Review of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time

This game could have been really great, but I have to be honest... it isn't anywhere near as fun as it should be.The hype promised Diablo-like multi-player dungeon crawling, and to a certain extent, that is true, but the overall implementation is lacking, especially the controls.For each good thing going for this game, it seems to have at least one equally bad feature that actively impedes my enjoyment.

FIRST THE GOOD STUFF:
+++ GRAPHICS: Fully 3-d graphics with a bright and lush color palette.One of the best graphical showcases on the DS.
+++ SOUND: Quite good, which isn't a surprise since Square-Enix take pride in the music in their games.
+++ MULTI-PLAYER: The multi-player options are solid and connecting to friends is easily done either through local wire-less access or through Wi-Fi internet connections, allowing up to four players to play at once.In this respect, the game is a winner in ways most DS games completely fail.You can invite other players to your game, jumping fairly seamlessly from one-player to multi-player in seconds.More games should do this.I can't emphasize enough how awesome this is.Oh, and you can play with players who own the game on the Wii... a very nice touch but not one that I will likely use.A lot of thought went into the multi-player, and it shows.
+++ LEVELS: Lots of levels and dungeons to explore with a variety of environmental puzzles.None of it is mind-shatteringly amazing, but the level designs are still quite good.


AND THE PROBLEMS...
--- THE CONTROLS: If there is one thing that ruins a game quickly, it is poor controls.The controls in this game are stiff, unresponsive, and unnecessarily complicated.Aiming magical attacks is slow and kind of sloppy.The magic stacking system is important to gameplay and is a really cool idea, but the controls required are actually a little too awkward to ever make it feel natural.Because of this, combat for anyone other than melee characters can feel slow.Additionally, since the game utilizes an isometric 3d perspective for all of the levels, the controls quickly cause hand fatigue because you will spend a lot of time holding the small DS directional pad diagonally.Narrow ledges and platforming jumps are made much more difficult than they should be due to the stiff controls.
--- INVISIBLE WALL SYNDROME: This game suffers from invisible wall syndrome for no good reason.Some areas you can get to easily while others are inexplicably blocked off by an invisible wall.Annoying, but not a deal breaker.
--- COMPUTER AI IS TERRIBLE: Your companions in single-player mode are appallingly stupid regardless of what AI settings you give them.Most of the time they seem to stand there and do nothing like a small squad of abnormally large-headed anime cheerleaders watching their football quarterback getting ganked in the school parking lot by the opposing team while he tries to stack footballs.It's actually easier to just get rid of your team-mates and go it alone.
--- TERRIBLE STORY: I'd describe it, but then I'd have to think about it.Luckily, you can skip any story scenes if you want, so this isn't a deal breaker either.I'll tolerate a bad story if the multi-player delivers good fun.
--- SINGLE PLAYER MODE: The above problems honestly make the single-player mode almost impossible to enjoy for any length of time.A complete shame...

I read several professional reviews that sang praises to this game before I decided to make a purchase, and I'll be honest... I feel lied to.Almost none of them mentioned the controls to any degree.There is always the chance that I am just some drooling moron possessing 7 thumbs and a pinkie per hand and am incapable of walking and chewing gum at the same time, but I've played far more sophisticated games without suffering this much difficulty.If the controls wouldn't have been so frustrating (or if the DS had an analog joystick), I probably could have given this game 3 or possibly even 4 stars just because the multi-player is so well done.As it is, I can only recommend this game if you have other friends that also plan on getting this game for the multi-player.



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