Final Fantasy CC: The Crystal Bearers!

[marcel]

what really bothers me about the bad reviews is that they compare it to a JRPG, but you can clearly tell that its an action game with light rpg elements (more in the vain of zelda). And they give it a bad score because its not an RPG.

 

If you look at metacritic (summary site for reviews) you can see that out of 26 reviews there are:

 

5 reviewers scores the game 8.0 to 8.8

8 reviewers score the game 7.0 to 7.7

6 reviewers score the game 6.0 to 6.5

4 reviewers score the game 5.0 to 5.8

3 reviewers score the game 2.0 to 4.2

 

the funny thing is some of the lower score reviews are the ones complaining that its not a real FF game.

 

Not saying that the game doesnt have its flaws like the map system, but ultimatly if you like the crystal chronicles world you will like this game as long as your not expecting an epic final fantasy game than your good. And it lacks some polish. But so does disaster day of crisis and i really liked that game.

[daftada]

I loved the original FFCC for doing something completely different with the FF franchise, I think it still would have had criticism if it was just a standard JRPG. Shame Crystal Bearers is getting that kind of criticism, can't those reviewers just get over the fact it's not a traditional JRPG and review it on it's own merits??

[darksnowman]

Got an email from Game this morning saying my order was being processed then subsequently, a second one this avo to say my copy of Crystal Bearers has been sent!

[Hero-of-Time]

FFCC:TCB GET! ( what a title )

 

I will try and get a couple hours of play in before I shoot off to work.

[STOOPIDDITTIES]

I've been playing this for a fair few hours now and I have to say, I absolutely love it.

 

Maybe it's cos I haven't read anything into this and have avoided any possible spoilers, both story and gameplay-wise. Maybe it's because the mediocre reviews dampened my expectations. But I think it's more likely that I knew not to expect a traditional Final Fantasy and greeted an action-adventure game with Chocobos and Kupos with open arms.

 

I think the problem with many of the reviewers is that they expected something more of a stat-heavy experience. They've let their expectations cloud their vision from seeing how much of a great game this actually is.

 

On the other hand I think Square-Enix have shot themselves in the foot with the title. Putting the label of Final Fantasy on the box, they're just asking for people to be disappointed. I believed from the minute Crystal Chronicles was released on the Gamecube that it should have been a new franchise rather than relying on the FF brand to sell the games.

 

In conclusion I'd say, if you play this game, approach it with an open mind. Don't play it because it's Square-Enix, nor because you want an alterative to FFXIII. Play this because you want a fun, great adventure game on the Wii. Even if this doesn't turn out to be your cup of tea, it deserves to be given a fair chance.

[darksnowman]

Mine came in yesterday and I got some play time on it last night- an hour at most. I agree with the above sentiments because I think if you approach the Crystal Bearers with the right frame of mind (ie that you're getting something which is kinda wacky!) then it looks to be a very solid title.

[STOOPIDDITTIES]

"Thank you for playing!"

 

14 hours in total. I avoided most of the side quests as they just really didn't interest me. Aside from that I still agree with my post above. Great adventure game in the vein of Kingdom Hearts, if a little on the short side (especially considering how long it was in development :\). I loved all the characters. Keiss and Amedatelion being particular faves.

 

My one gripe would have to be the ending cutscene. I guess after all the awesome cutscenes throughout the game I expected the last one to completely amaze me. Which it didn't. It was good, but I felt the game deserved better.

[darksnowman]

14 hours in total. I avoided most of the side quests as they just really didn't interest me.

 

Good going. I'm around half way (I guess), its a good game for sure. I'm not sure about the sidequests either- I like me some sidequests, but in Crystal Bearers I've not really been enthralled by that aspect. I don't mind messing about as throwing baddies and objects around can be a fun diversion in itself.

 

When you finish the game do you get any options to play the "mini-games" on their own?

[STOOPIDDITTIES]

When you finish the game do you get any options to play the "mini-games" on their own?

 

It doesn't seem to allow you to do so from the menu no. Unless I'm completely blind.

 

Are there any actually worth playing a second time round though?

 

There was a football minigame which I saw in the trailers which looked semi-interesting. But I didn't come across it at all while playing.

[Hero-of-Time]

You can access them before and after you finish the game and alot of them are only worth playing if your after the achievements/medals.

 

Here's how you do it.

