Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates

"Better than your average hack 'n slash, but not the Crystal Chronicles experience I was expecting"

The original Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles was quite a letdown for a lot of people. It wasn't the Final Fantasy game fans wanted for their Gamecube; instead it was a simple hack 'n slash game that fitted more in the Mana universe than the one of Final Fantasy. The multiplayer aspect was very appealing; it's not often that you get to play through a Final Fantasy game with your friends. Unfortunately, it required too many impossible purchases to really be worthy. FFCC Ring of Fates is a definite improvement over the Gamecube game in this regards, yet not really at full potential of the series' possibilities. However, it's perhaps one of the best dungeon-crawler you can get on your DS at the moment. It's not that great of a single player game, but it's still better than Children of Mana or Contact.

The game's most unfortunate shortcoming is that it retains none of the charm of the original FFCC. Crystal Chronicles on Gamecube wasn't that good of a game gameplay-wise, but it was a masterpiece in terms of artful design, in every aspect of its appearance. Not only were the graphics beautiful, but the whole look and feel of the game was epic and immersive. The fantasy world felt alive; it was so real you could almost grasp it. Ring of Fates, on the other hand, is barren of its predecessor's picturesque charm and doesn't reflect its look. Despite the game's high quality graphics, it looks dull and gloomy, and its atmosphere is lifeless and drab. Gone is the magic and blissful beauty of the first FFCC.

Crystal Chronicles distinguished itself by its presentation, whilst Ring of Fates will probably be more looked upon for its gameplay. Improving FFCC's gameplay, Ring of Fates introduces puzzles and platforming into the dungeons. It's still merely a hack n' slash, but these additions prevent the gameplay from being too repetitive; it adds some variety to the heavy button-mashing. The game also has more of a dungeon-crawler feel than the previous one. Instead of charming outside areas, you'll fight your way through dark, blank dungeons and enclosed areas. As mentioned above, the game really suffers a lot from its lack of enchantment, especially in the dungeons. None of the game's few levels evock anything; they all leave more to be desired.

The most important improvement over the first FFCC is the new single player mode. This mode lets you play alone and benefits from an involving storyline which was lacking in the Gamecube game. Sadly, the story is ruined by bubbly kid protagonists who look like they're still feeding off mama's breast. Although they get a tad older during the adventure, playing as a 7 or 9 year-old who acts like he's big and strong isn't really my cup of tea. I couldn't connect with any of those characters at all, even though some of them are quite peculiar. A game with a dark and dramatic tone like this one would have required older characters to be credible. The storyline itself is pretty substantial for such a tiny game, but it's been done many times before, with the cheesy "if you believe in something, you can do it" lines that get irksome very quickly, and the stereotype villain who acts evil for no reason. As it is, it only managed to make me cringe.

Ring of Fates does many things right to bring the series a step forward, yet it lacks a lot from the first game, making it feel like it's merely a taste of a greater game yet to come. It's just so short, small and undistinctive that you can't help but wish for more. With its eight little dungeons, Ring of Fates is more of a "pick-up-and-play" type of game, than a full fledged adventure. As stated earlier, the dungeons are esthetically boring, but the gameplay within is miles better than in the previous installment. Although the main character of the single player experience is Yuri, you'll also be able to control three other characters that will join your team later on. You can switch between them at any moment, and each has its own special ability, may it be using magic, double jumping, crawling through small passages, or gliding off ledges. With that said, the dungeons designs are far more varied than last time around.

One thing I was disappointed with is that you can't make your own character in the single player mode, but at least now you have party members, right? Unfortunately, those party members are pretty much worthless. Even worse than the ones in Sword of Mana, your companions almost never attack the enemies at all, making me wonder why they're following you around in the first place. They'll also fall behind most of the time, but you can call them with the L button. In fact, they're only there as an excuse to play as different characters. Because, let's be honest, Yuri could have had all the abilities necessary to overcome the obstacles himself, but instead you're forced to often switch from a character to the other, which is extremely cumbersome and annoying. Not to mention you'll constantly have to babysit the three AI party members so they don't die in battle. Sometimes I just wished they would fall behind and never catch back.

