Great game!
This game focuses heavily on the single player experience, and as such, you play as a single, non-customizable character, Layle. There is story, but the bulk of the game come from completing its many side quests, minigames, collecting medals, exploration of the world, and combat; if you are a completionist, or just playing for fun, you will rack up many, many hours. Playing the game straight from start to finish keeping in line with the story will net the average gamer around 5 – 10 hours of gameplay, so if you want the most out of the game, then it would be a good idea to go at your own place and explore every nook and cranny.
With that out of the way, Final Fantasy Crystal Bearers take place 1000+ years from the first entry, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (if you haven't played it, don't worry, the only thing you would miss out on would be the plethora of cameos and sentiments), and a lot has changed since then. Right from the get go, the game puts you into a quick pace minigame of sorts and in direct control of Layle's gravity powers, and yes he is a crystal bearer. Gravity is what you will be using for the rest of the game; there are no new abilities and no alternate abilities (aside from the monsters). The system is quite ingenious and takes a bit of getting used to; the game does not adequately inform you of some of the subtleties and specifics of his powers which may lead to frustration. You, the player, are only told to point, click, and throw, which is for the most part what you will be doing, but it doesn't tell you that you need to aim with the cursor to determine path of the projectile when you decide to throw (unless I missed something in the beginning).
Combat, as stated above to an extent, is centered around Layle's gravity powers. This mostly consists of picking things up and throwing them, but there is variety with how you fight enemies- using their unique skills once picked up, or using various environmental objects that have different effects depending on what monster you aim at. As you progress though the story, a good number of monsters will require more elaborate strategies of just pick up and throw, and sometimes you will not be able to pick up these monsters yourself strangely… If combat is not your forte, you can opt out by simply not taking part; for the most part, combat is optional, but it is the only way to obtain a reasonable amount of materials for crafting if you choose to create armor for your character or decide to have more health. Another wrinkle to the combat system is that it is timed, that is to say that you do not have all day to toss enemies around blindly thus requiring you to find efficient means of eliminating them. All of these factors combined do allow you to become quite addicted if you are open to it.
One thing that the game does really well is the progression of its plot and characters. You start off knowing very little, but the game does not overwhelm you with nonsensical jargon and complicated terms, instead – if you can tolerate mild confusion for a brief time- you are given adequate information on the situation and each main character's intentions at a moderate rate; soon you will find yourself up to speed with the main cast in terms of events in relatively little time. The story does a good job at keeping you engaged and progressing further, rarely is there a truly dull moment.
Graphically, this game achieves what I believe to place it in one of the higher echelon of Wii graphics. This is not Mario or the PS3 or the Xbox 360 however, so do not expect whimsical flash or 'next gen polish'. Those styles work for those types of games and on those types of systems. We must keep in mind the type of game that this is. Final Fantasy Crystal Bearers goes for a more realistic and interactive style approach. Nintendo did not focus a lot on graphical prowess, but instead on interactivity and innovation with its Wii system. Considering those aspects, this game looks great and feels expansive, not to mention complies with those goals. Besides a few textiles, everything has a feel of freshness and life; nothing is out of place, and everything is cohesive and new.
Almost everything has some sort of interactivity to it, every NPC does his or her own thing, although majority of them are not interactive in terms of conversation, this eliminates useless dialogue and because everyone is tending to their own activities; this allows for an even deeper feeling that this game and environment is alive- everything is dynamic. There is a catch, there is no world map per se (there is one, but not on the terms of helpfulness you might expect based on other games). You might become confused and get lost in the beginning, but by playing the game long enough and relying on signposts you will quickly learn your way. The game promotes exploration, hence no 'map' to tell you the layout of the area; you must find your way and discover the world. This works to an extent, but if you do like to have everything lain out and/or against exploration (why are you playing this game?) then this might come as a turn off; as stated above, you will eventually come to learn your way if you keep at it- everything s connected to an extent and is not that difficult.
For music, I was taken a bit back at first, but only because this was not what I would have expected. This game has great music, and like (almost) everything else about this game, it is new and different. Some songs will stick in your head and you will be humming to them from hours of gameplay, and they fit quite well to the environment or situation. For what it is, the score suits its purpose and allows for an even deeper immersion of the player, if he or she plays the game with an open mind. The music is not for everyone though and some soundtracks are mediocre, but still good.
One of the few grips I have is the voice acting in the beginning of the game. Although, the voice actors do a good job at conveying each characters personality, it took some getting used to – for me at least, your opinion may be different. The others, I mentioned one above briefly, the utilization of Layle's powers and apparent lack of explaining, but also as stated above, this could be an error on my part, and the other being the short story; it would have been nice for more content driven by story, but I am content with the game not having an unnecessarily drawn out and overplayed plot. Another brief issue is the camera; it does take some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, a fully manual camera system does quite well, and you will almost forget the difficultly you had in the beginning.
I did come into thinking that this game would play similar to the first entry in the series, but I am able to at least see what type of game that this is and not judge based on what it is not. It is a very good game, and well done I might add. Final Fantasy always tries something new with each of its entries and the Crystal Chronicles series is no different. I want to encourage the reader to give this a try and play this very unique game. I hope that I have accomplished my goal, and if you see this game, give it a shot. This is an action adventure game, not a jrpg-nor does it try to be one.
The ideas expressed in this review are of my own, thus you may or may not agree with my opinions. Hopefully this review is fair and gives you, the reader, a more complete view on what to expect out of this game.