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Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (TGS Trailer)

BlazingDarkness said:
How does the battle work? It looks mainly like launching objects at the enemy to inflict damage, is that right? No magic to cast or anything?

Tossing, using their powers against them.

Finding weaknesses in the larger enemies(which can't be lifted).


That giant robot for example: Can have parts of its body ripped off(ripping a wing off will hinder its ability to fly and aim at you, ripping one of its blasters off will let you shoot lasers, it also loses weaponry), have it's boosters activated by a switch on its back, you could also use the cactuar or smaller drones there as temporary ranged weapons(1000 needles, lasers etc.), and there are also miscellaneous items dropped around that could have other effects on enemies.

But yeah, grabbing and tossing is a viable strategy if you can't think of anything else.
 

Bebpo

Banned
lol.jpg
 

Bebpo

Banned
Traditional boss count is 1 for the entire game. Which is good because the intro dungeon boss fight
bahamut
sucks so I'm glad there aren't more. The end boss is more a puzzle boss and all the end stuff has multiple checkpoints and unlimited restarts.

The game is basically impossible to lose. It was obviously made for a casual audience. That being said, just because it was aimed at casuals doesn't mean the story was as well.

The story was good. In fact, because it's actually good from start to finish with cool cutscenes, a great lead character, some good NPCs, no filler; it's better than the story of any jrpg this gen since they are all terribly bad or just very bland with filler (Vesperia).

The graphics are AMAZING. Best on Wii. The final battle is so graphically impressive at a locked 30fps that I had to go to photomode to make sure this was all realtime. If you've seen what Square has done with the PSP with Crisis Core, Dissidia, and soon Birth by Sleep; then you've seen how they take low-tech and make amazing visuals. They do the same thing with Wii tech here.

The audio is good too. The voice acting for the lead and the yuuke are really good. Everyone else is kind of animu. The music is good. Mainly non-memorable stuff, but there are a few strong dramatic tracks.

Gameplay is like I've said before. I'll just call it an "interactive adventure". Of the 9 hour main game, I would guess 5-6 hours are cutscenes. You just play the bits between. Hell about an hour or more of that time is me being lost because one of the few negatives of the game is it says "GO TO THIS NEW PLACE" and ummm, doesn't tell you how to get there other than point in the general area of the map! So you waste time here and there trying to figure out where the heck to go. I'm sure this is what Famitsu complained about when wanting a map. So really I'd say the main game is about 8 hours with 5-6 being cutscenes and the other 2-3 being the "events" in between.

These events can be normal battles (I would say I fought maybe...10 the entire game), they can be easy fun platforming, they can be mini-games, or other quirky stuff. The gameplay side is never particularly good. So it's a good thing there isn't much gameplay in the game IMO. The camera sucks, the controls are average, sometimes the events aren't really well designed. Thankfully the game is easy and it autosaves every 10 mins and most places have auto-retry at the same spot if you die.

Now if you want you can explore around the world and find things to keep yourself amused. I'm guessing this is where the 15 hour time comes from. There's A LOT of achievements in this game to unlock by doing all kinds of things. I only unlocked about 50%.

But if you are a gamer who feels the filler sidestuff in games these days is annoying and wastes your time than this is the game for you. Tbh this game really feels like it was made for me. It says "here's all the stuff we would normally use to pad this game and bring down the pacing of the main story. it's all OPTIONAL and out of the way and you don't have to do any of it!. If you're gripped by the main story and you want to see what happens next, you just go to the next event starting spot! The story always advances and lots of stuff happens. There's really no filler.

It feels like a 20-30 real FF game with all the gameplay removed and the rest turned into an 8-9 hour interactive movie adventure

The game feels like it has TONS of budget, especially compared to most Wii efforts. But it feels like they spent it all on making the cutscenes first, and then on making the world and all the locations and then they didn't have any money left to make much of a game in it. So you just get a short but satisfying rpg story that's extremely well presented.

