoebe's main weapon is a hammer.

* BossRush: The second game has a "Battle Arena" mode accessible from any of the five towns. In this, you can choose to fight multiple [[OptionalBoss sidequest bosses]] at once, or multiple waves of of specific types of normal enemies. When you unlock [[PostEndGameContent Hard Mode]], you can challenge the more difficult versions of these rushes as well!

* BossRush: The second game has a "Battle Arena" mode accessible from any of the five towns. In this, you can choose to fight multiple [[BonusBoss sidequest bosses]] at once, or multiple waves of of specific types of normal enemies. When you unlock [[PostEndGameContent Hard Mode]], you can challenge the more difficult versions of these rushes as well!

** The newer [[BonusBoss superbosses]] in ''Crystal Story II'''s UpdatedReRelease, and ''Crystal Story: The Hero and The Evil Witch'', however, plays this straight (at least in regards to Stun, [[ObviousRulePatch simply because they can be inflicted often by the Barrage skill]]), which would otherwise prevent them from being a legitimately difficult challenge

* FourElementEnsemble: The first game has Tristam, Kaeli, Phoebe, and Reuben representing elemental [[PlayingWithFire fire]], [[BlowYouAway wind]], [[DishingOutDirt earth]], and water (well, technically [[AnIcePerson ice]]), respectively. Ditto with D, Lina, Mari, and Kaz in the sequel.
** The sequel [[DownplayedTrope downplays]] this, as all four party members can learn all level 1 elemental magic skills, level 2 magic skills of two elements per character, and two elemental "attack" skills per character; one of the elements in the latter two cases is always of each characters' element.
** The powerful level 3 elemental skills, unlike levels 1 and 2, have no AoE form and can only be learned by characters of that element (e.g., only D can learn Fire III).
** Another fact to note is that [[ShockAndAwe lightning]] is treated as wind in both games.
* GameOver:
** {{Averted|Trope}} in the Flash games, as being defeated sends you back to Smalltown (in the first game) or the entrance of the dungeon you died in, on the world map (second game). Both games, however, take away ~10% of your gold upon defeat.
** ''Crystal Story: The Hero and The Evil Witch'': Losing a battle gives a game over screen and then the StartScreen.

* LevelUpFillUp: Averted in the original first game with the extra HP and MP fills in automatically, but played straight in ''The Hero and the Evil Witch'', as a level up will automatically restore HP and MP.
* Crystal Story II [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zags]] this, with the fill-ups only applying to increased HP and MP from class skill trees, but not when equipping equipment and/or using stat up items.

* MiniGame: The first game had Zombie Defense, a ''VideoGame/{{Bejeweled}}''-style game. The sequel retains that and adds a FishingMinigame, Mercenary Defense, and snowboarding as well. The UpdatedRerelease adds a CardBattle minigame as well.

* SaveGameLimits: The first game has two save slots and an AutoSave slot.

* AbsurdlyHighLevelCap: In the first game, you can keep going into 40s at the very least, when it's possible to beat final boss in early 20s (for reference, with all the extra AP from quests, this should be around the levels you learn class' final skills if you haven't been multi classing)

* BigBad: Rita, which is obviously revealed so in the first game and it's remake.

* BodyArmorAsHitPoints: The second game has a type of chestplate that simply adds to the wearer's max HP, and can be upgraded with scrap metal for an increased effect like most equiplment.

* ContractualBossImmunity: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Most bosses in both games are at least 50% resistant to debuffs (Stat X Break/Down) and 75%+ resistant to all status ailments (stun, silence, etc.) except poison. However, it is rare for them to be immune to non-stat-related ailments and impossible for regular stat debuffs.
** Against tougher bosses, stat debuffs tend to be ''necessary'' for survival.

*** There's one "Last X" armor each for attack (ATK), magic (MAG), Physical defense (DEF), (elemental) Magic defense (MAG), post-action recovery, well, speed (SPD), and Regen (restores health over time). Then there's "Last Strength", which combines the ATK and DEF buffs, "Last Wisdom", which combines the MAG and MDEF buffs, and "Last Agility" which combines the SPD buff and Regen status. Finally, [[spoiler: "'''Last All'''", which gives the wearer '''all six''' of the aforementioned buffs, but is ''very'' rare]]!

* DefeatMeansFriendship: [[spoiler: After fighting the party at Orange Pass, Kaz joins them at Dustop after the Bandit Leader is defeated]].

%%* DropTheHammer: Phoebe's

* {{Expy}}: Kaz is a purple-skinned demon armed with a scythe, initially presented as a bad guy, much like VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'''s Magus.

* FighterMageThief: The three out of four of party members in ''Crystal Story II'' starts with one pre-selected class of these, with D as the fighter (Slayer), Lina as the thief ([[ShapedLikeItself Thief]]), and Mari as the mage (Elementalist).

** ''Crystal Story II'': Unlike the remake of the first game above, casting requires clicking, with a double chance for rare catch if the bait casted with the maximum distance. The areas where you can fish only needs to be reached after certain parts of the game.
* FlunkyBoss: ''Crystal Story: The Hero and The Evil Witch'': has bosses occasionally summon an enemy in mid-battle. [[spoiler:And that's not getting to the part where the TrueFinalBoss summons previous bosses that can in turn summon regular enemies! (Though the summoned bosses at least don't have to be killed more than once.)]]

* TheGunslinger: Mari in the second game.

* JokeItem: [[spoiler: The "[[{{Pun}} Number One Card]] in the Card Battle MiniGame. [[spoiler:It has ''only 1 each'' of offense and defense,the lowest in the game!]]

* LevelUpFillUp: In ''The Hero and the Evil Witch''.

