Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (video Game)
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is an
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developed by
The Game Designers Studio also known under its international brand name SquareSoft, was a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It was founded in 1986 by Masafumi Miyamoto, who spun off the computer game software division of Den-Yu-Sha, a power line constructio ...
and published by
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
for the
GameCube The is a PowerPC-based home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the suc ...
. It was released in 2003 in Japan and 2004 in North America, Europe and Australia. A remastered version for
Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...
,
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,
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, and
iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
was released in August 2020. A spin-off of the ''
Final Fantasy is a Japanese fantasy Anthology series, anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi which is owned, developed, and published by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fanta ...
'' series and beginning of the series of the same name, ''Crystal Chronicles'' was the first title in the franchise to be released for a Nintendo
home console A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. While initial consoles were dedicated units with only a few game ...
since ''
Final Fantasy VI also known as ''Final Fantasy III'' in its initial North American release, is a 1994 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Final Fantasy'' ser ...
'' in 1994. Players take on the role of adventurers who travel in a caravan gathering mystical fuel for crystals which protect the world's settlements from the destructive ''Miasma''. The single-player campaign has the player escort the vessel carrying the crystal's energy, defending it from enemies and solving puzzles to progress. Multiplayer, which uses
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...
units connected using the console's link cable, has up to four players protecting the vessel. Deciding to partner with Nintendo for game development following severe financial problems created by the failure of '' Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within'', franchise creator
Square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...
formed the Game Designers Studio as a
shell company A shell corporation is a company or corporation with no significant assets or operations often formed to obtain financing before beginning business. Shell companies were primarily vehicles for lawfully hiding the identity of their beneficial ...
to develop for Nintendo hardware without impacting games for
Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
platforms. The development team wanted to create an accessible gameplay experience focusing on multiplayer. The music, written by
Kumi Tanioka is a Japanese composer and pianist. Born in Hiroshima, Japan, she graduated from Kobe University with a degree in musical performance, and began working as a video game composer in 1998. She joined video game developer and publisher Square tha ...
, made extensive use of
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
and
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...
s. Upon release, the title was positively received by journalists, and was nominated for multiple awards. Reaching high sales positions in Japan and the West, it went on to sell over one million copies worldwide. The remastered version saw generally mixed reviews, with many faulting the change to online-only multiplayer, and by-then dated gameplay mechanics. Subsequent entries in the ''Crystal Chronicles'' series have released for Nintendo consoles, beginning with '' Ring of Fates'' for the
Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...
.