Plus I don't think they could have made the game any longer without making the lead become lame. He's really likable from start to finish and never loses his cool or gets emotional and always knows what's up. Definitely too good of lead to do a full rpg with.

I really enjoyed the game. I'd put it up with No More Heroes and both Marios as my favorite Wii games. It's better than DQ Swords imo. I'd give it an 8.5 personally.


Here are super spoiler pics I took of the last 3rd of the game including the final boss fight and the ending. I would advise NOT checking them out since the main draw is the story.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v297/bebpo/FFCC/
 

Bebpo

Banned
oh and the whole items -> make accesories & money systems are kind of pointless since there is almost no gameplay and your stats don't matter! I had tons of money at the end because there was nothing to spend it on. I bought my accessories that pretty much maxed out my offense/defense/concentration within the first 3-4 hours of the game. Then I never bought or did anything with my items ^^;
 

lsslave

Jew Gamer
Bebpo said:
Long blurb/impression

Thanks :D It definitely sounds good, although with the "lots of cutscenes and then events" it sounds like "Metal Gear Fantasy" to me :lol

(note: I actually like the Metal Gear games, well 2,3,and 4... #1 without aim is just garbage >.<)

I am definitely in for this when I have the cash to pick it up.
 

lsslave

Jew Gamer
Bebpo said:
It is kind of like the 2nd half of MGS4, except the cutscenes aren't hours long and the story is actually good!

That sounds like a good thing to me (except I liked the story of MGS4, Kojima has a unique style that is masterful and completely unique in its obscene strangeness. If someone else built a great stealth game under his writing it would be the perfect stealth game ever made!)

Definitely hyped up for this :)
 

schuelma

Wastes hours checking old Famitsu software data, but that's why we love him.
Thanks for the impressions..sounds like something I'm going to pass on, but thanks.
 

D-Pad

Member
First, thank you for the impressions, Bebpo.

This:

Traditional boss count is 1 for the entire game. Which is good because the intro dungeon boss fight bahamut sucks so I'm glad there aren't more. The end boss is more a puzzle boss and all the end stuff has multiple checkpoints and unlimited restarts.... These events can be normal battles (I would say I fought maybe...10 the entire game).... The gameplay side is never particularly good. So it's a good thing there isn't much gameplay in the game IMO.... It feels like a 20-30 real FF game with all the gameplay removed and the rest turned into an 8-9 hour interactive movie adventure

... officially turned me off. Major. Fail. WTF happened to my GOTY?!
 

sfried

Member
D-Pad said:
First, thank you for the impressions, Bebpo.

This:

... officially turned me off. Major. Fail. WTF happened to my GOTY?!
What happened to you? Once again, I've watched the videos, and I don't think Bebpo's impressions encapsulate much of what's going on.

It definately has an open wor-No...Seamless seems to be the proper term, and the switch from exploration to combat (even the ones which could be considered boss battles) aren't as distinct as those found in other action adventure games, even Zeldas.

Then again, I'm guessing the structure is pretty much follwoing on the footsteps of another form of a least explored RPG format: the space-trading sim genre. The whole "follow main mission lotline to advance" is rather remenicent of Freelancer, but like that game, the main meat comes from exploring.

That said, I feel many people once again are just basing it of reading from impressions while missing the point. If they're so far immersed and enjoying this game, what's not to like? People didn't expect a traditional Final Fantasy with this game, but what people really didn't expect was the scope of that difference and seemed to have gotten more than they bargained for.
 

D-Pad

Member
sfried said:
What happened to you? Once again, I've watched the videos, and I don't think Bebpo's impressions encapsulate much of what's going on.

It definately has an open wor-No...Seamless seems to be the proper term, and the switch from exploration to combat (even the ones which could be considered boss battles) aren't as distinct as those found in other action adventure games, even Zeldas.

