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Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
by Jolex Del Pilar
Wednesday, February 11 2004
Square-Enix's RPG is a blast to play but may not appeal to some.
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Title:
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
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Platform:
Gamecube
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Publisher:
Square-Enix |
Developer:
The Game Designers Studio |
#
of Players: 1 - 4 |
Genre:
RPG
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Origin:
Japan
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Expected
Release:
February 11, 2004 |
Grapevine:
Still, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't put it out there that Crystal Chronicles may not be for you if you don't intend to play the game with other players. |
When Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles was displayed at E3 2003 last year, the line to get to the kiosk was atrocious. Probably a result of greedy gamers not keeping to the 10 minute rule, or people cutting in line, or a mixture of both. Fortunately, as a member of the media, I was able to wave down a Square-Enix employee, and explain to them that I was on a tight schedule, therefore allowing me to cut through all the riff-raff (somtimes our job is just so hard). I played and toyed with the game for a good 30 minutes and had plenty of fun with the other gamers who were playing on my same kiosk until a question started to slowly creep into my mind. "What if I don't have 4 friends or 4 Gameboy Advanced units?"
Well, last month we got our retail copy in the mail, and a lot of my questions about Crystal Chronicles were more of less answered. For a whole year I wondered what would Final Fantasy be like if instead of a focused, linear, single player story, I was instead presented with an open ended, multiplayer focused game. The simple answer is, a great multiplayer game that still retains a thinly veiled single player experience.
That's not to say that Crystal Chronicles is a complete bust for single player aficionados, however don't expect the enthralling quest of Final Fantasy past. The single player quest is more like Final Fantasy Lite. You travel mostly alone, with the exception of your mostly non-combative Moogle friend (he's mostly there to carry your miasma repelling myrrh chalice). While you get a bit of the story, which involves why the miasma streams are dangerous, the caravans, and the continuing plight of a world at the mercy of miasma, you definitely are missing 50% of the fun if you are playing this game alone. The simple fact is, though there is a story here, it all seems to be pushed to the background, rather than the forefront like previous Final Fantasy titles.
Of course, Crystal Chronicles wasn't meant to be like past Final Fantasy titles, it was meant to be something quite different. Like SOE's Champions of Norrath, the game world in Crystal Chronicles is simply an arena that is meant for you and a couple of friends to duke it out with monsters, and team up during boss battles to destroy impressive looking enemies. Each player can even pick a specilization. For instance, Clavats are good melee and magic users, while Selkies are the best mages overall. It smells of an MMORPG, but without the online aspect, or the annoying anonymous nature of an MMORPG mixed with 12 year old kids that don't have mommy looking over their shoulder. A lot of the fun comes from players teaming up to do power attacks, and super spells which are impressively represented on screen, colored lighting and all. The magic system in the game is just great, utilizing targetting circles that players can target "on top of each other" to create more powerful spells. This same targetting system also affects "double melee" attacks as well.
In many ways, this game reminds us here at VGLN.com of Secret of Mana... minus the involving story of course.
The comaraderie, something that Nintendo would have you believe only happens with "connectivity", is part of the value of Crystal Chronicles. As you play through the game with friends, you will learn to work as a team, by healing each other, trading items to better help a faltering team member, or just the cool aspect of travelling a world within the Final Fantasy Universe with a friend or two. You can even unlock mini-games by collecting "moogle stamps" that can be played directly on your GBA unit. Though I didn't get to play with 4 players for more than an hour or so, even with 2 players, this game is pretty fun to play, and even handles inventory better than some multiplayer RPGs. For example, inventory is handled directly on the GBA, so no annoying inventory screens pop up on the TV to block your view during gameplay.
The visual/audio experience of Crystal Chronicles is standard Square-Enix quality. Square has always been known for their great soundtracks, and amazing attention to detail that is exemplified in their art and level design. It's simply a very pretty game, and makes for a great arena with which to adventure with friends.
Still, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't put it out there that Crystal Chronicles may not be for you if you don't intend to play the game with other players. While there does exist a single player quest, it is fairly shallow at best, and it pales in comparison to the multiplayer experience. So before you dig into Square-Enix's newest offering, make sure you have the GBA units, and buddies to bring along when you embark on this adventure. Otherwise, there may be better options for you out there.
--- Jolex Del Pilar
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