REPETITIVE, REPETITIVE, REPETITIVE

User Rating: 7.7 | Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (w/Game Boy Advance cable) GC
When I first heard that Final Fantasy was back on Nintendo, I was expecting the same RPG-style game with the deep intriguing story and many plot twists that are so prominent in the Final Fantasy games today. So when I played the game, I had a bit of a surprise. Crystal Chronicles is simply an action-RPG, and a fairly decent one at that. The multiplayer and Game Boy Advance idea is just plain silly, because honestly, there are very few groups of four kids out there who all have a GBA and the proper link cables and who are going to gather together and play Final Fantasy. I mean, let's get reasonable here. The GBA link cables seem to be Nintendo's answer to the internet multiplayer games. So until they figure out that the internet is a better option than all these crazy link cables and the such, this is what we get. As a single player game, the game is pretty good and not terribly difficult to beat. The story seems a little shallow at first and not deep at all, but it seems to expand in depth as you play more and more, leading up to the final dungeon. You can probably play through all the levels in 10-15 hours, which isn't a terribly long time at all. You just repeat through these levels over and over and over again until you're ready for the final dungeon, so it can get a bit dry there. They should have added more levels for those people who want continuous, complex, and extra challenges. But besides the constant repetition of the levels, the game is suprisingly deep with unique weapons for all four of the races. One can spend much time trying to achieve the most supreme armor or weapon in the game, so there is some replay value here. The last dungeon and boss is simply amazing, so that was a major plus. Traditionally in Final Fantasy games, the graphics are great by the day's standards, and this game is no different at all. The sound is good, gameplay is what you would expect from an action-RPG, but the replay value isn't that great. Overall, after finishing the game, I feel a bit empty, and just wish that there was more there. It's like they laid out the ground for a fantastic and superb game, but they just let it fall a bit short by not completely finishing it.