Crystal Chronicles is a great Final Fantasy spin-off with plenty of potential, in both Single and Multiplayer regards.
Story: We all know that Crystal Chronicles takes no place in the traditional Final Fantasy number line, but this game does sport an original storyline on it's own. There are four races in a peaceful world, known as the Clavats, Lilties, Selkies, and Yukes. They all leave peacefully, but do not socialize with one another or commonly take part in traditional encounters. However, one fateful day, the world began to be covered in a highly toxic substance known as Miasma, which consumes whomever is left in the toxic gas. In contrast to this horrid occurrence, monsters abruptly began appearing across the land, taking no mercy against anyone in their path. So working together, the four races discovered a plan. Gathering Crystals and building their own civilizations amongst the Crystals, the residents are able to live peacefully among their hometowns protected by the Crystal's aura. However, the Crystal's aura does not stay purified forever, and needs to be replenished with a mystical substance known as Myrrh. Myrrh can only be recovered from certain areas, and is a type of fluid that is particular to Myrrh Trees. These Trees are very rare in the world, and they are only replenished with their precious substance every few years. So a Caravan from each of the civilizations set off to find Myrrh. It is an annual task that is only done by the bravest of the peoples', so that they too can help their civilizations strive in peace. Hundreds of years have passed since then, and the annual journey in search of Myrrh still continues daily. You are a young one from the village known as Tipa (or so named by yourself), and it is your job to set off in a Crystal Caravan to replenish your town's Crystal, as your generations of ancestors have done before you. You will keep records in a journal along the way; this journal will be cherished by your village, and is a recollection known as the Crystal Chronicles.
Presentation: Crystal Chronicles has a very Final Fantasy-esque feel to it. It has the same character design, and even the foes and enemies encountered throughout the games adventure sport the same design from the traditional Final Fantasy number line. Of course, it does have its own sense to it, but the game's designers still did not depart from the same lovable Final Fantasy architecture. Even so, the game does sport it's own feel to it that doesn't seem present in past Final Fantasy games, and it is quite charming on the whole. Everything contrasts in the game perfectly, yet the game while feeling like a welcoming game in the series, still feels like an original game on its own.
Graphics: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles sports some of the most beautiful graphics technology and design to grace the Nintendo GameCube - what else would you expect from a company as renowned as Square Enix? The game well lives up to the series expectations, and is easily one of the best looking GameCube titles to date, even sporting the option of running in Progressive Scan mode. The game sports some beautiful architecture and level design, from the same brilliant style, to an original work of beauty. The game runs smoothly, however some high particle sequences does have a tension of slowing down - this is not a common occurrence and happens very rarely, but when it does happen it may induce some light annoyances. But in contrast, this game sports everything a graphical junkie looks out for: from beautiful smooth character animation, gorgeous textures, and the highly recognized architecture from the Final Fantasy series, Crystal Chronicles is a beauty to look at. Sound: Now the sound on the other hand, is flat out gorgeous. The game sports some simple sound effects, including some familiar sequences that may give you memories of past games, yet these sounds work perfectly in contrast with each other to not overdue this process, and most importantly, works well with the game's ingenious music composure. The music is this game is absolutely amazing. Beautiful orchestrated works of art are composed in both a classical melody, while certain portions of the game give you that increased tension when the game puts you at a high stakes situation. Flat out amazing, the sound department of Crystal Chronicles is absolutely stunning, sporting some of the best sound to be heard on the system. It is a work of art, and the game's ingenious composition of music sound work together in a harmonious architectural balance that is nothing short of beautiful.
