Hands-on with the final US version!
By Jonathan Metts
I really enjoyed Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles at E3 last year, so it was hard waiting through the long import window for the English version. But now it’s here, and I’m pretty thrilled with how the game turned out. I’m also fortunate in that I have two GBAs and knew a friend who let me borrow a third, so I’ve been playing (and will continue to play) with at least three people for the rest of the game. That’s definitely how it should be done, although playing with as few as two people still captures most of the multiplayer magic. Four people is total chaos, absolutely hilarious. Playing by yourself is fine for building up a character, but it looks like I could only recommend it for short bursts. This is a multiplayer game through and through.
If you’ve got the equipment or know other people who do, Crystal Chronicles is going to become one of your favorite multiplayer games. The whole game design is based around playing with other people, because even the most basic tasks require constant communication and cooperation. And you know what? It’s fun. We’ve logged nine hours of playing time in less than a day and a half, and that’s all three of us playing together the whole time. Sure, we snap at each other and get annoyed when one person is lagging behind, but that’s all part of the experience. There have been four-player cooperative console games before FFCC, but none of them has attempted to be this complex and deep. Yes, the combat is simple on the surface, but the way in which different moves can been combined and different players have to assume individual roles (attacker, healer, mage, chalice-carrier) provides a whole lot of room for strategy. Having some kind of battle plan is absolutely essential for taking on bosses and even some regular enemies. Unlike games like Gauntlet, in which enemies approach in swarms and each person just stakes out one area on the screen, battles in FFCC usually involve a small number of difficult enemies, so the players must directly interact in order to prevail.
Though the real-time battles and multiplayer aspects make Crystal Chronicles quite different from most Final Fantasy games, the rest of the game easily reinforces that heritage. The graphics are just unbelievable, even better than FFX and X-2 on PlayStation 2. The first time I crossed a miasma stream, my jaw literally dropped, and I’m still blown away every time I see it. Rivers cut through many environments with some of the best water effects I’ve ever seen on any system. The textures are so sharp that you’ll find yourself just staring at things that would normally not be worth a second look, like a field of wheat or the way a boat’s sails unfurl. The character designs are in the vein of Final Fantasy IX, with “super-deformed” humanoids and other weird creatures, but the environments are super-realistic. The two styles, oddly enough, don’t clash at all. With a beautiful Celtic soundtrack, the game’s music is just as impressive.
I don’t want to ramble on too long, lest I exhaust my supply of superlative adjectives. If Crystal Chronicles proves to be a long enough quest that evolves to keep up with our steadily improving communication skills, I believe it will be the first console game to successfully combine RPG gameplay and multiplayer for the advancement of both types of games.
Topic: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Impressions (US version) (Read 4838 times)
