Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers

You know, I feel for Square Enix, I really do. Try as they might to switch things up in their biggest franchise by offering the Crystal Chronicles side story, or even with the complete overhauls in terms of story and tone in the main series, people just want them to keep remaking Final Fantasy VII over and over and over again.

I recently played Final Fantasy VII (or a little bit of it, anyways), and like all of my other experiences with Final Fantasy games, I thought the story was OK, or at least a little more interesting than the standard JRPG fare out there. But I dreaded whenever it came to battle time because a) random battles are the bane of my existence and b) I just don't find the battle system all that interesting. Compared to a Fire Emblem or even a Final Fantasy Tactics game, the battle system just came off as too stiff and non-interactive that I started to think that the game would work better as a movie. Of course, no Final Fantasy has ever worked as a movie.

I had read elsewhere that people thought that this game had no audience. I mean, who doesn't like Final Fantasy? Well, maybe the audience was people like me: people who were raised on Zelda and always wanted to like Final Fantasy but just couldn't get into it. And I'd have to say that the game works more often than not, is the first Final Fantasy game that I've legitimately enjoyed, but still has a number of flaws that I'd like to see rectified if they decide to continue with this series.

First off, you should know that, unlike Final Fantasy games in the "main" series, the game takes a decidedly more action-adventure-y stance. You play as Layle, who, not unlike the X-Men, has been shunned from society because of his mutant powers. He has the ability to manipulate objects using telekinesis. He is one of many Crystal Bearers who are supposed to hide their powers, although Layle in particular seems to show off his powers like it ain't no thang.

He ends up getting sucked into this… plot that threatens the safety of the whole world, involving lost tribes and… you know what? Fuck it. The story in this game is mostly a lot of horse-poo. But what makes it so refreshing is that, at times, you feel like the game doesn't really take it that seriously. Layle in particular kind of scoffs at the plot, and since you're playing as him, you agree – this plot is absolutely ridiculous. As long as you know what you're getting into, and aren't expecting the po-faced seriousness of the main series, you should have fun with the game.

Especially if you come into the game with the same sort of experimental verve that the development team clearly did. Using Layle's telekinetic powers is a breeze. Just point at whatever object you want to pick up, press B, and flick in the direction you want to throw said object. Occasionally, you'll pick up an object like an electric jellyfish that you can use in different ways, and these are always a lot of fun. One of my favourite things to do in the game is to throw a bucket of water on to these walking cactus things and watch them grow huge until they blow up.

Despite how massive (and gorgeous!) the game's world is, there's still this nagging feeling that you're never really in control of what's happening in the game, making the game surprisingly linear. You receive mail from Moogles, telling you where to go next. Then you go there, usually talking to someone in a cutscene, and then getting more instructions on where to go. There's a period of about two hours in this ten-to-twelve hour game (nice to see Square Enix make a more concise game for once, by the way) where this is all you do, and it really destroys the pacing of the game. Luckily, the game does pick up after this and goes from epic sequence to epic sequence, but still, it would be nice to have the feeling like the things you're doing near the start of the game have some sort of importance.

And despite my misgivings about the linearity, whenever the game tries to go non-linear, it kind of fails, because there's not a lot to do in the world. The towns feel pretty lifeless – they're basically a single corridor, with no branching paths, and with almost no NPCs to talk to. It really makes you feel alone in this populated world, which I suppose is somewhat effective in conveying the sense of alienation that Layle is supposed to feel, although considering that this isn't really even spelled out in the cutscenes, I highly doubt that.

I found I enjoyed myself the most when the game was as linear as possible, which is kind of strange, but Square Enix nailed these segments. My girlfriend was watching me play this game throughout the winter holidays, and at one point she went to take a shower. When she came back, I said "I just fought a fucking dragon, went to a secret air hideout, came back to Earth, surfed through a cave and ended up at a pirate ship." It was one of the single most awesome twenty minutes of gaming in my life.

So despite my misgivings about the story and the world, I did enjoy myself. I just wish it added up to more than that.