Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (Wii) Review

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers’ early trailers had some gamers very skeptical over the game’s visual presentation -- and for good reason, considering it had supposedly been in development for such a long time. As soon as screenshots of the final build became available on the world wide web, however, everyone was reassured that the game would be up to scratch in the graphics department, within the limits of the Wii hardware. Everything looks incredibly detailed, especially the non-playable characters, who can be approached and examined in first person view up-close without revealing any major blurry texture issues. The animation, while not quite benefiting from the same near-perfect treatment, is also good. The trade-off for all this is that the environments look a bit empty sometimes.

One of the defining aspects of The Crystal Bearers’ universe is how lively it is, in contrast to this. NPCs can be seen seemingly going about their own lives, though it’s not quite on the same level as The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, where every single movement was scripted and predetermined. The game world is credible enough to make it look life-like, be it in the actions of the simple villagers or even the enemies -- wolves chase skeletons that pass by to take a bite at their bones, and so on...

A great emphasis was put on this aspect when the game was shown in trailers prior to its release, inviting players to experiment and interact with the environments and the living things that inhabit them. Even better, you can take your own screenshots of the game at any moment during gameplay or cinematic sequences, since the screenshot tool built into the game engine -- used by Square Enix themselves to show the graphical prowess of their engine -- is still accessible at any time at the press of a button. Pictures are saved to the SD card, transferable to a computer later on to put online and share with the world. It truly is funny to see and take pictures of the reactions of the NPCs to your own actions. You will only encounter a select few NPCs who you can speak to though, as you explore the game world as Layle, the Crystal Bearer.

Layle, of the Clavat tribe, is first seen accompanying Keiss the Selkie. Both work as mercenaries, taking up any job that is thrown their way. One day they get involved with the Lilty army during one mission and Layle gets to meet, in battle, a strange character of the supposedly eradicated Yuke tribe. Quickly nicknaming it Goldenrod, Layle decides to track it down due to its use of powers that are similar to those of a Crystal Bearer. Layle steals a peculiar green crystal from Goldenrod which has some unusual properties, such as the ability to absorb the energy from other crystals. Unveiling the mystery surrounding that crystal is the first goal, but it also opens up a whole new world of mysteries as you progress. The story in this Crystal Chronicles game is easily the most interesting and compelling about it, putting a lot more emphasis on character development than any of its predecessors, though there aren't that many main characters to begin with. It is comparable in tone to the more serious episodes of the main Final Fantasy series, though it is nowhere as deep or as long.

The setting of this particular installment of the Crystal Chronicles sub-series is unlike any of the other episodes. The world of Crystal Bearers has a more futuristic theme than the others, and reminds of Final Fantasy XII in some aspects. You will meet some familiar faces along the way, as usual. This Final Fantasy has its very own incarnations of Cid and Stiltzkin from Final Fantasy IX, and other Crystal Chronicles characters, such as the little king from Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, also make brief cameos.

Crystal Bearers are beings who can belong to any of the tribes from the classic Crystal Chronicles universe: Clavats, Lilties, Yukes and Selkies. Only a few Bearers are shown in the game’s story, though. As their name suggests, they are infused with a crystal that is encrusted into their skin, which gives them incredible powers -- the main one of which is telekinesis. That allows them to make their own body float in the air, plus grab and throw things around with the power of thought alone. Only the latter skill can be controlled by users at will. Crystal Bearers uses the hurling of objects as a central mechanic, battling by lobbing enemies or items, making it more of an action RPG. With characters aside Layle being pretty much devoid of any statistics, though, it could be said that The Crystal Bearers is more of an adventure game with RPG elements to it than anything.

That's where trouble comes in. The mechanic of grabbing things and attracting them to you isn't perfect (despite throwing posing no problems whatsoever). It is performed by pointing at an object, NPC or enemy to lock onto it, then flicking the Wii Remote upward to attract your target towards you. The issue is that rough movements don't always register properly. Working out the exact force needed so that the game detects and performs the action desired isn't an easy thing to begin with and requires some getting used to. Imagine, then, how this must be when you're in the middle of a boss fight that requires you to act quickly... This is a source of unnecessary frustration, but only in a few certain cases along the way. Indeed, that mechanic works well usually, since those occasions when you really need to be swift are few and far between.

However, another problem arises in that every single interaction with your surroundings in the game requires that same movement. This quickly gets repetitive. A few elements are thrown in to help vary things a bit, namely the variety of tactics to defeat an enemy -- using the different objects lying around cleverly, for example. A Bomb is attacking you? Find something water-based, like a full bucket or barrel, grab it and throw it at the enemy! There are plenty of similar examples throughout the game. Mini-games are also there to distract you from the main adventure; some very fun, others rather dull. Yet still, everything uses that same mechanic of grabbing and throwing. Thankfully the gorgeous graphics, compelling plot and more are good incentives to push players through to continuing Layle’s adventure.

Layle only has a few stats -- Attack, Defence, Focus (which affects the grabbing abilities), Range (again, of telekinetic capabilities), Luck -- that can be improved through the wearing of earrings, rings and amulets. These useful accessories can either be bought or crafted from objects found or purchased throughout. They can also yield some bonus effects such as, for example, increasing the -- limited -- time that objects or enemy can be grasped, or the damage dealt by whatever you throw at enemies, or improve health recovery. Speaking of the health bar, it is pretty much a copy and paste of what can be found in any episode of the Legend of Zelda series. You collect heart containers by battling enemies.

Outdoor areas can either be clear of any monsters, or under an enemy-encouraging miasma stream. Miasma streams either disappear on their own over time, or can be shut down with Layle’s telekinetic skills after fighting through hordes of foes: either way clears the area of enemies, but the latter awards additional heart containers. Certain areas may have a second, harder set of enemies to defeat later in the game, offering the possibility to collect a second heart container from the same area. Keeping track of which hearts have already been collected is easy thanks to the list of medals found in the pause menu.

Indeed, The Crystal Bearers has a ton of things to do to unlock over 300 achievement medals. Some are very simple to acquire, such as visiting every single area in the game, beating a certain enemy in a very specific way, or gathering the heart container of a certain area. Others are a bit more obscure, leaving you wondering what you have to do. The objectives can be compared to those of the achievement wall in Super Smash Bros. Brawl; the presentation, in the form of a huge array, is actually very similar.

The number of objectives is enormous and can last potentially tens of hours. The main game isn't very long, however. Completing the story, while collecting most of the major upgrades like heart containers, takes around 20 hours, which is in line with the DS iterations of the Crystal Chronicles franchise. The objectives are what will truly keep players coming back...if they can withstand the repetitive mechanic after the environments and plots have been completely discovered.

The soundtrack is probably the last big incentive to return to The Crystal Bearers after its story is beaten and the element of exploration is gone. Crystal Bearers is indeed a masterpiece of gaming music. Series veteran Kumi Tanioka takes a backseat this time, only composing a couple tracks. The majority of the music is composed by Hidenori Iwasaki and Ryo Yamazaki. It blends lots of different genres across the different tracks, all beautifully orchestrated and making up one of the best overall soundtracks Wii has seen, full stop. The sound effects are crystal clear too, further helping the game to shine brightly in the graphics department. The voice acting is the only thing tarnishing the luster of the sound package; some characters' voices are okay, but the general effort is poor. This might be a matter of taste, but the option to choose the Japanese voices, as seen recently in Xenoblade Chronicles, would have been most welcome.