More GAF impressions:

Nintendo Power review:

Overall rating: 8.0

Excerpts:

"...though the game stumbles at times, the overall experience is wholly original and, more importantly, a lot of fun."

"...there are more inventive ways to deal with foes or pit them against each other...pulling down an Iron Giant's visor before it fires laser beams to make it self destruct...replacing a skelton's cranium with a dog bone will incite wolves to chase it."

"...It took me about 18 hours to beat the game while earning little more than half of the 330 medals, but you could probably blast through the main quest in 6 or 7 hours if you were so inclined."

They praise the graphics (saying they are the best on the console), music, and a few of the main quest set pieces (noting that its fast paced). Also that the side quests, while fun, would've been alot better if the ideas were incorporated into the main quest.

"You'll get the most out of the game if you go into it with an experimental spirit".

NWReport impressions:

Square Enix's latest Wii title borrows elements from Final Fantasy, Zelda, and Kingdom Hearts.

Some retailers were selling Square Enix's Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers well ahead of its announced release date of December 26, and I was fortunate enough to pick up a copy. After sitting down with the game for about two hours, I've been very impressed.

First off, Crystal Bearers looks beautiful. It's far and away one of the best looking games on Wii. The environments are lovely and the characters are well-designed. Also, the accompanying music is different from anything I've experienced in a Final Fantasy game. It's jazzy in places, and is varied so far.

The gameplay, when it happens, is fun, though it could benefit from a little bit more complexity, which I hope is on its way as I work my way through the game. Right now, there are battles during which I run around and use my character's telekinesis to pick up and throw enemies, or throw items at enemies. I can see this getting crazy in later levels, but right now it's getting a bit repetitious. However, there hasn't been a large focus on it so far.

Much of the focus is on the story, which will probably appeal to fans of the Crystal Chronicles series. You play as a Clavat Crystal Bearer, who gets involved in a status quo-threatening series of events that result in crystals getting rejuvenated, and the three other Crystal Chronicles tribes are also getting involved. There's a lot of voice acting, and the story and characters are engaging enough to keep it interesting.

In addition to combat and the story, there is also a bit of exploration. It is a linear game so far, but there are a lot of side paths to wander down that reward you with treasure chests. You can also pick up materials that you can use to create new items that can be equipped on your hero to improve his stats in different ways. Occasionally you'll get thrust into a story event where the game seems to keep some sort of score, though I have no idea what effect this has on the game right now.

There are an abundance of medals that you can acquire by completing different achievements. While there doesn't seem to be a tangible reward for these, they're still fun to get. They remind me of the Super Smash Bros. Brawl challenges, especially since they're laid out on a similar grid and you'll get hints at how to unlock the medals related to the ones you have already completed.

At around the hour-and-a-half point I encountered a large boss. Since your character doesn't have any tangible weapons, you have to go around and find things to throw at the boss' weak points. The first boss wasn't anything more than a spectacular set piece, but I have a lot of faith that later bosses will feature tough puzzle-solving in order to figure out how to harm them.

The Crystal Bearers strikes me as Square Enix's attempt at a Zelda game. It's not a Zelda rip-off at all; it is still distinctly a Final Fantasy game, albeit one with no controllable party, no turn-based battles, no leveling up, etc. The boss fight reminded me a lot of some of the bigger boss fights in the Kingdom Hearts series.

The game is still somewhat enigmatic to me, and I'm interested to see where it's going. I can't yet tell if it is going to take a more Zelda-like approach, or if there will be more similarities to past Crystal Chronicles games or Kingdom Hearts. Either way, I'm hooked. The Crystal Bearers seems to be a great game that any fan of those three series, especially fans of all three, will enjoy.

Destructoid reviewsaid:

This was one of my most anticipated Wii games of 2009.

Silly me.

Anticipation is dumb. It almost always builds unrealistic expectations and leads to inevitable disappointment. The Crystal Bearers is no exception. It's disappointing. Not only that, but it's pleasantly surprising as well. Though The Crystal Bearers may not be the game that I want it to be, it is a game that I eventually grew to love.

What the hell am I talking about? Hit the jump to find out.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (Wii)
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix
Released: December 18, 2009
MSRP: $49.99

The Crystal Bearers is the first single-player-only action/adventure game to take place in the FFCC world. It's a world of multiple mythical races, Moogle mailmen, crystal-powered magic machines, and casual encounters with all manner of Final Fantasy monsters. This one takes place long after the last FFCC game, and one of the series (the Yukes) seems to have gone extinct in the meantime. You play as Layle, a crystal bearer. He's infused with the power of the crystals, which means he can levitate objects (including himself), and add his power to the many crystal-powered things in his world. This causes him to be feared and despised by most. It's under these conditions that he sets off to discover what happened to the Yukes, and the meaning of his own existence. Issues of racism, genocide, and the afterlife are all explored along the way.

