Square Enix is certainly busy right now, and fans of the company have a lot to be excited about. But there is one announcement in particular that Square Enix made last year which has been (unfortunately) mostly forgotten. Amidst information about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake and rumors about Final Fantasy 16, it is not hard to understand why many seemingly forgot about Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered. The sad part is that this game was a masterpiece in its day, and is even referred to as such on Square Enix's website, and should truly be getting a lot more attention than it has this past year.

For those unaware, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles was a GameCube of the Final Fantasy series. Although most agree that the game's gameplay and story were great, it suffered from one major problem: accessibility. Although the game could be played with just a GameCube, disc, and controller, that was only the case in single-player mode, and it becomes clear very quickly that Crystal Chronicles is meant to experienced with friends. In order to play with friends, each player had to have a Gameboy Advanced SP and a special link cable which was difficult to acquire at the time and hardly worth buying now.

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What is Crystal Chronicles?

 

final fantasy crystal chronicles remastered

Crystal Chronicles benefits from a minimalist approach to story telling which imbues it with a kind of longevity which more complex narratives from its era simply don't have. The premise is simple: the world is covered in a deadly gas called Miasma, and only the light of a crystal can nullify its effect. The people in this world have built villages around massive crystals which keep them safe from the dangerous poison, but the crystal must be replenished each year with a substance called Myrrh.

That's where the player comes in. Each "cycle," the player's caravan must travel to Myrrh trees located throughout the world, collect three drops of Myrrh into a chalice, and make it back to their village alive. There is of course more to the story than just this, and there is plenty of lore the player can dig into in the journal if they so choose. This approach is great because it allows more casual gamers who simply want to hack and slash their way through a game to do so, but still provides a wealth of lore and a powerful story with compelling characters for those that relish that sort of thing.

Throughout the course of the game, the player will encounter a band of lovable thieves, a mysterious Black Knight, a traveling salesman, and many more interesting characters on their journey, and these characters matter as much or as little as the player wants them to. If one so chooses, they could see through each NPC's entire character arc and be rewarded for doing so. Otherwise, they are free to continue on and pay no mind. Certain mechanics in the game work to make the player more attached to the characters around them as well, making the final moments of the story all the more impactful. Which makes it even more unfortunate that Crystal Chronicles Remastered's release was delayed.

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Crystal Chronicles' Unique Mechanics

final fantasy crystal chronicles four players

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles has a number of things going for it. While having a compelling story is certainly important, its unique gameplay mechanics really drive things home. While at first glance, the game seems to play like any other typical RPG, it has several unique and enriching features. Upon creating a character, the player will quickly meet that character's family, and this family plays a pivotal role later on. As the caravan ventures into the deadly miasma, their family members will correspond with them through letters, and the way the player responds determines what sort of relationship their character has with their family. It becomes particularly useful to maintain a good relationship if the player's family happen to be blacksmiths or something of the like.

Spellcasting also works in interesting ways in Crystal Chronicles. In order to cast any magic, one must first obtain magicite. Magicite are items found in levels which grant access to a specific spell, and cannot be taken out of each level (although it is eventually possible to get artifacts which grant spells permanently). What makes spellcasting truly unique in this game, though, is the ability to combine spells. By timing the casting of a spell with another player, spells can be enhanced or changed. For example, if three players cast the Fire spell simultaneously at the same target, they will instead cast Firaga as a team, but by combining two different spells, say Fire and Blizzard, the player can create new spells like Gravity.

With a second, more personal screen, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles was able to give each player a separate objective and map. One player's mini map may show the locations of all treasures in the area, while another's may show the monsters' locations. Objectives are unique too, and create an interesting dichotomy of cooperation and competition. Sometimes they even force the player into difficult strategies, like a melee character whose objective is to deal no damage. The incentive, of course, is first pick at rewards at the end of the dungeon. The overarching goal is always to clear the level as a team, but each player is working toward their own objective as well. It remains to be seen how this will be implemented on current consoles.

The aforementioned chalice is not just a story element either, but one of the most memorable (and perhaps controversial) mechanic in the game. The chalice is adorned with a small piece of the larger crystal, and creates a ring around itself in which the player will not take damage from the Miasma. This mimics battle arenas of other Final Fantasy games while not breaking immersion or flow with every fight. That said, on the downside, one player must lug around the chalice almost constantly.

The use of Game Boy Advance SPs in multiplayer certainly created a barrier to access, but was in a sense ahead of its time, mirroring what Nintendo would eventually try to accomplish with the Wii U. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles needs this remaster, as it never picked up as much steam as it could have due to these problems. With a good story, unique mechanics that manage to avoid feeling gimicky for the most part, a great score, and fun characters, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is the whole package.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered will be available in the Summer of 2020 for Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, and PS4.

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