Gameplay

''Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles'' is an
action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a video game genre that combines core elements from both the action game and Role-playing video game, role-playing game genres. Definition Action role-playing games empha ...
where players take control of a group of adventurers who travel the world searching for rare trees which produce "myrrh", used to fuel crystals protecting the world's settlements from the poisonous Miasma. Players are guided through a repeating series of events which dictate their progress through the game and its story. The adventurers set out from their village, travelling to the trees guarding the vessel which gathers the myrrh, exploring dungeons in which the trees reside, then returning home to renew their village's protective crystal. Players choose their avatar character from one of four races; they can be male or female, each with four pre-set body types. Each race has specific strengths, such as the human-like Clavats having high defence and magic
statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...
and the nomadic Selkies being able to use special abilities with less cooldown time. Each character's attributes are further customised by choosing the profession of their family, which gives the character access to unique facilities and items each time they return to their home town. Players navigate the world map with their Caravan, and enter town and dungeon environments discovered during the journey. In towns, the player can freely explore and use the available facilities to create and upgrade both items and equipment using materials and blueprints gathered during their journey. The player can also encounter other caravans and travellers, triggering story events. Items used to support the player are both bought in shops and received as gifts from the player character's family. While exploring dungeons, players are confined to a safe zone created by the vessel, fighting enemies in a style similar to
hack and slash Hack and slash, also known as hack and slay (H&S or HnS) or slash 'em up, refers to a type of gameplay that emphasizes combat with melee-based weapons (such as swords or blades). They may also feature projectile-based weapons as well (such as ...
games with actions assigned to command buttons; actions can be chained together into short combination attacks using equipped weapons to increase damage and charge up magic abilities. Magic can be used to damage enemies or trigger status ailments, with multiple spells able to fuse and create new effects in battle. The elemental affinity of the player's attacks can be changed using crystals found in dungeons. Certain elemental affinities are necessary for crossing into new zones otherwise blocked by streams of Miasma. Instead of an
experience point An experience point (often abbreviated as exp or XP) is a unit of measurement used in some tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's life experience and progression through the game. Experien ...
system, character attributes and statistics are increased by completing challenges in each dungeon session which award skill points, and Artifacts found in dungeons which can be equipped to a character. In
single-player A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the gameplay. Video games in general can feature several game modes, including single-player modes designed to be played by a single player in add ...
, the player controls one character guarding the Moogle-held vessel from monster attacks while navigating dungeons. The game's
multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
allows up to four players to join in a local gameplay session; multiplayer relies on the
GameCube The is a PowerPC-based home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the suc ...
console linking with the
Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...
(GBA) link cable. All players are displayed on the screen, while their GBAs both control their characters and allow functions such as shopping in towns and performing battle functions. Character attributes are increased in the same way, except that the necessary points are given to the best player during that session. In battle, players can raise attack meters using standard attacks in succession, and combine individual spells to create more powerful versions for higher damage. The link cable can also be used in single player, allowing the GBA to be used both as a controller and a second screen displaying radar information. The type of radar and what it shows is determined by the color the player's Moogle—one of a recurring ''
Final Fantasy is a Japanese fantasy Anthology series, anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi which is owned, developed, and published by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fanta ...
'' race—is painted during stays in towns and visits to the adventurers' hometown.


Plot

''Crystal Chronicles'' takes place in an unnamed fantasy world inhabited by four races. The player takes control of a caravan hailing from the village of Tipa, in which members of the world's four races come together to help its mission. 1000 years before the game's events, the world's sustaining Great Crystal was shattered by a
meteorite A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...
carrying an alien lifeform called the Meteor Parasite. The Parasite generated a poisonous vapour called the Miasma, which kills anyone it touches. Fragments of the Great Crystal ward off the Miasma from surviving settlements, but require renewal using myrrh, an energy harvested from magical trees using magical vessels protected by dedicated caravans. The Tipa caravanners go on missions across the world to gather myrrh, learning the world's history from travellers and characters found in other settlements. The caravanners eventually reach the home of the Carbuncles, an ancient race who guided the world's races to the Great Crystal fragments before going into hiding. After hearing of their adventures, the Carbuncles direct the caravanners to the source of the Miasma, asking them to destroy the Meteor Parasite. The caravanners fight the Meteor Parasite, but before they can kill it are transported to an unknown realm. There they meet Mio and her evil counterpart Raem, metaphysical beings born following the Great Crystal's destruction. Raem attacks the caravanners, merging with Mio to increase his power, before being finally destroyed. Mio and Raem separate and fade away, then the caravanners are sent back to Mount Vellenge to destroy the wounded Meteor Parasite. The world is freed from the Miasma—allowing the four tribes to begin rebuilding civilisation—and the caravanners return home.


