Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles

Join a Crystal Caravan!

JP release: 8th August 2003
NA release: 9th February 2004
EU release: 12th March 2004
Developer: The Game Designers Studio
Publisher: Nintendo
NGC Magazine Score: 86%
Mods Used: Widescreen Code

The return of Final Fantasy to a Nintendo home console, and it’s probably not what most people were hoping for. Instead of a large epic RPG, the GameCube got a cosy, multiplayer focused action game. There was one additional hurdle to this, though: if you want to play with more than one person, every player needed a Game Boy Advance (and GBA-GC Link Cable) to play. With how tailored the game is to multiplayer, the single player really isn’t the best way to experience it, but I can definitely see how some things would work well with others.

The game starts you out in a village that has a large crystal to protect itself from the energy storms in the world. This need to be replenished using droplets from special trees, and you’re part of a caravan that sets out each year to collect this, having to travel further each year as resources dwindle. You can choose your race and pick a basic description to generate your character (a bit more customisation would have been nice) and are sent out with your special bucket to collect this special water.

The magic bucket is a very important thing in the game, as it generates a field that protects you from the harmful energy of the world. Step out of its range and you’ll take damage. In multiplayer, one person will have to pick it up to move it, while on your own, a Moogle will follow you and help you carry it. Melee combat is quite basic, with spells being more interesting. You can assign a couple at once and even fuse these to create more spells. However, these take a while to cast and seem like more of a support role, making them a faff to perform when you’re on your own as they have a very short range, so you’ll get hit. Another really odd thing about your spells is that you have to re-collect them every level.

After defeating a boss, you’ll be able to get this magic water and carry on your quest (although I managed to miss the first level and had to travel back). The overworld has some towns and ports to visit, which will change over the years and random meetings can happen as you move across the map screen. Despite the world being a rather harmful one, there’s a rather cheerful attitude about the whole game, but having to go through the first few stages multiple times really doesn’t help with the repetitiveness when you’re on your own.

After connecting four GBAs to the game, each player is presented with a different bit of information. One has a full map of the area, one has an enemy radar, a third has a treasure radar and a fourth gets given detailed enemy information such as weaknesses. You can also adjust your abilities and equipment without pausing the game. While all this is nice, they expect a solo player to play the same levels with none of this, so it feels like a bonus rather than something vital to playing the game, which makes the GBA requirement rather crazy. With friends, I can imagine this can be a blast

Fine

But Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles isn’t most games. It asks you to spend hundreds of points on peripheral equipment, and forces you to abandon nice fat analogue stick for a cramped D-pad, and that means that even little problems loom pretty large. This is a game that asks a lot from you, and so you expect it to treat you like a princess in return. When it doesn’t, it can be a kick in the teeth. Those teeth, though, will be in a mouth that’s smiling and laughing, that’s gasping with wonder and screeching instructions at its friends, and that’s the best recommendation any game can have.
Margaret Robinson, NGC Magazine #91

Remake or remaster?

There’s a remake available that seems like it’s a great replacement for the single player version of this, but a very weak multiplayer experience. This game is designed for better co-op.

Official Ways to get the game

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered is available on Switch, PS4, iPhone and Android.