Topic: FFCC: The Crystal Bearers

[KDR_11k]

Why would a 360 port, a console which [..] is NOT a console purchased for RPGs

Heh, ironically the 360 has by far the biggest library of jRPGs of all the current gen consoles.

[anubis6789]

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Originally posted by: Adrock
I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you. There will probably be swords in the game.

My brother tells me that the music at the beginning of the Crystal Bearers trailer is a remix of "Prologue" from the Final Fantasy IV soundtrack.

I know that the song is "Prelude", but I just meant that the instrument and tempo used makes it sound kind of like some of the Titanic soundtrack.

Oh and I know that there will be swords but at least I am happy that they do not seem to be the Hero's main weapon.

[Ceric]

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Originally posted by: anubis6789
I was not to excited about this game before the new trailer, but boy am I interested in it now. My only problem is that it looked to be almost exclusively single player, were as I was hoping for a multi-player game, but then again it was just a trailer, and not a long one at that.

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5. There isn't a single sword in that trailer.

I actually find that quite refreshing, I have always wondered why all the main characters have to wield swords. I am happy that the only weapon you even see him handle is what appears to be some sort of chain gun.

By the way, does anyone else find the music to at first, during the opening of the trailer, sound like the soundtrack to Titanic, then morph into the theme from Back to the Future by the end?

Agree.  Though their seems to still be room in the design to be able to throw more players in like they did in CC.  My hope is that this will release Post-Pokemon(PP).  If it is released PP then their is a chance, not a good one, but a chance that it will have online.  How cool would it be to tool through parts of the game with your friends PSO style?  Though you probably have to have a save to do the whole story with them.

[Smash_Brother]

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Originally posted by: Adrock
FFX-2 and Dirge of Cerberus were major projects for Square-Enix. It doesn't really matter. The main series is the main series.

X-2 outsold FF12, and Cerberus just plain sucked ass.

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That's a big "if." And I don't see how you could possibly come to that conclusion from the trailer. Almost half of it was made up of title cards. When was the last time you've seen a trailer for a main series Final Fantasy? The Crystal Bearers looks pretty good, but it's really not that close.

Compare this trailer to the previous FF:CC:CB trailer: the only character is still chibi, all FMV, nothing detailed that looks like gameplay.

The new one features a hero who looks similar to the hero in FF12, but a bit more like a dude. It also features scenes of him battling a dragon, running through a town, and presumably flying an airship.

It may not have been a very LONG trailer, but these are the things we come to expect from a REAL FF game.

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Well, I think you're looking at it from a Nintendo fan's perspective. After 2 generations, it's nice to see Sony sweat for a change. Still, I don't think Sony is doing as bad as they really should be, all things considering. FFXIII will probably come out Fall/Winter 2008. I expect PS3 to be significantly less than $600 by then. Final Fantasy fans will buy PS3 for XIII.

I think that, with no games for the PS3, the disparity will only grow larger.

[Adrock]

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X-2 outsold FF12, and Cerberus just plain sucked ass.

Looking strictly at the numbers, it would appear X-2 outsold XII (from what I've gathered, not by much).... except that X-2 was released in 2003, giving it 3 years to accrue sales while also being a Greatest Hits title for quite some time.

And you're assuming that The Crystal Bearers won't suck if it received "the same amount of love that the main series does." Well, Dirge of Cerberus did and that didn't change a thing. It's not even about quality. Though I'd expect Dirge of Cerberus to sell more if it was a better game, it's still a side-game. X-2 did not outsell X, despite generally good reviews.

As for the trailer, just watch this. Not even close.......

[Ceric]

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Originally posted by: Adrock

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X-2 outsold FF12, and Cerberus just plain sucked ass.

Looking strictly at the numbers, it would appear X-2 outsold XII (from what I've gathered, not by much).... except that X-2 was released in 2003, giving it 3 years to accrue sales while also being a Greatest Hits title for quite some time.

And you're assuming that The Crystal Bearers won't suck if it received "the same amount of love that the main series does." Well, Dirge of Cerberus did and that didn't change a thing. It's not even about quality. Though I'd expect Dirge of Cerberus to sell more if it was a better game, it's still a side-game. X-2 did not outsell X, despite generally good reviews.

As for the trailer, just watch this. Not even close.......

If it wasn't for the logo at the end I would swear that was the next PSO.  Seriously I prefer the look they are giving CB.  Especially for something with Fantasy in the titles.  The look of FFXIII scream Sci-fi to me more then Fantasy.  Though bookstore put those two together like they were one and the same...

