Yodariquo said:This means nothing coming from the outlet that gave Final Fantasy XII 40/40
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/08/famitsu-monster-hunter/
Shortly after they 40/40 Bayonetta and 9/9/9/9 FF Gaiden warriors.
Thinking about it, I guess you could call this a Zelda-ish game. There is an overworld and there are some secrets and some subquests and when you beat stuff you get a heart piece that gives you one more lifebar. It's like Zelda except instead of a dungeon you explore with puzzles it's a straightforward room -> room -> room sequence while doing chase sequence platforming or battling or sometimes a mini-game until you get to the boss fight. Speaking of boss fights, I've only done 1 but man does the camera suck at them. In the first boss you have to manually aim at the boss's heart, but the boss is BIG and the heart is above so you have to be moving the camera around with the d-pad and then pointing while moving around and not getting hit. I couldn't even see half the stuff the boss was doing because he was out of the screen using the auto-correct on the camera.
Game looks nice though. Some screens with the in-game camera (wish it would take them at a higher resolution and add AA like a lot of photomodes):
First boss:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...114_221159.jpg
Game is pretty funny and silly. People who take games too seriously will hate it, but so far it's the best game in the FF:CC series imo. It's kind of like FFX-2 except without the battle system/stats/dungeons and just the story/action/mini-games.
More GAF impressions.
Different guys:
Ive read some other impressions on another forum and the person who is playing says its a very awesome adventure zelda like, with a great hub world but with lots of minigames. He says the music is very good (some epic and some fun), the graphics are awesome, the gameplay is very fun, the battles are not repetitive (he tells that they are as repetitive as fighting in Zelda or battles in any FF) and the cities are big with lots of secrets.
He has only two gripes, the camera is sometimes bad (but doesnt brake the gamre) during platforming segments in dungeons and that there is some lag in the overworld when there are lots of things happening at the same time.
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Played 2 hours of the game. I don't have anything to add since Bebpo and kiryogi already already wrote it down. Let's just say that I had a really fun time with the game and that Layle is a really cool main character 
There are some pretty cool pics and impressions here.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=18546355&postcount=1689
And here:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=18549448&postcount=1700
SteelAttack said:Zelda like? I'm out.
But with no puzzles, so I guess its a pussified Zelda. So its pefect for you! 
gamingeek said:SteelAttack said:Zelda like? I'm out.But with no puzzles, so I guess its a pussified Zelda. So its pefect for you!
Then I'm back in again.
I just saw the new videos...it looks good!
Day one!
I wanted another Wii game for Christmas looks like this and Tatsunoko VS Capcom will be it!
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Now Playing: Golden Sun Dark Dawn, God of War Ghost of Sparta, and DKC Returns
IGN preview up
http://wii.ign.com/articles/104/1047985p1.html
The world of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles has changed a lot over the years, and one game has been caught up in it all since long before the launch of Nintendo's Wii console. Back when Wii was code-named Revolution, we got word that a new chapter in the Final Fantasy series would be coming to Nitnendo's console, and that the Crystal Chronicles name -- a series that had become synonymous with Nintendo and Final Fantasy -- would be hitting Nintendo's system at launch, or shortly thereafter. Then it was pushed to 2007. Then to 2008. It's now 2009, and after what has apparently been a huge overhaul of the game and a gigantic wait for die-hard fans, we've got the final version in our hands and are pushing through the game's gigantic world one hour at a time.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers is an almost entirely different game than anything you've played before within the Final Fantasy branding. Far from the classic turn-based gameplay and free-roaming battles like Final Fantasy XII, and even a sizable departure from the other Crystal Chronicles games, Crystal Bearers is a pure adventure title, mixing combat areas with an open world filled with huge locales. The core game is still linear in design, but with an emphasis on exploration, material gathering, and a huge focus on adaptive AI. Crystal Bearers is far more of an open world than players might expect.
And you thought boss fights were tough when you had weapons to use...
The story itself also goes in a new direction for the Crystal Chronicles series. Set 1,000 years after the original events of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Crystal Bearers tells the story of the world after the Great War. As you may or may not know, the Crystal Chronicles world is based off four tribes, including the Lilty, Clavat, Selkie, and Yuke, with each nation representing a different lifestyle and culture. The Lilty are scientists, the Clavat are a peace loving race that find harmony within the world, and the Selkie are renegade, nomadic wanderers that often find solace outside of the walls of a common city.