Sounds heavy, right? Well, it's not. Crystal Bearers is extremely breezy. Its atmosphere and tone are reminiscent of a mid-'90s anime OVA, like Tenchi-Muyo or El Hazard. The Crystal Bearers allows you to enter a surreal, sweet, and exciting world where everyone is good-looking and even the worst of troubles aren't that bad. There are problems here, but they are generally big-boobed, lollipop-colored problems that will probably be solved sooner or later... or not. Whatever. You'll be having too much fun picking up stray cats and throwing them at defenseless Moogles to really care.

A lot of this carefree attitude comes from the combat system. Fighting enemies is often where a game gains its sense of urgency, danger, and excitement. The Crystal Bearers lacks all of the above. With the exception of boss fights, combat is largely optional. Every five to ten minutes, a portal appears in the sky and enemies (oftentimes Final Fantasy regulars like Toneberry, Flan, Bomb, and Goblin) arrive. Wait five to ten minutes, and they disappear. If you can beat them all before times runs out, you do get a reward, but you aren't punished if you let some live. This lack of punishment leads to a lack of consequence, which will be disappointing to fans of traditional 3D action games who thrive off doom and danger.

The combat may not be dangerous, but it is pretty entertaining in its own right. Being a psychic, you don't actually fight enemies with physical attacks. Instead, you either throw found objects (rocks, electric guitars, other enemies) at your foes, or stun them with your telekinetic powers, then pick them up and toss them around. All this is done with the Wii's pointer controls. Being able to affect the world around you so drastically without physically engaging can make you feel like a god (a little white dog-shaper god, to be exact), but it does make even the toughest battles feel a little one-sided. The weird thing is, the point of The Crystal Bearers battles isn't conflict, it's discovery. There are so many different ways to interact with enemies (violent or not), that discovering them all ends up being more fun than actually killing them. Grab two giant beetles and toss them together and see them turn into a giant insecticide pinball. Toss the ball around the battlefield and smile at the devastation you've caused.

That's called an interaction, and the game has tons of them. It keeps track of them, like Achievements. It's hard to know for sure when you're going to hit upon one, but if the creatures you're dealing with have a heart or another emoticon above their head, then you might be on to something. Finding the King from Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King is one. Grabbing an electric guitar and telekinetically jamming your enemies to death is another. Ripping the machine gun off a giant robot and then shooting him with it is yet another. I know there is one involving cow poop, but I can't remember what it is.

I'm not going to try and name them all, but trust me, there are a lot.

Interactions are a part of non-combat as well. In fact, the only difference between interacting with enemies and non-enemy NPCs in The Crystal Bearers is that your health bar disappears when you aren't in combat, and non-enemy NPCs don't have health, either. See an old lady in town? Pick her up with your powers and toss her around, then grab her money just like she was a common foe. No moral repercussions here, but that doesn't mean that she won't get pissed at you and tackle you for what you've done, taking your money in return.

One of my favorite experiences with NPC hostilities in The Crystal Bearers happened about 3 hours into the game when I was at the beach. I knocked over a fruit stand, and all the bikini girls went berserk. Everywhere I went, they chased me, and tried to kick my ass. I had at least six of them on my tail at one point, and they were totally relentless, following me even after I swam off into the ocean. This type of tomfoolery feels a bit like the mischief found in Noby Noby Boy or The Sims, but it's stranger given the Final Fantasy context. You can even ride a chocobo indoors. Madness!

Speaking of the context, The Crystal Bearers takes place in a relatively large, inclusive world. If someone were to measure the game in virtual square feet, I don't think it would turn out to be quite as big as Twilight Princess, but it's close. Beautiful, blissful environments are everywhere. There is an underground pirate cove, a blooming cherry tree forest, a picturesque vineyard (and wine cellar); so many storybook, serene settings. Most environments are outdoors, which lend the game a Shadow of the Colossus/Wind Waker natural sandbox feel. Urban areas are included, too, but they tend to tend to be smaller, and are more notable for the crystal powered-technology they harbor. Of course, Airships are a part of the scene, but I actually had more fun with the train system this time around.

