CrossCode received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised its story, combat, and artstyle, but had mixed opinions on its puzzles.

CrossCode is an action role-playing video game in which the player controls the character Lea from a two-dimensional top-down perspective.

[1] The combat system involves attacking enemies in real-time using either a melee strike or a ranged ball launch that deals damage.

[1][2] Puzzles involve the same ball launching mechanic used in combat, sometimes requiring the player to hit items in a certain order or time limit.

[1][3] Players can also use both in-game money and a bartering system to buy items,[1] which can also be found in hidden chests scattered across the overworld.

The player can also complete multiple side quests, such as obtaining items, hunting for treasures and racing opponents, that grant additional bonuses.

[3][1] In CrossCode, players primarily control a silent protagonist named Lea as she plays a fictional massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) known as CrossWorlds.

It takes place in a physical environment on the moon Shadoon, where players control artificial "Avatars" that can regenerate at will and interact with in-game attacks and items.

The game begins with a young woman called Shizuka Sakai fighting her way to rescue her brother, but once she finds him, he dies in her arms.

During a raid with the First Scholars, Lea is dragged away by the Blue Avatar and trapped into an off-limits area called the Vermillion Wasteland.

After escaping back to the cargo ship, she also learns that Sergey used to work on the creation of CrossWorlds in the Instatainment Company along his friends Gautham Ranganathan, Shizuka and her brother Satoshi.

She confronts C'tron, who reveals that he lost most of his recent memories and declares his intention to atone by cooperating with their efforts to bring Sidwell to justice.

Although it was initially intended as a crowdfunding reward, the Steam early access release allowed the developers to have a continuous source of income to keep working as needed, and employ player feedback to add more features and balance the game.

However, they still chose to add a few modern graphical elements such as shadow maps, based on their previous experience in the RPG Maker community.

After the Wii U was discontinued, the publishers Deck13 collaborated with the developers to compile the game's JavaScript code into a version compatible with other consoles, as they could not run it natively due to technical and licensing restrictions.

[3][24] Conversely, GameSpot reviewer David Wolinsky called it "overly ambitious and complicated", criticising the puzzles and navigation, but still praising the combat.

Writing for IGN Japan, Shohei Fujita appreciated the rewarding nature of its difficulty, stating that the player would cherish the wisdom gained after an intense boss battle.

Wolinsky claimed they could sometimes be "obtuse and annoying", making progress "halting and confusing", but he praised the ability to adjust their difficulty.

[1] Though he commended them as "fair and logical", PC Games reviewer Felix Schütz stated the site repeatedly encountered "puzzles that we only crack after dozens of attempts, although we had long understood the principle".