Then there's the Yuke tribe. Known for their adept magic skills and powerful sorcery, the Yuke have all but vanished from the land after the results of the Great War. Lilty and Yuke faced off, and amidst the storm of battle Yuke's crystal was destroyed. The Lilty took over as the dominant race, set up their own world where law, science, and order reign supreme, and the Yuke vanished from the planet.
The "Crystal Bearers" are a new and often-feared breed, mixed amongst the remaining tribes with a strange, divine power to harness energy and manipulate the world. They are feared by some and resented by others, and the reason for their birth is unknown. That's where Layle comes in. As the story's protagonist, Layle is a Crystal Bearer that works as a mercenary for the Lilty kingdom. During an escort mission for the maiden voyage of a luxury airship called the Alexis, a mysterious attack occurs and Layle is caught up in the middle of it. Out of nowhere emerges a Yuke -- now 1,000 years removed from history -- who steals the energy from the airship and escapes, leaving behind a mysterious stone known as the crystal marker. With little to go off of but the strange little gem, Layle begins a quest to find its origin, find the Yuke, and eventually exact revenge.
The information above is carried out within the first few minutes of the game and rather than spoil any of the story elements from there, I'll tough on a few of the finer points we've encountered during our first three hours with Crystal Bearers.
As mentioned, the world is huge, including a style all its own that feels entirely centered around Layle's magic abilities. The young mercenary travels with no weaponry, instead using his magic powers as a sort of telekinesis within the world. Point at an enemy or object, hold the B button, and a quick circular meter will fill up, filling faster based on his proximity to the object. Once locked, the remote can be flicked either left, up, down, or right to pull off different actions; most of which are simply tossing the object around the screen, pulling a lever up or down, or pulling Layle to that object.
Crystal Bearers is all about using the world as your weapon. Bad guys included.
Enemies can break the lock-on by moving too quickly or attacking, and oftentimes Layle's actions are limited based on a specific situation. Levers, for example, can only be flicked up or down. The classic "Bomb" enemy from the Final Fantasy universe, however, needs to be spun initially to dizzy the monster (a quick flick to the left or right will pull that off) at which point it can be picked up and used as a gigantic grenade. The relation between Layle and the world is what will make or break the Crystal Bearers experience, and while the first few hours have some pretty basic combat, the game is showing promise of more complex ideas to come
Outside of simply using the pointer as the game's "hook" and then calling it a day, the entire Crystal Chronicles experience is built around the core functionality of Layle's powers, and some of the aspects are very charming. In one of the first traversable towns, I came across three shops that appeared to be closed. Linked together, the three sheds were almost like adjoined carnival booths than actual buildings. Using the "When in doubt, lock on" rule of Crystal Bearers, I pointed at a small lever and flicked it down. Up went one of the shutters that blocked the storefront, and out of nowhere ran in a tiny moogle. It was an item shop. I checked his prices, found a few accessories to equip -- rather than dealing with full armor and weapons, certain accessories can be piled on which will in turn affect attack, defense, focus, range, and luck -- and moved to the next booth.
When pulling down the next lever the original storefront closed, metal shutters rose on the new shop, and again the moogle ran on over. Rather than having the standard shop system with a keeper at each, Crystal Bearers made its own little poke at the system. Each lever I pulled closed the door, opened the next, and the tiny moogle ran from place to place. Why have multiple shops in the first place if it's the same guy working all three? Pulling levers is fun.
Giggle at a Cactuar... get a medal.
Apart from running around the world, getting into random battle zones where enemies warp on in, and progressing the story by moving from point to point, Crystal Bearers has plenty to see and do for those looking for a more open, freeform experience. The all new Medal system is the game's own version of achievements, with over 300 activities that all result in a medal for discovering or mastering them. Each time you earn a medal it's added to your menu screen on a gigantic chart -- similar to the skills chart from Final Fantasy XII, but less complex -- and the neighboring boxes of undiscovered medals become little hint boxes, telling you how to unlock further achievements within the chart.