Periods of wandering this vast world and using your powers to cause trouble and kick ass are punctuated by boss fights, showpieces and mini-games. It's a strange mix; you'll be battling Bahamut one minute, and assisting in a butt-bumping beach sumo match the next. I'd have preferred that the boss fights outnumber these sorts of light-hearted interludes. The bike chasing and snowboarding bits in Final Fantasy VII were fun, but just imagine if stuff like that happened more often than boss battles. It's hard to imagine that the game would have become a classic. I fear that The Crystal Chronicles will suffer the same fate. There is just a little too much fluff here for some gamers to take the title seriously.

Fluff may be a problem, but it sure is shiny fluff. The Crystal Chronicles doesn't suffer from any lack of polish. The controls are great, the graphics are pretty, and the music is fantastic. The range of musical styles is exceptional. Bluegrass, classical, metal, and even Henry Mancini-sounding comedy jazz are all present. All fit the game extremely well, and keep the mood entertaining and light throughout.

The game is a little shorter than your average 3D action/adventure. I beat it in about 15 hours, but that was with a lot of messing around and taking my time. That said, I was nowhere near 100% completion the first time I beat the game. There is also a New Game+ option, which changes things up a bit. There aren't multiple endings that I know of, but there are new scenes that become available after you've beaten the game once, and you get to keep all your stuff, which is nice. With so many interactions to discover, customizable clothes to make, and items to farm, I couldn't help but jump right back into the game after I beat it. The Crystal Bearers is a game that I could see myself replaying at least a few times, if it weren't for the fact that I have a job that requires me to buy new games almost every week.

So why won't the game be considered a new classic? I think it's because The Crystal Bearers has just as much in common with light, silly, 3D exploration comedies like Chibi Robo as it does epic, combat-oriented favorites like Twilight Princess. Sadly, that's what I really wanted from the game: Twilight Princess's action, size, and scope with a telekinetic twist in a Final Fantasy setting. That's not what I got. Instead, The Crystal Bearers gives me something the likes of which I've never played before, and in the end, I think it can stand proudly along side other risky, underappreciated Squaresoft classics like Brave Fencer Musashi and Tobal 2. Ask someone to buy it for you for Christmas/Hannukah/whatever, or pick it up used down the line. Just don't write it off as nothing special.

For better or worse, The Crystal Chronicles is definitely special.

(Oh, and I almost forgot, the game has a screenshot grabbing tool as well. All the images for this review were obtained using the tool.)

1up review:

Unless you've been reading the previews, you might be surprised to learn that Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers abandons the multiplayer, role-playing game trappings of the previous Crystal Chronicles games for a single-player adventure. Interspersed within all the action you'll find lots of motion-sensing minigames and a wide-open world to explore. Those frequent bright spots keep the game from dragging too much, because the tedious combat and lack of direction can quickly sap your desire to keep playing.

Similar to the first Kingdom Hearts, another of Square's popular action titles, the camera in Crystal Bearers is horribly unresponsive. It's easy to center the camera behind the main protagonist, Layle, and see where you're going. But when the game throws a platforming section at you or pits you against an oversized enemy, you're at a distinct disadvantage. Unlike similar Wii titles, pointing your cursor at the edge of the screen doesn't move the camera at all, even in first-person view -- you have to use the Wii Remote's D-pad. And when you're simultaneously running around while dodging enemies or environmental obstacles, trying to focus on a boss's weak point, and grabbing items to throw, camera control becomes unintuitive and overly complicated.

Click the image above to check out all Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers screens.

You're rarely penalized for dying though, and you hit auto-save points frequently. During some boss battles, your foe even retains the damage you've already inflicted if you die before finishing him off. Overall, Crystal Bearers doesn't throw much challenge at you, but it does toss in varied minigames to keep everything moving forward. Right at the beginning, you have to shoot at enemies while falling through the sky, and soon after that, you have to avoid pursuers in a high-speed cart race. You can't fail these sequences, and you're given a score at the end. However, doing better doesn't earn you anything, except the chance to go back and try again for a better result later in the game.

But there wouldn't be much reason to collect prizes even if you could. Different pieces of equipable jewelry you find throughout the game increase some of you abilities' powers, but actual combat plays such a small part in the game that farming for materials to make better equipment is never necessary. You can run past almost every enemy you encounter in the field, and the bosses tend to have exploitable weak points that make fighting them a battle of skill (and tricky camera manipulation) rather than overpowering might. You don't even earn new weapons or abilities; Layle's only power is picking heavy things up and throwing them around. It doesn't make any sense that picking up a few guards and tossing them across a hallway barely elicits any kind of response from the thrown or nearby onlookers, but the mechanic itself works well -- as long as you stay out of harm's way, you probably won't even miss not having an over-sized sword or ultra-powerful fire spell.