Then again, I'm guessing the structure is pretty much follwoing on the footsteps of another form of a least explored RPG format: the space-trading sim genre. The whole "follow main mission lotline to advance" is rather remenicent of Freelancer, but like that game, the main meat comes from exploring.

I was going by Bebpo's impressions. The lack of battles is disheartening. I guess I was expecting an action adventure where the action came from battle, and the trailers leading up to the game's release -- the ones with Amidatelion and Layle fighting -- had me believing there would be some nice action here. Not a movie with an overworld hub and mini games you can play during intermission. That was a bit harsh, but based on the impressions I'm reading so far, it really does sound like mini games driven by a (really good) story.

I don't know. Maybe I overhyped the game in my head. The website, the music (I still remember the Final Fantasy theme that played on the countdown site), the game's disappearance and re-emergance with a new look and new direction, the trailers, the characters, the artwork... It just seemed like it was going to be so much more. I'll wait to see more, maybe, but if this game was anything like I thought it was going to be, I would be reading so in the impressions.
 
The really tragic thing about this game - in a black comedy kind of way - is all the concessions they made so it would sell better and it ended up bombing, anyway.

Might as well have just gone full-hog with it.
 

sfried

Member
D-Pad said:
I was going by Bebpo's impressions. The lack of battles is disheartening. I guess I was expecting an action adventure where the action came from battle, and the trailers leading up to the game's release -- the ones with Amidatelion and Layle fighting -- had me believing there would be some nice action here. Not a movie with an overworld hub and mini games you can play during intermission. That was a bit harsh, but based on the impressions I'm reading so far, it really does sound like mini games driven by a (really good) story.
And that's the problem. To encapsulate everything based on what he has stated, especially when the videos posted about the gameplay say something else. Again, I think people are having these weird mental images in their heads once people use the term "mini-games" and such.
D-Pad said:
I'll wait to see more, maybe, but if this game was anything like I thought it was going to be, I would be reading so in the impressions.
I think this is another thing, too. The game people have made inside their heads can be completely different from the actual thing, to the point it no longer seems credible to satiate such an expectation. I was probably expecting an adventure game of sorts like Ring of Fates. Now it seems like a total departure from that idea as well, but I'm not disappointed just because the facts do not allign with my expectations.

I also think this will be another one of those games that need to be judged by its own merits. (Case in point, Gunstar Super Heroes.)
 

kiryogi

Banned
I wouldn't say it's a lack of battles, at least for the regular ones. Yeah, there's a big lack of boss battles. But there really is tons of regular combat. So much that I find it annoying when I'm trying to explore. As soon as the music stops, the dreaded countdown begins D:
 

EDarkness

Member
This game saddens me, because when it was announced (the second announcement), I was totally stoked. I must have watched the trailer a hundred times. Finally a Final Fantasy we could sink our teeth into with leveling up, a good main character, and action combat. The end result is nothing like that. The main character is awesome, but the game he gets to star in isn't up to snuff. Totally squandered potential.
 

Scrubking

Member
ShockingAlberto said:
The really tragic thing about this game - in a black comedy kind of way - is all the concessions they made so it would sell better and it ended up bombing, anyway.

Might as well have just gone full-hog with it.

The fact that companies still feel that they need to dumb down their game for some mystical Wii audience, in the face of successes like MH3, RE4, COD is a testament to how stupid the suits making decisions in these companies are.

At this point I really fear what DQ10 is going to look like. Who knows, maybe Square was looking for a "test" for Wii to fail in order to put DQ10 somewhere else.

Really, the decision to dumb down a Final Fantasy game to this level makes absolutely no sense.
 
Hype for this game went waaaay down. I was expecting a 20-30 hour Zelda-like adventure wrapped up in FF mysticism with that classic FFIX charm.

Instead... a movie-centric game for 8-10 hours. Pass.
 

sfried

Member
ZephyrFate said:
Hype for this game went waaaay down. I was expecting a 20-30 hour Zelda-like adventure wrapped up in FF mysticism with that classic FFIX charm.

