N-Philes

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles

Posted by Archived.

After the fallout between Square and Nintendo in 1996, nobody ever thought that another Final Fantasy game would find its way onto a Nintendo system. In essence, that was true; it took only the resignation of Nintendo's president in 2002 to prompt Square and Nintendo to re-forge their relationship. The first two products of this newfound friendship, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Sword of Mana, appeared late last year on the Game Boy Advance, but Nintendo wanted a true Final Fantasy title (not a Tactics-esque spin-off) for the Gamecube. While we got an exclusive Final Fantasy game for our console of choice, the issue of whether or not it is really is a true Final Fantasy game is still up for debate.

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles is still very much set in the Final Fantasy universe, replete with the same enemies you've come to know and love like the Malboro and Antlion, who have both been super-sized to make for some quite interesting boss battles. The Moogles are back, and while almost completely MIA in multiplayer mode, they're quite instrumental in assisting you on your quest in the single player adventure. Now, you may have heard that Crystal Chronicles utilizes a real-time fighting system in lieu of the traditional turn-based system the series is known for. While this seems like quite a drastic change, it really is not terribly different, because it remains set in the Final Fantasy universe, just with you having a little more control of the game. And, of course, the soundtrack is quite amazing. Sometimes I find myself humming the Overworld theme and I would not expect any less from a Final Fantasy game.

The story starts out quite well: a dangerous chemical called miasma has overrun the land and the only protection the people have is a giant crystal in the middle of town. However, the Crystal loses its power every year, so, as leader of your very own crystal caravan, you must venture out into the wild world to find enough myrrh to restore it. Crystal Chronicles had all the makings of a classic Final Fantasy epic, and then something horrifically wrong happened: Square forgot to put in a plot! Part of the reason why Final Fantasy games' plots are so great is because they are character-driven, not event-driven (like Dragon Warrior). However, that is rather difficult to pull off when the main character is a player-created emotionless drone. There is no Cloud or Tidus for the player to identify with. The character-drama is so downplayed that you can switch between any of the eight members of your party without a single change in any cutscenes or even the voice of the narrator. Worse still is that there is no impending threat (there isn't even evidence of a bad guy until very late into the game), causing gamers to grow despondent and wonder why they're even playing.

There are a total of fifteen different levels in the game, which can take, on average, about an hour apiece depending on how thorough you want to want to be in your exploration. While it is theoretically possible to beat the game in one fell swoop, your character will simply not be powerful enough to get through the final levels. Therefore, you will be forced to re-play through the previous levels, now equipped with far more menacing foes, to build up your characters' abilities. As mundane as leveling up while wandering around aimlessly can be in most RPG's, playing through the same level over and over again (and there really is nothing more than cosmetic differences between them) is infinitely worse. What you end up is with is a really, really deep hack-and-slash game. Each level contains various artifacts that can supe-up your strength, defense, magical power, health, and ability to carry items. And while you receive all the benefits of those throughout the level, at the end you can keep only one. If you choose to have a party of eight and want them all to have decent powers, you'll find yourself playing until your thumbs bleed.

In the game, your goal is to hack and slash your way through several enemies until you reach the boss of the level. At that time, you fight the boss who has at least two little, constantly re-spawning, minions milling about to distract you. Once the formula is figured out (and all of the bosses have rather simplistic A.I.), it's all a matter of inflicting the maximum amount of damage while not getting hit in the process. This can prove quite problematic because there is absolutely no fluidity whatsoever to attack motions. Other sword-based titles like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and I-Ninja pulled it off masterfully and for a game of supposedly such high caliber, it is absolutely unforgivable.

Everybody knows that that playing a hack-and-slash title on your own is incredibly lame. You need to have friends and FF:CC delivers on almost every account. There's nothing like teaming up with three other friends to beat the game. Meanwhile, you also have little challenges for every level like "Don't Heal Yourself" and whomever most effectively accomplishes that gets first pick of the stat-boosting artifacts. However, at the end of the day, it plays almost exactly like Gauntlet, and while that may be fun for a few get-togethers with your friends, it does get incredibly old and mundane.

It's been said that Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles was made for multiplayer and it is absolutely true. Certain levels (cough cough Rebena Te Ra) are almost impossible on your own because the puzzles require multiple people. This got me to thinking about another Square game that was meant to be played with other people: Secret of Mana. In it, you had a three person party (Secret of Mana was one of the few games to utilize the SNES's multi-tap) that all fought in real-time. If you could not find any friends to join you in your quest, the computer controlled the other two members of your party. The A.I. wasn't terribly great, but it was quite functional and a lot smarter than Crystal Chronicles' moogle-buddy. Secret of Mana was a certifiable classic, and I can't understand how Square managed to make such a perfect hack-and-slash real-time RPG ten years ago and then completely butcher the genre with Crystal Chronicles.

The GCN/GBA connectivity has always been considered a gimmick, and for the most part it is, but it seriously enhances the gameplay experience of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. In multiplayer, you have the option to use the Game Boy Advance as a controller, which is highly recommended, as it allows people to shift through their inventories without having to pause the game. However, it proves just as useful for the single player mode. Simply plug it into your second controller port and you have your own little personal Nintendo DS with action on the TV and a little map on the GBA. There's a special little mode I like to call "Paint-a-Moogle" where you can change your moogle-buddy's color. It seems absolutely pointless, but if you are using your GBA, the display will change between a map, a radar displaying enemies and treasure chests, and notes on an enemy's weaknesses and hit points. I prefer the lattermost, but any of these displays are absolutely invaluable. It's games like this that make the GCN/GBA connection relevant.

This game gets an N-Philes score of D+.

I can't believe we waited ten years for Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. It's not the worst game I've ever played in my life; in fact, it's fairly decent, but it's just so disappointing. Like all Nintendo gamers, I had high hopes for this game and we got a totally half-assed game. Do yourself a favor kids, go track down a used copy of Secret of Mana. I promise you it's ten times better than Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.

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