I normally don't watch modern dramas. Nor have I ever watched esport drama. In the case of Cross Fire, I made an exception: time travel, good CG between games and reality, and two good-looking youngsters as main characters. Who can resist?
Let's see how this drama do according to my criteria:

1. "Sleepness Night": 5/5 ★★★★★
I binged watched this drama from the very first episode to the end.
Cross Fire gives you the right kick for sure. It blends the right degree of suspense, drama with humor and romance. It's not only a esport drama but it is all the personal drama that makes this drama irresistible.
Especially, the 2008 timeline is one of the best-written storylines I have ever seen in C-drama land. 2008 is a year when playing the video game is being condemned as child play, a waste of time, worst, an evil addiction. Our ML Xiao Feng and his teammates overcame all kinds of difficulties and fight their way to the top of the first official competition in China. We have the honor to witness this struggle as if it is our own: fight for a dream only you, but no one else believes in. The endeavor is real, mixed with tears, sweat, and blood. No way, you can look away.

2. Emotional Rollercoaster: 5/5 ★★★★★
For me, both the MLs Xiao Feng and Xiao Bei have done a fantastic job in terms of acting. Their acting feels natural and never over the top. I did not know both of them when I started watching the drama; now I cannot wait for future works from these two.
In terms of romance both MLs have their own love lines, plus another one between two supporting characters Su Jia Yi and Wang Kai. All of them are depicted uniquely different, so there is a couple for every kind of taste.
Personally, there is this only one romantic kiss scene in this drama (not going to spoil which couple), is THE BEST kiss scene I have ever seen in a Chinese drama, and I am not kidding!

3. Natural and Intelligent Story Telling: 3/5 ★★★☆☆
On this criterium, I am quite torn. I love the 2008 storyline. The 2019 storyline has certain gaps which could have been improved, but overall still convincing.
However, the biggest gap of all is probably the logicality of time travel. There are two types of time travel: one type at which you can do anything in the past, which does not affect your own present, i.e. your own past remain as well as your memory of your past. The other type is whatever you do in the past could also affect your own present, i.e. your own history is changed at the same time and you lose all memories of the previous past. Cross Fire clearly depicts the second type. But there are countless scenes at which the viewer is confused whether we are at type 1 or type 2; or more like something between. The writer jumps between both types as he pleases to create drama. One notices that it is clearly not the makers' focus to make the story logical from a time travel perspective. In my opinion, this did not affect the drama's overall quality negatively.

4. "Loveable supporting Role": 5/5 ★★★★★
One reason why I rate this drama this high is because of the great characters in this show. Both playing team of 2008 and 2019 bring their unique characters who are portraited by great actors. I would be sitting here until tomorrow if I let loose talking about what I love about each of them. Cheng Hao, Chang Sha, Qi Ling, and An Lan are my favorite supporting characters. Especially, the character growth of Qi Ling and An Lan between 2008 and 2019 is extremely convincing.
Another supporting character I have to talk about is Xu Wei, the anti-hero of the show. I don't think I have ever liked an anti-hero this much as how I like Xu Wei. The story of how Xu Wei slowly developed from Xiao Feng's best friend to the biggest antagonist of this show is probably the best "Hei Hua" (becoming bad) I have ever seen in any C-drama. Finally, there is a writer who managed to convince the audience why someone would turn from good to bad. I have shed so many tears for Xu Wei at the end of the drama because I sympathize with this character.

5. "Proper Pacing": 4/5 ★★★★☆
With 35 episodes, it is not a long drama, and after finishing it, I wished there are more episodes. However, certain scenes, especially in the 2019 plot, felt slow and draggy. Certain drama between team members seemed slightly artificial as they happened out of nowhere. Proportionally, I wish the author spent more time showing the 2008 storyline. There are many scenes in which the viewers are eager to find out what happened next in the 2008 story but suddenly got cut by the inferior 2019 plot. That wasn't very pleasant. But overall, it is still great pacing compared to many C-dramas I have seen.

6. Technicalities: 5/5 ★★★★★
Another great aspect of this drama is the realistic game sequence at which they use the actual actors and models of the gaming world to realize the battle scenes. The (head)shots, using the right amount of CG are both realistic and suspenseful. It makes me want to know about the actual Cross Fire championship, which is certainly what the makers wanted to achieve. Most action battle scenes in this show are very well shot, with the right amount of slow motions, special effects and sounds. I also really like the songs, a few sung by Lu Han (who plays Xiao Feng) himself.

7. Solid Finale: 4/5 ★★★★☆
I really enjoyed the final games. However, the personal drama bit felt a bit unnatural. And I had to roll my eyes when China had to play against Japan in the final game. What a surprise! There was also a lot of propaganda about China's strength in professional gaming compared to the rest of the world. If not because of, I woud have given the finale a 5/5.

My final verdict: this drama has won a solid 10/10 in my heart. But because of some more rational scores, I give it a 9.5/10. If you love Shonen Jump kind of manga/anime of which Deep Friendship, Give Effort and Winning are the main themes, you are at the right drama. Don't miss it!


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Kotori's drama review seven criteria definition:

After having watched many dramas and also written several reviews. I have detected that I rate dramas based on specific patterns. I formulated those into seven criteria.
1. "Sleepless Nights.": how much I have the urge to binge-watch this drama.
2. "Emotional Rollercoaster": the degree of how much my heart was moving from the acting, scenes, and story development (e.g., in pain, pounding, fluster etc.). The degree on how much I care about the fate of the main leads.
3. "Natural and intelligent Storytelling.": how logically the story was able to proceed and the roles are acting within their characters. I don't have a thousand question marks when watching the drama. The feeling that the makers take us viewers seriously and that we do not always think that this looks fake.
4. "Loveable supporting Roles.": how much I love and care about supporting characters. They are not merely tools to help the main characters but are 3-dimensional and have the proper motivation behind their actions.
5. "Proper Pacing.": how well the drama is pacing and not watered down to fill the number of episodes.
6. "Technicalities": professional camera works and shots, fight scenes, color grading, lighting, editing, music, sets, costumes, use of CGI etc. I try to grade this in relation to the drama budget, so a low-budget drama can equally get a high score when used at the right place
7. "Solid Finale": how properly the drama builds dramatic and finishes with a satisfactory ending. I have just watched too many dramas that start to lose their grip around half or 2/3rd of its way.