Riddle Me This, Batman.

Now, i know Crystal Chronicles is a primarily multiplayer game. The way it was designed, it's meant to be enjoyed by friends with time and a bit of money on their hands. Or maybe that curious and independently wealthy hermit offspring of that late rich banker who inherited his father's entire fortune after the old man asphyxiated in the throes of passionate orgasm with his mistress, Moonbeam, and who now throws tea parties with his stuffed animals - Lenore, Wallybear and Shnookums - for each of whom he has bought a GBA.

As i have no stuffing fetishes and few friends with the requisite hardware, i am curious about the game's single player element. i have heard it to be entertaining but bland and lonely, and seeing as i'd be playing it as such most if not all of the time, i wonder if it is worth the purchase price. Yet the thought of a Final Fantasy game for my new GameCube sounds better than a night with Moonbeam. Any thoughts?

Well, that depends entirely on how you define FF games. It has a combat system closer to the Seiken Densetsu series, a world map reminiscent of FFT, and a somewhat "uninvolved" plot. By that I mean the character are fairly incidental, somewhat like the characters in FFI or III. In fact, a LOT like those characters. They're basically without personality because you create them yourself. There's no epic love story or convoluted plot twist about the true meaning of self, it pretty much just a "go out there and save the world" story.

However, I find the single player mode very fun as a hack-n-slash adventure game. It's sorta like Streets Of Rage in that way actually. It's really fun alone, but the multiplayer mode is an entirely different experience.

If you're not sure, see if you can rent it. I bought my copy used so even if I didn't like it there wasn't much risk involved for me. However, I did like it, and I mainly play alone.

I think you'd enjoy it, since the story involves a lot of thought and while it may seem lacking, it's actually quite a good story that involves a lot of play to reveal it in it's entirity.

And it's awesome-cool to beat a huge monster all by yourself.

That aside, multiplayer is far more awesome, though it can quite often breakdown into petty arguments over Mithril and who gets what artifact, and other team members commiting suicide in the miasma and refusing to be healed or revived because they think they're being bullied.

But, eh, the single player is good and enjoyable, go for it, no regrets.

Just make sure you have a GBA so you can see the extra map screen and what your bonus is in levels.

That level bonus has no relevance in single player though. Bonus points only determine who gets first pick at the treasure, and if you're playing solo, there's no one to compete with for that spot. The maps are definitely helpful though.