When we review a game without finishing it, we call it a Snap Judgment. Read why here.
Time played: 10 hours
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers is a game with seemingly no built-in audience. There aren't any Final Fantasy fans, that I can imagine, who love the series but hate all that role-playing and complexity, and there's likely a very small portion of the fanbase that love the Crystal Chronicles universe, but hate multiplayer.
Because of that, because of the current climate for third-party Wii games, and because of the sizeable budget and long development time that went into this project, Crystal Bearers is a bold experiment that's unlikely to be repeated. Which is a shame, because I've really enjoyed what I've played so far, and I feel like some small tweaks in a sequel could make a truly great game out of what is currently an interesting, flawed (and very, very strange) game.
Despite being such a departure from Final Fantasy and Crystal Chronicles past, it's pretty simple to understand. Layle is a "crystal bearer," one of a small number of superpowered individuals in the Crystal Chronicles universe. His ability is a sort of telekinesis, through which he can grab objects, people, and even himself in a glowing energy field. His fighting style relies entirely on this skill -- whereas, in an RPG-style Final Fantasy, you'd have some kind of turn-based attack system using magic spells and different weapons, in this you pick up things (including enemies) and throw them at stuff. Sometimes the things you pick up have certain effects: captured enemies will fire whatever projectile they use in the direction you point, or a robotic enemy's shield generator will put a shield around you, etc.
Layle also uses this skill to grab onto faraway objects and pull himself toward them, and to interact with the world in general. The fact that you can now grab and toss everyone around makes towns endlessly entertaining! People just kind of get up and shake it off when you throw them off the side of a bridge. This part of the game is broken up by frequent minigame-like events, exciting (and scored) sequences in which Layle must pilot an airship, escape on chocobo-back, and other unique actions using motion controls.
Like other Final Fantasy games, Crystal Bearers relies heavily on cutscenes to tell its story. But the story, to me, is a lot more tolerable than usual. Layle is totally non-whiny, confident in his abilities, and even aggressive to the point of dropping a huge rock on a perceived enemy during a confrontation. To provide further depth to the setting, a scrolling Headline News-ish display at the bottom of the screen constantly provides information about not only gameplay, but background about the location and its inhabitants -- a remarkably idiosyncratic way to flesh out the world. In addition, you can read newspapers (grabbed out of people's hands) and a newsletter about indigenous monsters.
While the story is worthwhile and the basic gameplay is fun, there are some potential issues that get in the way to varying degrees. First, it's kind of shallow. While, as someone who loves beat-em-ups, I enjoy the simplicity of the system, rendering it totally not a problem for me ... I know it's going to seem repetitive and oversimplistic to many, especially those expecting more RPG elements. You really do just pick stuff up and throw it at other stuff. Occasionally it'll result in a "reaction," a unique result of your attack that gives you an Achievement-like "award" -- for example, throwing a beetle creature at another will stick them together and create a giant bowling ball thing. But it's pretty far from any kind of strategy.
Second, there is basically no map. The game is really nowhere near as open-world as Square Enix made it out to be, with various large fields between a few towns and other important locations. The result is an odd hybrid of linearity and sandbox design wherein you basically get lost on the way from one objective to the other. And the only map in the game is a large world map that only shows which region you're in. Had Square Enix included a sufficient map, the game would have been infinitely more playable.
Even more troubling is the difficulty curve, which is less a curve than a sheer rock face. For hours, enemies will be minor nuisances, only to suddenly become able to kill you in a single hit after a certain point. It's possible to grind somewhat for HP, but not to any helpful extent. This is one reason why this is a Snap Judgment and not a full review: I came across a boss that I couldn't defeat, and just set the game down after about thirty tries.
Which is a shame, because during the good parts -- essentially, when it was at its most linear, and sending me from fight to fight with minigames interspersed -- it was absolutely thrilling.
Editors' note: This review is based on the Wii retail version of the game provided by Square-Enix.
