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View Full Version : Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - impressions after 9 hrs



maxlords
02-12-2004, 07:32 PM
Ok, I clocked quite a few hours on FF: CC today and yesterday, and managed to get to Year 5. I beat all the main levels in the entire game once, and haven't gone back to any. Here are my thoughts:

1 - The game is WAY too easy. No question about it....I waltzed thru it, and it's an action game.

2 - I'm SO tired of prerendered backgrounds with moving characters. They made yet another mistake too, moving the camera and panning across the pre-renders, which makes for some AWFUL motion blur. Bleah.

3 - The game is FUN...at first. With a single player, it REALLY gets tedious fast however. I'm near the end of the game and I know that if I go further, I'll get obliterated by what's coming up but I don't want to have to sit around and build up my character for another 5 years. I hate building up, it makes me instantly want to stop playing a game...which is why I'm quitting FF: CC now. Mutliplayer might be more fun...but single player WILL get tedious. I guarantee it.

4 - Finding artifacts. The stuff you NEED to beat the game is really hard to get, and playing single player, they conveniently fail to mention what your goals are at the beginning of a level, so you never know if you're doing things right till the end. You flat out CANNOT just whip through the game....it's designed not to let you. For those of us with no one to play the game with due to lack of expensive connectivity peripherals, this means....a LOT of tedious mucking about in places youve been, over and over and over for hours and hours. Square....WHY do you feel the need to lengthen games unnecessarily? Bleah.

5 - Weapons and armor. Yeah, they're handy. You get neat blueprints for them. Unfortunately, you have NO clue what the power of the item you're having built is until you stockpile the parts and money to build it and then find out it's nothing that you need at all. Oh..and did I mention that once you build an item, you CANNOT sell or trade it? You can't. You're either stuck lugging the POS around or you have to destroy it to make room in the inventory.

6 - Your inventory.....IS WAY TOO FRIGGIN SMALL!!! To carry around all the stuff I needed to actually BUILD the weapons and armor I needed (since it doesn't explain ANY of it) I had a FULL inventory of parts, and no room for healing items or spell magicite. That is REALLY REALLY inconvenient.


Ok.....yeah, I hated a LOT of things about it. I didn't even list them all. The good points are:

A - The game is pretty, the enemies are cool, and the bosses are innovative (if way too easy).

B - I really like the magic system and how you have to get new magic each level.

C - I like the level designs (except that damned marsh).

D - The game is a fun "I don't want to think for a while" game.

E - The dancing... oh la la :D


It's a good game, but it's NOT a stunning "I MUST BUY A GAMECUBE" game. Not even close. Don't believe all the reviews you've read, there are some BIG problems with it IMO. Once again, this is all about Single player, not multiplayer, being as I can't afford two GBA:SPs and 2 link cables, and my regular GBA screen isn't really visible inside the house.

WiseSalesman
02-12-2004, 08:46 PM
Well, I was going to write something like what you wrote, but I'll write this instead.

I'm into year four now. I've been playing the game two player. Everything you mention above applies perfectly to the two player experience as far as I can tell.

AMG
02-12-2004, 09:23 PM
Thanks for the heads up.

This game is on my "to get" list. But I may hold off on it & get some other games first.

mosesshirai
02-12-2004, 09:34 PM
@_@

Sounds like even multiplayer is boring. I hear no talk of a story or compelling characters. Are there any? I guess Metroid:Zero Mission is my purchase this week. Nuts.

maxlords
02-12-2004, 09:48 PM
@_@

Sounds like even multiplayer is boring. I hear no talk of a story or compelling characters. Are there any? I guess Metroid:Zero Mission is my purchase this week. Nuts.

It's not really plot based. It's more kinda like a Zelda game...but with less talking to people. You can't even go inside any of the houses in the towns. Basically, you can talk to a few people in each town...whoever is wandering around, and you get stopped on the road by other people and caravans to talk in short cutscenes, but other than that it's all fighting, just like Diablo.

And there are no detailed characters (unless you mean graphically detailed). The main character is wahtever you pick from a list of options...no personality at all. There are no real supporting characters with deep personalities. Nothing like that at all. It's not that sort of game.

I expect there's a BIT of plot resolution towards the end but I got so bored once I beat every main level that I don't think I'll be playing that far into it. There's a few story elements that slowly get revealed...but not many. If I had to classify it, I'd call it Action/Adventure or Adventure. It's almost too light on the story to be Adventure (which is what I consider Zelda games...please don't start THAT argument again people!). It's not an RPG. Period. Do NOT expect Square/FF RPG stuff from this one, just cause it's called "Final Fantasy".

AMG
02-12-2004, 10:07 PM
It's not an RPG. Period. Do NOT expect Square/FF RPG stuff from this one, just cause it's called "Final Fantasy".


That is all I needed to hear.

SoulBlazer
02-13-2004, 12:30 AM
I have'nt had much of a chance to play this yet, but I've enjoyed it so far. It's a nice action game, and it's getting exposure due to the Final Fantasy name attached.

That said, why does it HAVE to be a RPG? Square never said it WAS one. There's nothing wrong with the franchise breaking out and trying new games.

I agree this game is going to be popular but not enough incentive to buy a GameCube just for it. However, take this with several of the other great games for the system and it's powerfull incentive. :)

maxlords
02-13-2004, 12:43 AM
That said, why does it HAVE to be a RPG? Square never said it WAS one. There's nothing wrong with the franchise breaking out and trying new games.

Never said it had to. I think the same as you. It's just that a lot of people are EXPECTING that so I forewarned em. As for it being fun....I thought it was at first too...but it loses it's charm after none too long IMO. My first impression was FAR more positive than after 9+ hours of play.

sisko
02-13-2004, 09:49 AM
I'm in about 12 hours on multiplayer, and everything you said was pretty much right. Maybe it would be more fun with 4 players as opposed to 2? Who knows.

That being said, I would not pay $50 for this game. I got lucky and took advantage of the trade 4 get 1 deal at EB, so I was only out about $25, but I also got a free cable.

I'd say $20-$25 is a decent price for this game.