Cross of Auria

Cross of Auria is a turn-based JRPG built with RPG Maker MV, set in the fantasy realm of Revan. A mysterious plague called ‘the Scourge’ has wiped the memories of the entire population. The protagonist, Ruby, awakens in the Veil—a realm between realms—and is rushed out by its Watchers. Her primary goal is to find her missing brother, but she is soon captured by the special forces unit of Auria after they witness a unique power she possesses. The game serves as the foundation for a larger universe and focuses on story, boss battle mechanics, and various gameplay systems, with more chapters planned to be added over time.

Cross of Auria: Review

Introduction

In the vast and often unforgiving landscape of independent RPGs, where ambition frequently collides with the stark realities of development constraints, a title emerges not with a roar, but with a curious, almost philosophical whisper. Cross of Auria, released on the first day of 2018, is a game that asks its players to forget everything they know—a premise that extends beyond its narrative and into its very existence. Developed by a solitary student using RPG Maker MV, this free-to-play title presents itself as the foundational stone for a nascent multimedia universe, a bold claim for any project, let alone a debut. This review will delve into the intricate tapestry of Cross of Auria, examining its genesis, its narrative aspirations, its mechanical execution, and its peculiar place in the annals of gaming. The central thesis is this: Cross of Auria is a fascinating, flawed, and ultimately earnest artifact—a portfolio piece that showcases a designer’s focus on systemic puzzle-combat and expansive world-building, yet one that is fundamentally hampered by its limited scope, stock assets, and the immense weight of its own ambitious vision.

Development History & Context

The Vision of a Solo Creator

Cross of Auria is the brainchild of a developer operating under the names Hardytier and Repugnant Duck Studios. As revealed in forum posts, the creator was a student of game design at Full Sail University at the time of the game’s release. This project was explicitly conceived as a pre-graduation portfolio piece, designed to showcase specific competencies: story construction, innovative boss battle mechanics, and the implementation of various systems.

The RPG Maker MV Crucible

The choice of engine is paramount to understanding Cross of Auria. RPG Maker MV is a double-edged sword—a tool that democratizes game development by providing a robust framework for classic JRPGs but often carries a stigma due to the proliferation of low-effort, asset-flip games built with it. The developer was acutely aware of this, openly stating, “I am not a graphic designer, or artist of any kind. All art assets are pulled from free sources and credited appropriately.” This admission frames Cross of Auria not as a commercial product in the traditional sense, but as a proof-of-concept for design philosophy, where mechanics and narrative are prioritized over visual originality.

A Living Game in a Static Landscape

Perhaps the most defining aspect of its development was its release strategy. Contrary to industry norms, the game was launched not as an Early Access title but as a “complete” product, albeit one containing only its first chapter, dubbed “Chapter 1-1: The Scourge – Awoken.” The developer’s vision was of a “living game,” with future chapters and content promised to be added via free updates over time. This approach sparked immediate debate within the RPG Maker community, with critics arguing it blurred the line between a finished product and a work-in-progress, potentially confusing players and limiting visibility on platforms like Steam.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

The Amnesia of a World

The narrative premise of Cross of Auria is its most compelling asset. A cataclysmic plague known as “the Scourge” has swept across the realm of Revan, erasing the memories of every living being. This global amnesia creates a unique narrative vacuum—a world with a history but no historians, where the past is a ghost haunting the present. Players assume the role of Ruby, a young woman who awakens not in her own world, but in the Veil, a liminal “realm between realms” typically reserved for the souls of the dead. Her very presence there is a violation of the natural order, marking her as an anomaly.

Ruby: The Lightning Warrior

Ruby’s journey is one of dual discovery: the personal quest to find her missing brother, Jack, and the cosmic awakening to her destiny as the “Lightning Warrior.” Her initial foray into the Veil grants her a connection to this metaphysical plane and a command over lightning-based powers. This power quickly draws the attention of Auria’s special forces, who seek to use her abilities for their own ends. The narrative effectively uses Ruby’s personal stakes—the search for her brother—as an anchor point within the grand, confusing scale of a world that has forgotten itself.

Themes of Memory, Identity, and Power

Thematically, the game is rich with potential. The Scourge serves as a potent metaphor for trauma, loss, and the fragility of identity. A society forced to rebuild from a literal blank slate explores questions of what defines a person, a culture, or a nation if its shared memories are obliterated. The awakening of the gods, thrown into “chaotic rage” by the same event, introduces a theological crisis, questioning the nature of divinity and worship in a world without history. The core tension lies in whether the game’s episodic, piecemeal development can ever fully pay off these profound thematic promises, as the foundational chapter only begins to scratch the surface.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

Turn-Based Combat with a Puzzle Twist

The combat system is proudly “classic turn-based,” but the developer’s emphasis is on strategic puzzle-solving within battles. The boast, “If you find a battle with an enemy that is the same level as you and you keep losing, you aren’t doing the fight correctly. All of the tools are there,” signals a design intention reminiscent of games like Megami Tensei or SaGa, where exploiting weaknesses, managing status effects, and understanding unique boss mechanics are paramount to victory. This suggests that brute-force grinding is less effective than tactical analysis.