Things start out with a lot of excitement, action-wise, even if the eye-rollingly terrible dialogue and delivery make it hard to listen to. But I had no idea what anything meant, or why my character was getting roped into this crazy, crystal-collecting situation. But once I got the different factions memorized, and learned who was who, the whole predictable "stop an evil tyrant from destroying the world" became a lot more understandable. Unfortunately, just when the game starts to make sense, it drags things out with unclear objectives and lots of overworld walking.

The game's map is completely useless: The overworld is a giant picture that doesn't give you any assistance in figuring out how to get from one zone to the next, and the minimap you have when exploring on foot only shows red dots where your enemies are. That's it. It's even more nonsensical when characters give you directions like, "Go south to reach the cave entrance," since there's no way to determine which way is "south" in the game. Infrequent road signs can help point you in the right direction -- though they're not always labeled with the destinations you need (it took me forever to find the entrance to the Subterranean Ruins), and you can't check those signs if you're riding the game's Chocobo mount. To add insult to injury, if you get off the Chocobo to check a sign, he runs away! So you have to choose between wasting time by possibly going the wrong way, or choosing to dismount, and making the rest of your journey slow and on foot. You open up warp points and train routes much later in the game, but even they put you far enough away from your destination to make the journey feel equally tedious.

Click the image above to check out all Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers screens.

But all that walking lets you enjoy the beautiful scenery. Decked out with wide, sweeping areas, intricate details on every characters' costume, and huge, badass enemies (including one of the best looking 3D Bahamuts I've seen yet), Crystal Bearers is a good-looking Wii game. But those beautiful details make it all the more jarring when, every time you open a chest, flat, low-resolution money pops out. It looks like an item from an N64 game tossed in on accident. But pretty graphics don't matter much when the game is so frustrating to get through. And it's hard to take Layle's brash, Han Solo-like personality seriously when he looks more like a 14-year old than an experienced adventurer. In this game's world, if people aren't grizzled and old, they're eternally pre-pubescent.

If Square had kept the fast-paced, action-oriented feeling of the few opening hours throughout, this would have been at least a fun, quick romp through a weird story. But dragging the game out with endless fetch quests and terrible combat makes getting to the end more of a chore than anything. In-game achievements and plenty of sidequests give you something to work towards, even when you're wandering around lost. But without any worthwhile rewards, even they feel unnecessary. If you're looking for some pretty Final Fantasy fan service, replete with Cactaurs, Moogles, and flying Nus, then you'll be able to appreciate the game's great art and creature designs. But Square still has a lot to learn about making a Final Fantasy game that's not an RPG.

C-

Zentendo reviewsaid:

"Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles" on the Wii has had a long road. First announced by President of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, in 2005 as an online title, it has since undergone a serious revision into a single player adventure. Rather then play like any previous "Crystal Chronicle" title, "The Crystal Bearers" blazes its own new trail for both the series and Square Enix.



If there is one thing Square Enix knows how to do, it is match art direction with technical prowess. "The Crystal Bearers" is not any different. The title features an abundance of color, detailed character models, as well as the usual effects and touches common throughout all factions of the series. "The Crystal Bearers" is a bit different in regards that it is both an entirely 3D world, but also features full camera control. This is a welcome addition as it really helps solidify the title as a true adventure game, and not a linear experience with carefully orchestrated set pieces. To be fair, not every area of the game looks great. However, even the less impressive locations at least look passable.



"The Crystal Bearers" has the most diverse soundtrack of any Square Enix game to date. Throughout the course of the title the music will range from the usual ambient tracks to country, rock, tropical, and even big band music reminiscent of the 1920's and 30's. For some this might be a bit jarring, as it being so spread out might make it seem inconsistent. Personally I enjoyed the diversity as it really fits well with the more energetic and spirited tone of the game.



