Cricket: Jae’s Really Peculiar Game Review – A Nostalgic RPG Full of Heart and Social Insight

As we age, I feel like we owe it to ourselves to reconnect with our childhood memories. As joyful or painful as that may be, those situations and relationships define who we become. Many of us hold onto memories of situations that others have long forgotten, but years later, that memory still affects how we navigate life and situations. This theme resonates when playing Cricket: Jae’s Really Peculiar Game, a title developed over many years by the sometimes one-person development team at Studio Kumiho. In many ways, the narrative of this nostalgia-inducing RPG adventure is a look into real human struggles that we face or at least know someone is facing. The twist is that in Cricket, we see these issues being navigated by a group of imaginative kids on an impossible mission to bring someone back to life.

A Story of Loss and Friendship

Cricket: Jae’s Really Peculiar Game introduces us to Jae, a young boy suffering from the passing of his mother. While his dad is out of the picture, his older sister checks in on him as she attends college. Jae has an impulsive personality that isn’t explicitly defined in the opening hours, which allows for some nuanced complexity to arise from his character development. He and his best friend Zack are on a mission to deliver some flowers to Jae’s mom when they discover that the store has been robbed, which sets them off to retrieve them. From there, they meet a strange girl named Symphony on a quest to the legendary Yimmelia, a place that is said to grant wishes. The only problem is that it exists on the moon. Regardless of the feasibility, Jae and his friends set off with the hopes of reviving his mom.

The turn-based combat system, with its timing-based mechanics, keeps battles fun and engaging, while the story adds real emotional depth.

Imaginative World and Character Development

From here, the narrative takes the group to new towns where three other characters, Acacia, Twila, and Charlie, eventually join the group. One standout element of this narrative that I enjoyed is how the semi-large cast is rarely forgotten about. The story does a great job of balancing the cast across the narrative beats, making them each an essential part of the adventure. That said, the pacing of the gameplay between significant story moments is more relatable to a Saturday Morning cartoon, similar to Recess, as the group tackles issues as they come but leaves a few to linger and connect future story moments. While the writing is delivered in an easy-to-digest way for the reader, it can come across as rather personal. There were a few moments that related to me in a way I didn’t expect, but others where I felt like I was just learning about how some people navigate social interactions.

While each character has their own underlying issues, Jae’s is the most prominent. Throughout the story, there are moments where he speaks up or is dismissed by one of the other characters. He’ll begin to retreat to a place of doubt but then snap out of it. Some moments in the writing explore modern social interactions in a way that I don’t see other games attempting. Situations like saying something that is taken out of context or even referring to someone as the wrong gender are addressed in a way that doesn’t come off as pandering or out of place. It exists in this group of friends in the same way it exists in our group of friends. Still, the more personal moments of the story, like particular character interactions, give the impression that I’m reading the developer’s diary.

Gameplay Mechanics and Combat System

Gameplay in Cricket reveals a rather ambitious set of options. From the opening, you assume the large opening town will act as a hub for the remainder of the game, but you move on to the next town pretty quickly after the first boss. Sadly, as much personality as these towns have, there’s no reason to hang out in them. I found this a significant oversight as I was going through the game and not making any memories in the towns I visited. The compromise is gaining a new party member and learning about the town’s happening through them, but there’s definitely missed potential with not having optional side quests that give life to the NPCs.

Interestingly, I believe there was meant to be more to do in towns at one point because there’s a morality gauge that’s affected by your interactions with NPCs. If you walk away from a conversation or throw something at them, the people will start to hate you. This will increase this morality gauge for a limited time, making enemies more challenging and increasing Exp following the battles. However, I never had to use this system, which can easily be skipped, leading me to believe there was more to do in towns at one point.

Further, there’s no reason to worry about challenges or difficulties because there’s an option to win any fight. Strangely, this is listed right next to Run, which only gives you a chance to Flee the battle. I believe this option should only be available if someone selects an easier difficulty than Normal, and only because it removes any sense of accomplishment the player feels for overcoming tough enemy patterns or bosses when there’s an option to win and reap the rewards. Still, an argument can also be made for its inclusion as it means more people can experience the story, or if combat exhaustion sets in, players can get through it easier, but in this case, I’d rather only have a Run option.

Cricket is a deeply personal RPG that tackles grief and friendship in a way few games dare, all wrapped in a nostalgic adventure.

Further, the combat system is quite fun as it borrows from games like Mario RPG, where a precise button press adds damage to attacks or beef up the defense. Here, there are two options: press A at the point of impact, which is a little less strict on timing, or B, which is more strict but adds extra effects. It’s responsive and fun as each ability and attack animation is matched by a unique guide to show when to press the button. I appreciated how this made the matches quicker, but missing a button press doesn’t mean you’ll lose. I found the difficulty to be reasonability balanced. Upon entering a new area, you’ll have some trouble getting through fights, but after a few levels, they become more manageable, and eventually, the grunt enemies will run from you.

As you fight, you’ll gain EXP for characters, which raises their friendship levels. Each level will increase the character’s stats and possibly unlock new abilities. Abilities utilize DP but are more effective than regular attacks, which don’t consume any DP. Joint attacks can also be powered up using a tension gauge that fills up as you take action. It’s possible to power up an attack up to three times, which gives Bravely Default vibes, but without too much strategy in its use cases. You can also consume this gauge to slow down time and block enemy attacks easier, but I rarely, if ever, had to use it for that. Again, all of these systems make for a decent turn-based combat system, but it’s evident that there could be more.

Social Themes and Personal Struggles

What I mean by this are the remnants of systems that weren’t explored before their introduction. For instance, you can find equipment in hidden chests, but there are only three pieces of equipment for each character and an accessory slot that doesn’t need to be there. While I don’t think this will stand out to anyone casually playing this adventure, I find it amazing how you can almost guess which systems resulted from someone saying, “That would be cool to have in here!” And then they do it. Funny enough, in the imaginative world of Cricket, it kind of makes sense to have it this way. But this is at the cost of the player experience.

Although some systems feel underutilized, Cricket excels in its ability to make players feel part of the group’s heartfelt journey.

Regardless, Cricket is an adventure best experienced in the same way you’d enjoy a Saturday morning cartoon. On the morning of a day off or weekend, you can join this quirky group of friends and tackle some over-the-top mystery, searching for a path to the moon. Some moments of the narrative are pretty heavy, but I feel that the natural approach to tackling nuanced issues, such as grief, loss, and friendship, is done respectfully for the reader. If only to convey one way to navigate the problem and not to burden them with perspective. Still, the moments when the characters are reminiscing about past trials made me feel like I was a part of the group, and that’s all I could have asked for.

Cricket: Jae’s Really Peculiar Game is a very personal story that touches on modern and nuanced social issues under the umbrella of loss, which we all struggle with. A deep sense of nostalgia fuels the experience through the colorful turn-based battles and imaginative boss encounters, providing older gamers with a familiar stage and giving newcomers a chance to enjoy an RPG from beginning to end, regardless of their skill level. While the overall experience could have been more focused, with less time spent on half-baked systems, it’s an enjoyable and charming adventure that will easily find its audience.