Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers

System: Wii
Developer: Square Enix Production Team 2
Publisher: Square Enix
Genre: Adventure
Players: 1-2

Well now, what an unusual game. Initially announced at E3 2006, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (rolls off the tongue) would quickly spiral into the depths of development hell. Here we are what, four... million years later, and it definitely shows in the end result. The game tends to trip over its two left feet; unsure of its own direction. Crystal Bearers can make a fool of itself on the dance floor, but to the point where people will actually start cheering it on. The DJ then shrugs his shoulders, winks into the camera, everyone laughs and the credits roll.

Honestly, I had a blast. This is unlike anything I've ever played; almost experimental in its design. It's not an RPG, so don't go in expecting any traditional Final Fantasy gameplay. In fact, I'm not even sure how to best explain it. An adventure game with a strong focus on exploration and discovery, perhaps? Combat is the game's weak point, so yeah, that'll do.

Set in the Crystal Chronicles universe, the timeline has jumped forward by a few thousand years. The world's four tribes have been reduced to three, with the Yukes suffering defeat at the hands of the Lilty in The Great War. Forced into a limbo-like dimension, they're now fighting back for their right to co-exist - and you're going to get caught up in the middle of it all. Meet Layle, the main protagonist. Cool, calm and collected, he's dubbed a 'Crystal Bearer' – one of the lucky (or unlucky) few to possess magical abilities. The general public hate them for it, so they're often treated like garbage. In this case, Layle's power is levitation, the game's main hook.


The Wii Remote acts as an on-screen cursor, which can be locked on to pretty much anything and anyone. Once Layle has got something in his sights, a quick flick of the controller will lift it up above his head. From there you can run around, quickly hurl it away with another flick or line up exactly where you want to throw it and press the B button. So yes, you can be a complete jerk – the game encourages it. Fat lady minding her own business? Pick her up and chuck her down some stairs. Man reading his newspaper? Take it off him and catch up on the latest headlines. Stray cat chasing a mouse? Toss the mouse in a fountain. Does someone have the nerve to sit down on a chair? Pull it out from under them.

You can't do damage to anyone (physically at least) - they'll just get straight back up. But don't expect to get away with everything. That fat lady could jiggle on over and tackle you to the ground in retaliation, or you might find yourself being chased by a whole heap of cats in a comical fashion. On top of this tomfoolery, there are literally hundreds of special 'interactions' to discover, and you'll be awarded a medal for each one (basically an achievement-style system).

This sense of discovery extends to the game's mysteriously half-baked combat in open fields. Layle again relies on his bearer powers to take down enemies, and there's a slew of oddball results. Early on in the game I was surrounded by a bunch of skeletons and wolves, but upon yanking the head off a skeleton, the wolves fell in love with me. At first I had no idea what was going on until I threw the skull away and they all chased after it playfully. They wanted the bone! This caused them to gather in a big group, so I tossed a huge boulder in their general direction. Another time I found a guitar on the ground (as you do), and Layle started shredding away on it, killing enemies with beautiful ear-bleeding noise.


But the thing is... it's completely optional to even bother with enemies while you're out and about. They rarely ever pose an actual threat, and automatically vanish after a few minutes anyway. A bell will chime, and all the enemies get sucked up into a portal (returning the land to its regular bright, happy state) or spawn back again. It's a bit like Castlevania II's 'horrible night for a curse' syndrome. Naturally you'll be rewarded in one way or another for clearing an area, but it's so unbelievably difficult to kill everything in such a short amount of time. You could go through the entire game without fighting a single enemy, and boss fights are kept to an absolute minimum during the story mode.

Speaking of which, Square Enix has injected the same light hearted nature into the story, while still keeping a serious tone. It's an excellent adventure (starring Bill and Ted), helped by the likeable cast of characters. None of them will start slashing their wrists whilst high on angst, and that's always nice. Layle himself is refreshingly laid-back. It's heavy on cut scenes, but with such a strong story they're not wasted on pointless bullshit. Some cut scenes will even turn into interactive action sequences; you'll experience one of these within the first five minutes as Layle is free falling from an airship, gunning down flying beasts. These are pretty exciting showpieces, and for some reason they have a completely pointless score counter. Oh boy, I just got 200 points! … Yeah, woo!

All up, the main quest will take around 10 hours, but there's so much more to the game after that. Square Enix has crafted a beautiful, detailed world to explore. It's not entirely open (some areas will require a train ride), but a lot of it can be traversed on foot, or by Chocobo. Sunny beaches, hot springs, snowy mountains, forests laced with cherry blossom trees, deserts, cities, small villages off the beaten track – it's an absolute joy to poke around. Should you feel the need to run through the story again, a New Game+ mode is there to change up certain events just a bit.


While the texture work can vary, the art direction goes a long, long way. I don't find myself stopping to truly admire the surroundings in a Wii game too often, but Crystal Bearers did it. It's the little details, like leaves dropping from the trees, or confused middle-aged men rolling down hills on barrels for absolutely no reason at all. I once saved someone as they were rolling down a hill by slamming them into a wall; they'd go on to send me a letter (in-game, technology's not that advanced yet) to thank me. For uh, breaking their spine, I guess.

Oh yes, and Crystal Bearers has a screenshot function. At any time during the game, pressing button 2 will take a snapshot, which can then be instantly saved onto an SD card. I took all the images used in this review myself, I'm a big kid now. ♫

Voice acting is solid, for the most part. The main bad guy is a bit too enthusiastic about even the smallest of things. I can just imagine him at McDonalds or something. “Yes, yes I WILL have the LARGEST Big Mac meal, for I HUNGER today. I'm the HIGH COMMANDER. Good, good – ahahua huaaw haw hargle bargle!”


The soundtrack is top quality, as you'd expect from a Square Enix production. Fitting in with the game's unique feel, there's a wide variety of different music genres mixed in. Jazz, classical, rock, new-age, techno, it's all here.

Really, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers Extravaganza X: The Crystal Revenge of Krystal's Crystal Loincloth isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. It's unlike anything Square Enix has ever put out. There are a lot of ideas crammed in here; some work, some don't – but it's clear the development team had fun somewhere along the line. The game world is the center of attention, it's up to you to fully explore everything it has to offer. Merely blazing through the story (as entertaining as it is) won't do this any justice.


Score: 7.5/10 - "Good buy"
The Crystal Bearers is an interesting release. It's rough around the edges, but I can't recommend this enough if you're looking for something completely different in an adventure game.

Review by Lance McGill (Infernal Monkey)