Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (Nintendo Wii)

This is as bad as Final Fantasy has ever been. Filled with uninspiring stereotypes, rancid gameplay, and THE worst map I have ever encountered in a game, Crystal Bearers just plain out sucks. I knew going into the purchase not to expect the average FF works, but I certainly wasn't expecting something this... lackluster.

First off, the main action waggle is just ridiculous. You highlight characters or objects to pick them up telepathically but why you preform the desired movement (swinging the remote upward), it instead knocks the being/item to the ground. If you were trying to pick up a citizen, for instance, you'll be more likely to tick them off, essentially bringing the idiotic security guards down upon you. You have to preform the movement twice in order to actually lift them off the ground.

Secondly, the map you have to figure out where you're going is stupid. There is no detail in it whatsoever; it's a picture of the landscape with an cursor on it. Just one place it points to usually has 3 or 4 subareas within it so if you wanted to find a certain person in a certain area, you would have to guess what direction to go. For instance, the main city holds within it the plaza, a library, Cid's workshop, an airdock, and a "soccer" field, amongst other destinations... But you wouldn't know that by looking at the map, nor would you know the layout of it all.

The game also is contradictory of itself. The main character can basically fly around and move to all sorts of heights with his powers, yet you won't be able to reach certain points in the game with them. You'll come across treasure chests high up on perches throughout the title, but can't reach them without finding the specific way to get there. That's after you just got done flying up to a hovering platform three times as high as that cliff but somehow you can't manage the "great distance" of that leap.

The AI is busted, too. The guards, in particular the ones in the air dock within the city, will run headlong into walls and will not deviate from their paths for anything. You're a wanted criminal within the first 15 minutes or so of the game, but you can walk straight up to them as they bash their heads against the wall and they won't do jack. There are also places where you can't get out of the water, even when the ground is seemingly inclined enough for you to do so. Again, this is a guy who can more or less fly, but he can't manage to pick himself up out of the shallow water, even when the ground is at an appropriate angle/level to do so.

I could go on and on about how much this game fails, but it'd be even more redundant to do so than this game. Don't waste your time on this poorly made knock off and stick to the tried-and-true FF titles coming from Square-Enix.

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One of the best games I bought in 2009. Beautiful story, details, characters and voice acting; a great single-player game for your Wii with a control scheme that is new and not too difficult for beginners to handle. I'd definitely recommend this game!

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I bought this game back in December but haven't had a chance to play it until this February. After this entire wait, I beat the entire game in a weekend. Was it a bit short? Not really. Did it sacrifice gameplay for graphics by being so short? Not really. Was it still fun despite being so short? Yes, it was.

Square Enix has decided to take the Crystal Chronicle series into a bold new direction. It still keeps the live action combat where there are no RPG 'turns' involved when fighting enemies, but puts a spin on it by giving the protagonist abilities that can levitate, throw and destroy various objects and enemies. It can be a chore if you simply do the same thing over and over again, like throwing enemies around like ragdolls. But if you are inventive and you try to do different combinations, the combat system can be somewhat deep. For example, what would happen if I pick up this enemy and toss it in the water? What about against that wall? What if I throw it at that enemy or when that enemy is electrified? What if I throw this object at that enemy, what will it do? There are a variety of options to use when battling and it makes it all the more enjoyable because of it. On that note, the creative enemy designs make for some interesting battles, figuring out how they work and how various aspects of an enemy react to other of its kin or to different enemies. Great kudos to Square Enix for making inventive enemy designs which lead to multiple medals for being creative with them while battling.

Story wise, its excellent. The game moves at a breakneck speed and unless you force yourself to stop and slow down and explore the (literally) hundreds of sidequests out there, you could be at the end of the game before you know it! The story paces itself well and gives you all the answers you need without any real plot holes or gaps to fill. All questions are answered and it ends on a somewhat satisfying note. The characters are also well developed in terms of characterization. The only true character arc though, is Layle. He goes from someone who just doesn't care about anything and only wants to get paid for the job he's doing to someone who can really fight for a cause and keep a promise to a friend who has passed away. (no spoiling who though!)So in terms of presentation of the story, its quality stuff and sometimes almost felt like I was watching an animated movie. It was that engaging.

Now the extra stuff: There are literally hundreds of things to do in this game. Almost 90% of it isn't even required to beat the game! There are exactly 330 medals to acquire (acheivements if you will) and almost half of them can be upgrade from Bronze to Silver to Gold. Which extends replayability by an insane amount. I highly doubt anyone can get all 330 gold medals without some bit of frustration. Regardless, the variety of things, sidequests and mini-games you can do is vast and it really is fun to have the option to go back and replay various bosses and mini-games to get better scores or to go after elusive medals that you didn't get the first time around. So if you simply force yourself to stop and look around, there are tons of things for you to do inbetween story segments, you just have to be creative in looking for them.

On a side note, the customization and accessory aspect of the game isn't a big part of the overall experience as I'm sure the creators wanted it to be. But it works and its simple to understand and use. However, for those looking to acquire all 330 medals, getting the right materials to make the best equipment becomes paramount because only the highest stats that Layle can acheive will be sufficient to nail some of those tougher medals.

Overall, I actually enjoyed this game. I didn't have any high expectations for it with relation to anything else with the 'Final Fantasy' moniker, but I was expecting a quality action adventure game and that is exactly what I received. I applaud Square Enix for taking such a bold move with one of their more popular franchises, and pulling off such an engaging game with gusto. It truly seems they had fun making this product and I heartily recommend this game to anyone with an open mind for fun and creativity.

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