 

Once you get far enough in the game you have the ability to teleport to places. You also have the ability to replay those special moments (I don't consider them minigames)

 

To get one or the other you talk to either the moogle or Yuke near the pool.

 

Yuke (teleport)

Moogle (special moments)

 

Once you talked to the person who's ability you want, just lock on to the little pool and then a menu will come up to choose from a list.

 

[darksnowman]

It doesn't seem to allow you to do so from the menu no. Unless I'm completely blind.

 

Are there any actually worth playing a second time round though?

 

There was a football minigame which I saw in the trailers which looked semi-interesting. But I didn't come across it at all while playing.

 

I've been asked to join in with the Kickerbaul through mail invitation but I've not went looking for it yet. I liked the ballroom section, the nunchuk was a tad unresponsive for it, but I thought it was cool nonetheless.

 

You can access them before and after you finish the game and alot of them are only worth playing if your after the achievements/medals.

 

Here's how you do it.

 

Once you get far enough in the game you have the ability to teleport to places. You also have the ability to replay those special moments (I don't consider them minigames)

 

To get one or the other you talk to either the moogle or Yuke near the pool.

 

Yuke (teleport)

Moogle (special moments)

 

Once you talked to the person who's ability you want, just lock on to the little pool and then a menu will come up to choose from a list.

 

Yeah, I found the Moogle that allows you to do that in the game. I take it thats the only way then? I was hoping for some options on the main menu to open up. Ah well.

[darksnowman]

Finished with 12h 19 on the clock. That final battle likely took me the best part of an hour to get done. The one hit kills felt so unfair but thankfully after I eventually found a way to get past the second phase, I dealt with the third and fourth sections much more quickly! That battle with the machines in the Aerial Prison was another tough one- I pretty much fluked my way through it in the end.

 

On the whole it was a top game. The graphics, the controls, the style of the world... I've no complaints. I don't mind that its not a standard FF title because that, to me, is what the Crystal Chronicles offshoot is all about. I never quite warmed to the mechanical Yuke's before now but Amedatelion did a great job of winning me over. Sometimes the camera annoyed me but that was mainly when I was trying to manipulate it in tight spaces. I sometimes wished that I could talk to NPCs but that was usually only at times when I was lost- which did actually happen two or three times. Despite them all being mutes, the world felt really alive because everyone was so animated and lively- something you don't get with NPCs who are rooted to the spot waiting for you to talk to them.

 

I got about a quarter of the medals (I found King Leo!) and I barely touched the item stuff. I did buy a few things- including a design of the cat from Echoes of Time for the back of my coat- but I never felt a real need to get stuck into that side of things.

 

I agree with what STOOPIDDITTIES said about the ending cutscene. It did the job but considering how cinematic Crystal Bearers had been throughout, it was a tad underwhelming. Still, after all was said and done, the game thanked me for playing which made me smile.

 

I'd thoroughly recommend FF:CC:TCB to anyone who has played and enjoyed any of the previous FF:CC titles, as well as anyone looking for an adventure title with some Jedi powers to unleash. Reviewers must have expected this to be a mainline FF title which it was never aiming to be. As long as you aren't expecting "Fabula Nova Crystalis Bearers" you're in for a treat.

[marcel]

Im also at 75% of the game, and im sertainly enjoying it. For evryone that not sure if they like this game, If you like zelda + some minigames(QTE) and you dont mind long cutscenes (most of them are 10 minutes or something) and not expecting epicness like zelda or final fantasy in that matter go and buy this game.

 

And something that i need to say, for a game that has been in development for 4 years its pretty short and lacks polish and finetuning. Something inside tells me that a year ago Square trew the whole gameplay away and started from scretch, thats the only logical thing i can think of for a game being in development for 4 years now.

[STOOPIDDITTIES]

And something that i need to say, for a game that has been in development for 4 years its pretty short and lacks polish and finetuning. Something inside tells me that a year ago Square trew the whole gameplay away and started from scretch, thats the only logical thing i can think of for a game being in development for 4 years now.

 

Maybe S-E just didn't want to put as many resources into a Crystal Chronicles game as they would a main FF title? I doubt they started from scratch mid-way through development to be honest. We saw gameplay videos as development progressed so I think people would have noticed a sudden change.

[marcel]

Maybe S-E just didn't want to put as many resources into a Crystal Chronicles game as they would a main FF title? I doubt they started from scratch mid-way through development to be honest. We saw gameplay videos as development progressed so I think people would have noticed a sudden change.

