The hidden item adventure genre is underutilized in gaming, but after playing The Mystery of the Crystal Portal it’s pretty easy to see why. The game goes out of its way to be frustrating and complicated as consistently as possible without ever managing to create any sense of fun. There are several other item-hunting titles out there that are better than this game, and many are even free. Crystal Portal continues the long march of PSP minis that disappoint on nearly every level.
Crystal Portal casts players as Nicole Rankwith, a 1920s journalist whose father goes missing after discovering the titular Crystal Portal. Nicole then sets off around the world with her father’s journal in hand in order to hopefully follow his footsteps and ultimately track him down. The barebones story really exists for no other purpose than to give context to send players “around the world,” but this globe-trotting doesn’t really add much to the experience since every single level plays out in the same fashion.
Whenever players enter a new area the first thing they must do is discover key items which will advance the plot. These special devices are totally unmarked, and players will only know they’ve stumbled upon one when the onscreen cursor changes to a pointing finger. Once a key item is uncovered, it displays the silhouettes of several regular items the player must then find. It’s a fundamentally sound concept, but due to terribly botched execution things eventually deteriorate into a mess of ill-conceived game mechanics.
Dammit, has anybody seen my keys?
The first issue that arises when looking for items is the fact that the game only shows a vague silhouette of the object players are looking for, making it hard to determine if one should be hunting for a necklace or a piece of string. Furthermore, the items are often placed in different orientations in the scene itself than they are in their silhouette, so it’s normally impossible to utilize the shape of an object as a clue. This fundamental flaw in the design makes the game much more frustrating than it should be, and instead of delighting in finding skillfully hidden objects, many players will likely curse the game for making the frame of reference and the actual object look so different from one another that is nigh impossible to understand the correlation.
Further complicating matters is the fact that onscreen overlays sometimes manage to partially or even totally obscure items players need, making it impossible to find some objects without turning to the title’s hint feature. While it would be forgivable if such an issue were an isolated occurrence, there are several occasions where such an incident crops up. All in all, this problem points to lazy design and lackluster play testing, which are inexcusable in any game, regardless of genre.
Topping off the frustration is the fact that puzzles must be solved in a certain order, but the only way to learn this fact is through sheer trial and error. Each locale players visit may feature three or four interconnected areas, but the game gives little to no indication where to go next. Oftentimes, players will spend ten minutes looking for the last piece of a puzzle only to eventually realize it can’t be reached yet, and they must go to a different area, solve all the puzzles there first, then come back and grab that one last piece they need. It’s annoying, frustrating and dumb, and an issue that could have easily been fixed by simply structuring the game better. While the designers may try and claim this was done in order to give the game a more non-linear feel that simply isn’t the case. This is a very linear game, just one which likes to lead players down the wrong hallway, throw a brick wall in front of them and then tell them to go all the way back to the beginning and try again. Once more, it’s an example of lazy design and poor workmanship.
The Rundown
There’s really very little positive to say about The Mystery of the Crystal Portal, as the whole experience is just so utterly banal and annoying. Replayability is also nonexistent due to the fact that players must constantly seek out the exact same items hidden in the exact same locations. Furthermore, the lack of any sort of scoring or leaderboards provides absolutely zero incentive to try and play through the levels faster or more efficiently. The game does have a handful of Trophy-like medals to collect, but good luck finding the gamer willing to endure this experience long enough to unlock them all. Mystery of the Crystal Portal is an absolute waste of money in every way. Just avoid it.
