What if it didn't have these crystals? Capcom Quest of Street Fighter X Tekken! In search of Pandora's box.
I believe this must have been the most expensive fighting game Capcom made, before SF6.
The amount of CGI this game has was no joke. Several openings of the game, intros and endings of teams, even a 3 episode miniseries telling the journey until finding Pandora's Box. Capcom spent a lot here.
There are even intro and ending variations for non-canonical duos. The cutscenes of fights between rivals are different, even though they are the same characters.
55 characters, 5 of which were exclusive to PS3/Vita. I understand that Cole (Infamus) and the Sony mascots are exclusive. But Mega Man and Pac Man could be in all versions.
I think the big news in the gameplay are that you can do a sequence that ends in changing characters and also charge an attack until it becomes an "EX" and then a "Super".
Of course the team specials are here! In addition to being able to place two characters on the screen at the same time (just like Marvel Vs. Capcom). There is also the combo that ends in the partner's super. Very stylish!
The comeback mechanic this time is Pandora. You lose a character that has unless 25% of health and you have 10 seconds to defeat the opponent, but you become very overpowered!
Personally, I love SFxT, but the competitive people hated the crystal mechanics. It changes the character's properties a lot, and apparently that was the downfall of this game.
There was also the famous controversy regarding DLC already included on the disc and blocked. Capcom even released it for free later, but was heavily criticized for it.
Anyway, I highly recommend playing this title! The cast is great and it even has one of the best fighting game theme songs.