Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles

Has good characters , affective weapons , and setting. It's fun to play and hard to stop playing. It mixes the fun of battling and spell casting with the serenity and happiness of little villages.

I say it's a pretty good game but needs more work on the real intense adventure of those before it. Hopefully you have a lot of ideas to put towards the next final fantasy that you create.

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: The story revolves around keeping a highly toxic gas - called Miasma - at bay. To do so, each city or town in the world has a Crystal. The aura from the crystals protect people within the area from the harmful Miasma, however the power of the crystals is limited. It gradually diminishes over time and needs to be replenished every year.

That's where you come in.

You play the part of a young adventurer who has been selected to join your town Caravan in the seemingly perpetual search for Myrrh. Myrrh is a water-like substance that restores the power of the crystals. Myrrh trees are located within dungeons, so you must trek your way through many perilous locations to procure the Myrrh and keep the town safe!

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is a truly stunning game graphically. The game introduces a new real time combat system which is very different from the traditional turn-based gameplay of other Final Fantasy games. Characters are fully customizable and you can create a party of eight adventurers to join you in the Caravan. By far the best feature in the game is the multiplayer option. Using a Gameboy Advance and a Gameboy Advance - Gamecube linkup cable, you and up to three of your friends can all play together! Combine spells, heal eachother and share treasure.

However, the game falters in a major way. At some point in the game, like it or not, you are forced to return to a dungeon that you have already pain-stakingly completed... and do it all over again. This happens very often. I'm not quite sure why the developers thought this was a good idea, but the fact of the matter is, it's truly irritating having to revisit stages time and time again. What could have been a truly superb game is ruined by this one major flaw. But at least with the multiplayer option you can try to overcome the frustration with your friends.

If you are a fan of the Final Fantasy series, you may not want to purchase this game. You might just be put of the series forever in this disappointing installment. However, if you have a group of friends who each own a Gameboy Advance, I highly reccomend you buy this game just for the multiplayer option. It truly is the highlight of the game.