| Developer(s) | Vinnoelsoft |
| Publisher(s) | Vinnoelsoft |
| Platform(s) | PS4, XBox One, PC and Wii U |
| Genre(s) | Twinstick Shooter/Action/Adventure |
| Series | Cruncle Quest/Crundle Quest |
| Predecessor | None |
| Successor | Crundle Quest II: Thanes of Gromkarn |
| Release Date(s) | April 2th, 2016 |
| Mode(s) | Campaign Mode; Arcade Mode; Friendship and Glory |
Cruncle Quest: Origins of Farsnokalos is the first game in the Cruncle Quest (series), the game, along with all future games, became known for its strange decision of having two names, Cruncle Quest AND Crundle Quest, with the latter being seen in Europe, Asia and Australia while the former is seen in America, Canada and New Zealand. The game is worked on by both CSketch and CrunchyTime.
Classes[]
Normal Classes[]
|
Stabber |
Bowslinger |
U.Scientist |
|---|---|---|
|
Sneaker* |
Pilgrim* |
Janitor* |
|
Sponge* |
 Mind-Bulleteer* |
|
*Can only be used after the final boss is beaten as the top character in their column
Misc. Classes[]
 Dirtmen |
|---|
The game is the first installment in what the creators call the "Cruncle Mythos", consisting of many games and even other media taking place in the enormous gigaplanet of "Moiwan".
The story starts with a young man known as "Cruncle" ("Crundle" in the areas in which the game was named Crundle Quest) being born in the hometown of "Faarghl" in the country of "Chimfleo" which has been in anarchy since a massacre at the palace caused by dark monsters killed most of the royal family, leaving only the Royal Council to try to mantain control, but ultimately failing. Cruncle is raised in the fields and likes to explore a lot, wanting to be an explorer and thus working on a big map of Chimfleo, though he gives up after he's 17 after taking a long time just drawing the fields surrounding his home.
After playing in the fields, Cruncle finds a girl around his age named "Kilainai", who he comes to befriend, eventually she invites him to a festival occuring in a town one forest over, Cruncle is a bit scared since the forest is said to be filled with dark monsters, but she gives him what looks like a silver token with a sword on it and says that if he just needs to bring it to a well-known weapon shop in his town known as "Weaponnaire Kemson's" and he'll get a free weapon to defend himself, Cruncle reluctantly does so and discovers it's a sort of coupon which he uses to get one of 7 possible weapons, each one corresponding to a different in-game class:
- Entinian Wand, a special wand crafted from an Ent flowing with magical power (Reverse Scientist).
- Paladin's Sword, a rusty thick-bladed sword used by paladins in old wars (Stabber).
- Luxurious Longbow, a fancy old longbow used by a famous hunter many years ago with a strange mechanism allowing it to fire multiple times in a short span of time (Bowslinger).
- Plymouth Rocker, an antique shotgun used by pilgrims when they first discovered Chimfleo, it takes a bit to reload but it packs a punch (Pilgrim).
- Rogue Dagger,a special dagger that can be triggered at any time used by a massive gang of bandits ages ago (Sneaker).
- Crystal Staffmop of Hatelvahz, a staff made out of shiny steel with a crystal orb connected at the top which can fire spells capable of inflicting status effects, healing, deflecting attacks and defending, and a mop connected at the bottom for some strange reason (Janitor).
- Iron Hammer, a heavy powerful hammer that makes up for its not-so-good range with incredible power (Sponge).
After obtaining the weapon, travelling through the forest, and finally reaching Kilainai's town, Cruncle parties in the festival and gets drunk, eventually passing out, when he wakes up he finds out that dark monsters invaded the village mid-festival and killed almost everyone in the village except him, since he passed out in a hidden part of the village's bar.
Cruncle finds that the dark monsters who attacked were making a massive movement from the outskirts of Chimfleo to the center of the country and, feeling guilty about not being able to defend the village, promises to reach the center and warn the Royal Council about it, hoping they will take action in time, Cruncle prepares to set out but first heads back home, finding a tiny crystal necklace near his house with a note from Kilainai saying it will automatically draw new locations for his map as soon as he reaches them, prompting him to grab his old map and set out on his quest.
NPCs[]
Gameplay[]
Campaign Mode[]
The game is a top-down twinstick shooter similar to The Binding of Isaac and Nuclear Throne, however, there are more than just projectile weapons, instead having a more RPG-like focus with swords, magic, bows, and more, Cruncle has his own stats which can be modified as the game goes on by gaining experience which can be spent to unlock more abilities for him in his Skill Tree, which branches out into different class skills.
However, what makes this Skill Tree interesting is that you can branch out into not only one class, but also a second class which you can combine with your other class to create a combination of both (a Janitor/Pilgrim, a Sneaker/Stabber), combining both capabilities, skills and stats (a Janitor/Sneaker would be able to use the Sneaker's stealth to sneak around foes and then hit them with the Janitor's negative effects).