Instead... a movie-centric game for 8-10 hours. Pass.
I think you misinterpreted everything just based on reading the impressions.
 

shuyin_

Banned
Bebpo said:
Traditional boss count is 1 for the entire game.
lol wat?
Come on, just 1 boss during the whole game? You said it was comparable to Zelda but i don't remember Zelda having such an atypical structure (game design wise).

Anyway, i asked this before but nobody answered: since it's compared to Zelda so much, how good is it in relation to a Zelda game?
 

Bebpo

Banned
It's not comparable to a Zelda game.
People think of Zelda they think of DUNGEONS, BATTLES, BOSSES, WEAPONS, SECRETS.
FFCC does not have those things.

What it has similar to Zelda is an overworld and NPCs who you can't talk to who walk around. Animals you can mess around with by tossing them. Fishing. etc...
 

shuyin_

Banned
Bebpo said:
It's not comparable to a Zelda game.
People think of Zelda they think of DUNGEONS, BATTLES, BOSSES, WEAPONS, SECRETS.
FFCC does not have those things.

What it has similar to Zelda is an overworld and NPCs who you can't talk to who walk around. Animals you can mess around with by tossing them. Fishing. etc...
So then, basically, it's more like GTA, as in a sandbox kind of game?
 

Bebpo

Banned
shuyin_ said:
So then, basically, it's more like GTA, as in a sandbox kind of game?

Sure. It's a sandbox game, but the main story is not like sandbox games if that makes sense. It's a normal linear slight-action adventure, but if you want you can explore and run around the world and do things for fun.
 

shuyin_

Banned
Bebpo said:
Sure. It's a sandbox game, but the main story is not like sandbox games if that makes sense. It's a normal linear slight-action adventure, but if you want you can explore and run around the world and do things for fun.
Thanks for answering my questions :)
 

GaimeGuy

Volunteer Deputy Campaign Director, Obama for America '16
I think a part of the reason why the hype died down is because no one knew what the hell kind of game to expect.
 

BorkBork

The Legend of BorkBork: BorkBorkity Borking
It sounds almost like it's a game in the style of a linear graphic adventure genre.

Those types of games require good characters and an enjoyable story. The impressions seems to indicate that the game has both elements.

Sounds good to me.
 

lsslave

Jew Gamer
GaimeGuy said:
I think a part of the reason why the hype died down is because no one knew what the hell kind of game to expect.

This is how it should be, we don't need to know everything about a game before we play it or else we get either too hyped or don't even give them a fair chance.

I barely knew anything about No More Heroes, I had heard how great it was, and its still my favorite Wii game.

I don't think #2 can be that special because I know too much about it :/
 
Scrubking said:
The fact that companies still feel that they need to dumb down their game for some mystical Wii audience, in the face of successes like MH3, RE4, COD is a testament to how stupid the suits making decisions in these companies are.

At this point I really fear what DQ10 is going to look like. Who knows, maybe Square was looking for a "test" for Wii to fail in order to put DQ10 somewhere else.

Really, the decision to dumb down a Final Fantasy game to this level makes absolutely no sense.

Well they dumbed down FF with FF7, so....

:)
 

faridmon

Member
RurouniZel said:
I guess I'm in the minority in that each video I see makes me want to play it more. ^^
me too. I don't know why is everyone is disappointed, i for one will buy it day 1 and will love the crap out of this.:D
 
sfried said:
I think you misinterpreted everything just based on reading the impressions.
Uhhh... no I didn't? From what I've seen of the game, and from what people have said, it sounded like it was a sprawling Final Fantasy tale with a large world, action-adventure gameplay setup, and was meant to last longer than 9 hours.
 

