Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles

[losimagic]

i didn't get a t-shirt

[Ian(not Ian)]

Neither did I.
However I did get an excellent dungeon hack of a game C/W beautiful graphics and skillful character design.
I've done 12 hours now in single player and, like McDonalds, I'm loving it. it's Diablo without being over-run. Dungeon siege with something meaningful to do. BG Dark Alliance without the boring stats.

Once again the GC is home to a must-have game.

I love the way it passes more than a nod to European folklore.

Did try 2 player with GBAs yesterday but got annoyed with having to cart the chalice around (this is done for you in single-player). Why the chalice couldn't be carted around for in multiplayer I dont know, all you needed was for the chalice bearer to follow player 1....The other could then follow player 1's lead.

[Sarkster]

From what I understand (from reviews only as my copy has still not arrived yet, despite my mate who's copy was shipped the same day as mine, and lives 2 miles from me, having his last friday</rant&gt the added burden of the chalice is a nice gameplay element rather than a problem, and adds another level of strategy to the game.

[007]

Just started this game, and im actually quite impressed. Though one 2 things have annoyed me so far.

1) I picked a very shady looking character, and I hate him already.
2) I defeated the first boss, then went back to collect some more stuff and see what I missed, and then the boss just appeared again, why the hell?

Good game so far, but I wish I could change my character. Should I start again?

I'm at the mushroom place, so not too far into it.

What character are you guys using?

Mines the bird type man with the hammer. Seriously not cool.

[Treble]

I have a few questions as well. I might get this so me and two mates - so three people in all - can play at once. We all have SPs and link cables (yes, we're all as geeky as each other). So:

• Which characters should we go for if I buy it?
• Is it good in multiplayer, as reports of the game as a lonesome experience say it's poor?
• How long are we talking till completion? We will only be able to meet once a week.

Cheers.

[Babelrich]

Well, Me and Sarkster played this on Sunday with two other mates, 4 GBA's and it really is an experience. We were shouting at each other one minute, high-fiving the next, sharing goods for weapons and then berating each other for picking up treasures. Before we new it we'd missed dinner and the it was 1 o'clock and we'd been at it solidly for 11 hours.

4 players is definately the way god intended. All the little things such as picking your upgrades become much more fun.

I can't wait for our next sesh to continue, the only bad thing is Sarkster cries when your characthers harder than his

I know it's a big ask, but you should all try and go out of your way to set up a 4 player game, you wont regret it.

[Sarkster]

I can't wait for our next sesh to continue, the only bad thing is Sarkster cries when your characthers harder than his

Its all true, but in fairness, I was the unlucky bast who picked a char that looked (and walked tbh) like Michael ****ing Flatley

As Babelrich says, this game with the right amount of people (i.e 4, no less ) Is a joy and the time playing it melted away.

[Matt Hughes]

On the other side of the coin, I have to say that from a single player point of view it is really not so great. I've now had the game for about 3 weeks or so and it has remained untouched since the third day I had it. I just don't have any enthusiasm to go back.

It looks and sounds lovely, but as a single player adventure it falls very flat. I'll just have to hope that a few of my mates suddenly happen to buy a GameBoy Advance and an NTSC connecting cable, otherwise it'll end up getting flogged sooner or later.

[TheShend]

Well my uncle received his copy (in a nice box i may add) and i we've done just under 5 hours play co-operatively.

Gripes:

1. Walking slower while carrying the chalice. This really isn't necessary. We've resorted to one of us running behind the other to push along faster!!

2. Having to set your command list at the beginning of the level is pretty much redundant. You've nowt to equip! since you have to pick up the spells every time for each level. at the beginning of a boss fight would've been better. We died 3 times trying to sort our command lists while a boss is rinsing me.

3. The blacksmith and crafting of equipment is very under explained. There's not even a clue in the manual.

4. Having your diary read out at the end of each year is annoyingly slow as well as the sleepy woman reading at the beginning of each level. Zzzzz

5. The completely gay GBA mini games. We had this really poor Mario Kart type game with caravans. Oi Naaaoooo. Items and equipment instead roight.

