Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles

The Good
First, the game has a great idea. Play mechanics are well thought of - well, at least what comes to the multiplayer side. There's some refreshing new ideas here too. It basically says to me "this isn't an usual game" and I like that. The gameplay is pretty intuitive though not really without its first troubles.

Graphics are amazing. I can't possibly describe in words how beautiful some stuff in the game is.

Music is great, and I really like the musical style too. Switching composers for a while clearly provides a good break from the Usual Uematsu Stuff(tm).

The Bad
One bad thing is that without an on-screen map, some of the levels are just incomprehensible. And I haven't even played that far yet - I mean early levels, too.

And in one-player game, the game view focuses on the moogle carrying the chalice - which isn't a good thing, because the character I'm controlling is nose against the screen's edge, and I hate it when I have to run but just can't see where I'm going! It's not that bad in up-down direction areas, but left-right movement gets annoying fast.

And the smoothness of the game relies too much in the cooperation of the different character types, so the game isn't that smooth with just one character in the fray. Sometimes, it isn't that thrilling to think that I'm going to spend a lot of time playing through the game with a character that sure isn't as versatile as Link. But the game has stayed barely passable nevertheless so far...

And this gets mentioned often, but anyway, here goes: I really wish the GBAs and cables weren't required for multiplayer...

The Bottom Line
The idea is definitely solid. "Hey, let's make a Zelda clone! For four players, cooperative! Make it look really nice, make it sound really nice, and play pretty well! And how about slapping words 'Final Fantasy' on the side too, it worked before, right?" (Definitely a Zelda clone if the first boss is a giant crab...)

Like so many other people, I haven't played this game at all on multiplayer, mostly because I have only one GBA. This game would seem really amazing on multiplayer if I only had the equipment!

Too bad that as a single player game, this starts to make my teeth grind. It actually represents something more sinister: Here's a game with really beautiful graphics, and beautiful music, but heck, what comes to playability, it just isn't Zelda, even when it tries!

The bottom line what comes to the single player experience is that it's fun - in small doses. Maybe a level per month.

The Good
The gameplay is Zelda-esque. The basis of exploration and battles greatly resembles the 2D Zelda games.

Multiplayer. The game has the option of four-player co-op, and when it is used, the fun factor of the game skyrockets. Even though one player has to carry the Crystal Chalice around, it still improves the overall experience of the game. Crystal Chronicles was meant to be multiplayer after all.

The music is phenomenal. It is definitely a high point for the game. Not just the compositions themselves, but the instruments used, fit perfectly with the game's theme and the time period it's supposed to take place in.

The Bad
The game has very little story. Bits and pieces are revealed at intersections on the world map, but everything else is only revealed at the very end of the game.

When playing the game solo, it loses much of it's enjoyment. And on the flipside of this, to play multiplayer, every person must have a Game Boy Advance and a GBA to GCN link cable. This is a similar problem that The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures faced.

The Bottom Line
If you or your friends have some GBAs and Gamecube link cables, then this game is a must.

The Good
The character customization is just enough to chose from with out going insane by having to choose from 500 different characters. The gameplay is fast, but smooth. The multi-player mode is a lot of fun if you have +2 players and the overall plot isn't too shabby. The graphics are also nice without being too blocky.

The Bad
The music gets on your nerves after awhile, but what music doesn't?

The Bottom Line
A great game that should appeal to any gamer who likes a good action RPG. Though you'll miss out if you don't play multi-player.