Wonderland has rarely been portrayed as a particularly welcoming destination, but CRYMELIGHT takes Lewis Carroll’s familiar literary playground and transforms it into something considerably darker, more disturbing and emotionally complex. Developed by FuRyu Corporation and Winning Entertainment Group Inc., this 2D action roguelite takes players on a journey through a nightmarish world inhabited by the souls of the dead, where salvation is supposedly reserved for those capable of defeating the mysterious Queen. However, as the story gradually reveals, there is considerably more going on beneath the surface than a simple fight for freedom.
You play as Alice, a girl who awakens in this strange purgatorial realm with no recollection of her previous life. Guided by the White Rabbit, she is introduced to a gathering of other girls and learns about the deadly game they have been forced to play. Defeat the Queen and earn your freedom. Fail, and the consequences are considerably less appealing. Alongside a mysterious girl named Mary, Alice agrees to take part, but her journey soon becomes an exploration of the painful histories, regrets and sins carried by those around her.
What makes the premise particularly intriguing is the relationship between sin and identity. Whenever Alice encounters the sins of her companions, she gains glimpses into their troubled pasts, gradually uncovering the experiences that brought them to Wonderland. There is an underlying sadness to the narrative that gives the adventure considerably more emotional weight than you might initially expect. This isn’t simply a story about defeating increasingly powerful enemies, but one about suffering, guilt, redemption and whether the people trapped in this world deserve another chance.
A Wonderland Built on Suffering
Narrative is clearly an important part of CRYMELIGHT, and Naoki Hisaya’s role as story writer gives the game a strong foundation for its more emotionally driven moments. The central mystery surrounding the Queen provides a reason to keep pushing forward, while the girls’ individual stories gradually lend the wider adventure a more personal dimension. Rather than treating its characters as disposable companions in a succession of combat encounters, the game encourages you to understand the emotional baggage they carry.
The tea parties are particularly important in this respect. These gatherings provide an opportunity for the participants to interact, discuss their experiences and reveal information that might otherwise remain hidden. Conversations can touch on their previous lives, their regrets and even surprising details about enemies encountered during your adventures. These quieter moments offer a welcome contrast to the brutality of the combat, allowing the characters to develop beyond their initial introductions.
There is also something unsettling about the game’s central concept of forcing these girls to fight their way towards salvation. The idea that their sins can become a source of strength creates an interesting relationship between the narrative and the gameplay. Their suffering isn’t simply something to overcome; it becomes an integral part of their ability to survive. It is a compelling thematic direction, and one that gives CRYMELIGHT an identity beyond its familiar roguelite foundations.
Fast, Furious and Full of Sin
Moving away from the 3D presentation of previous entries in the series, CRYMELIGHT embraces a side-scrolling 2D combat system that emphasises speed, positioning and chaining attacks. Alice must battle her way through the Queen’s forces, navigating increasingly dangerous encounters while making the most of her abilities. The action has a satisfying immediacy, with responsive movement and a combination of ground attacks, aerial strikes, evasive manoeuvres and special abilities forming the basis of combat.
There is a pleasing rhythm to the fighting once you become comfortable with its mechanics. Dodging incoming attacks, finding an opening and unleashing a series of well-timed strikes can be particularly rewarding, especially when facing larger groups of enemies. The game encourages an aggressive approach, but simply charging into every encounter swinging your weapon isn’t necessarily the best way to survive. Understanding enemy behaviour and knowing when to retreat become increasingly important as the difficulty ramps up.
One of the more interesting mechanics is the Wonder Dimension, which adds an extra layer of strategy to the battlefield. Whenever an enemy is defeated, an indigo-coloured dimension begins spreading across the environment. As it expands, your abilities grow stronger and the pace of combat increases, effectively rewarding successful encounters with more opportunities to build momentum. What makes this particularly interesting is that your acquired skills influence how quickly the dimension spreads and how its enhancements affect your abilities.
It is a clever idea because it gives each encounter a sense of progression beyond simply reducing an enemy’s health bar. Your decisions about which skills to acquire can directly influence how effectively you exploit the Wonder Dimension, encouraging experimentation with different combinations. It also creates exciting moments when everything starts falling into place and you find yourself chaining attacks together while your abilities become increasingly powerful.
Playing Your Cards Right
The Poker System is another feature that helps distinguish CRYMELIGHT from more conventional action roguelites. During your adventures, you collect skill cards and combine five of them to form poker-style hands. Stronger combinations produce more powerful effects, so the cards you choose to retain and the combinations you aim to assemble can significantly influence your performance.
It is an unusual but welcome approach to character customisation. Rather than simply collecting increasingly powerful equipment or selecting individual upgrades without considering how they interact, you’re encouraged to think about the bigger picture. Do you hold onto a particular card because it could contribute to a stronger combination, or do you take an immediately useful option that might help you survive the next encounter? These decisions add an enjoyable strategic element to the action.
The system also gives repeated runs a degree of unpredictability. Your available cards and potential combinations influence how you approach combat, so you cannot necessarily rely on the same strategy every time. Learning which combinations work particularly well together becomes part of the enjoyment, and discovering a powerful hand can make a considerable difference when facing tougher opponents.