* {{Nerf}}: A patch did this to ''Crystal Story II''[='=]s armors. To prevent MinMaxing, characters can't equip multiple items that add to the same stat. This has obvious effects (no equipping multiple Boots, for example) and not-so-obvious effects (Circlets can't be equipped with Gauntlets , Amulets, or Boots, as Circlets boost all the stats the other three do). The full armors, which defend against physical ''and'' magic attacks, are exempt from this on all or most versions of ''Crystal Story II'' on the web (making it possible to '''absorb most damage''' with three of these at max level on any character), but the UpdatedReRelease fixes this, too.

** Some of the strong enemy attacks can feel like this when you're underleveled or don't have much HP, particularly the WakeUpCallBoss in the end of the first chapter in ''Crystal Story II''.

* StatusBuff:

** Variant. A skills exists that dispels '''all''' effects, positive ''and'' negative, and can be used on players or enemies. A stronger version exists that removes all effects from ''everyone on the field''!

** The GiantEnemyCrab in the first game, flips upside-down and gains the Crab Claw attack that hits the whole party at once.
** The King Slime in the first game's Flash version, gets bigger, and immediately casts "Earth".

%%* BigBad: Rita, obviously.

* BodyArmorAsHitPoints: The second game has a type of chestplate that simply adds to the wearer's max HP, and can be upgraded wthh scrap metal for an increased effect like most equiplment.

* FourElementEnsemble: The first game has Tristam, Kaeli, Phoebe, and Reuben representing elemental [[PlayingWithFire fire]], [[BlowYouAway wind]], [[DishingOutDirt earth]], and water (well, technically [[AnIcePerson ice]]), respectively. Ditto with D, Lina, Mari, and Kaz in the sequel.
** The sequel [[DownplayedTrope downplays]] this, as all four party members can learn all level 1 elemental magic skills, level 2 magic skills of two elements per character, and two elemental "attack" skills per character; one of the elements in the latter two cases is always of each characters' element.
** The powerful level 3 elemental skills, unlike levels 1 and 2, have no AoE form and can only be learned by characters of that element (e.g., only D can learn Fire III).
*** Another fact to note is that [[ShockAndAwe lightning]] is treated as wind in both games.

** ''Crystal Story II''.

'''Ruben:''' OK! That is really lame.
* GirlishPigtails: Mari in ''Crystal Story II'', the youngest-looking member of the party.

* OneHitKill: At the start, D can kill slimes in the Small Forest, in one hit. They're just that weak.

* PercentDamageAttack: Certain strong bosses in the second game have a skill called Judgement [[TurnsRed in their secondary forms]]. This attack hits your entire party, damaging everyone by ''95%'' of their health, and it [[StatusBuffDispel removes all stat buffs]]. This can turn into an AttackBackfire for said bosses if you have [[CriticalStatusBuff Last (Buff) equips]], since the low HP triggers said buffs.
* PlayingWithFire: Tristam uses fire-based attacks.
* PostEndGameContent: Both games have new quests and areas that open up when you beat the final boss, and in the second game you also gain access to Hard Mode versions of the areas and harder Wanted quests, while keeping progress.
* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: The trope image, in fact.

* VictoryQuote: In the second game, D yells "Victory!" when he wins a battle.

* BareYourMidriff: Kaeli, Lina, and Rita.
* BigBad: Rita, obviously.
* BlobMonster: Slimes.

* DropTheHammer: Phoebe's WeaponOfChoice.

* HeroesPreferSwords: Tristam and D both use swords as their WeaponOfChoice and are the main characters of the first and second games respectively.

* InformedEquipment: Each party member can be equipped with a helmet, a body armor, and a ring or pendant. In the sequel, you can give each of your party members any arrangement of equips as long as they don't conflict with each other. And yet, neither game shows the equipment on anyone in battle, be it armor or anyone's upgraded WeaponOfChoice.

* WeaponOfChoice: Every party member has one: bow for Kaeli, hammer for Phoebe, spear for Reuben, guns for Mari, knives for Lina and a scythe for Kaz. Tristam and D both have swords, though.

* DifficultySpike: [[PostEndGameContent Hard mode]] in the sequel, unlocked by [[spoiler: defeating the Dargon King]], massively amplifies the stats of the enemies throughout the map you already explored. You can return to normal mode, however.
** The UpdatedReRelease adds to this with an additional, harder chapter and more [[BonusBoss boss sidequests]] that will ''really'' test what you know about the game! On top of that, it gives the optional bosses that you could previously spam ailments on the ContractualBossImmunity treatment like the story bosses!

* BadassBeard: Tristram and Reuben sport one in second game. [[spoiler:While Reuben's is obviously fake, spotting that Tristram's is fake isn't that straightforward, since he has white hair.]]

*** The Princess Jelly, an offensive item, casts the [[StandardStatusEffects status ailments]] '''Blind''', '''Poison''', and '''Stun'''.

* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Basically '''any''' magic skill, especially in the second game. In other words, you can leave [[StandardStatusEffects Blind Status]] uncured on your magic casters as long as you don't have them use physical skills.

* SuperMovePortraitAttack: Each main party member in the second game has one when performing a LimitBreak, complete with a PreAsskickingOneLiner!
* StandardStatusEffects: Affects a unit's "[[ManualMisprint perfornamce]]" in battle:

* Status Buff:

** '''Guard''': see DefendCommand above.
** StatusBuffDispel: Variant. A skills exists that dispels '''all''' effects, positive ''and'' negative, and can be used on players or enemies. A stronger version exists that removes all effects from ''everyone on the field''!

** Let's see, an evil witch named Rita who gets freed from her centuries of imprisionment and immediately starts trying to take over the world...... [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Now where have I heard that before?]]