Development

''Crystal Chronicles'' was the first original ''Final Fantasy'' title to be developed for a
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
console since the release of ''
Final Fantasy VI also known as ''Final Fantasy III'' in its initial North American release, is a 1994 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Final Fantasy'' ser ...
'' in 1994. ''Final Fantasy'' developer
Square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...
had broken with Nintendo in 1996 to develop ''
Final Fantasy VII is a 1997 role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation. The seventh main installment in the ''Final Fantasy'' series, it was released in Japan by Square and internationally by Sony Computer Entertainment, becoming the first ...
'' and future mainline entries in the series for
Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
's
PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...
platforms, resulting in a long-standing enmity between Square and Nintendo. In 2001, following the financial failure of the feature film '' Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within'', Sony purchased a stake in the company amounting to 19% of shares. After considering their still-poor financial situation and wishing to keep their staff from leaving, Square decided to begin developing titles for Nintendo consoles once again. Sony, whose rivalry with Nintendo had softened with the appearance of Microsoft's
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
on the console market, agreed to the partnership on the condition that it would not impact development of titles for the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
. This resulted in the creation of "The Game Designers Studio", a
shell company A shell corporation is a company or corporation with no significant assets or operations often formed to obtain financing before beginning business. Shell companies were primarily vehicles for lawfully hiding the identity of their beneficial ...
for Square's Product Development Division 2 co-owned by Square and
Akitoshi Kawazu is a Japanese game designer, director, producer and writer. After joining Square (later Square Enix) in 1985, he went on to become a central developer for the first two ''Final Fantasy'' titles, then acted as creator and lead developer for the ...
, a staff member famous for his work on the ''
SaGa Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...
'' series. Development of the new project began in late 2001. The title was developed with the aid of Q Fund, a fund set up by Nintendo's
Hiroshi Yamauchi Hiroshi Yamauchi (; 7 November 192719 September 2013) was a Japanese businessman and the third president of Nintendo, joining the company on 25 April 1949 until stepping down on 24 May 2002, being succeeded by Satoru Iwata. During his 53-year t ...
to help first-time developers for the GameCube and GBA consoles. Kawazu acted as the game's producer. The director was Kazuhiko Aoki, a veteran of the ''Final Fantasy'' series who had worked on ''
Final Fantasy IX is a 2000 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation video game console. It is the ninth game in the main ''Final Fantasy'' series. The plot focuses on a wa ...
''. The artwork and character designs were created by Toshiyuki Itahana, who had also worked on ''IX''. During the game's development in 2003, Square underwent a merger with
Enix was a Japanese multimedia publisher who handled and oversaw video games, manga, guidebooks, and merchandise. It was founded in 1975 by Yasuhiro Fukushima as Eidansha Boshu Service Center, initially as a tabloid publisher and later attempting t ...
to become
Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, video game publisher and entertainment conglomerate. It releases role-playing video game, role-playing game franchises, such as ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', and '' ...
, though the nature of the merger meant operations at the Gamer Designers Studio continued as normal. Square Localization Specialist Aziz Hinoshita stated that the game was originally meant to be an offshoot of ''Final Fantasy'', and once the series was established it would drop the connection to that series and would be called "''Crystal Chronicles''". It was the only title ever developed by the company for the GameCube. Similar to his ''SaGa'' games, Kawazu wanted to promote player freedom. The basic concept was to build a game around use of the link cable. Kawazu explained that using the GBA would "introduce different elements of gameplay". He later stated that this type of multiplayer meant "the entry was a bit high" for potential players. The battle system was initially going to use the series' recurring
Active Time Battle Active Time Battle (ATB) is a role-playing video game mechanic invented by Hiroyuki Ito. It was first used in ''Final Fantasy IV'' (1991), and patented in 1995 by Ito and Hironobu Sakaguchi, though the patent expired in 2010, allowing it to be use ...
system, but instead chose a purely action-based system to allow more people to enjoy the gameplay. Leveling based on
experience point An experience point (often abbreviated as exp or XP) is a unit of measurement used in some tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's life experience and progression through the game. Experien ...
s was also removed to create a level field for players. It was initially planned to include a human sidekick character, but upon considering its impact on multiplayer, they changed it to the current Moogle system. The game's event planner was Masahiro Kataoka, a Square staff member who had previously worked in that capacity on ''Final Fantasy IX''. The central plot details of the Miasma and role of Crystals were established early on, based around the wish to keep players together. Each race's defining traits were influenced by the designers' decisions about their combat options, with story-based additions coming from the planners later in production. The narrations which accompanied new areas were written in the style of journal entries, designed to both fit the theme of a caravan and introduce a new area to the player. While previous ''Final Fantasy'' games were driven by their narrative, ''Crystal Chronicles'' was driven by its gameplay; the narrative was instead communicated through basic storytelling and environmental narrative. Despite this shift, recurring elements from the ''Final Fantasy'' were included. The many encounters players had along the way were important to Kawazu, with the scenario designers "pushing themselves as far as they could" to fill the game world with these encounters and accompanying lore. Most of them were created well after production had begun. Itahana heard about the project while he was attached to ''
Final Fantasy XII is a 2006 role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix. The twelfth main installment of the ''Final Fantasy'' series, it was first released for the PlayStation 2 in March 2006. It introduced several innovations to the series ...
'' during its early production, and transferred over to work on ''Crystal Chronicles''. The scenario was already decided upon, with Itahana working from their briefs. A recurring theme in his artwork was the phrase "
Memento mori (Latin for "remember (that you have) to die")
". The four races were designed to have distinct sillouettes, so players would not get confused. Itahana originally created a cat-like race for the game, but Kawazu "hated" their design, so he created the plant-themed Lilties as a replacement. His work on the game lacked strong character designs due to the online multiplayer nature of the title. The player character designs were intended to be highly distinctive, allowing players to differentiate each other during play sessions. When creating the graphics, the team created graphical effects they considered possible only on the GameCube, and constantly checked background designs throughout development. Due to the multitude of elements new to ''Final Fantasy'' being incorporated into ''Crystal Chronicles'', the development team faced multiple difficulties.