 

The IGN team mentioned a view year ago that square enix wanted 1:1 sword movement, but the problem was wii motion plus was yet to be announced. So i think the game started out as pretty much a direct sequal to the first crystal chronicles, then they started from scratch and made it a little more mature. And if you look at the teaser trailer from the game (new style) you see different monsters, Layle still had telekynetic powers but maybe it was more of a action RPG with swords and magic combined with telekynesis. That would also explain why we didnt see anything for more than a year after the teaser.

 

I really hope that there not making DQ10 for wii like this, because that would be a shame. Crystal chronicles never was 100% rpg, dragonquest is. (and hopefully they ditch the turned based style for DQ10, they where planning that for DQ9 but fanboys cried. I dont see turned based really work with the wii controlls.)

 

Crystal bearers is not a bad game, but i think it was rushed out the door for christmas(in america). The game would really benefit from 0.5 to 1 year extra development time, and putting it next to FF13 was also not that smart.

 

But they did hit the nail on the graphics, this is what non-shovelware title should look like on wii thanks to the good artstyle, only downer is that it looks pretty jaggy on a hdtv.

Edited February 13, 2010 by marcel

[daftada]

Completed it this evening with 10:47 on the clock. I was really impressed by the end, fantastic graphics and soundtrack and once I got my head around the controls battling was pretty fun too. Just wish you had a bit longer to complete each of the miasma battle areas - always got down to one or two monsters and the bloody things disappeared on me!

[nekunando]

I played darksnowman's copy briefly a couple of weeks ago to see what it was like..

 

Although I didn't really play it for long enough to get a proper feel for it, I've only just watched a review of it on GameTrailers and I rather like what I see I suspect I will pick it up at some stage in the coming months, but often I feel like I am several months (if not years ) behind everyone by the time I work my way round to playing some games

[STOOPIDDITTIES]

I played darksnowman's copy briefly a couple of weeks ago to see what it was like..

 

Although I didn't really play it for long enough to get a proper feel for it, I've only just watched a review of it on GameTrailers and I rather like what I see I suspect I will pick it up at some stage in the coming months, but often I feel like I am several months (if not years ) behind everyone by the time I work my way round to playing some games

 

That's the only way to do it! I've still got my copies of Skies of Arcadia, Dark Chronicle and Tales of Symphonia untouched. Those alone could last me a lifetime.

[nekunando]

That's the only way to do it! I've still got my copies of Skies of Arcadia, Dark Chronicle and Tales of Symphonia untouched. Those alone could last me a lifetime.

 

I'm about 8 hours into Skies of Arcadia (barely scratching the surface ) and haven't started Tales of Symphonia either To think about everything else can just feel too overwhelming

 

I almost welcome games like The Crystal Bearers being short

[Tales]

I had no idea this game was out. I thought it was cancelled!

 

Found it in Game today when I randomly searched the shelves for anything interesting. Got it for the super low price of 18 pounds(like you find games for 10 pounds in the UK)

[yesteryeargames]

just found it for £7.95 http://www.zavvi.com/games/platforms/nintendo-wii/final-fantasy-crystal-chronicles-the-crystal-bearers/10072227.html

 

is it worth it ?

[nekunando]

just found it for £7.95 http://www.zavvi.com/games/platforms/nintendo-wii/final-fantasy-crystal-chronicles-the-crystal-bearers/10072227.html

 

is it worth it ?

 

Definitely Go for it

 

I've only played the game for about 3 hours before I kinda got distracted by other things.. but what I have played of it, I have enjoyed I plan on getting back to it in the near future..

[Tales]

10 hours? 12 hours? I'm six hours in and only got 16% of the medals. Pretty good so far. The map is annoying(spent an hour going in the wrong direction) and I would like to have some quick way to check the medal I got as I don't know why I got them half the time. I like the story, it's quite good with some funny moments here and there. Overall I'm very happy with the purchase, don't know if I will go for 100% but I will certaintly give it a try.

[darksnowman]

I don't think you can get 100% your first time through. Could be wrong.

[Tales]

Finished the game yesterday after 17 hours and about 45ish% of the medals. It was shorter than I expected, but I enjoyed, definitively worth what I paid for it. I bought the guide(since there aren't any decent on Gamefaqs) and going to use it for my second playthrough, where I will at least try to get 90% of the medals.