[Adrock]

Lightning is totally a Square-Enix design. I know what you mean though. However, I see it as Square-Enix taking "fantasy" away from the medieval setting that fantasy is often associated. In the older FF titles, you'd see airships but the designs of houses and castles draw inspiration from medieval design. Newer FF titles seem to take fantasy into futuristic settings. I guess you could say it's postmodern in a way. To tell you the truth, I kind of prefer the settings of the older games more even though the newer games feature stronger plots and character development. The world of IX had a good balance. The world wasn't all sci-fi but it wasn't necessarily medieval either.

And based on genre, I prefer Crystal Bearers. I like some RPGs, I just like action-RPGs more so I have to say I'm more interested in CB right now.

[Adrock]

Multiplayer in Crystal Bearers Takes a Punch in the Gut

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Akitoshi Kawazu on Crystal Bearers
"While it's still action orientated, with the Wii game we've chosen to focus on the experience of the solo player in immaculate detail. This game will be the more story driven of the two and will really play like an interactive adventure storybook. It will also use the Wii's unique hardware to its advantage. The protagonist has a fire type weapon that will be shot with the controller's trigger and, likewise, an airship will be controlled by tilting the Wii controller. We have lots of clever ideas for how to integrate the Wii's functions into the game mechanics."

No confirmation on an absent multiplayer mode though this preview certainly makes it seem that way. The preview suggests that they're splitting the Crystal Chronicles into 2 experiences: Single-player on Wii, multi on DS, though the following comment complicates things:

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"With both of these new games we've worked extremely hard to provide an excellent single player story to play through. In fact, with the DS game Ring of Fates you are essentially getting two games for the price of one - a very substantial single player game on top of a very substantial multiplayer game. It's been a huge effort for the staff but I think players will be very pleased with the results."

Even though they're working hard on The Crystal Bearers, I was looking forward to a multiplayer experience though it looks more and more like I'll have to rely solely on Ring of Fates in that regard.

I am a bit worried about both games, however, as Akitoshi Kawazu has been a hit or miss producer/director.

[Ceric]

Well that stinks.  I was looking forward to Online multiplayer maybe and DS connectivity.  If it won't have multiplayer hopefully it will be in the same universe as the first if not why keep Crystal Chronicles?

[Dirk Temporo]

It's a Final Fantasy game. Why would it be set on the same planet as the first? Also, I hope it's not. That miasma can go f*ck itself.

[Smash_Brother]

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Originally posted by: Adrock And you're assuming that The Crystal Bearers won't suck if it received

Naturally, the game not sucking is a prerequisite to what I'm suggesting here, but the truth is, I'm not even taking the quality of either game into account so much as I am the audiences and sales figures of the consoles the respective games will be on.

By userbase alone, FF13 has a real chance of being outsold by FF:CC:CB.

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Well, Dirge of Cerberus did and that didn't change a thing.

Hence why FF13 could suck as well.

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It's not even about quality.

Correct, it's about Wii owners seeing this as OUR Final Fantasy and, if Square makes it good enough, the game selling appropriately.

It's not about PS3 owners buying PS3s to play FF13 so much as it is Nintendo fans buying this because A) it's a good game and B) it's "their" FF.

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As for the trailer, just watch this. Not even close.......

I see a shemale and a lot of pre-PS3 finalized hardware CGI.

And seriously, the only REAL difference I see is that this trailer you've shown me is longer than the FF:CC:CB one. Both have shots of combat, both have shots of transportation vehicles, both have shots of the hero exploring.

The PS3 one was just designed to be more glitz and glamour than gameplay (since this had to be CGI and not gameplay).

I get the same "epic" sense from both of them, but I agree that FF13 looks more like PSO than FF.

[Ceric]

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Originally posted by: Dirk Temporo
It's a Final Fantasy game. Why would it be set on the same planet as the first? Also, I hope it's not. That miasma can go f*ck itself.

If memory serves the Miasma goes away at the end of CC.  I liked the CC universe and like to actually explore it.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

AH. HA. HA. HA. HA. HA.

GOOD ONE, SKWARE.  WE ACTUALLY BELIEVED YOU WERE TAKING DEVELOPMENT SERIOUSLY.

OBVIOUSLY ONLINE PLAY IS NOT A UNIQUE WII FEATURE.  GOOD BYE MULTIPLAYER.

HELLO SHOE-HORNED GREEN LANTERN FANTASY GAME.

[Smash_Brother]

It's better off as a single player title because it'll sell much more in Japan that way.