At its core, "The Crystal Bearers" is an action-adventure game where you assume the role of a super hero for hire with the power of telekinesis. Almost everything you do in the game is done in some relation to the use of your super powers. A lot of situations are unique events very similar in style to the Nintendo title "Disaster: Day of Crisis". There has been a lot of labeling these events as mini games, when in truth that is a bit misleading. They are story driven parts of the game that are more like an expanded quick time event. Imagine the snowboarding sequence from "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" and you should have a better idea. Both the beginning and end of the game are within a unique event. When your not involved in a action sequence, your free to roam around the games open world environment. Most of the entire land is inner-connected meaning you could realistically travel on foot across the whole map. There is a train you can take, as well as Chocobos to ride. Despite being an action-adventure, very little of the game outside of context sensitive action scenes is devoted to actual combat. The game is built around the idea of experimenting with your super powers rather then slaying everything in your path. In each major open area of the world there is a group of enemies. Similar to a day and night cycle, the enemies will vanish or reappear out of miasma streams in the sky. If you defeat all enemies in a given area before day cycle changes, you can close the stream for good. Combat is entirely focused on your ability to grab and throw objects like a fantasy styled Jedi. To do this you point at an object until you have locked onto it with the remote and then yank it in one of four directions. The most preferable option is to pull the object up and have it hover over your head, once you have done that you can simply point at anything else and throw with a press of the B trigger. A good example of how this can work is to grab a classic Final Fantasy enemy called a "bomb" and then throw it at a pack of goblins and watch the ensuing explosion. Much of the game is built around this concept of experimenting with enemies and objects and how they react with each other. Take the head of a skeleton warrior and throw it to a pack of wolves which will then keep both enemy types scrambling away from you. Throw water on a Cactuar and watch it grow uncontrollably. If you enter into the game with a desire to explore and really mess around with the game world then your going have a great experience.

Obviously most of the appeal of "Final Fantasy" is the story. Previous games in the "Crystal Chronicles" series have had their stories as more of a background rather then a focus point. "The Crystal Bearers" is the most story heavy game to date. This is obviously more easily accomplished being a single player adventure, but it is still nice to see more attention paid to the overall Crystal Chronicles universe. The title takes place long after the first title on Gamecube, the Lilties have somehow become the dominant tribe of the world and have driven the Yukes to extinction, The Clavet and Selkie tribes are doing reasonably well, but fall far behind the Lilty in wealth and power. Magic has been outlawed and is a forgotten art. Those that can wield magic are called Crystal Bearers and are considered cursed. The plot is highly reminiscent of "X-men" in its nature. Each Crystal Bearer has a unique superpower, while most of the world fears and mistrusts them.  Naturally you play as a Crystal Bearer with the powers of Telekinesis, which makes most of the world somewhat fearful of you. Rather then fall into their endless cycle of emotionally scarred angst ridden youths, The main character Layle is a complete departure. He is brash, cocky, and has a devil-may-care attitude about mostly everything he comes across. He is instantly likable, as is most of the supporting cast, though a certain Selkie girl is a bit of a bitch. The English dub is adequate, but if you watch many animes dubbed, your going to be real familiar with the voice cast. The story itself is told well, and in a very streamlined fashion. Because of the nature of the title all the grinding and padding is stripped away, leaving you to experience the main story as fast or as slow as you want. If you do want to just rush through the game, don't expect to much time till the end credits. The main story takes less then ten hours to go through. Don't let that be to much of a discouragement, as there is a lot of other content to the title. One of the greatest strengths of the game is how its not afraid to have fun with itself. You may be randomly walking up a hill to see an avalanche of oversized pumpkins falling down with a girl rapidly trying to stay on top of one. Lifting a cow over your shoulder results in a shoulder mounted milk machine gun shooting from its udders. It definitely has its heavy moments, but for once Square Enix put some honest to goodness humor in a game. The cocky optimism of the main character, combined with its energetic soundtrack and mostly lighter tone really help to give the game a soul in comparison to the overly dramatic soap opera mannequins of many other games. While the waggle mechanics are not always perfect, and you probably will still wish you could do more then just grab and throw, this is still one of the best new Square Enix games in a long time. This is a direction Square Enix needs to go in, it would be a real shame if this title ends up being the last of its kind.

Final Verdict - 8/10
One of the most refreshing and innovative Square Enix games in many years. While it doesn't do everything perfect, its attempts at branching out are admirable. Its cast of characters and lighter tone help make this game stand out from the rest of the pack and its experimental nature encourage replayability. A great addition to the Wii library.

I haven't played since the last time I (complained) posted...

...but I am starting to get the impression that reviewers are being exceptionally generous with review scores, trying to NOT discourage Squenix from developing games on Nintendo's platforms.

I think they are thinking if FFCC: CB does well, we'll see more of the Major Series on the Wii.

Just a guess.

Yeah, I know about the low end of the spectrum, but the high scores... not justified... there's difference of opinion, but there's REALLY no reason why this game should get above a 7. This is just barely an average game. If it didn't have Final Fantasy in the title, 5's would most likely be the norm right now.

It would have to do something RADICALLY different from what I have seen so far for me to trust ANY positive review.

You'll have to trust me on this one 'til you get a chance to play it.

I could be wrong, BUT...