The game's controls are a bit burdensome too, but it works okay in the end. You can move around with the D pad, attack with the A button and use the stylus to select items from the menu. There is no way to pause the game during a battle or to use an item, which isn't that good of an idea. Using magic is easy enough, but when playing alone, casting multiple spells with each characters at the same time is a bit hard to pull off. Switching characters is also a bit annoying since that can only be done with the stylus and no button shortcut. The game is obviously designed to be best enjoyed with more than one person, or for those of us who have eight fingers to each hand.

If you're playing solo, the story mode quest won't really last you more than a meager 10 hours, but the second mode, the multiplayer, can last as long you and your friends want to keep leveling-up and collecting armors. There is no online, so you'll have to find yourself real friends. Unlike the single player mode in which you are forced to use the set characters, the multiplayer mode allows you to customize your character a bit. It's very limited though; all you can choose is the race from four classes, and the gender. Later on, it's also possible to dye your character's hair to make it a bit more personal. Another interesting aspect is that the equipped outfits will show up on your character -- every time you change the gear, you will see your character being dressed differently. Some people might spend hours trying out all the different costumes. Personally, this didn't keep my interest for very long.

Even with the multiplayer, Ring of Fate doesn't have that much replay value. The game's eight dungeons are over quickly and not really compelling enough for multiple replays. Playing with friends is where the fun lies, but only as long as it lasts. The multiplayer mode can also be played solo, but it's not really worth it as you'll simply fight through the same areas from the story mode, once again. You can take on quests from the king to extend the game, but it only gives a reason to replay the stages more than necessary. Moogles are also hidden around the levels that you can find as a sidequest to unlock a racing mini-game, and you can paint Moogles and trade them through WiFi. None of that really makes a worthy replay value if playing alone, but here again, having friends is your best way to really enjoy the game. On your own, it's good, but too small and short to be worth full price.

Technically, the visuals and music are high quality, as expected. Square Enix knows how to push the software, and they've proved it many times already. I don't think Ring of Fates is quite on par with Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker visually, but it's still one of their best work. The few FMVs are gorgeous and the game is high in polygons and textures. The character models don't look as good as in FFIII, but the overall look is more defined. My only grip, and I can't stress that enough, is the game's lack of visual appeal. It looks drab. The music, on the other hand, is vibrant and as beautiful as to be expected from Crystal Chronicles. The game's only true charm comes from its musical score. Also, it's one of the rare DS game to have voice-acting, which is fortunately very convincing.

FFCC Ring of Fates is everything that is to be expected from a good dungeon-crawler, but it could do more, and better. The game implements more than just hack 'n slash to the gameplay, and has promising multiplayer. Although the multiplayer is a lot of fun, the single player mode is weak and doesn't last long enough. It's a great game to play with friends, but Ring of Fates lost a lot of what made the Gamecube FFCC atmospheric. With that little touch of immersion missing from the package, it's hard to really enjoy the experience as much. The game lacks a compelling and involving quest, and there is still place for more improvement and depth. Regardless, it's probably the best dungeon fest you can get right now. If you're planning on playing solo the whole way through however, there are many better DS RPGs to get before this one.


Breakdown

Presentation Decent storyline brought down by annoying child protagonists. The game doesn't have the same charming effect FFCC had. Some control issues occur when playing solo. 6/10

Gameplay A huge improvement in terms of gameplay mechanisms. The dungeons have solid designs with some clever puzzles. The AI party members are cumbersome and lethargic. Fun, but the whole package still lacks some depth. 7/10

Graphics The graphics are technically up to the point, but the style is bland and all the dungeons look dull. There is some creativity missing in that department. The world map looks terrible. 7/10

Music/Sounds Beautiful music that surpasses the rest. Some tunes go unnoticed but the FFCC charm is there. The voice-acting is pretty solid and consistant. 9/10

Replay Value The multiplayer value is infinite, but it's unlikely you'll go that far, as it gets monotonous. The single player quest is extremely short (despite New Game+) and barely has any side quests. 7/10

Overall 6.5 (based off single player experience]

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 03/28/08, Updated 04/02/08

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