The Japanese tend to not have much space, and that means very little space for people sitting around in a living room playing a 4 player game.

The fact that they're focusing on making it a great single player experience says to me that they ARE taking it seriously.

[Pittbboi]

Honestly, I couldn't care less about Crystal Bearers not having multiplayer. It's about time Square-Enix gave a Nintendo console an honest-to-god RPG to make up for us not getting a Final Fantasy. And, after this latest news, that seems to be exactly what they're doing (Well, this one seems to have more action aspects than your typical Final Fantasy game, but all of Squeenix's upcoming RPGs games seem to be moving in that direction). My only worry is with the wording. Akitoshi Kawazu said the game will play like an "interactive storybook," which just screams linear FFX-style gameplay to me, and I hope that isn't the case. I hope there's a lot of exploration in the game.

Anyway, so far, I couldn't be happier. I actually think the gameplay from the original Crystal Chronicles game is a better fit on the DS anyway, especially with how wishy-washy the Wii's online is turning out. I think that Ring of Fates is going to turn out great on the DS. This news also kind of supports my theory that Squeenix is setting up Crystal Chronicles to be the primary Final Fantasy series for Wii, as Ring of Fates seems more like the handheld spin-off/extension of the first game (continuing its themes and gameplay), while Crystal Bearers is going in a completely different direction as the next console iteration of the series, much like Final Fantasy.

[Smash_Brother]

It would benefit Square, sales and relationship wise, if they had two parallel "main" FF franchises running on each console.

It makes fans happy, it makes the console manufacturers happy and it will make the shareholders happy. No one gets mad at Square for being "disloyal" and no one whines about getting a half-assed effort.

Win-Win-Win.  

[ShyGuy]

So that stuff we saw at E3 last year. I'm guessing that was stuff from a gamecube sequel that was being worked on, then they scrapped it all to make something that would better match the Wii.

Bring on the Green Lantern awesomeness!

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

I expect manipulating objects in midair and elemental energy blasts using Green Lantern energy grabbing powers.

[Ceric]

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Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
It would benefit Square, sales and relationship wise, if they had two parallel "main" FF franchises running on each console.

It makes fans happy, it makes the console manufacturers happy and it will make the shareholders happy. No one gets mad at Square for being "disloyal" and no one whines about getting a half-assed effort.

Win-Win-Win.

Except for the 360 :p  Anyways.  The first CC was storybook like as well and I really really would love it if the brought back the voice actor who did the readings in CC.  Whene I first got the game I was really hoping that you get more of the little story each time you had to go back to an area... Alas it wasn't so.  That would have improved the experience for me by a lot.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Eternal Darkness was a joyful storybook.

[Requiem]

As sarcastic as that sounds, Pro, that's a great point.

[Kairon]

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Originally posted by: Ceric
The first CC was storybook like as well and I really really would love it if the brought back the voice actor who did the readings in CC.  Whene I first got the game I was really hoping that you get more of the little story each time you had to go back to an area... Alas it wasn't so.  That would have improved the experience for me by a lot.

I know what they were going for, and I also would've really appreciated it if they had delivered on the promise of those themes in the first games. But... they need better writers! Those little voice overs were so darned cheesy!

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

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Originally posted by: Requiem
As sarcastic as that sounds, Pro, that's a great point.

ED is my favorite example of story-delivery in gaming, cuz the game drives home the fact that you're participating in a storybook.  Enjoyable commentary at the beginning and end of each chapter (and no comment when appropriate), and a nice idea to use the appearance of the Tome's pages to begin/close the chapters, since you're literally living-out the events of the book.  Plus, mundane objects were given a generous bit of writing, unlike Resident Evil's "this table is covered with dust," "he's been dead for some time, dur," etc.

[Pittbboi]

You know, Pro, that's a great point that I hadn't even thought about. Eternal Darkness was one of my favorite games for the Cube, and the storytelling style was very storybook. Guess it's not such a bad thing afterall.

Actually, now that I think about it, FFXII was storybook in a sense. Though not as strongly so as ED. If it's something like that, with lots of NPCs and exploration (and not just one mission "chapter" after another and again), I think I'll really enjoy it.

I'm very curious about the story now, since apparently they're putting a great deal of focus on it (yes!). I know that trailer gives us zero details about the plot, but from the scenes we did see it doesn't seem like it'll be your typical Square-Enix J-Angst story. And I do get a Peter Pan vibe from the main character (and I hope there are others in the game you can play with).

[Ceric]

It be nice to have a non-angsty story.