Music

The soundtrack to ''Crystal Chronicles'' was primarily composed by
Kumi Tanioka is a Japanese composer and pianist. Born in Hiroshima, Japan, she graduated from Kobe University with a degree in musical performance, and began working as a video game composer in 1998. She joined video game developer and publisher Square tha ...
, while music programmer and
arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...
Hidenori Iwasaki Hidenori (written: 秀典, 秀憲, 秀則, 秀徳, 英則, 英徳 or 英智) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese sound effects editor *, Japanese manga artist *, Japanese ice hockey player *, Japan ...
provided one additional piece of music. Prior to ''Crystal Chronicles'', Tanioka had worked on the score of ''Final Fantasy XI''. Beginning work on the score in 2002, Tanioka and Iwasaki decided to exclusively use period instruments. The soundtrack makes extensive use of many
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
and
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...
s such as the
recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...
, the
crumhorn The crumhorn is a double reed , double reed instrument of the woodwind family, most commonly used during the Renaissance music, Renaissance period. In modern times, particularly since the 1960s, there has been a revival of interest in early mu ...
and the
lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...
, creating a distinctively rustic feel. Tanioka said that the idea came to her while looking at illustrations of the game world, which gave her the idea of making "world music", where the tracks would "not elimited to a single country or culture". She also credits Iwasaki with doing "fantastic technical work" that brought her vision to life. The live music was performed by the Roba Music Theater, whom Iwasaki and Tanioka had seen perform. In addition to performing, the musicians made suggestions about the use of instruments. The game features two vocal themes; the opening theme "Kaze no Ne", and the ending theme "Hoshizukiyo". Tanioka originally composed a longer version of "Kaze no Ne", but to keep the opening at a reasonable length she had to shorten it. The Japanese versions are sung by Yae Fujimoto, while the English versions are sung by
Donna Burke } Donna Burke (born 1964) is an Australian actress, singer, and businesswoman. She primarily voices characters in anime and video games including Angela Orosco in '' Silent Hill 2'' (2001), Claudia Wolf in '' Silent Hill 3'' (2003), and has pe ...
. Burke also provided narration for the English version of the game. The lyrics for both "Kaze no Ne" and "Hoshizukiyo" were written by Kataoka. Describing her localization of the songs, Burke felt it was a challenge as Japanese is a more compact language than English, meaning she needed to "pad
he lyrics He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
out about 30-40%". Rather than a direct adaptation, Burke's work carried a similar message using altered words. A soundtrack album was released under the
Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966, which distributes music, films, home video, and video games. It is affiliated with the Japanese media group Fujisankei Communications Group. Pony Canyo ...
label on August 20, 2003. It included all of the music from the game with the exception of the English versions of "Kaze no Ne" and "Hoshizukiyo". ''Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: A Musical Journey'' was a European promotional album which was given alongside the game on March 11, 2004 as a pre-order bonus. It contains six tracks from the soundtrack, including "Kaze No Ne" in both Japanese and English, the only time the English version has been released. It was published by Nintendo of Europe. "Kaze no Ne" was released as a single by Pony Canyon, featuring "Kaze No Ne", an arranged version, and two other songs by Yae from her album ''Blue Line''. The single was released on July 30, 2003.


