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Sequels mark the return of Crystal Chronicles
(by Caleb Rumley - May 28, 2008)
Crystal Chronicles had an interesting start several years ago on the Gamecube. It was one of the first games to use the Game Boy connectivity feature that never got off the ground.
The series has been dormant for a while, but Square Enix has recently released a full-fledged sequel to Crystal Chronicles on a much better suited system, the DS. And another side project of theirs called My Life as King debuted on the Wii’s download channel on May 12. Both games capture the feel of the original, and are both entertaining in their own way.
Ring of Fates, which is available on the DS, is an exciting action-RPG that puts you in the hands of a young warrior named Yuri. Early in the game, Yuri loses his father to the evil race of the moon-worshipping Lunites. The game has a weak story that was hard to get into, so don’t expect to feel connected to any of the characters.
But even though Ring of Fates has a typical story line, the gameplay really shines. There are four distinct races and each character has unique and special abilities. Running through the dungeons is a blast, and the simple yet complex magic system works very well on the DS.
Ring of Fates still has several problems. It’s not a huge game – there are just a handful of areas, but the small amount of dungeons are all very high quality. It’s impressive that Square Enix squeezed voice acting into a handheld game, but the quality of the voice acting is pretty poor. I would have liked to play multiplayer, but you can’t play unless your friend has a copy of the game. Also, there isn’t any online play. But these flaws aside, Ring of Fates gets an 8 out of 10.
On the other hand, Square has put together another Crystal Chronicles game that changes the roles of the player completely. In My Life as King, which is available for 1500 Wii Points (or $15), you play as King Leo, who is set to bring his small town into a kingdom of power and influence.
By building new structures and improving your village, you can train your adventurers to take out larger and larger dungeons. But here’s the twist – as King Leo, you don’t actually fight any battles – you just wait for your adventurers to return and hand you a report of what went down while they were on their adventures.
My Life as King tailors to a certain kind of gamer – and if you play Final Fantasy games just for the battles, it might not be for you. But if you like managing your party and looking over stats just as much as the rest of the game, My Life as King would definitely be a great fit.
I really enjoyed My Life as King. The gameplay is great, a definite change from every other RPG game out there. It’s a little Harvest Moon, a little Animal Crossing, and a lot of Final Fantasy. And the price is right - $15 for at least 10 hours of entertainment is a passing grade in my book. You can even download additional dungeons as Downloadable Content. My Life as King, which is available only as a download via the Wii’s online service, gets an 8.5 out of 10.
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