I know some people must be interested in FF.CC so I decided to post it. But first here is a few pics.
We know it's hard to believe, but we've seen and played the proof for ourselves: Square is finally developing for a Nintendo home console once again. Well, Square Enix, that is -- whatever. The renowned RPG videogame publisher hasn't been seen on a Nintendo home console (not including the Game Boy handheld units) since the late SNES days nearly 10 years ago. Now, here at the massive E3 2003 event in sunny Los Angeles, CA, the respected Japanese studio is offering exhibit A in its reformed testimony for Nintendo support: Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.
As many have recently learned from our anxious coverage of the GameCube-exclusive title, this next instillment in the Final Fantasy series isn't going to be the standard turn-based, menu-driven role playing adventure that die-hard Square fans have come to expect. In fact, the game really isn't even going to hit players with the same level of Hollywood-quality cinematics and story production. Instead, Square Enix is taking a new direction with Crystal Chronicles that it considers to be more custom tailored to the GameCube system and its audience. As you know, this means that the new GameCube RPG adventure will rely heavily on GBA connectivity, real-time action, and multiplayer interaction as opposed to a rich single-player, turn-based experience.
Until now, the most informative details on how the game plays have been limited to translations of Japanese interviews held with the game's designers. But now that the U.S. version of the game is finally playable here in the States at E3, we're able to tinker with the creative yet baffling project for ourselves and attempt to understand exactly how it plays and where the potential for fun and excitement sits.
For readers still trying to grasp the concept behind Square's Cube-exclusive RPG, here's a fair analogy: imagine gameplay mechanics and pacing similar to Phantasy Star Online, but instead of split screen action, all four players exist in the same onscreen space and stick closely together as they travel the fantasy-based worlds. In the limited E3 demo we played, this closeness was encouraged by one player carrying a crystal that projects a circular force field around the group to protect it from the poisonous gasses outside. Players who don't keep up with the group and slip outside of its circumference begin to take damage and eventually die, so paying attention and communicating with your teammates is key. No details were given on whether or not this crystal-generated force field would be a key gameplay component throughout the entire final game.
The reason for the Phantasy Star Online comparison is that Crystal Chronicles' combat pacing is not terribly different. Attacks are very deliberate and walk a fine line between being action oriented and menu driven. Players use the L and R buttons to scroll through and select one of six possible actions and then press the A button to perform it in real-time. In the case of attack-based actions, players must be facing and within range of their targets to land the hit, but other spells and abilities (such as "cure") can be performed from anywhere with a simple hit of the A button. The B button is used for picking up items, which can sometimes grant players added abilities and more powerful attacks. Remember, we're using the GBA as a controller here, so button functionality has been reduced and won't include the standard GCN C stick or Y, X, and Z buttons.
Although we didn't witness any complicated combo attacks in this E3 version, players can also charge their attacks by holding down the A button for a more time-consuming and powerful blow. Charging takes roughly a couple of seconds, at which point a circular cursor appears below your character that functions as a targeting reticle. Control now switches to this cursor on the ground while your character remains still. Players move the cursor to select a specific target and hit the A button again to dish out the charged attack. When used with healing abilities such as cure or Phoenix Down, the charge move lets players heal other members in their party. There are even combined attacks that take place when multiple players carefully execute specific abilities in sync. Again, all of this happens in real-time, so you'll have to get comfortable with the controls and pay close attention to the constant onscreen action to pull it off.
Though little detail on the story behind this new Final Fantasy outing is being offered here at E3, we have learned a bit more on its gameplay structure. The quest will take our heroic party through level-based "missions" instead of the typical overworld wandering found in most RPGs. In the first level we played, our group wandered through a thin forest path collecting items and fighting a handful of scattered creatures before making our way to a large and frightening boss. This arena provided a bit more room for maneuvering, but because the player carrying the protective crystal cannot attack, it must be placed on the ground and then picked up and moved should the party need to regroup. The battle was a tough one, and several teammates were slain in the process. (Fortunately, they were also revived thanks to our Nintendo rep's generous use of his Phoenix Down ability.) Once victorious, the party wandered on its way to the next area. This linear design is understood to be Crystal Chronicles' primary style, though it remains to be seen if the game will offer any branching paths later in the game.