Beyond the Battle: Systems and Side Content

Cross of Auria is packed with systems designed to extend its playability and mimic larger RPGs:
* Bounty/Hunt System: Inspired by series like Final Fantasy and The Witcher, this system tasks players with tracking down and defeating specific powerful monsters for rewards.
* The Arena: A direct nod to MMORPGs, this feature allows players to re-enter previously cleared dungeons at scaled-up difficulty levels for better loot, providing an endgame-style challenge loop.
* Gauntlet Mode & Trophy Room: These features cater to the completionist, offering pure combat trials and a place to showcase in-game achievements.

The User Interface and RPG Maker Conventions

The UI and general interactivity are standard for a well-constructed RPG Maker MV game. Menus are functional, navigation is straightforward, and the game includes features like Steam Achievements (17 in total, including “Fledgling Hunter” for completing a first bounty and “Capricorn” for defeating a zodiac boss). However, it does not radically deviate from the engine’s established templates, living or dying on the strength of the content within those frameworks.

World-Building, Art & Sound

The Stock Asset Aesthetic

This is the domain where Cross of Auria‘s nature as a portfolio piece is most apparent. The developer’s candid admission regarding the use of free, stock assets defines the visual experience. The game employs a familiar Anime/Manga style common to RPG Maker titles, with pre-made character sprites, battlers, and tilesets. While assembled with competence, the art lacks a cohesive unique identity, feeling like a curated collection rather than a bespoke visual world. This is not a critique of quality—many of the assets are well-made—but a statement on originality.

The Conceptual Strength of the Veil

Where the art falters, the conceptual world-building excels. The idea of the Veil as a nexus between worlds, a timeless purgatory for souls, is a fantastic setting. It provides a compelling narrative device and a potential explanation for game mechanics like respawning or fast travel. Descriptions of “ghostlike apparitions” guiding Ruby and the disturbance her living presence causes create a strong, eerie atmosphere that the stock assets can only partially convey.

Sound Design

The audio experience is similarly reliant on royalty-free or RPG Maker stock music and sound effects. It serves its purpose, providing the expected fantasy RPG ambiance, but like the visuals, it does not carve out a distinct sonic identity for Auria and Revan. The atmosphere is thus generated more through text description and player imagination than through a wholly original audiovisual synthesis.

Reception & Legacy

Critical and Commercial Reception

Upon its release, Cross of Auria occupied a niche within a niche. As a free RPG Maker game on Steam, it avoided the critical scrutiny that often comes with a price tag. The available data points to a modest but positive reception from those who played it. It holds a “Positive” rating on Steam based on 24 reviews, with an 83% approval rate. Reviews praised its ambitious story ideas and engaging boss battles, while criticism was directed at its short length (approximately one hour for the initial chapter) and the inherent limitations of its asset-flip presentation. It failed to garner any professional critic reviews on major aggregator sites like MobyGames or Metacritic.

A Legacy of Expansion and Unfinished Symphonies

The most fascinating aspect of Cross of Auria‘s legacy is its post-launch support. True to the “living game” promise, the developer released a surprising number of DLC packs between 2020 and 2022, including:
* Five “Founder’s Packs” (I-V)
* Challenge of the Headless (2020)
* Yuelslain’s Village (2021)
* Battle Series X and its add-on The Zodiac Cache (2022)
This flurry of activity suggests a dedicated, if small-scale, ongoing development effort to expand the game’s universe, primarily through additional combat scenarios and challenges, reinforcing the creator’s focus on battle mechanics.

Industry Influence and Position

Cross of Auria‘s influence on the broader industry is negligible. However, its existence is emblematic of a specific modern development paradigm: the solo developer using accessible tools to prototype a larger idea. It serves as a case study in ambition versus execution. Its legacy is not one of revolutionizing gameplay or narrative, but of demonstrating how a single creator can lay the groundwork for a fictional universe, using a game as the initial, interactive cornerstone. It stands as a testament to the passion that drives indie development, even when the final product remains more of a compelling promise than a polished whole.

Conclusion

Cross of Auria is a game of fascinating contradictions. It is a free-to-play project that launched with the grand aspirations of a paid franchise-starter. It is built with stock assets yet contains uniquely designed puzzle-boss mechanics. It is a “complete” game that is openly and perpetually unfinished.

To evaluate it as a traditional commercial product is to miss its point. As a portfolio piece for a game design student, it successfully showcases its intended strengths: a hook-filled narrative premise, a thoughtful approach to tactical turn-based combat, and the implementation of complex RPG systems like bounty hunts and arenas. For players willing to meet it on its own terms—as a curious, experimental foundation for a world—there is novelty and enjoyment to be found in its first chapter.

However, its reliance on unmodified RPG Maker conventions and assets prevents it from achieving artistic distinction, and its episodic nature means the narrative’s profound themes are only introduced, never explored in depth. Cross of Auria is not a lost classic, but it is a noteworthy artifact. It represents the very first step in a creative journey, a rough draft filled with compelling ideas waiting for the resources and experience to be fully realized. Its true verdict is not a score, but a acknowledgment of its potential—a lightning strike of ambition in the crowded sky of indie RPGs, whose thunder is still echoing, waiting for the storm to truly arrive.