Hey Gamers
A couple of days ago I noticed there was a trial or Lite version for the remastered version of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles on the PlayStation network.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is an action rpg which was originally released for the Nintendo Game Cube back in 2003.
I had heard of this game but I had never played it and being a fan of the older Final Fantasy games such as Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 9 as well as the Super Nintendo Final Fantasies I though this would be worth checking out.
In the lite version of the game there is around 4 hours of content to be played through for free. Your save data can then be transferred to the full game if you decide you want to purchase the full version.
The remastered version released on 27/8/2020 so it is now possible to unlock the full version.
In this world of Crystal Chronicles there is a deadly gas called Miasma that the character is protected from by a crystal.This crystal is carried around by the player and emits a bubble of protection around the players character.If you go outside of this bubble of protection your character will begin to take damage.
The crystal is powered up by finding drops of Myrrh which come from Myrrh trees which the player finds by clearing out dungeon zones and defeating an end boss.
(Myrrh tree)
On first impression this game reminds me alot of classic Super Nintendo jrpgs like Sword of Mana ,Tales of Phantasia or Zelda - Link to the past.If you enjoyed those kind of games this is likely going to appeal to you very much
So lets take a look at some of the features of the game starting with character creation...
First we need to pick what tribe we want our character to belong to ,there are 4 tribes..
Selkies
"These rugged individualists clothe themselves in fur decorated with stolen goods. Unlike other tribes, they believe in putting themselves first. Many Selkies are agile and athletic, traits they put to good use as thieves. Though the other tribes tend to scorn them, some Selkie now reside in Clavatian villages."
The Selkie tribe is basically the rouge class.Selkies are the quickest race with the quickest Focus attacks; they also have a longer range on their focus attacks than the other tribes. Overall, the Selkie excels at Speed and has decent Strength, but lacks slightly in Defense and Magic. The Selkie "Defend" command is a quick backflip that ignores all attacks and magic. Selkies use rackets as weapons, some of which shoot energy for a Focus attack.
Clavats
"Clavats are the closest of the tribes to resemble humans. Since most of them are farmers, they are seen wearing farmer type clothing. Their hair colors range from blond, brown, red, and black. They can interbreed with both Lilties and Selkies."
Clavats are jack-of-all-trades good in any situation. With their high Defense, they can take damage, and because they do not excel in a particular area, they can be either magic or melee users.They are are peaceful farmers or ranchers, though due to the necessity of crystal caravans there are several who do fight. In battle, Clavats use a sword and shield, often using slash-based movements as a result of, or possibly resulting in, an inclination towards single edged blades similar to scimitars. Clavats have the most balanced skills out of the four races and play like a "newbie" character.
Lilty
"These little warriors have lived all over the world since ancient times. Long ago, they ruled the world, and many still believe themselves to be superior to others. Though they can be hotheaded, they are also confident and down-to-earth. Liltian merchants are some of the best around."
The Lilty are proud, stout warriors and the absolute strongest tribe. While they have the highest attack power, they are the worst spell casters. For the "Defend" command, Lilties block physical attacks by guarding with their spear. The Lilties use spears as weapons and have the ability to get the strongest weapon in the game, Longinus, which is made using Celestial Weapon.
Yuke
"The Yukes are a mysterious tribe of great lore and wisdom. Many of these sages live quietly in Shella. In the ancient wars, they were able to resist the invading Liltian armies thanks to their magical prowess. Now, they spend their days teaching magic to others. Some say that Yukes assumed their current form to augment their magical talents."
Yukes are the best magic casters. They are the slowest and weakest attackers, but cast spells quicker than the other three races, and start out with the highest Magic stat. When a Yuke defends they turn invisible, and become immune to damage and status afflictions for the command's duration. Yukes use mallets and hammers as weapons.
Yukes are rare, as the only place they appear in great numbers is Shella, their capital city, where the Yukes spend most of their time teaching others how to use magic. Yukes were the only race not defeated by the Lilties whose attempt to conquer the Yukes put the two races on bad terms; however, an NPC in Alfitaria notes that the two races are now seeing eye to eye
(Ido the Clavat Fighter)
I decided for this review to make a male Clavat Fighter and I called him IDO.In this first part of the review you can see the opening cinematic up to the end of character creation.
Ok now that we have made our character its time to learn about combat.There are 2 main types of combat melee and magic.When entering a new dungeon we have only the ability to attack,defend or use a charged focus attack.Magic attacks are obtained by looting spheres of magicite from slain monsters as we progress through the dungeon.
This video shows the combat tutorial and prepares us to set out on our first dungeon run.
Ok now we are ready to set out in our Crystal Caravan towards our first dungeon...
The River Belle Path
"They say wicked creatures prowl the road along this beautiful riverbank, but nobody has ever seen one.
I once asked a man why. He simply replied, ‘Because anyone who happens upon one is promptly eaten!’
But it is long since anyone has met such a fate.For nowadays, people take another route, far away from the spooky old road.
Only we walk the old way now… travellers in crystal caravans."
The River Belle Path is lush green riverside dungeon.The beautiful jrpg music nearly brought tears of nostalgia to my eyes as my mind was flooded with memories of past Final Fantasy games and their hauntingly beautiful music.
The end boss of The River Belle Path is a giant crab.For a first boss fight this was pretty tough and it took me 2 attempts .It was a fun and satisfying fight and in the end we got our first drop of Myrrh from the The River Belle Myrrh tree.
(Giant Crab Boss Fight)
While working through The River Belle Path we changed the element of our crystal to water which allowed us to continue our adventure through the first Miasma stream and onwards to the second map.
Before heading through the Miasma stream we heard some rumors about a Black Knight,every good fantasy story has a Black Knight and it seems this game is no different.I cant wait to meet him :).
After passing through the Miasma stream our next dungeon is The Fungi Forest
"When i was a child i once asked my mother where did i come from.
She answered why we all sprouted from The Mushroom Forest of course.
Nightmares soon haunted my sleep,I dreamt that I was lost among the toadstools.
I awoke in tears but felt the warmth of my mothers embrace as she comforted me.
It is something I still remember to this day"
The end boss of The Fungi Forest is a giant Malboro ,this fight was harder than the Giant Crab but I managed to beat it on the first attempt.This was a very fun fight....
In this Lite version of the game we can only collect 2 drops of Myrrh.So to end out this review/first impression I wander into Mars pass which is the first town we can go to to upgrade our gear and buy and sell items.I upgrade my sword from copper to Iron and upgraded to bronze armor.We then head into the Cathurige Mines to kill some Orcs in our last Dungeon in the Lite version of the game.
In conclusion I really enjoyed the time I spent with this Lite version of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles.I am a huge fan of the old school Super Nintendo rpgs such as Tales of Phantasia , The Mana series and Zelda - Link to The Past.This game reminds me alot of those games with one of the most nostalgically beautiful soundtracks I have heard in a long time.
I will be picking up the full version of this game within the next week or so and I will continue my adventures with IDO the Clavat Warrior.