The three selectable areas within the E3 demo are titled "Tida Village," "River Belle Path," and "Veo Lu Sluice" -- don't ask us what that last one means. The four playable characters shown are named Ciaron, Lu'ge, Cyadd, and Hias, and each is styled in that classic childlike adult fashion that Square has used in other titles such as FF IX on the PSX. The style is very artistic, very cool, and quite unlike anything on the GameCube at this point. Credit must be given to Square and its talented team of artists and designers for bringing such a vivid fantasy world to life as only it can. Environments and creatures are equally stylish, though fairly simple in geometry at this point. The style should win major points with fantasy gamers, as we must admit that it's very colorful and appealing.
The version playable here at E3 strictly demonstrates the four-player gameplay that the title has to offer and does not allow single-players to hit the quest alone, though Square states that both adventures will be essentially the same. Kiosks are set up with four GBA SP systems connected, allowing up to four people to join the action at any time. One thing in particular must be cleared up: players are not required to use a GBA system to play Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles in its current form. In the private hands-on playtest that we experienced, only three GBA SP systems were available, thus a Nintendo representative was forced to plug in a standard GCN controller to join the party. The previously mentioned Japanese interview had caused quite a stir among Nintendo fans during the past week in regards to whether four GBA systems were required for multiplayer action, but we can confirm that this is not the case in the version we played. Whether or not this will change for its final release remains to be determined, but we consider it unlikely
So if players can opt for either the GCN pad or GBA system to control the onscreen action, what's the difference? After having compared the gameplay using both methods, we must admit that players truly do need their own handheld GBAs connected to the Cube to get the most out of their Crystal Chronicles experience.
First, the small, handheld screen allows players to view overhead maps and get information about their characters that they can't otherwise access in a multiplayer session (this information should be available to a lone gamer in single-player mode, however). Square's creative talent says that players can choose whether or not they want to share this information, but there's really no advantage in keeping it to themselves -- it's really more a matter of apathy or laziness than anything else. The first player gets the most detailed map of all, while the rest can only see key icons indicating teammates and other important objects. Thus the first player typically takes on the role of the leader by default and must attempt to keep everyone together and headed in the right direction.
This map screen is displayed on the GBA by default during gameplay, but hitting the Select button will bring up the second and perhaps most important GBA function: ability management. As mentioned, each player has six slots (perhaps more later in the game?) to which they can assign specific abilities such as "attack," "cure," or "Phoenix Down." (These are the three we used most often in the demo, but there were at least 20 more standard RPG abilities from which to choose.) After hitting select, your character will automatically follow along with the group as if on autopilot, thus allowing you to focus your attention on the ability management screen alone. Once the six slots have been filled, pressing Select again will resume control of your character and you'll be ready to hit the L and R buttons to choose from your newly selected abilities (now displayed on the Cube screen) and dish them out with the A button. Considering the multi-player focus of the game, the use of the GBA as a personalized screen for managing abilities is a clever means to keep the action flowing without constant pausing from your buddies.
But as one might guess, playing without a GBA in multi-player could prove very tricky and even painful. In addition to losing your map and intel, Square's current solution to the "ability management" problem involves simply removing it altogether. When players without GBAs grab an item, the new ability will be automatically slotted in one of the six spots without any input from the player. Sounds pretty annoying, yes? Now we see why the company is placing so much emphasis on all players taking advantage of the GBA connectivity.
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles looks to be a great multiplayer adventure for a group of four likeminded Nintendo RPG fans that each own a GBA system (preferably an SP) and can commit to sharing a 30+ hour gameplay experience. Will this Nintendo/Square collaboration be too niche for its own good? We'll have to wait and see exactly how well the single-player aspect stands up before we're convinced, but at the very least, Crystal Chronicles is certainly a unique and welcome addition to the slim GameCube fantasy-RPG catalog. We'll be hitting the show floor very soon to snag some footage of both the Cube and GBA screens in action, so stay tuned, Square fans
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