Release

The game was officially announced at the
Jump Festa is an annual manga and anime fan convention in Tokyo, Japan. It is organized by Shueisha, publisher of the various '' Jump'' anthologies, with Jump Festa focusing specifically on the Shōnen manga magazines such as Weekly Shōnen Jump, Jump Squar ...
event in Japan in December 2002. A Western release was announced in April the following year. The game was among those shown by Square Enix at the 2003
Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo) was an annual Trade fair, trade event for the video game industry organized and presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). It was held principally in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2019, wit ...
, alongside a number of other titles including ''
Final Fantasy XI also known as ''Final Fantasy XI Online'', is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), originally developed and published by Square (video game company), Square and then published by Square Enix as the eleventh main installme ...
'' and '' X-2'', and other titles including '' Unlimited SaGa'' and ''
Drakengard ''Drakengard'', known in Japan as is a series of action role-playing video games originally developed by Cavia (company), Cavia and published by Square Enix. The Drakengard (video game), eponymous first game in the series was released in 2003 ...
''. ''Crystal Chronicles'' was released in Japan on August 8, 2003, after being delayed twice. The game came packaged with a GameCube-GBA link cable for use in multiplayer. In North America, the game was released on February 9, 2004, in Europe on March 12, and Australia on March 19. The game was published worldwide by Nintendo.


''Remastered Edition''

A remastered version, titled ''Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Remastered Edition'', was released in 2020. The remaster includes enhanced graphics, new and arranged music, thirteen new dungeons, voice acting, and cross-platform online multiplayer. The game was released for
Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...
,
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...
,
Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...
, and
iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
mobile platforms. The port's online engine environment, dubbed STRIX Engine, was licensed from ''
Fantasy Earth Zero ''Fantasy Earth Zero'' was a 2006 massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed for Microsoft Windows. Originally developed by Puraguru (now known as Vanillaware) and Multiterm under the title ''Fantasy Earth: The Ring of Dominion'', i ...
'' developer SoftGear. Originally scheduled for a release in January 2020, it was delayed past the original planned release so the development team could further polish the game. The game was released online worldwide on August 27. A physical cartridge for Nintendo Switch was released only in Japan. A free downloadable Lite Version, acting as a demo covering three dungeons, was released alongside the retail version. Players of the Lite Version can join multiplayer sessions with retail version owners, allowing them to experience all thirteen dungeons. The Lite Version was developed late in full production, when the majority of the remaster was in place. Producer and director Ryoma Araki talked with senior staff about remastering older games after finishing work on another project. Araki had joined Square Enix originally after seeing ''Crystal Chronicles'', and so when the chance came he expressed his wish to revive the game for a modern generation. While they had the option to remake it, Araki wanted to keep the game faithful to the memories of earlier players, both evoking nostalgia and assuring them that ''Crystal Chronicles'' was returning unchanged. Itahana returned, creating new lead character designs, but due to positive fan memories the original player designs were kept intact. Itahana worked on the new designs with Rubi Asami, who had previously worked on ''
Mobius Final Fantasy was an episodic role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for iOS, Android, and Microsoft Windows. It was released in Japan in June 2015, and internationally in August 2016. The players could control Warrior of Light (Wol), ...
''. Araki estimated that around half the game had been remade rather than remastered due to the number of changes and additions. When consulting Aoki and Kawazu, Araki was asked to keep the project faithful to its roots and update it for modern players. In addition to enhancing the graphics, the team improved the AI character behavior. Along with the new features, many of the changes were small adjustments done to increase its playability for a modern audience. One of these changes was the timing system for casting magic, which was adjusted to both work through an online connection and be more lenient on players than the original version. The mimic mechanic, which allows players to appear as characters met during the story, was implemented as a way for players to continue travelling with favorite characters without breaking the narrative flow. Unlike the original, the remaster does not support local multiplayer. During production, the team had to choose between local and online co-op rather than having both, so they opted for online to allow the maximum number of people to play. Commenting on the delays, Araki said the team were prioritising a smooth playing experience, but he ended up being "reprimanded by a lot of important people". Composer Hidenori Iwasaki was brought in to both compose new tunes and arrange the original themes, though this was originally unplanned. The remaster was planned to use the original score, but the team's passion for the project prompted the decision to also remaster the music tracks. Remastering the old score was very easy as the original sound files had been kept in "perfect condition". While they worked on the game for a year, remastering the original score took only three months. New themes were composed by Tanioka, who had become a freelance composer and performer in 2010. In order to recall her feelings to create new tracks, Tanioka listened to the original soundtrack. While the new themes were mainly for the additional dungeons, other tracks were incorporated into the rest of the game. The new boss battle theme, while more energetic and modern-sounding than the original score, was written in the same style as Tanioka's earlier work. Fujimoto and Burke both returned to record new versions of the opening and ending themes. Burke enjoyed redoing the English theme, as she had gained more depth and experience since the original release.


