"Not bad, but do not expect too much out of this"

We all know about the fame of the Final Fantasy series but FF Crystal Chronicles as a spin-off originally for the Gamecube may not be something that everyone might know as compared to Final Fantasy VII or something (just like me).

I am not into the Final Fantasy genre of games so I enjoy them for what they are. This review is pretty much intended for those who may be much greener and newer to this game just like I was. For the veterans, you can read on if you like as well if you don't know if this game will suit to your likings.

That aside, I tried the game out, and here is my verdict.


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Controls System 7/10: For the benefit of those who don't know the game dynamics just like me initially, basically this is a real-time hack-and-slack game. Meaning that you go all out there and swing your sword. Cast magic on the spot. (Not turn-based real time strategy if you were expecting something like FF:VII.)

Most of the controls are based on using the buttons. The stylus action is reserved for tribe abilities (special abilities for each tribe), Start menu and most for the switch of magicite (magic orbs for magic casting) you want to use. Unfortunately, for character control, be it running around, attack and magic, you will be mostly using the buttons. Stylus action is hence pretty limited.

Here is where the magic system comes to be quite a pain. It can be pretty challenging to coordinate your magic attack and combine them with the magicites and lock the rings one-by-one. (Using X to focus where the magic goes to and the L button to lock target for the ring and proceed to pile another with X and so on.)



]Story 9.5/10: This has to be one of the most outstanding parts of the game. The story and plot is pretty good. There is the bad guy and the heroes, though heroes go through great ordeals and discoveries. There is good character development and portrayal in this game. Moral of the story courtesy of the father of the two protagonists: If you believe, anything is possible.

Although later plots may get a little too deep to understand, everything tries to fix up itself nicely. It took some discussion on the GameFAQ boards to clear up my doubts on how the storyline went by. Multiplayer mode (play only after you have completed story mode) helps to tie up some of the knots and hidden elements.

There is voice acting to look forward to at the more crucial parts and I found it a pleasant surprise rather than a pain. Voice-acting were ok in my opinion.



Music 7.8/10: Nothing really fantastic, but good enough to fit where the story goes.



Gameplay 7.5/10: A few glitches here and there which shall be elaborated in the complaint section of the review. As mentioned in the controls system, the magic system can be quite a challenge so please look out for that. Fighting-wise, it should be straightforward and not too much of a problem.

Story mode offers excellent tutorials given by our dear Moogle pals through billboards and explanations at critical times, it should be made a must for everyone playing this game to attempt story mode first before multiplayer, unless you feel that you are the exception.

Average total playtime for story mode normal is 10-13 hours, though I took 19 hours since I am totally noobish and hardly had the want to spam my magicites. (I admit that I hated the magicite system for not being user-friendly.)

Graphics looks ok. You may not get a great camera view all the time but it is decent. For your equips, if you want to see how you look like in your new gear, they have added in a little extra rotating stand somewhere to let you see your characters close up.

During hunt for Moogle stamps, you may encounter Moogles who will give you the option to play minigames when sufficient stamps are obtained, otherwise you can choose to customise your Moogle and send them to friends via Wi-fi. A little something extra and not so significant but quite a nice touch to what you can do to make Moogles not look exact carbon copies of themselves.

Crafting system is collecting materials and making them with scrolls that you have gotten. It is not too bad at all, but just normal. Although equipment variety however seems to be pretty limited for nomal mode, it only means that harder modes will have more.

Something to mention about the Artificial Intelligence system for Story Mode: Do not count on your A.I.s. There are equipments with eye statuses which can help to better direct the A.I.'s attacks and spells but until you get them...The A.I.s are clearly extremely lousy, they can fall off into the water on their own will and not jump to spots where you want them. Whether this is intended or not, nobody knows, but you should be able to survive with the character that you are controlling so it should not be a big problem until you reach the more challenging dungeon points of the game.



Replayability 9/10: Another strong point of this game. You have the hard and the extra hard modes in the game after completing normal. More equips to be unlocked. Your character equipments, levels and items are retained from what you have gained in the normal mode (or previous mode).

There is also Multiplayer solo/team local mode to look out for which contributes to the replayability of this game.



Multiplayer Solo 8.5/10: Challenging, but good. Can be repetitive since it requires some training up in dungeons you have explored before but it serves as a good time killer. There is an incentive for this of course, but I will not spoil it. Basically it has to do with what happened to everyone after the story mode ends.

You also get to pick a class you can play with, from four choices, and the gender of that character. Fear not if you want to create more than one, you have up to 8 slots of books. It is enough to keep every character kind and gender kind, or anything that you want.

Later on, you may even customise their hair colour in some way.

You get to play mini-games with the king which were pretty fun and can be quite challenging, in fact you may even get a laugh out of some of these (aliens stealing cows, cats running off, monster extermination quests, firefighting, etc.). I will imagine that these quests will be more fun on Multiplayer Team but I cannot comment on these.



Wifi/Multiplayer Local Team ?/10: Unfortunately, due to a lack of local human resources (Multiplayer Team, non-Wi-fi) and incentive (for wifi Moogle Trading) available to try out these features, I will not be able to comment on them.



This section, I save my main complaints:
1) Stylus under-utilised: Magic system using buttons is workable, but a pain to work with. The game doesn't really use much of what the stylus and writing screen has to offer for this console, which is a real upset since the DS speciality is really in the interactivity with the stylus. Using buttons to control magic can be quite cumbersome, sometimes one may wonder why they didn't even try to make good use of the stylus. It might be so much easier that way.

2) Lag/latency when there is a lot of monsters and items on the map. I've heard that this happens during multiplayer team, but this actually happens even when it is just soloing, such that one may think that the lack of wifi function for multiplayer can be linked to this problem.

3) Unknown map glitches: There are some glitches which causes the player to fall down into nowhere below the ground. Some issues with bugs in the map I think. However, at least this is something that can be lived with as your player goes back to the ground level and not get stuck in the abyss.

4) Limited Wi-fi features: Wi-fi meant for only moogle customisation trading to friends was a extremely big piece of disappointment to everyone.

Multiplayer over wifi would be a great concept, but there isn't one.



Overall: 7.5/10 (Rounded down to lower 7)
This score means that the game is not bad but has a few outstanding glitches and problems. Good - a few problems, but worth the time to play.



Conclusion
Don't let those negative stuff I said on this review spoil that for you. It is a good game, but if you decide to pick up one, do not expect too much out of it. It's just decent, not something extremely fantastic to blow you away.

To rent or buy? Try to rent first if you can. Or borrow it. Play and see if you like the hang of this game. If you like it enough and have friends playing it and are willing to let you join them for multiplayer mode, buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/20/08

Game Release: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (US, 03/11/08)