"Another great SE title with some minor flaws"

I bought Crystal Chronicles shortly after its release. Although I was initially sceptical about it, and was unimpressed with the first hour or so of gameplay, I felt another review was necessary to maybe sway the views of those who share these views. So here we go:

Storyline: 9/10

The game starts with Yuri and Chelinka, twins living in a remote village with their father and friends Alhanalem and Meeth. At the start of the game, the twins are young and their dialogue annoyingly childish. However, this is soon resolved as the game progresses. I can assure you without spoiling the game, that it gets more and more gripping, making you want to continue playing. Alas, the story line is short, and that's where it falls down, however I don't think the game should be overlooked for this fact. As a FF game is usually over after you've completed the story, RoF comes with a New Game+ and New Game++.

Gameplay: 7/10

Gameplay is another highly criticized feature of RoF by those who have played only a short bit of the game. I must admit, the AI of the other 3 characters in your team is non-existent. Your team members never fail to step in the wrong place, or stand right in front of a mob of enemies, or a boss' nasty ray of doom... And thus die. This can be reminded slightly further into the game when you can forge weapons to improve their AI. However, your team members are rarely needed and the storyline can mostly be played with Yuri. The highlight of gameplay however, is multiplay mode, which compensates for the short story. You can create 8 characters of any class, and play co-op with up to 4 friends, which is great fun. It's disappointing that this feature isn't online, but it would have been impractical if it were.

Graphics: 10/10

You can't deny that these are some of the best graphics for the DS. It's a great improvement from FFIII, and can be compared to Phantom Hourglass. The opening sequence is beautiful, and the graphics of the dungeons and towns have nice detail. The characters don't suffer at all, and all their equipment looks great. There are sometimes issues with the camera in some dungeons, as it's a fixed view and there may be points that you can't quite see properly, but this has only happened to me a small number of times, nothing to really detract from playing.

Sound: 9/10

This is yet another area where the game excels. The music is catchy and memorable, yet not annoying, like most FF titles. The biggest thing to comment on though is the voice acting - which really highlights cut-scenes and gives them a bigger sense of involvement unlike in other DS games where there is no voice acting. Not only this, but the voices are perfect and the game isn't plagued by whiny and bad voice acting. The quality of sound is excellent, and will not disappoint.

Overall: 8/10

Overall, the game does have a few minor flaws in regards to gameplay, and having a fairly short story. However, after a few hours of gameplay, and with all the extra features to occupy yourself with, I think this is forgivable. I do recommend fellow sceptics give it a chance and buy the game, and if you can, convince your friends to buy it too.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/28/08

Game Release: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (EU, 03/21/08)