Reception

Japanese gaming magazine ''
Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...
'' praised the game's fairytale aesthetic and unconventional treatment of the RPG genre; journalists Shane Bettenhausen, Jennifer Tsao and Kevin Gifford ''
Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The magazine was fou ...
'' each gave the game high praise for its innovation in gameplay and graphical style. ''
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...
''s Rob Fahey gave the game a near-perfect score, noting the clear production values and calling it "one of the best action RPGs" he played; his only major fault was the implementation of multiplayer and its potential problems. Andrew Reiner—writing for ''
Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'' is an American monthly Video game journalism, video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and video game console, game consoles. It debuted in August 1991, when the video game reta ...
''—was highly critical of the overall experience, calling the game "an experiment gone awry ..unfit to bear the sacrosanct ''Final Fantasy'' name". A second opinion given by Adam Biessener supported this view, with Biessener feeling that the game did little to distinguish itself from other similar titles. ''
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
''s Brad Shoemaker enjoyed the game despite faulting its high hardware demands for the full experience, and his publication later named it the best GameCube game of February 2004. Mary Jane Irwin of ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'' also gave praise to its gameplay concepts and design, but noted a lack of replay value and the steep entry requirements for multiplayer.
1Up.com ''1Up.com'' was an American entertainment website that focused on video games. Launched in 2003, ''1Up.com'' provided its own original features, news stories, game reviews, and video interviews, and also featured comprehensive PC-focused conte ...
praised the Gauntlet-like gameplay while criticizing ''FFCC''s item-management system that made juggling items a chore. Reviewers praised the game's art design and music, but most considered the story lacking compared to other ''Final Fantasy'' games. The gameplay was lauded for its implementation of multiplayer despite the hardware requirements and its detrimental effect on the single player campaign. A consensus in both Japanese and international reviews was that it was an innovative title, but with several flaws keeping it from being ranked among the best ''Final Fantasy'' games. ''Remastered Edition'' saw generally "mixed or average" reviews on both Switch and PS4. Jordan Rudek of ''Nintendo World Report'' felt that the single-player campaign lacked compelling content, and the multiplayer was hampered by the new additions to the point of making it worse than the original. ''IGN''s Seth Macy was very negative, feeling that the game only made the original frustrating mechanics worse and added new problems. Mitch Vogel, writing for ''Nintendo Life'', felt that the game would not appeal to a wide demographic and the new multiplayer functions sapped much of the original version's entertainment. Bryan Vitale of ''RPG Site'' felt it was still "serviceable" as an RPG, but showed its age and lacked polish on top of the frustrating online multiplayer functions. Kirstin Swalley of ''Hardcore Gamer'' was notably more positive, noting the age of its graphics design but otherwise finding it a fun and enjoyable ''Final Fantasy'' title. Reviews generally praised the art and music, but many faulted its archaic gameplay and unfriendly online multiplayer design.