Although the game takes a lot of inspiration and is even in the same style as The Binding of Isaac and Nuclear Throne, it has a much bigger Zelda-inspired world that's split off into multiple screens, just like Legend of Zelda, however, screens are much larger to accomodate for both enemies and obstacles, though you always have your handy map which fills out in big portions once you reach new areas (however, it doesn't reveal all of it right away, encouraging the player to look for hidden areas and secrets).
You can wield a multitude of weapons and use a variety of items to help you on your quest, however, depending on your Class, some weapons may not be as effective or even not wieldable at all, this also happens in reverse, as some Classes work incredibly with certain weapons or items, another big reason why combining classes is so useful: to get access to just the right combination of weapons and items at their full potential.
Throughout the game there are also Companions, NPCs which join your Party and can help you out throughout the game, you can only carry 5 of them with you at a time, with all of them hanging out in a small pocket dimension until being called upon by you, while they're not being called upon they can still help you out in passive ways such as increasing certain stats, giving you items, and even giving you small one-use abilities which can be helpful, however, the real bulk of the Companion system is that if they're in your pocketspace you can call at any time up to 2 of them to help you out in the battlefield, with them having their own AI which acts differently depending on the foe and who they are, though you can still command them to do certain things via a simple command system consisting of orders you can shout to your allies.
If a Companion's HP is brought down to 0 while fighting alongside you, they will pass out, prompting another Companion to jump out of the pocket dimension and pull them back in, at which point you will have to wait for them to regain energy, if all of your Companions are knocked out except one and then that Companion is knocked out, since no other ally is there to pull them back into the pocket dimension the monsters take them hostage until you come back to that same area to save them.
That said, while you can only bring 5 Companions with you in the pocket dimension at a time, there are 13 Companions in the entire game, and if you want to switch them out all you have to do is reach an area with no enemies (an area where you have killed all of the monsters already also works) and switch them out. Companions also have their own stats system but it's way more simple and consists of allowing them to fight until they level up, after which all of their stats increase with one small amount of leftover experience which you get to choose how to spend: on Resistance, Health or Damage.
The game also has 3 modes of Local Multiplayer in the main campaign, the first one allows up to 3 players to hop in the main campaign as "Dirtmen", golems made out of dirt and stone which pop out of the ground and instantly choose one of the 7 starting weapons, which automatically assigns them that class, as well as a special nickname, after which they're free to help the main character on their quest, levelling up alongside them, and if you have to leave, all you need to do is pick your Dirtman based on the nickname you gave them and continue playing with your stats intact (though in some ocassions you might be levelled up to catch up with the main player if they becomes wayyyy too powerful by the next time you play with them).
The second mode of Multiplayer allows players to take control of spirits which can possess enemies and inherit their stats and abilities while they control them to either help or peeve the main player, if their enemy dies they can just possess another one, though if they're a stronger enemy they might need to play a very short timing game in order to take control of them, they can even control certain minibosses once they're defeated.
Finally, the third mode comes in the form of the Colisseum, in which they can access a mode in which the players can pick one of the many Companions of the game and fight to the death in a hazard-filled arena, in this mode all of the players have similar stats in order to be evenly matched. The Colisseum also works as a mode of Online Multiplayer, though in this case the stats may be very different because you play as the character you use in the main quest, though the system works in a way in which you're pitted against players of similar power.
Arcade Mode[]
This mode is more inspired by SMASH TV than Binding of Isaac, instead being a more action-focused mode in which all players play as Dirtmen who choose their classes right at the start and begin their journey through the underground, fighting tons of monsters in each room while collecting stat upgrades and power-ups and fighting the ocasional boss. This mode can be played in both Local Multiplayer and Online Multiplayer.
Friendship and Glory[]
An exclusively multiplayer campaign that can be played either locally or online featuring a group of adventurers exploring a gigantic cave filled with monsters and trying to help a village of lost people that has developed inside the cave get out while collecting as much treasure as they can, this mode can be played by up to 4 players locally and up to 6 players online, though the cave is always randomized along with the items and bosses so there's always a different experience.
Online Multiplayer/"The Darkest Timeline"[]
Taking place after the main game,you create a character and enter an anarchial alternate timeline where everyone hates everyone,it is similar to GTA Online in the sense that you travel around the map with several other players.
Dirtmen return as a bonus class which can use any weapon type but have weaker stats at the start and randomized abilities.
Trivia[]
- The names in the game are strange and sometimes funny on purpose, to parody strange fantasy/RPG names.
- The entire concept of the game and the Cruncle Mythos was born out of an extremely long comment chain in a Youtube video where in one part the person who uploaded the video talks about how fantasy names are weird and funny to him, making up "Crundle Quest V: The Crystals of Bimbledoof", after this a commment chain was spawned out of people talking about the Crundle Quest series as if it was a real series of games, making up a lore filled with strange names, classes, plotlines, and more.