6. Oh, and the complete lack of any info when coosing your tribe. I picked Clavats, but he's an all rounder, and doesn't excel at nowt.

And whats really weird is that i'm actually really enjopying myself, the co-operative nature when everyone is sat together really does elevate it above it's faults.
I really like how you can through a pot of water and cast a blizzard spell on it to freeze trapping baddies. Or the oil pots and setting them alight with fire.
Doubling your attack power by timing the release and synchronising your spells is a great touch.
Animation is great along with the gorgeous graphics. Like the way your image contorts runnung behind the large crystal at the first major castle town.

Q. If 2 of us perform the same spell to double up, do you lot with 3 to 4 players get bigger attacks if you all synch your spells? This seems a little unfair .>_<.

[drybones]

I've been getting into this with a couple of friends, and we're having a good time...

4. Having your diary read out at the end of each year is annoyingly slow as well as the sleepy woman reading at the beginning of each level. Zzzzz

You can skip these sections if you want -- hit start, or select or something...

Q. If 2 of us perform the same spell to double up, do you lot with 3 to 4 players get bigger attacks if you all synch your spells? This seems a little unfair .>_<.

I think some of the spells might require more than 2 players, but you can power up spells by playing with the timing. For instance, with just two people you can hit both the -ara and -aga spells.

If you release two blizzards at the same time, you get Blizzara. If the second player releases about a second later, you'll get Blizzaga. Watch when the first player releases and you'll notice the marker underneath them changes colour. The second player needs to release just before this marker flicks back to normal.

[PeteJ]

I played this for about 4 hours today on 3 player, and I must say that I love the game. I do have some problems with it, but I'd say that Square have created arguably the finest game of its type. The graphics are lovely and strangely relaxing, and character development is far better than I was led to believe from various reviews and the gameplay is tactical with multiple people.

It is correct that on the boss fights one person just needs to stand back and heal the others, but I like that, it's team work coming together.

We managed to get to the end of the second year, with just one stage to go to complete it. Found the Goblin Gate level quite hard, especially the boss...

My problems with the game aren't very serious, but slightly niggling anyway:

The person carrying the wassit runs far too slowly (though the idea behind it is extremely good, in my opinion).

Not enough of the correct information when starting a new game and creating a new character. You are told all sorts of crap, but little of it is useful. At one point we were trying to choose an artifact at the end of the level, but for some reason it wouldn't allow us - no documentation within the game or manual could explain why.

Backsmiths' should all be able to create weapons\ armour, not have you wonder about trying to find another just to buy a new weapon with another backsmith in another town.

Ummmmm...

Can't think of much else! I like this game a lot, though I wouldn't want to play it single player.

[Hodge]

Had a bash on single and multiplayer and tbh solo play is very shallow and lonely some. Add another player and a sense of team work and tatics come into it. Once you get used to the gba interface it is a dream to play and hopefully developers will take this idea and expand on it. Cant say i had a problem at the end of the level picking an artifact pete but i do agree with you about the blacksmith not being a blacksmith. There was one that built weapons for you in your home village on solo but on multiplayer he wasn`t there and i`m still not sure what the professions are meant to do? But if you have friends or family with a gba this game is a must have.

[PeteJ]

Yeah, I found that you can't have the same artifact twice. You can have +1 strength loads of times, just not the Stone or Wooah Poowoah! twice.

[TheShend]

We've just completed the 3rd year.

How many years are there in total?

The trees regenerate after 2 years, if i go back to some of the original dungeons, will there be another challenge there?

Does the dungeon change around?

Anyone else still playing this?

Not with 4 swords, no.

[PeteJ]

I've just done the third year also in multi play. No idea how many years there are though...

If you revist a location when the tree is back, there will be a new challenge. A few new enemies, plus the old ones will be harder and have new moves. The level will be ever so slightly changed, with new areas opened up and old ones closed. The boss is also a fair bit harder.

Each location has three cycles, each time it is different (takes a year before a completed place can be tackled again).

It is worth doing if you want to get loads of stuff, as each new cycle brings new rocks and items to play with

The game is getting repetitive after 7 hours, but it'll keep me going until the end.