Crystalline on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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A choice-driven, fantasy adventure visual novel featuring full voice-over and an intricate relationship system!
Crystalline is a choose your own adventure, dating sim and visual novel game
developed and published by PixelFade.
Released on August 22nd 2018 is available in English on Windows and MacOS.
It has received 1,350 reviews of which 1,275 were positive and 75 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.9 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 19.50€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified Crystalline into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
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System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10
- Processor: 1.4 GHz
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: Intel HD Graphics, NVIDIA 600 Series, AMD 7000 Series
- Storage: 3000 MB available space
MacOS
- OS: 10.4+
- Processor: 1.4 GHz
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: Intel HD Graphics, NVIDIA 600 Series, AMD 7000 Series
- Storage: 3000 MB available space
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
Predictable plot, but the characters and the various choices make the experience very unique and engaging. Honestly, it's become a guilty pleasure of mine to replay this every once in a while because while it's a generic story the vibe of "hanging out with friends and enjoying the world" it gives is incredibly charming and wholesome.
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Crystalline is a polished, character-driven visual novel that embraces the isekai fantasy formula while infusing it with charm, humor, and an impressive degree of production quality rarely seen in Western-made VNs. Developed and published by PixelFade, the game transports the protagonist from modern Earth into the magical world of Terra, where arcane crystals power society and mystical creatures roam the landscape. What begins as a bewildering dimensional displacement quickly becomes a warm, lively adventure shaped by memorable characters, lush artwork, and fully voiced dialogue. Crystalline’s greatest strength lies not in its plot twists or world-shaking revelations, but in the way it invites the player to inhabit its cast’s interpersonal dynamics and become a genuine part of their journey. The story follows a generally linear path, but the moment-to-moment interactions give it welcome personality. After arriving in Terra, the protagonist meets Leanna, a spirited mage-knight who becomes both guide and eventual romantic focus depending on your choices. She is soon joined by a larger ensemble—each with their own quirks, secrets, and emotional arcs. What stands out is how often the game pauses for banter, comedic beats, or heartfelt exchanges. These scenes are carried by full English voice acting that brings nuance to each personality, from energetic optimism to quiet vulnerability. PixelFade’s use of Live2D animation brings characters to life through subtle expressions and fluid movement, making even simple conversations visually engaging. Combined with richly illustrated CGs and colorful backgrounds, the game achieves a level of immersion that many players associate with high-budget Japanese titles rather than indie Western VNs. The interactive layer of Crystalline centers around dialogue choices that shape your relationships and determine the emotional tone of various scenes. While the overall narrative direction remains steady, your input influences how characters perceive you, how conflicts unfold, and which emotional routes open neatly toward the finale. The romance elements are especially well-handled, offering a gradual, natural progression rather than abrupt declarations. Choices often feel meaningful in the moment—whether you joke with the party, comfort someone during a difficult revelation, or encourage them during an adventure. This gives the illusion of role-playing freedom even when the broader plot remains firmly guided. But the reliance on character appeal and polished presentation also highlights some of Crystalline’s limitations. For all its visual and vocal sophistication, the underlying story is relatively straightforward: the protagonist learns to adapt to Terra, helps resolve a magical disturbance, and builds bonds along the way. Veteran VN readers may find the narrative beats familiar and the worldbuilding thinner than the visual polish suggests. The multitude of choices can also feel less impactful on repeat playthroughs, as many lead back to the same central narrative line. While relationship outcomes, certain scenes, and ending nuances vary, the branching structure is not as deep or far-reaching as one might expect from a game that advertises its choice density. The streamlined structure ensures cohesion but limits replay depth. Despite these constraints, Crystalline succeeds admirably at what it sets out to do: deliver a heartwarming, visually impressive fantasy adventure with a strong romantic core. Its presentation carries extraordinary care and craftsmanship, from the expressive character designs to a polished soundtrack that enhances emotional moments and high-energy scenes alike. The writing, though light in its thematic ambition, embraces warmth and humor, making it easy to connect with the cast. Even players who prefer more complex branching designs may find themselves drawn in by the game’s consistent charm and inviting tone. Overall, Crystalline stands as a standout example of what a Western visual novel can achieve with thoughtful direction and a dedication to presentation quality. It offers an accessible, engaging entry point for newcomers to the VN genre and a comfortable, character-focused experience for veterans seeking a polished, emotionally uplifting story. It may not rewrite the rules of interactive fiction, but it excels in creating a world and cast worth spending time with—an achievement that resonates long after the final scene fades. Rating: 9/10