There is also a satisfying sense of ownership over your builds. The best roguelites make you feel as though your decisions are shaping the experience rather than simply following a predetermined upgrade path, and the Poker System goes some way towards achieving that. It isn’t necessarily the most complicated card-based mechanic ever devised, but it adds enough depth to keep progression engaging.
Turning Repentance into Power
Death is an inevitable part of the experience, and CRYMELIGHT makes no attempt to hide that you’ll return to the beginning more than once. Fortunately, the Repentance System ensures that unsuccessful expeditions aren’t entirely wasted. As Alice defeats enemies and takes on the sins of the souls she encounters, she collects tears of penitence that can be converted into valuable resources.
These resources can then be used to improve weapons and accessories, providing permanent progression that carries over between attempts. Although you might lose your collected cards when a run ends, the upgrades you’ve earned allow you to retain some of your progress. This creates a useful balance between the unpredictability of roguelite gameplay and the satisfaction of gradually becoming stronger.
It also ties neatly into the narrative. The idea of transforming the sins of others into a source of power is more than just a convenient progression mechanic. It reinforces the central themes of guilt, suffering and redemption, giving the process of improving Alice’s abilities a little more meaning. There is something fitting about a game where the emotional burdens of the dead become the very tools you need to survive.
That said, the early stages can feel demanding before you’ve unlocked enough permanent improvements. Repeated attempts are part of the genre, but players who prefer a more immediately accessible experience may find the initial progression a little slow. Nevertheless, there is a tangible sense of achievement in returning to an area that previously caused problems and discovering that you’re now considerably better equipped to deal with it.
A Beautifully Disturbing World
Visually, CRYMELIGHT marks a distinctive departure from the presentation of CRYSTAR and CRYMACHINA. Its hand-drawn 2D art direction gives the game a distinctive look, blending charming character designs with gothic environments and an underlying sense of unease. The contrast between the protagonists’ apparent innocence and the disturbing world they inhabit works particularly well.
The use of colour is especially effective. The darker environments establish the oppressive atmosphere of Wonderland, while crimson effects and the indigo Wonder Dimension provide striking visual highlights during combat. Character animations also help bring the cast to life, giving the girls a personality that might otherwise be lost amid the game’s more disturbing themes.
At times, the visual effects become a little too enthusiastic, particularly during encounters with multiple enemies and numerous attacks. Keeping track of incoming threats can be difficult when the screen is filled with effects, which can make certain encounters more frustrating than they need to be. It’s not a constant problem, but clearer visual communication during the busiest battles would have been welcome.
The soundtrack, meanwhile, is one of the game’s strongest assets. Composed by Sakuzyo, the music helps establish the emotional atmosphere that runs throughout the adventure. Melancholic compositions complement the quieter narrative moments, while more dramatic arrangements add intensity during combat and boss encounters. Combined with the Japanese voice cast, including Sayaka Senbongi as Alice and Hitomi Sekine as Mary, the presentation does an excellent job of supporting the game’s more emotional ambitions.
Not Quite a Fairy Tale Ending
For all its strengths, CRYMELIGHT isn’t without a few shortcomings. The roguelite structure means repetition is inevitable, and while the card system and permanent upgrades provide reasons to keep returning, working through familiar encounters can occasionally become tiresome. The early progression can also feel demanding, particularly before you’ve built a collection of useful upgrades and become comfortable with the combat mechanics.
Occasional visual clutter is another minor irritation, especially when several enemies attack simultaneously. In a game that relies heavily on precise dodging and maintaining offensive momentum, being unable to clearly distinguish incoming attacks can be particularly frustrating. These issues don’t destroy the experience, but they do prevent the combat from feeling consistently polished.
Nevertheless, there is plenty here to admire. The combination of the Wonder Dimension, Poker System and Repentance mechanics gives the gameplay a distinctive identity, while the emotional narrative provides a welcome reason to care about the characters and their journeys. Most importantly, CRYMELIGHT feels like a meaningful evolution of the series rather than simply another game borrowing its familiar themes.
Verdict
CRYMELIGHT is a compelling, beautifully melancholic action roguelite that carves out a distinct identity within FuRyu’s established CRY universe. Its shift to 2D combat offers a refreshing change of pace, while the blend of bloodless yet emotionally heavy themes, card-based skill combinations and the ever-changing Wonder Dimension provides an engaging foundation for repeated adventures.
The story is arguably its greatest strength. Wonderland is an intriguing setting, but it is the troubled characters who inhabit it that lend the experience its emotional weight. The tea parties, individual backstories and the central mystery surrounding the Queen provide welcome substance between the more frantic combat encounters. There are moments of genuine sadness here, and the themes of repentance and redemption give the adventure something meaningful to say.
Occasional difficulty spikes, repetitive progression and visual clutter prevent it from reaching its full potential, but these are relatively minor blemishes on an otherwise impressive experience. Fans of CRYSTAR and CRYMACHINA should find plenty to appreciate, while newcomers seeking an atmospheric action roguelite with a stronger narrative focus may also be pleasantly surprised.
Ultimately, CRYMELIGHT is a reminder that even the darkest fairy tales can hide something beautiful beneath the surface. It might send you into battle armed with the sins of the dead, but its greatest strength lies in making you care about the souls you’re fighting alongside. Wonderland has never looked quite so haunting, and escaping it is a journey worth taking.
