Crystal Chronicles!

[BatChao]

Hey all! I'm sure you all know, but Crystal Chronicles was released today in the US! I woke up early this morning to go get it with my roommate and we played almost all day (breaks inbetween to do HW, go to class, and eat). I gotta say, as a multiplayer game, this game is top tier. It's so much fun to coordinate attacks, help (and screw over) your buddies, etc. With 2 players it's a blast, but when my other roommate joined in on the action, it was a riot! I can't wait to play 4 player sometime! I pretty much refuse to play single player because I can already tell the game would be dreadful boring (not to mention difficult) to play by myself. So I'll save the fun times for when my roommates can join in my caravan!

I also love how unlike a lot of other multiplayer RPGs, even if a friend stops playing (or joins in late), they aren't screwed. My second roommate joined after I had played for 2 years (game time) and after a couple battles through easy dungeons and him getting first dibs on the upgrades, he was good to go. The upgrading system is really great and adds a competitive edge to the game. I absolutely love it.

And lastly, I'm soooooooooooooo happy that FF is back on a Nintendo home console. Even though it wasn't developed in house by Square-Enix, it's a huge step in the right direction. You have no idea how happy I was when I booted the game up and watched the introduction (which is beautiful). I actually cried because I was so happy. My roommate probably though I was freak because he turned around and I was crying! This game marks a milestone in gaming history and besides being a great game all around, it's a game that will go down in gaming history as well. I soooooo happy! I can't say how happy I am. I'm so happy I'm gonna explode. I love this game!

Now, what do you think about it?

[FEOK]

Bah. I can't decide to get it or not. It is Final Fantasy, but I was never a fan of the "Get X Material and X Money to get X Weapon" and the fact that your family needs to be Alchimests and you need a good bond with them to get your ultimate weapon also bugs me, beacuse I was never good at writing letters. So should I get it or not?

[PeTeRL90]

Rrrrraaaarrrr.... of all the days to be broke.

[BatChao]

FEOK: Whether or not you should get this game relies greatly on whether or not you have at least one friend who has a GBA, a GBA->GCN link cable, and is willing to spend a lot of time at your house playing through the game with you. The first two actually aren't that big of a deal since almost everyone who likes games has a GBA and the link cable can be picked up for a paltry $10. The last requisite, though, is a tough one. You need to find a friend who will pretty much play through the game start to finish with you. You do NOT want to go through this adventure alone. I haven't tried the single player mode yet, but as I said, I can already tell it'll be pretty unimpressive. The greatness of FF:CC lies in it's ability to cause teamwork among friends. The more friends, the more hectic it gets and sometimes you'll try to compete with your friends like try and grab up all the items before they can, then laugh in their face about it. FF:CC is kind of a new genre in itself. It's a party game RPG. It's linke a party game meaning it's meant to be played with a lot of people like Mario Party and Super Monkey Ball is, but it's RPG element also ensures long playtime and status building.

FF:CC is a dungeon crawler through and through. In fact, the closest thing it resembles is probably PSO. The main point of the game is team up with your friends and whack the living snot out of everything. The GBA abilities are cool too because it forces teamwork on your caravan. You'll have to keep vocal about what items you have and need as well as which map you have (terrain, treasure, scout, or monster). How I play it is the guy with the map takes the chalice and leads the party while the monster and treasure map holders will alrert other members when danger/goodies are nearby. FF:CC really isn't a "Get X Material and X Money to get X Weapon" game. It's actually more simple... you CAN make it into this kind of game by running around and getting materials and gold for more items, but you don't have to.

Also, as for the letters, don't worry about it. You don't really have to write them per se. You read the letter then select a pre-determined reply. It's pretty much the same as the .hack e-mail system.

[Garland]

I just got Crystal Chronicles this afternoon, and I'm addicted. I can only play single player at the moment, but it's an amazing game even in single player. It's like FF9-2. Stiltzkin, Mognet mail service, most of the monsters - they all seem right out of FF9. The game also shares FF9's cartoonish medieval fantasy appearance, which is never a bad thing. I noticed one of the possible race/gender/color scheme choices is wearing a white mage outfit and another is labeled black mage directly, which is a plus because I like any Final Fantasy better if it has the traditional classes in it. Great game. I can't wait to try multiplayer.

[Advent Child]

So... Can you jump?

[Shlup]

BJ played it today and agreed with everything else I've heard: Its fun in multi-player, but single player is blah. My copy's in the mail.

[xain]

Is it worth it If I mostly play single player.

P.s. are the charas that similar to ff9?

[BatChao]

Single player mode is decent at best. I played a little bit and it's not bad, but I think I've been spoiled by the awesomeness of multiplayer. I think you'll find single player enjoyable, but definitely not of 'must buy' caliber. As a single player game, FF:CC isn't worth $50, IMO. Give it a rent first and see how you like it.

Also, the designs are only similar to FFIX in the way that they are SD style and super cute. The overall look is different.

[The Man]

It's on my list of games to get once I get a GameCube. I'm a big fan of the Seiken Densetsu, so I expect this one to be enjoyable.

[omnitarian]

I've been having a blast in single player, actually. I might just be jaded at the sight of a Final Fantasy in my GC, but it's been great. The amount of fun is directly inproportionate to your expectations. So just get it and have fun. Nitpicking is not your friend.

I haven't had a shot at multiplayer yet, but that will hopefully change tomorrow...

[XviviX]

Wow, this game is repeatative......

Wow, this game is repeatative......

Wow, this game is repeatative......

[Advent Child]

You mean repetitive. Criticizing something while making a mistake yourself looks pretty bad.

Anyways, now that I've played it, my view is that 4 players is great, but 1 player is lame. The interaction is what makes the game good.

[BatChao]

My opinion is that this game is most like a MMORPG but on a much smaller scale. If you think about it, most MMORPGs are just running around killing everything. It's incredibly boring until you party up with some cool people, then it because incredibley addicting and fun. Much like FF:CC. Except CC is a little different in the fact that instead of type chatting, you can just yell at your friends and if they do something stupid, you can reach over and smack them on the head. It's a great party game meant to be played in groups.

[Proxy]

i was KINDA disappointed with it. i don't have it, i played a friends.
i think it was fecking stupid to bring out an FF with such graphics, randomly to GameCube.
if they brought it for GC AND PS2...fine. the game itself is kinda weak, kinda fun. i dunno...its..different