"Chocoboing for massive fun"

I've long wanted Chocobo Tales since I saw the first screens, more because it was FF and the game seemed extremely cute with pretty graphics, than because I was actually interested in the gameplay. Truth be told, I'm not a fan of minigames-type games at all, and I was quite disappointed the game wasn't an RPG of some sort, but Chocobo Tales surprised me in more ways than its cuteness and sweet graphics.

It taught me at least one thing: minigames can be a lot of fun.

If done the right way. And Chocobo Tales does pretty much everything the right way. Starting with its presentation, based on the storybook theme. The game was designed kids friendly, but don't let that get to you, it isn't so much aimed at kids than just in appearance. Anyone who likes the FF universe will dig the game's style. The storyline, although kept at its simplest, works like a charm for this sort of game.

You play as a Choboco from a peaceful village -- peaceful until your friend the Black Mage Croma brings back an unusual picture book. White Mage Shirma opens the book to read it to the Chocobos, but soon finds out to her disarray that she would have been better off not touching it. The cursed book Bebuzzu, under the orders of Irma, inhales all of the Chocobos from the village and leave you, Shirma and Croma up to save them. Your only hope is to find the four crystals, but Irma's also after them.

The game then leaves you off to the task, although there are many cutscenes to expand the storyline after you've completed a chapter. Nothing complicated, but enough to make you friendly towards the characters. Chocobo Tales resumes in one big island to explore; in that sense the game has an RPG feel to it, with NPCs and basic sidequests as the story unfolds, but it really only revolves around minigames. As you explore around, you'll need to find picture books and complete the minigames inside in order to free your Chocobo friends from the spell keeping them inside the pages of the books.

You'll need to follow the storyline before playing everything, as more minigames and new areas unlock as you progress. The minigames vary a lot and use either the touchscreen or the microphone. Some are reminiscent of existing games, others are completely original. It's sometimes surprising how fun and addictive those little games can be, although almost all of them are quite hard and sometimes downright frustrating. To simply go through the main quest however, shouldn't be any problem, as you don't have to complete all of the minigames. The ones that are part of the storyline are nowhere near impossible, but if you're going for a 100% completion, then be ready to spend a lot of time and hard work on it, as the game has tons of different minigames.

Apart from unlocking more minigames by freeing NPCs, you'll also earn collecting cards. There are exactly 122 of these to collect, representing summons from other FF games. You'll use these cards for battles scattered at specific parts in the storyline (sort of like bosses) or for online play. If you like collecting stuff in games, then you won't be disappointed. Most of the cards are gained from completing minigames, but others will be hidden around the island, waiting for you to find them. Although you're not forced into collecting the cards, you'll need to at least build a good deck if you want to make it past the boss battles.

The card battles are pretty fun and challenging, although they rely a bit too much on luck rather than strategy. Building a good deck requires a lot of strategy, but once in battle, even with the best deck you're not guaranteed to win. Out of your deck, three cards are randomly chosen at a time for you, among which you must choose one (each card having their own effects and proprieties). You don't know what card the opponent will choose for himself until after you select yours, and the battle from there is totally about being lucky, so it can be pretty frustrating, but also fun when the battle turns in your favor.

This little gem is obviously presented with top-notch graphics -- you can't expect any less from Square. The overworld is in full 3D, colorful and detailed (detailed to the point of having moss on stone bridges, while the river flows below, all very beautifully), characters also feature some of the 3D best character models on DS and all the animations, up to the character movements, are totally fluid.

The card battles are also of pretty high quality, with 2D sprites for the summons (in a 3D moving environment) and quite nice special move effects. The minigames are of slightly lesser quality, the hand drawn 2D sometimes looking shaky, but it's part of the charm. Another part of the game's charm comes from the music, cute and fitting, some from past FF games, some new. The game's main theme played on the overworld during the whole game however gets a bit irritating over time.

So if you're looking for a good FF spinoff to take a break from long adventures and have a little fun, then Chocobo Tales certainly won't disappoint. Just be ready for a lot of minigame madness and an overdose of Choboco cuteness.

Breakdown

Presentation/Story 7 Cute and sweet. Simple to pick up and play. Appropriate storyline, though simplistic.

Gameplay/Controls 8 Many varied minigames. Challenging, but main quest is on the short side. Lots of replay value for card collecting. Some minigames are a bit too hard.

Graphics 8 Impressive 3D environments and character models, but hand drawn 2D game boards look so-so compared to the rest.

Music 8 Excellent fitting new pieces for the game plus a few Final Fantasy tracks for nostalgia. Overworld theme is overheard.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/17/07