Effect

Member
Ugh. I am so disappointed by this. Thanks for your impressions Bebpo. However when I first saw this game like others I thought we were getting an action adventure game yet within a Final Fantasy setting. That I took to automatically mean secrets, dungeons, etc. A game similar to the Zelda style as it has all those elements as well. I was already a bit worried and confused about how combat was going to go. They kept showing off the main characters powers and I kept wondering if he was going to have any normal melee combat to fall back on but I guess that's a no in the end. They already had already sent up a red flag for me. I thought Square was serious about their offerings on Nintendo systems since they started with Crystal Chronicles on the Cube. That was fun. The WiiWare games were fun as well. Casual yes but fun. This on the other hand..

I've removed my pre-order from Amazon a little while ago. This isn't getting bought. In fact I'm looking forward to Monster Hunter 3 now more then ever. Even though Nintendo likes to change things from game to game I can't wait for the next Zelda game to come out now. I had hoped that Square-Enix of all companies would know how to deliver but no. Perhaps I'm jumping the gun here and things aren't that bad but from what I'm reading and seeing from videos my interest in the game is gone.

It looks like Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon on the Wii might actually be closer to a Final Fantasy game many were looking forward to. Dungeons, boss fights, adventure, etc. I think I just might have to go back and check that out. Only reason I didn't in the past was I was busy with other games and didn't even not it was out until after the fact.
 

sfried

Member
I think people are really going by hearsay alone than a thorough playthrough isn't enough to warrant complete dismissal of a game.

Effect said:
I was already a bit worried and confused about how combat was going to go. They kept showing off the main characters powers and I kept wondering if he was going to have any normal melee combat to fall back on but I guess that's a no in the end. They already had already sent up a red flag for me. I thought Square was serious about their offerings on Nintendo systems since they started with Crystal Chronicles on the Cube. That was fun. The WiiWare games were fun as well. Casual yes but fun. This on the other hand..
Are you really serious to think the game is a total letdown because of lack of melee combat? Right off the bat, I was expecting a person with telekenetic powers to use nothing more than just that. Have you played the game yourself to come to that conclusion?

Some people, really.
 
sfried said:
I think people are really going by hearsay alone than a thorough playthrough isn't enough to warrant complete dismissal of a game.

Some people, really.

There's impressions from multiple people basically saying the game is different than some people thought it was. Some people like this direction, some people don't. But stop pretending like there isn't enough info out there for people to start judging whether the game is for them or not.
 

sfried

Member
Absoludacrous said:
There's impressions from multiple people basically saying the game is different than some people thought it was. Some people like this direction, some people don't. But stop pretending like there isn't enough info out there for people to start judging whether the game is for them or not.
There really isn't untill I myself could have my hands on it. These are impressions from GAFers, after all, and one could mince someone's quotes to mean something else...

I'll wait unill I could play it myself.
 
sfried said:
There really isn't untill I myself could have my hands on it. These are impressions from GAFers, after all, and one could mince someones quotes to mean something else...

I'll wait unill I could play it myself.

I'm still not sure whether you like the game design and can't accept the fact that some people don't, or whether you're in complete denial about what the game actually is.
 

sfried

Member
Absoludacrous said:
I'm still not sure whether you like the game design and can't accept the fact that some people don't, or whether you're in complete denial about what the game actually is.
I'm worried over the fact that people set their expectations way too high with what this game might actually be.
 

EDarkness

Member
sfried said:
There really isn't untill I myself could have my hands on it. These are impressions from GAFers, after all, and one could mince someone's quotes to mean something else...

I'll wait unill I could play it myself.

I think there is enough information out there now to decide if this game works for people. Maybe it's more your style, but there are plenty of people out there that don't agree. Maybe some people will be converted once the game comes out next month, but my guess is that there won't be many people even trying to pick this up. Maybe I'm wrong, but the gameplay may end up being a serious turn off for some people.


I'm worried over the fact that people set their expectations way too high with what this game might actually be.

Heh, heh. That always happens, but I would imagine that people were expecting an action game with bosses and such. I don't find that to be an unreasonable expectation. Square should have been more up front about how the game was going to be played.
 