Sales

During its debut in Japan, ''Crystal Chronicles'' sold over 179,500 units, reaching second place in sales charts. During the next two weeks, it first dropped to third place then rose to second place again. By 2004, ''Crystal Chronicles'' had sold nearly 355,000 units, becoming the twenty-eighth best-selling game title of the year in Japan and boosting GameCube sales for August. Following its North American release, the game was the best-selling title of the month. In the United Kingdom, the game was the best-selling GameCube title of its week of release, a position it retained during the second week. As of October 2007, the game has shipped over 1.3 million copies worldwide. The Nintendo Switch version sold 48,957 physical copies during its first week on sale in Japan, making it the third bestselling retail game of the week in the country.


Awards and retrospectives

''Crystal Chronicles'' received the Grand Prize at the 2003
Japan Media Arts Festival The Japan Media Arts Festival was an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition. Based on judging by ...
, based on its multiplayer function and graphical achievements. During the 2004 National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers ceremony, the game was nominated for awards in the "Character Design", "Costume Design", "Game - Sequel RPG" and "Original Musical Score" categories. It was later nominated for the " Console Role-Playing Game of the Year" award at the
8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards The ''8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards'' was the 8th edition of the D.I.C.E. Awards, Interactive Achievement Awards, an annual awards event that honored the best games in the video game industry during 2004 in video games, 2004. The awar ...
. ''IGN'' ranked the game in 2003 prior to its Western release as second in a list of the best co-op video games; while noting that the game's unusual features and chosen platform caused confusion within the ''Final Fantasy'' fan base, its multiplayer promised a high quality experience if other elements could live up to it. ''Eurogamer''s Rob Haines praised the game's approach to the inherent conflict between multiplayer gameplay and narrative, and despite its drawbacks called its multiplayer function "the most fully-featured implementation of Gamecube-Game Boy Advance connectivity ever created". Henry Gilbert of ''
GamesRadar ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', '' Edge'' and ''Computer ...
'', as part of a 2017 article ranking the best ''Final Fantasy'' spin-off games, praised the game's multiplayer elements and return to Nintendo consoles despite its extensive hardware demands.


Legacy

''Crystal Chronicles'' was the only original game developed by the Game Designers Studio, which had become a subsidiary of Square Enix following the 2003 merger. The Game Designers Studio was eventually renamed SQEX Corporation in 2005. It was later merged with
Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, Toy, toys, arcade cabinets, and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, Vending machine, vending machines, and Juk ...
in 2006 following Taito's acquisition by Square Enix, and eventually dissolved entirely during consolidation of Square Enix's arcade businesses in 2010. Multiple ''Crystal Chronicles'' titles were later developed for Nintendo's later consoles, with Square Enix's aim being to make full use of Nintendo hardware while developing the ''Final Fantasy'' franchise. The first was '' Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates'' for the
Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...
(DS). Two further titles were '' Echoes of Time'' for the DS and
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...
, and '' The Crystal Bearers'' for the Wii. Square Enix also developed two ''Crystal Chronicles'' titles for the Wii's
WiiWare WiiWare was a digital media entertainment service operated by Nintendo that allowed the download of games and applications developed for the Wii video game console. These games and applications could only be purchased and downloaded from the W ...
service; '' My Life as a King'' and its direct sequel '' My Life as a Darklord''. All the ''Crystal Chronicles'' games share the same continuity, creating a narrative spanning several millennia. Kataoka would go on to work on the scenarios of multiple titles following ''Crystal Chronicles'' including ''
Final Fantasy X is a 2001 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for PlayStation 2. The tenth main installment in the ''Final Fantasy'' series, it is the first game in the series to feature fully 3D computer gra ...
'' and '' XII''. He eventually left the company and founded Studio Reel in 2012. Studio Reel and Kataoka would work together with Kawazu on the development of the 2015 title '' SaGa: Scarlet Grace''.


Notes


References


External links

* {{Authority control 2003 video games Action role-playing video games Final Fantasy video games GameCube games Nintendo games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games IOS games Android (operating system) games Multiplayer and single-player video games Video games about amnesia Video games developed in Japan Video games with gender-selectable protagonists Video games scored by Hidenori Iwasaki Video games scored by Kumi Tanioka Video games with cross-platform play Games with GameCube-GBA connectivity