http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blogArt.cfm?artid=20045 Nearing the end of the final media day of the Tokyo Game Show, NWR headed over to the Square Enix booth to see if there were any games we could have missed.
We spotted a long booth with several empty Wii kiosks, with no line at all – mustn’t be a Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy we thought, until we realised what it was: the Wii-exclusive Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles single-player adventure RPG game, the Crystal Bearers!
When I started up the game the booth assistant asked me if I wanted to start in the middle of a level, or from the beginning of the game. I thought for a moment, then decided on starting a new game from the start, figuring I could at least see the opening cinema and maybe learn a bit about the story.
Big mistake.
After about two to three minutes of dialogue between the crew of a huge airship, the opening sequence starts. It’s the same scene from the trailer, in which a young blonde-haired guy on top of the ship holds a huge mini-gun and then proceeds to jump off shouting, “Yahoo!”.
Finally I had control, and the Wii pointer came on screen. I could blast away at some huge birds attacking the ship as I glided through the air, which was very cool.
But as soon as I started to take control, it was taken away again! Another long sequence of the main character fighting hand-to-hand with a long-necked bird-looking guy, who he had just pulled out of a swirling blue portal.
After another lengthy cut scene introducing a large warrior-type guy and a girl who likes to take photos of everything, the ship starts to go down and I get control again.
This time IÂ’m using the analogue stick to control the airship through a canyon, chasing some bad guys up ahead while trying not to crash into the sides.
This lasted about a minute, and then the ship crashed and scraped along the ground until it eventually came to a stop right next to a huge city. Another lengthy cinema starts, and lots of talking ensues.
I’ve now been “playing” the game for almost 15 minutes, but I'm finally controlling my guy around the town. I point to an object and lift it with my force-like powers, and I move it around in the air for a bit and then throw it across the room.
That was the point when I got a tap on my shoulder.
TimeÂ’s up, sir.
No wonder there wasnÂ’t a queue to play this, since anyone watching in line probably had almost the same experience as the person holding the Wii Remote!
To be fair though, it does look pretty with a feeling of good production values, and now more than ever do I want to play this game properly and see what the combat is like.