Darkky

Member
sfried said:
There really isn't untill I myself could have my hands on it. These are impressions from GAFers, after all, and one could mince someone's quotes to mean something else...

I'll wait unill I could play it myself.

As much as that's the case, you really can't stop any of us from being put off by the game's mechanics. There really isn't much point in shooting down everyone's opinion when there are more negative impressions than positive ones.

EDarkness said:
This game saddens me, because when it was announced (the second announcement), I was totally stoked. I must have watched the trailer a hundred times. Finally a Final Fantasy we could sink our teeth into with leveling up, a good main character, and action combat. The end result is nothing like that. The main character is awesome, but the game he gets to star in isn't up to snuff. Totally squandered potential.

My sentiments exactly. I expected FE to reward Wii owners with something traditionally appealing, but now that this game actually fails to match up with TP, there really isn't much to look forward to.

I am not going to cancel my preorder... yet. I will probably make the decision a week before release (hopefully they will accept my cancellation), so keep all your impressions coming!
 

sfried

Member
Darkky said:
As much as that's the case, you really can't stop any of us from being put off by the game's mechanics. There really isn't much point in shooting down everyone's opinion when there are more negative impressions than positive ones.
The trouble is the interpretation of those impressions. I feel everybody misunderstood when Bebpo mentioned the term "mini-games".
 

Effect

Member
sfried said:
The trouble is the interpretation of those impressions. I feel everybody misunderstood when Bebpo mentioned the term "mini-games".

Perhaps but it's not hard to misunderstand when someone who has played the game says there are no bosses. When it's said the storyline is just a few hours long. What Final Fantasy game is just a few hours long? Even the most toned down spin offs over the years aren't like that until you get to this game. What is misunderstood when it's said there are no dungeons.

I don't think it was wrong or a leap to think this would be a Zelda like game when you take into account the Final Fantasy name (everything that goes with it) and the fact it looked like a 3rd person game. That is a logical assumption based on the little information we had. Now we have information to fill in the gaps. That assumption is wrong and people have had their hopes dashed to one degree or another. Lets not act like there isn't enough information at the moment. Yes everyone should wait to play it themselves and for what it is it might actually play great but in terms of content I find it to be lacking.

Square left certain opinions about the game take hold when they originally announced the game. They release media that allowed people to think in one direction. The truth is the game isn't.
 

sfried

Member
Effect said:
Perhaps but it's not hard to misunderstand when someone who has played the game says there are no bosses. When it's said the storyline is just a few hours long. What Final Fantasy game is just a few hours long? Even the most toned down spin offs over the years aren't like that until you get to this game. What is misunderstood when it's said there are no dungeons.
This part here is actually suspicious, as I think this game makes little to any announcement when a "boss battle" is encountered. The giant robot like enemy in the video definitely feels a bit boss-y, IMO, except the transition to its engagement was also as seamless as the other battles.

Effect said:
I don't think it was wrong or a leap to think this would be a Zelda like game when you take into account the Final Fantasy name (everything that goes with it) and the fact it looked like a 3rd person game. That is a logical assumption based on the little information we had. Now we have information to fill in the gaps. That assumption is wrong and people have had their hopes dashed to one degree or another. Lets not act like there isn't enough information at the moment. Yes everyone should wait to play it themselves and for what it is it might actually play great but in terms of content I find it to be lacking.
YOU might find it lacking because you'd already have preconcieved notions of the game made in your head (based on someone elses experience, no less), as opposed to letting the game see where it will take you. There are many games out there that fail to initially try to communicate what it wants to do with the player.

Effect said:
Square left certain opinions about the game take hold when they originally announced the game. They release media that allowed people to think in one direction. The truth is the game isn't.
What did Square want peole to think? Trailers can mean anything, and Square has a past reputation on relying on cutscenes for their marketing.
 
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