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After working my way through 3 PixelFade VNs I’ve concluded that we can crown the company as industry-leader in the not-so-crowded field of Schmaltz-centric narrative storytelling. If you’ve come looking for anything else (or even if you don’t think you can handle 15-20 hours of near consistent ice-cream sweetness) then it’s best to bug out and find another game (and developer). If however you’re like me and you enjoy the occasional fluffy rom-com to break up the ‘serious’ stuff, then you’ll very likely have a good time with this tale of a young college student from New York who ends up in a generic fantasy world and falls head over heels for the first blonde FBI Agent Mage-knight he (literally) bumps into. The story attempts at least some level of seriousness, but it’s clearly designed to shuffle the characters between saccharine-sweet relationship moments as expediently as possible. There’s some guff about finding elemental temples and fighting a poorly defined mega-evil secret society, all of which connects atrociously, makes nearly zero logical sense and happens regardless of player input, but as it’s transparently meant to provide a low-stakes, genre-appropriate backdrop to the shy-glances, hand-holding and kissing I was willing to get on the game’s level and take it in the tongue-in-cheek spirit in which it seems intended. The one part which falls down truly spectacularly is the core conceit that the hero wants to go home at all- and give up his magic powers, band of awesome friends and *eyeroll* ‘waifu’ in exchange for… what? A liberal arts degree? Comcast internet? Anime? A few hours in I started amusing myself by making a mental list of ‘reasons to go back to NY’ vs. ‘Reasons to stay in Ponyville ‘Terra’, let’s just say that all the weight gets loaded on one side of that scale- which is subjectively fine, but when a whole story revolves around moving towards an action that seems nonsensical, then, comedy or not, the narrative loses a giant chunk of credibility. Weirdly enough I started getting flashbacks to ‘Spec Ops: The Line’ at points, wondering why I was willingly embodying a guy doggedly marching toward a goal that was a patently bad idea in every way. Fortunately, every time this happened one or more characters would kiss, flirt or be mortified by a sexual innuendo- which magically (pun intended) got me on board with the whole exercise again. The voice-acting from the main cast is top tier; Amanda Lee and Amber Conners get special mentions for managing to sell their lines even when the writing gets spotty. Nathan Sharp does what little he can with his stereotypical ‘gruff, emotionally distant mercenary’ character, while Natalie Hoover has the thankless task of intoning things flatly and gets the lion’s share of the truly awful lines; mainly due to her character being written as an academic prolix while a great slab of her dialogue has made it to recording without anyone checking the grammar associated with those ‘big’ words- resulting in a mass of noun/verb confusion, subject/verb disagreement, incorrect tense usage and all sorts of other literary misdemeanours which make my head hurt and made the character a lot less likeable. A few extra rounds of proofreading at the script stage would have added a lot more polish. Look past the somewhat ‘fanfic-y’ vibe that the story gives off though and you’ve got a charming little VN that unless you’re truly frozen-hearted will probably make you go “Awwww!” (at least internally) along the way with some consistency. I’m hardly the sappiest of folk, but this is easy to recommend as a good antidote to a bad day (or a bad break up).
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As the other reviews have said: You've seen the plot of this VN before. It's an isekai where your typical bland protag is sent to a medieval world to kill the Big Bad. That just about sums the whole thing up. So in that case, why buy? It has good music and animated character sprites, yes, but that isn't the game's main selling point. No, the selling point is the character banter. If you've ever played the Tales series, you may know about the skits games from that franchise have. Crystalline is basically Tales skits expanded into a whole game. I also approve of there being only one love interest for the MC. Otherwise, the game would have the issue of Trails - every female character is waiting on whether the MC will lock in on choosing them, and that could take the whole game. Instead, you have one LI, and the other female characters are free to choose what they want to do romantically. Oh, and I should mention that this is a "feel good" game. As a PixelFade VN, any "horror", if you can call it that, would be suitable for scaring small children. This is a VN where things are great for nearly everyone, and the good times will continue.
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Nothing special, even if it is a nice game. Few hours into a game and I still don't know what my motivation is beyond "I want to get away from this world back to my old one". I am more or less following along what other think is best for me. At least for now, game feels nice and shallow.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Crystalline is currently priced at 19.50€ on Steam.
Crystalline is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 19.50€ on Steam.
Crystalline received 1,275 positive votes out of a total of 1,350 achieving a rating of 8.94.
😎
Crystalline was developed and published by PixelFade.
Crystalline is playable and fully supported on Windows.
Crystalline is playable and fully supported on MacOS.
Crystalline is not playable on Linux.
Crystalline is a single-player game.
Crystalline does not currently offer any DLC.
Crystalline does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
Crystalline does not support Steam Remote Play.
Crystalline is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Crystalline.
Data sources
The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.
Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 23 January 2026 11:27 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 25 January 2026 12:55 |
| Steam price | 28 January 2026 12:43 |
| Steam reviews | 27 January 2026 09:48 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Crystalline, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Crystalline
- SteamCharts - Analysis of Crystalline concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Crystalline compatibility
Game modes
Features
Online players
1
Developer
PixelFade
Publisher
PixelFade
Release
22 Aug 2018
Platforms