Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers - "B) - The Game"

[MATGSY]

NA release date has been announced: GoNintendo - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers officially set for release on December 26th

[Shamdeo]

crystal citadel ◆: More Crystal Bearers gameplay videos

[Silh]

Amazon.com: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers: Nintendo Wii: Video Games

preorder bonus: 2010 cb calendar

sort of want

but i'm not about to spend 45 bucks for 15 hours of gameplay

dilemmas

[Shamdeo]

WEEEE WEEEREENNNNT BOOOOORNNN TOOO FOLLLLOOWWW

[Lanydx reborn]

This has made my X-Mas list. I'm so want this.

[Fagren]

I'm getting this game.Chocobo Racing makes a comeback.

[Shamdeo]

makin musics at square-enix

[Max/souleater]

Okay, that makes 3 games currently for my wii-gamestobuy list. its been ages since ive bought a new wiii game...

[Lissar]

Because I'm playing it right now and it has a camera feature:

mushinoko: Crystal Bearers: The Photo Journal

[Fagren]

This game is shorter than No More Heroes, but offers a lot more Replay Value.Although 50 bucks isn't worth it.I won't make it in time for the preorder bonus discount so I'm looking at waiting for a 20-30 dollar price drop.

[Lissar]

Yeah I'd definitely say no to paying full price for this game. It's fun so long as you can avoid running into the story sequences truly horrible movies with mini-game inserts) which is what I've been trying to do most of the time, but the controls are pretty awful. I don't remember the last time a game frustrated me so much. Otherwise, it's kind of like KH + Radiata Stories + Wii gimick. It has nice visual design and good music. It's worth a used purchase at least.

[Lanydx reborn]

Can't wait for Xmas and the 26th so I can get this.

[Lissar]

mushinoko: In which Lissar talks more about Crystal Bearers. Sorry guys...

Tons more screencaps. All spoiler stuff was put under Cut-scene and Ending, so if you want to look without spoiling yourself you can. This game is so awesome just for the exploration aspect! If you really enjoy games that have that then it's worth the full price I think.

[Forever Atlas]

Totally forgot this game is coming out in about two weeks. I think I may pass up on this one, although it may give me something to play until the PS3 lineup of 2010.

[Silh]

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
Square Enix spins off in a bad direction

And you thought Dirge of Cerberus was stupid! The Crystal Bearers is the worst game I have played that bears the once sacred Final Fantasy name. Despite the series' reputation, don't believe for a second there is anything remotely role-playing about Crystal Bearers; it is a generic action game through and through, with a few Final Fantasy monsters tossed in to lure unsuspecting fans.

I had high hopes going into this game. I wasn't a big fan of the previous Crystal Chronicles entries, but I thought that moving away from the co-op centered gameplay toward a single-player, story-driven experience would put Crystal Bearers in territory where Square Enix has more expertise. Instead, players get a mishmash of awful mechanics delivered alongside a predictable and obvious story.

The worst of it comes in combat, where players are tasked with targeting objects and enemies and flinging them around using telekinetic powers. Thanks to the imprecision in registering motions, you can never count on your actions being interpreted properly. When I managed to grab a rock and throw it at the enemy I intended, it felt more like luck than skill. Rather than wrestle with this problem, the development team just decided to make everything painfully easy, removing the challenge altogether. This also holds true during occasional minigame breaks, where you do things like fly airships and surf down tunnels. You can't fail these events, but the game keeps track of your times so you can (ugh) go back and try to beat your score.

I wish I could say the story makes the suffering worthwhile, but that would be a dirty lie. After a cool introductory sequence, things go downhill immediately. Players will have the whole plot figured out light years before the moronic main character, and every member of the supporting cast got on my nerves. The dialogue is particularly heinous, with stilted and wooden exchanges that make you wince every time anyone opens their mouth.

To its credit, Crystal Bearers hits its target graphical style dead on, with cool character designs and a world that fuses fantasy and technology in visually interesting ways. Unfortunately, you would actually have to play the game to enjoy the art, and that is just something I can't recommend to anyone. » Joe Juba

» Score
5.5

» Concept
Put the final nail in the Crystal Chronicles coffin (I hope)

» Graphics
Environmental textures are bland and repetitive, but the characters are some of the best looking things you'll see on the Wii

» Sound
I can't blame the voice actors for the terrible delivery. No one could make dialogue this bad sound good

» Playability
Some sequences are less aggravating than others, but nothing actually controls well

» Entertainment
The only fun I had was terrorizing townspeople with my powers. That gets old after a few minutes, leaving you with nothing

» Replayability
Low