It's a simple little mechanic, but considering the entire game is all about grabbing onto random items or discovering Easter eggs in the world, it's nice to be rewarded every time you do something unique. The first time you collect certain materials, figure out how to beat an enemy, or discover a secret within a town or dungeon, you'll most likely be rewarded with a medal for your hard work.
Speaking of materials, the entire game's upgrade system is based not only on cash, but also the merging of random items within the world. Shops often have a price to upgrade, but also a set of materials needed to do the upgrade, so while you can go from area to area and find plenty of cash -- treasure chests reset once you leave an area, so you can literally mine for cash as much as you want -- you'll need the proper drops to actually upgrade your gear.
This can be an annoyance or a great gameplay feature depending on your style of gaming. I spent a good five minutes straight harvesting nuts off of trees and plucking magical "rainbow grapes" from a vineyard, while other people will undoubtedly pass them up. Maybe I'll be better off with a surplus of supplies later on, or maybe not; that's the idea.
Simply stunning.
Outside of random material gathering and plenty of medals to search for, Crystal Bearers also includes a huge list of mini-games to find. I've only come across a few so far, but they work great in fleshing out the world. In one of those "off the beaten path" areas, I found an old fisherman who was bored and looking for some competition. I jumped into the mini-game, pointed my telekinesis at fish, and started pulling them on in once I felt them tug via the Wii-mote's rumble feature. Sure enough, I was ranked, got a medal for fishing, but noticed there was a mysterious "?????" fish listed as well. I'd bet my bank roll in saying that pulling up that fish would not only give me some sort of item or cash bonus, but also another medal with further tips to other treasure down the line. I had to move on, but I'll be back for that fish.
There is, of course, a whole lot more to see and do in Crystal Bearers -- it's a Final Fantasy game -- so be sure to check back for more coverage as I continue my playthrough for review. If you're looking for more on the game, be sure to hit up my previous hands-on article found here, and check back tomorrow for our video preview. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers is set for launch on December 26th of this year, but you'll be able to catch our full review of the game one month from now on the 18th.
Kotaku preview.
Stephen Totilio works there now.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers Impressions: The Day After Christmas
Pick your selling point for the next Final Fantasy on Wii: (Primarily) single-player with a deep story? Sort of is 75% mini-games? Can lift cow and use udders over character's head to shoot enemies? The last notable game of 2009?
I was introduced to Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers last week, discovering quickly that this was not the kind of Crystal Chronicles game I had expected. It is, you see, a single-player game, the first in a splinter line of Final Fantasy games made for Wii platforms and previously designed for four players.
The Crystal Bearers is different, set 1000 years after Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and putting the player in control of a single hero, a mercenary named Layle. The series' dwarf race, the Lilty Tribe, have risen to power. The mechanical race, the Yuke, have seemingly been wiped out.
I was told by a Square-Enix representative that this game would feel like a "true Final Fantasy" for the Wii. It will have a deep storyline. But it also has real-time combat and was described to me as 75% mini-games.
What I saw and played clarified things. I was shown Layle running through a farm, getting pulled into a challenge to pluck all of the vegetables from a field before a clock ran out. A scarecrow was the opponent, shooting at Layle to try to mess him up. So don't think of "mini-games" in terms of a Mario Party, I realized. Think of them is mid-game challenges.
Next, I was shown some combat. Layle ventured to a dusty desert area and enemies attacked. The game is played with a Wii Remote and Nunchuk. The control stick moves the character. The Remote's pointer is used for telekinesis, to pick up objects and enemies, then toss them. The d-pad on the Remote is used to swivel the camera, the only element of the controls I found hard to handle in the few minutes I played the game.
I was told that conversations with non-player-characters will be less than typical for an FF game. Instead, the interactions the player tries to get are "reactions." You get these from enemies by encountering them. For example, out in that desert area, Layle fought some dog enemies. Once he had a Reaction associated with them, he could get them to stop fighting, run over and, uh, urinate on him. Other Reactions are equally comical, sending enemies into a daze because they've had their heads knocked off, for example. It's all cartoony, done for laughs.
Also, somehow, some way, you can take a cow, hold it over Layle's head, and shoot enemies with its udders.
I'm a sucker for the absurd in my games, so, as little as I saw of the Crystal Bearers, I was encouraged. It's hard to see it as being a "true" Final Fantasy game, but only a longer play session that presents more of the story can verify that claim.
