"Final Fantasy Ware: Chocobo Touched!"

Let us remember the infamous mini/micro game series, Wario Ware. Born of a random moment of developer insanity at Nintendo, said series is noted for its insane mini-games, its quick pace, and its fun concepts. A few efforts have been put by various companies, with none coming close to steal the mini-game king's throne.

At least, until Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Tales (FFF for word count).

OK, so FFF is not the exact same, but there is enough differient to allow for far more replay value.

The basic plot sees you as a standard yellow Chocobo (a big bird of Final Fantasy fame), with the game starting as you and other Chocobos (of varying size and color and age) listening to the storybooks of a White mage, when a Black mage shows up with an evil book. Upon reading this evil tome, it comes alive, eats up the Black mage's other books, as well as most of the other Chocobos (but not you or the two mages).

Thus begins your quest to free these other Chocobos from this book (which is actually an ancient evil trapped in a limited form that reminds me of Harry Potter's book in the third movie). Your quest is hindered by irritating foes like Jailbirds (dark Chocobos), Square Enix's notorious bumbling irritants (sorry, goons that boast but rarely pose a threat), and a mysterious girl who is more than she seems (keep an eye out for diaries). The plot is certainly not the complex things that most modern Final Fantasys are noted for (heck, the DS remake of Final Fantasy III has more depth at times), but for every cliche moment of boring plot and overly cute character puns, you will find something interesting (again, those diaries...).

But this game is not played just for the tomes of the past (ha ha). No, the meat of FFF is the mini-games (and the card system, but more on THAT in a minute). Remember when I said that the evil Tome ate up the Black mage's books? Said books (which are parodies of assorted fables that you may or may not have heard as a child, depending on your age) see you completing such tasks as jumping up a beanstalk without hitting Bombs (the Final Fantasy creature type), or finding an "Ugly" Chocobo (that happens to be on fire), or hitting the musical note at the right moment to the beat. There are sixteen books in all (or so the game says, there might be more hidden), with each game having at least five difficulty settings and most having a battle or "trial" mode (Trial mode has you limited to three "oopses" before stopping. There are other micro games thrown around, including a Minefield-like game (does anyone else even remember that?), a Whack-A-Mole clone, and a game where you must stop a rolling critter before he flies off a cliff.

Most of these non-book games can be found at will, though some have to be unlocked by completing tasks in the Book games. Whenever you complete one of the tasks in a book (like Beat Lvl 3 or get 20 of X in Trial mode), you unlock something. At times you will get a Chocobo or Epologues (both of which unlock both areas and more games), but more often than not, you will get cards.

That's right, cards. Like the later PSX Final Fantasy games, FFF sees a card game that you will need to play at some point or another. Unlike prior Final Fantasy games, FFF's card game is the center of the game. Akin to Magic the Gathering (or Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh, whatever your affinity is), the basic premise is to beat your opponent's HP to zip while you still have some. Trying to explain the game would blow open the word count to triple what I have written here, as the in-game tutorial (complete with images) does a GREAT job of helping you. Basically, the rules are a hybrid of Pokemon and Magic, and is insanely addicting. The only downside is the fact that, at first, you will have only the most basic of cards.

That is, it is a downside until you realize that you can get scores of cards by playing micro and mini games to net more. Some are easy to get (half of the Trial mode games), but others are insanely frustrating (the Wack-A-Mole's Gold prize being a great example, as you have to get around a 100 without hitting one of the bombs, which ends the round). But with the depth of the card game, the addicitiveness of the games, and the suprising plot moments (not to mention puns that shame some in Dragon Quest Heroes DS), this would be a great game by itself.

But Square Enix didn't stop at this single player mode. Up to two save files can exist on one cart (as opposed to Pokemon and Dragon Quest Heroes's single save file), you can play others with a multi-card battle with the card games, or download demos and micro/mini games via single card download.

Oh, and once you have fifteen cards, you can play other gamers via WFC.

Yes, Square Enix has finally accepted multiplayer on the DS's WFC, and though I have yet to try it (due to the fact that I am trying to get as many cards as possible), I have heard praises from my friends.

In closing, if you get past the cuteness here, this can become one of the best DS titles thus far this year. Certainly there are games that better attract more gamers (coughNewSuperMarioBroscough), but the insane replay value, the easy-to-play, yet hard-to-master games, and the addicitive card game that makes me forget about the upcoming Capcom vs SNK card game, this is one not to miss.

Score - 9 of 10

+ Best Features: Soundtrack, sound test once story is beaten, Someone improved the FFIII DS graphics, addictive games and card battles, cameos and in-jokes (Dragon Quests's Golem makes an apperance), third wall gags, multiplayer options

- Worst Features: Cuteness, released in early April (right before Pokemon's DS onslaught)

* If You Liked: Any Wario Ware game (GBA, DS, Game Cube, Wii), Dragon Quest Heroes (DS), Final Fantasy III (DS), Final Fantasy XI (PSX)

* Guilty Pleasure: The realization that, before Square Enix and Nintendo began to churn out Final Fantasy I thourgh VI on DS and GBA, I thought that FF was over-hyped and crap. Now I buy their things and love them.

- (Ugly) Reality: With more notable Square Enix titles slated for this year (FF Crystal Chronicles DS and Wii, Final Fantasy XII RW, and DQ9 (which might get a US release in the next year), this one looks to be doomed to be overshadowed to more hyped games that are not as "cute." Sad, really.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/09/07, Updated 10/30/07

Game Release: Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales (US, 04/03/07)