Gameplay: Now the most important part of Crystal Chronicles, and any other game for that matter is the gameplay. Now this game is very different from its counterparts as far as the gameplay goes, so we'll have a lot to talk about as far as this section goes. Well first off, Crystal Chronicles is an RPG on its own, but it is not a turn based adventure in contrast to a game like Final Fantasy VII. In fact, due to the game's highly recognized Multiplayer options, it wouldn't work as well as a turn based RPG as a whole (I will try and explain the Single and Multiplayer differences throughout this section as best I can, so bear with me). But Crystal Chronicles succeeds in what makes a game fun, and here is the breakdown on how this system works. The games sports an overheard camera view of your character that usually follows him or her throughout the game. The camera does have a slight problem every now and then, and you'll have no direct control over it, but it is a minor problem that sure isn't to cause too many problems for gamers. So as you follow your character around the over world, he or she will have one main objective: collecting three drops of Myrrh in your Crystal Chalice to be delivered home every year. If not, your home civilization may be lost forever. A honored responsibility for those who want to uphold the challenge, it is a cherished title to be known as a Caravaner. So as the game begins, you will have the option of creating your own character, and this is where the game sports some great RPG elements. You will have the option of choosing from one of the four races, male or female. They each specialize and are stronger in different areas in terms of combat, but each one of them are different so you best experiment with each of them to find which one suits your needs better. A great feature about this mode, is that you will be able to create up to eight characters for your Caravan, and in contrast have eight families living in Tipa. This is particularly so that when you have the option of playing the game in Multiplayer, a character will readily be available for whomever wants to join in this fun filled RPG fest. As well, once you create your character, you will have the option of choosing his families business, and this depends by what needs you'll need of your family. It is recommended that you create eight characters from the beginning to maximize the potential of the options available for you once you visit back home, but that is up to you. You'll have professions available, such as a Blacksmith, Merchant, Fisherman, Tailor, Alchemist, etc. These are all different in every way, and you'll notice how different the game is depending on your families profession. So now you have your character and are ready to search out for Myrrh. Well, throughout the game, you'll travel in your Caravan through an over world map, and stop in either towns to load up on items, or dungeons to collect Myrrh. So what are these dungeons like? How is the games combat? What makes Crystal Chronicles so different from other Final Fantasy titles? Well here is the answer. While in your overheard view, the world is (obviously) covered in Miasma. Being so, you have a small Crystal Chalice that is available to you. This Chalice allows you to be protected from the Miasma, and it will not damage you whatsoever as long as you stay in the safe zone of the Chalice. So how does this Chalice get around? Well in the game's Single Player mode, you will have a Moogle named Mog who travels with you and carries the Chalice along side you. You can tell Mog whether or not to drop the Chalice for some purposes, or in other ways, help you fight. He of course, being the small animal (or monster as referred in the game) he is, is not affected by Miasma, does get tired from labor and sometimes will ask you carry the Chalice for a short while. But in the Multiplayer portion of the game, one player must carry the Chalice while the other is free to move about. This sounds kind of disappointing, but it induces teamwork among players, and is an interesting feature as far as strategic planning. So whilst protected in the barrier of the Chalice, you will need to explore dungeons in search of the Myrrh Tree. But this of course is guarded heavily by monsters, and some puzzles that need to be solved along the way. You will encounter plenty of monsters in the game, with a majority of them sparking a resemblance to those in the traditional Final Fantasy number line. Now many gamers heard about Crystal Chronicles combat, knowing its not the same. So how does it work? Well, in terms of the games combat, you will have some basic functions at your arsenal, and this is all done very simple. You will have different options available to you in the games Command Slots. The games Command Slots are available to you by cycling through them with the L and R Buttons, and by contrast you will have your options cycled through. These options are simple, and yet complicated as they get in its own regards. You will always have two options available for you at your disposal. The first one is Attack, but which, in hitting the A Button, your character will strike it's opponent. And of course, each race attacks differently. Next, is your Defend options, which protects you from damage infliction by your enemies. Now Crystal Chronicles also has a different way of calculating damage, and this done by hearts in the top left corner of the screen (or the other separate corners for Multiplayer). Now as you travel throughout the games dungeons, you will fight off hordes of enemies of all types, each of them sporting their own traits of attacks, and different stats as well. Along the way, you will find chests which contain various items, such as weapon upgrades or health upgrades (including the traditional Phoenix Down Revivals), Artifacts (explained later), and Spells - each of which can also be obtained by defeating some opponents. Now Spells in Crystal Chronicles are interesting, and probably the deepest component in the game as far as combat is concerned. Along the way, you will find Magicite Spheres, each containing different spells. There are six basic spells throughout the game, being Blizzard, Thunder, Fire, Life, Cure, and Clear. If you are familiar with Final Fantasy, then you may know already what these do. They are basically either offensive or defensive components. Blizzard, Thunder, and Fire can be cast upon enemies and have different effects, such as burn or paralysis. While Life, Cure, and Clear have different effects such as healing your health, curing status effects, or bringing a character back to life. These are interesting to use and important for identifying enemy's weak points, but the deepest level in this system is Spell Fusion. Spell Fusion is used by combining Spells to create new ones. For example, you can combine two spells to create one more powerful one such as Gravity or Holy, or you can combine two similar elements to create a stronger one of that type (i.e., Blizzard + Blizzard will create Blizzara, and so on). These are