I was told that Crystal Bearers does support a co-op mode that allows a second player to use the Remote as an assist, similar to Co-Star mode in Super Mario Galaxy.
The game plays swiftly, action-first. It is colorful and has fun visuals, as you can see in these shots. Crystal Bearers may be off some people's radar, but it will indeed be out this year in North America, the day after Christmas, for the Wii.
Dvader said:Sounds good but this game has moved from buy to rent for me. I will be playing it shortly after it comes out hopefully.
Not waiting on reviews?
Dvader said:Sounds good but this game has moved from buy to rent for me. I will be playing it shortly after it comes out hopefully.
You're renting an FF game?!
Impressions from Bebpo from GAF
The game is basically impossible to lose. It was obviously made for a casual audience. That being said, just because it was aimed at casuals doesn't mean the story was as well.
The story was good. In fact, because it's actually good from start to finish with cool cutscenes, a great lead character, some good NPCs, no filler; it's better than the story of any jrpg this gen since they are all terribly bad or just very bland with filler (Vesperia).
The graphics are AMAZING. Best on Wii. The final battle is so graphically impressive at a locked 30fps that I had to go to photomode to make sure this was all realtime. If you've seen what Square has done with the PSP with Crisis Core, Dissidia, and soon Birth by Sleep; then you've seen how they take low-tech and make amazing visuals. They do the same thing with Wii tech here.
The audio is good too. The voice acting for the lead and the yuuke are really good. Everyone else is kind of animu. The music is good. Mainly non-memorable stuff, but there are a few strong dramatic tracks.
Gameplay is like I've said before. I'll just call it an "interactive adventure". Of the 9 hour main game, I would guess 5-6 hours are cutscenes. You just play the bits between. Hell about an hour or more of that time is me being lost because one of the few negatives of the game is it says "GO TO THIS NEW PLACE" and ummm, doesn't tell you how to get there other than point in the general area of the map! So you waste time here and there trying to figure out where the heck to go. I'm sure this is what Famitsu complained about when wanting a map. So really I'd say the main game is about 8 hours with 5-6 being cutscenes and the other 2-3 being the "events" in between.
These events can be normal battles (I would say I fought maybe...10 the entire game), they can be easy fun platforming, they can be mini-games, or other quirky stuff. The gameplay side is never particularly good. So it's a good thing there isn't much gameplay in the game IMO. The camera sucks, the controls are average, sometimes the events aren't really well designed. Thankfully the game is easy and it autosaves every 10 mins and most places have auto-retry at the same spot if you die.
Now if you want you can explore around the world and find things to keep yourself amused. I'm guessing this is where the 15 hour time comes from. There's A LOT of achievements in this game to unlock by doing all kinds of things. I only unlocked about 50%.
But if you are a gamer who feels the filler sidestuff in games these days is annoying and wastes your time than this is the game for you. Tbh this game really feels like it was made for me. It says "here's all the stuff we would normally use to pad this game and bring down the pacing of the main story. it's all OPTIONAL and out of the way and you don't have to do any of it!. If you're gripped by the main story and you want to see what happens next, you just go to the next event starting spot! The story always advances and lots of stuff happens. There's really no filler.
It feels like a 20-30 real FF game with all the gameplay removed and the rest turned into an 8-9 hour interactive movie adventure
The game feels like it has TONS of budget, especially compared to most Wii efforts. But it feels like they spent it all on making the cutscenes first, and then on making the world and all the locations and then they didn't have any money left to make much of a game in it. So you just get a short but satisfying rpg story that's extremely well presented.
Plus I don't think they could have made the game any longer without making the lead become lame. He's really likable from start to finish and never loses his cool or gets emotional and always knows what's up. Definitely too good of lead to do a full rpg with.
I really enjoyed the game. I'd put it up with No More Heroes and both Marios as my favorite Wii games. It's better than DQ Swords imo. I'd give it an 8.5 personally.
Here are super spoiler pics I took of the last 3rd of the game including the final boss fight and the ending. I would advise NOT checking them out since the main draw is the story.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v297/bebpo/FFCC/
Dvader said:Bebpo makes me not want to play this game.
Why so? I'm too lazy to read imperssions beyond interactive adventure. well, his impressions that is.
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Tell me to get back to rewriting this site so it's not horrible on mobile