TGS hands-on: Final Fantasy Ring of Fates multiplayer
by Jem Alexander 
{ Sep 30th 2007 at 9:30PM }
The franchise has survived, however, and has moved onto the Nintendo DS in the form of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates. We took advantage of the strangely short line (the game being out in Japan might have something to do with it) and played a 4-player multiplayer game with the Square Enix booth attendants.
Multiplayer seems to consist of co-operative dungeon crawler, with no sign of story or non-battle gameplay. Players can choose their character class, which affects their base attack style. Magic can be used by all players by picking up giant materia orbs, just like in the original. The action all takes place on the top screen while the bottom screen contains your stats. The bottom screen also shows how many of each materia you have and allows you to change between the different magics by tapping the desired orb on the screen.
Graphics are cutesy and resemble Final Fantasy III and IV very closely. Black and White mages have a very strange look to them - they appear lanky and ill-proportioned compared to other classes. Movement is very free, with the ability to jump all over the terrain easily. If you can't reach a ledge, however, your friends can always pick you up and throw you (as one Square Enix booth attendant loved doing to us) to where you want to go. In fact, you will never have to wait for a friend again as, if they're being particularly tardy, you can always grab them and take them with you.
Sadly, the game felt very shallow. The size of the levels and the lack of variety in your actions makes it feel quite restrictive. Other than defeating wave after wave of enemies, there's little else to do. We're hoping that the single player mode will be a little bit more exciting but, judging from the Gamecube version, that's not likely going to be the case. If there is an online mode for multiplayer, that might lure us back.
Overall, the game has some single player potential, but what we played of multiplayer was sadly lackluster. We look forward to playing it more - and in English - at a later date.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
StrangeBum @ Sep 30th 2007 9:40PM
Kupo! Couldn't resist.
I don't understand, Square started off with the series on Nintendo systems, giving them the best of what they had..and now they give them this. Crystal Chronicles...lame..
Funny story though, about 7 years ago I started a short story titled Crystal Chronicles, a sort of parody to Final Fantasy, and then a few years after that, they released the first game on GCN...weird..
Night Elve @ Sep 30th 2007 11:44PM
Well maybe has something to do with the fact that SONY is the third major Square Enix Shareholder.
Link: http://www.square-enix.com/jp/ir/e/stock/stockholder/
rivaldi22 @ Sep 30th 2007 10:05PM
I think Wi-Fi is a very important part of making this game worthwhile.
My biggest problem with the first was that I rarely had the opportunity to have 3 friends and 4 GBAs in one place at the same time.
Same thing with Four Swords Adventures.
mr nimblewick (SegaDF - Jogurt Ring) @ Sep 30th 2007 10:31PM
And if it were online multiplayer, I'd get it right away. I don't know anyone who lives around me with DS.
Kyle @ Oct 1st 2007 12:46AM
i have several gamer friends that live pretty close to me and it's still next to impossible to get together to play with work, school, families etc.
online co op is the only way to go
ThornedVenom @ Sep 30th 2007 10:12PM
They DID promise us a more developed single player experience compared to the Gamecube's. We'll see then.
ttr @ Sep 30th 2007 10:12PM
Worse case scenario: it's a 3D version of Children of Mana.
From the sounds of things, this might be the case. Hopefully there'll be more variety to it. I kind of enjoyed the GC FFCC, but my friends hated it and found it really boring.
RedPhaazoid @ Sep 30th 2007 10:57PM
I can't bring myself to believe it's going to be anything but fun. Maybe I'm just too optimistic.
I loved the Gamecube version, and I can't see how this won't at least be good menial fun for a little while. Crossing my fingers..
Brandon @ Sep 30th 2007 11:42PM
I found Crystal Chronicles a bit frustrating, having to deal with the circle all the time. The DS would seem to be a good match for the series, since the touch screen would be good to control and manage the group.
CaptainAmericaX @ Oct 1st 2007 1:17AM
Joystiq's Pro-Bono work for sony inc continues...
Will there be an article on any Nintendo game at the TGS that isn't critiized by a ps3fanboy writer?
BlackTye @ Oct 1st 2007 2:43AM
Was I the only one who liked Crystal Chronicles?
It's the sort of game you really need to play without bias or prejudging.
hydralisk456 @ Oct 1st 2007 6:58AM
I loved it, great game, and it looked pretty damn good as well.
Nutchos @ Oct 1st 2007 3:19AM
I really liked crystal chronicles. Played it with my bros, even though i had to (very)reluctantly buy a gba (they had 1 ea).
It was the co-op that made it fun. You had someone on bucket duty, someone had the map, etc and each of us would screw with the others (the guy with the bucket running away lol).
*orchiclum drops*
MINE!!!!
Tamyu @ Oct 1st 2007 8:04AM
I love this game. Play it with my husband all the time. A great cooperative dungeon action game.
By the way, they aren`t "classes" - they`re *races*, all with different traits. Of course some races are more suited for certain tasks than others. There are no actual classes, but you can change your stats significantly via your equipment.
Crono (NDF - French Taunting from Holy Grail Ring) @ Oct 1st 2007 9:51AM
yeah, I dunno what the deal is with joystiq sending all there psp fanboys to review nintendo games.
Maybe they're trying not be be so pro-nintendo biased, but all they end up doing is ruining their credibility. If the guy says it sucks, and then we find out he's in sony's pocket, can we really even trust what he has to say about the game?
Even more so when there are conflicting reports of the exact same game from other bloggers?
C'mon joystiq. The first rule of journalism (and writing in general) is write for your audience. This guy is writing for the "DS sucks anyway" audience, which isn't the majority of Joystiq visitors.
Write for your audience Joystiq. Unless all you're trying to do is generate more hits, in which case you're just a bunch of sell-outs.
LeChuck @ Oct 1st 2007 12:57PM
I guess the people hoping for wifi multiplayer haven't been following this game. They announced a while ago that wifi multiplayer, which was the main reason I was interested in this game at first, was scrapped. Instead the only wifi functionality is trading customizable moogles. :( At least it's kind of a step up from sending letters in FF3.
ballchineun @ Nov 29th 2007 12:50PM
i think crystal chronicals was the best final fantasy and does any one know if this game comes out in england because ive only seen limited edition which is 229 pounds but that comes with ds and i already have one