interesting, and are cast differently throughout the game. You can combine some Spells by fusing them in your Command Slot, your manually in the field. This is done by casting two spells in the same location, and getting your timing just right. If done right, you will fuse the spells to create a more powerful one with a different effect. This is a deep system that needs to be used to great advantages for helping in combat and some puzzle solving. So what happens later? Well after heading through the dungeons, you will soon encounter the boss of the dungeon, which the enemy of all enemies. These bosses have an ingenious level of design gone into them, so you can easily tell the developer's put a lot of thought into each and every one of them. From Giant Crabs, Thousand Eyed Plants, or even Ghostly Dragons, these are remarkable works of art. However, there is one thing about these bosses that tends to get quite annoying, and that is that each of them can be defeating accordingly - there is no general strategy to defeating a boss, or any other enemy for that matter. The thing is, is that in Crystal Chronicles, and enemy has an attack that is very easy to predict, and very easy to dodge for that matter. In reality, it somewhat makes Cure Spells or healing items insubordinate in terms of their effect, but this doesn't matter in later parts of the game. The game's combat in comparison, is also quite linear (particularly in Single Player), so this has been known to turn off quite a few number of gamers. This is one of the noticeable faults of the game - particularly the games combat. While it does represent some great Spell Fusion techniques and good puzzle solving, the fact that combat feels to simple for a solo player decreases the game's value. Now that we have that part out of our hair, what other features are there that should be accounted for? Well for one, this game has your characters leveling up like a traditional RPG, however it is not particular. Throughout the dungeons, you will pick up Artifacts, and this will increase your characters stats accordingly. The better you do in each of the game's dungeons, the more likely at the end of the level you will be able to choose one Artifact that will increase your stats accordingly. All right, well we've gone through the process of going through dungeons, defeating bosses, and then finally collecting Myrrh. This is the traditional process that is done annually - three dungeons should be conquered a year, thus having three drops of Myrrh for purification. But it does have it's own arsenal of side quests, customization, and interesting features. For Side Quests, you will encounter some problems, such as the drying up of an important river, or even the disappearance of the capital's princess. These are great side quests, but there are far too many and aren't exaclty exciting, but they do add to the game's value. As far as customization, you will have the option to visit Blacksmiths and Tailors, and bring them whatever you may to customize new weapons and armor for your arsenal. This is highly critical so that you can increase your stats and succeed in the game accordingly, and is an important factor that should be taken into account. And lastly, the game has its own unique adventure. Throughout traveling amongst the overworld, you will occasionally encounter other Caravans or Travelers amongst the path. They will either befriend you, or become enemies to cross your path. Each time an important event occurs (including visiting unvisited places or conquering dungeons) you will record this in your journal. This is considered a memory, and is a recollection that is highly important to the game's story. As of which, the game's Story does expand later throughout the game into an interesting tale, as well as some interesting side stories as well. So we've uncovered many mysteries of Crystal Chronicles, and this game is a great adventure. Even with the game's limited combat and lack of excitement during portions of the game, the game is still a great adventure for a Single Player gamer, and if you have the required necessities for Multiplayer, then this game will be a full fledged adventure you wouldn't want to miss. So what's the hype on this game's infamous Multiplayer requirements? Well it follows in this next section, and in regard is probably the biggest fault of the game.
Multiplayer: Now the biggest fault of Crystal Chronicles is almost a beautiful thing. This is because in order to get the greatest out of the game, you will likely need to have the Multiplayer experience - which the majority of gamers agree is true. As of which, this is limited to the games hardware requirements, which in comparison is quite unnecessary. In order to play the game's Multiplayer, you will need one Game Boy Advance for each player as well as as GBA/GCN Link Cable. It is easily spotted that Square tried to take advantage of this little used feature, but since it is so limited in use that is simply turned plenty of gamers off - this is easily the biggest fault of Crystal Chronicles, and this limited addition really would have been better if it had not been included.. Now the game controls the same with the Game Boy Advance as a Controller, and even sports some extras, but they really are unnecessary for completing some portions of the game. Some dungeons have areas that are only accessible through Multiplayer, but they won't stop you from finishing the adventure. This is the biggest problem with the game. Due to the fact that the greatest moments are to be played with friend's with this game, the game almost feels limited and incomplete if finished in Single Player Mode. However, the Single Player mode is still a great RPG on it's own, and an interesting tale to be told for gamers craving the ingenious storytelling and Final Fantasy adventure from Square Enix.
Value: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is a great game, but its faults are easily noticed. From the rather bland Single Player mode, to the limited hardware requirements for Multiplayer, Crystal Chronicles is a great game but does sport a package that feels incomplete. Even so, Crystal Chronicles is still a great adventure. Sporting the same feel that Nintendo fans have been craving on their consoles, this game is a great RPG for the GameCube, and the series is a welcome spin-off to the much beloved franchise. The game's faults can easily be fixed in upcoming versions of the game, and even with them, the game is still an beautiful adventure with or without them. Crystal Chronicles is sure to hold your attention for awhile, with a Single Player adventure lasting around 10 hours. The game actually feels quite longer than it does, and the Multiplayer option will provide you with plenty of hours of fun if accessible. Crystal Chronicles is a great achievement: from its beautiful storytelling, masterwork presentation, and a new gameplay style of the series - Crystal Chronicles is sure to impress an RPG fans' desires with a beautiful adventure that is both memorable as it is adventurous.