Gamertell

Title: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates
Price: $39.99
System(s): Nintendo DS
Release Date: 3/11/08
Publisher (Developer): Square Enix (Square Enix)
ESRB Rating: “E10+”
Pros: Easy to attack, cute characters, no chalice this time around, good voice acting, great graphics
Cons: Fixed cameras, fixed save points, friends required to enjoy the multiplayer mode, bad ally AI, no Wi-Fi multiplayer, local multiplayer lag, short story mode, no real classes
Overall Score: 7.5/10

I really wanted to get excited about Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates. I swear that I did. I have every reason to. I have friends nearby who also have DS Lites and the game to capitalize on the local multiplayer. I’m an avowed Final Fantasy fan. It is clearly a well made, quality game with great visuals, vocals and controls. Yet despite all this, I am not excited. In fact, I almost have to force myself to play the game.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is a prequel to Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, taking place in the same world with the same races, only minus the debilitating Miasma and infernal chalise. So the Great Crystal is safe, the deadly fog is gone and there’s no need to waste a party member as a chalise bearer. The plot is fairly typical for an rpg, as twins Yuri and Chelinka have to save the world with the help of their friends. Well, mainly Yuri. Chelinka’s really just a plot device and a poseur who tags along.

My main source of disappointment comes from allies artificial intelligence. They’re dullards. In one dungeon I almost wondered if I could perhaps seal them in a room and claim it was an accident when questioned in town about their location. The computer controlled party members look interesting and all, but just can’t seem to get anything done on their own.

I encountered a few other disappointments while playing as well. I was also disappointed in the lack of official jobs. Yes, you can equip armor that changes character’s appearances to make them look like they’re proficient in that profession, but it’s mainly a cosmetic change. The story’s length is disappointing as well - expect to finish the single player mode in 10-15 hours. I was also disappointed in the multiplayer mode. There is no Wi-Fi multiplayer and the game lags when playing with four other people over local wireless. The game crawls. I found it easier to just play with one other person in local multiplayer.

Gameplay - 7/10
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The story seems cliched. It isn’t anything new or revolutionary, and I’m disappointed in Square Enix because of the length of the title and the content. All of their previous rpgs have impressed me, and I actually enjoyed the story of the original FF CC. This one just doesn’t grab me. It is a good story, and is well told and executed, but it just isn’t up to par with what I expect in a Square Enix game.

Ring of Fates does have a very simple control scheme though, which makes it very easy to play through. In fact, it is so intuitive and comfortable that I may play through a second time just for the extra items and increased difficulty. There’s handy touch screen use and it works perfectly with the standard face buttons.

The mulitplayer mode impressed me the most. I really enjoyed playing Ring of Fates with my friends. Of course any party with more than two players starts to experience a noticeable lag, but I still truly enjoyed carrying out the various missions and multiplayer adventure. I’d have liked it better if it could have been done over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, but it still is very well executed.

Design - 10/10

If there’s one area where Ring of Fates excels, it is in design. The game is beautiful. First of all it looks phenomenal. The environments and characters really look great and all seem to fit together and mesh well. My only complaint is the camera. I would have liked to have been able to adjust it to get a better view of the characters and the environment in tense situations.

It also features good music and strong voice actors. The acting is dead on for each character, so they sound exactly like you imagine they would. Also the background muzak is up to the high standards of all Square Enix games. It not only fits the situations present in the game, but are melodies you could enjoy listening to outside of the game.

Features - 6/10

As I mentioned earlier, I can’t seem to get excited over Ring of Fates. This is probably my loss, as it is a quality game for a portable system. It just doesn’t seem to offer enough of anything to make it stand out for me.

The local multiplayer is very fun. However if you don’t have at least one other friend with the game who lives near you, it drags. I tried playing the multiplayer portion on my own out of curiousity, and had difficulty completing the quests. So multiplayer is really conditional fun, which can’t stand up to true fun.

Also I wasn’t impressed with the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection moogle sharing. I love moogles, really. (I have a stuffed FFX one at home.) It just seemed like a waste of space here. Perhaps instead of including that feature, Square Enix could have worked a bit more on the local multiplayer to prevent lagging.

Overall - 7.5/10

It kills me to say this, but Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates is the kind of game you rent, not buy. If you rent it from Blockbuster or Gamefly, you can probably finish the whole storyline and enjoy a good chunk of the multiplayer.

It is beautiful and fun, but it doesn’t have the same power and effect that the other Square Enix Final Fantasy titles possess. It comes up short when it comes to the length of the story, the Wi-Fi options and some design complications.

It is definitely worth playing, but I don’t think it is really worth owning unless you have between one and three friends who are also willing to make the investment.

Editor’s Note: The overall score is not necessarily an average. Sections might have been weighted to reflect the importance of some features over others.