|
 Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (GameCube, 2003-4) is a wonderful and lovely game.  While it was never going to live up to "Final Fantasy's return to Nintendo!" because it is nothing like a mainline Final Fantasy title, it nevertheless delivered a lovingly crafted bundle of dungeon-diving action, fantastic environments, a surprisingly restrained plot, and a pleasant, Celtic-inspired soundtrack.  And multiplayer! Sweet, frantic, tactic-juggling, spell-fusing multiplayer. This game had all the makings of a phenomenon. It also had a single, colossal, problem.  Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles was a flagbearer for the GameCube-GBA Link Cable, and as such requires one GBA per player in its multiplayer mode. Unlike fellow agenda-advancer The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, though, FF:CC doesn't really leverage that ~second screen~ in any particularly interesting or novel way, just using it to offload menus from the TV. There is no reason why, with some snappy interface design, this game could not have been played with four GameCube controllers. But no. If you wanted to play anything other than the comparatively dull single-player mode, you and three friends were dealing with a hardware buy-in of like £800, not counting your TV. The good news for me is that LPing this game does not require us to capture the GBA screens. That would be madness. Nearly five years ago, I had a plan to LP Crystal Chronicles - three friends and I got hold of the hardware and were up for it, but time was not on our side; by the time we were anywhere near ready, we were split up across three countries and I LP'd some strategy thing instead. Now, though, we are briefly together again, and we're not missing another opportunity. We are: P1: P2: Cancer Cowboy, ever irritable P3: Bram, ever excitable P4: Saphybelle, ever disdainful (you will easily tell us apart by our accents) This is going to be a pretty casual LP, though I am going to do my best to make it informative too. We're going to try and show off every iteration of every dungeon at least once (we may end up cutting some later repeat runs if they get dull), collect interesting items, see plot events, and wrap up the game at decent (though not ludicrous) levels of power. That's the plan, anyway.  Spoiler Policy: There should never be any need to talk about plot events we haven't seen, so don't.A note on video quality, and hubris: The Crystal Chronicles Year 1: Farewell, Geoffry (Hello Again, Geoffry) The Lovely Dungeon Issues with Mushrooms Actually, it's an Orc King Year 2: And the Goblins Will Pay For It At Least We Got Paid Total Village Wipe Year 3: The Sound of the Word "Sluice" Hurdy Gurdy Man Damon's Court Year 4: Selepate Good Times It Burns, Etc gently caress This loving Swamp Year 5: Just Desert Yukes are Weird Smoking Kills Year 6: In Brightest Geoffry, Blackest Knight All Hope Abaddon gently caress This Pyramid Too Year 7 Hastega Makes Wastega Bram of Geoffry Multipass Stopping By The Abyss Year 8 Someday That Wall is Gonna Fall Waking Up, Breaking Out The Tida Turns Year 9 The Epitome of Evil The Sluice Life Gotta Selepate (Ah Yeah) Year 10 The Fields of Fun Abbadonough Open Your Eyes Year 11 Yukes are Definitely Weird gently caress Everything, Especially Minecraft for Some Reason It's a Selepation, Bitches Year 12 Extremely Lamia Pot Luck Power Satisfactory Year 13 Blizzards & Lizards Abaddonment Issues Artemecion's Blasting Off Again Year 14 Vellenjee The Plot Intrudes A Fight to Remember (or, Don't Attack Your Family) Fedule fucked around with this message at 01:56 on Feb 18, 2017 |
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 22:22
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 01:08 |
|
|
 The Premise: The world is covered in Miasma. Miasma kills everything. Settlements exist under the protection of Crystals, but Crystals need Myrrh to function and must be replenished each year. Therefore, each year, every settlement sends out a caravan equipped with a bucket and a portable crystal to harvest it.  For reasons of game design, the crystal is mounted on the bucket and its radius of protection is tiny, so get used to the sight of this thing because we're going to be carrying it everywhere. In single player, you get a pet moogle who will carry it for you 99% of the time, but in multiplayer, someone's gotta be on Bucket Duty.  We are the caravan of the southern village Playable Characters are drawn from the four (surviving?) races of the world.
Fedule fucked around with this message at 19:52 on Sep 18, 2016 |
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 22:22
|
|
|
Fan Contributions Headcanon, by Sessile  #gifs, by miacis  #stealbackfromselkies  #memes  #bloominglove The Selflessest Mu, by miacis  Teamwork, by miacis 
Fedule fucked around with this message at 23:24 on Jan 25, 2017 |
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 22:23
|
|
|
An update! (insofar as the first update is really an update) Year 1 Part 1: Farewell, Geoffry (Hello Again, Geoffry), in which we set out, come back, and set out again. Year 1 Part 2: The Lovely Dungeon, in which we tackle River Belle Path for definitely the first time, yes. Plus we cross a miasma stream.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 22:24
|
|
|
AweStriker posted:it's a Let's Play FFXIII-3 Lightning Returns thread isn't it Never have I been so happy to be wrong in my entire life. Crystal Chronicles is a fantastic game.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 22:25
|
|
|
I never played this because, you know, no Gamecube. The artwork and style reminds me a bit of Bravely Default; it's very charming and simplistic.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 22:27
|
|
|
Never could get into this game when I rented it, but happy to see a LP of it being run, especially with four players.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 22:46
|
|
|
I played a ton of this game with my friends and brother back in the day, so I have very fond memories of it. Everything about it is just so nice and calming, especially the incredibly good and very unique soundtrack. I could listen to this game forever.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 23:10
|
|
|
I played this back in the day the exact same way most people did, solo as nobody I knew had a GBA, Gamecube and link cables, I don't remember a whole lot but I do remember enjoying the ride, it was also my first experience with Final Fantasy because the series didn't arrive until the Playstation days in the UK, we never got 4 or 6 on the SNES.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 23:17
|
|
|
Oh poo poo, this was one of my favorite games as a kid, even though I only really played it single-player, it was really relaxing and soothing and I had fun running around the cities. I liked being able to pick your family profession and get stuff from them, and the designs are super cute, too.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 23:19
|
|
|
I had fun playing this game, but I just didn't make it very far.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 23:31
|
|
|
This game is criminally underrated, and IMO was way ahead of its time when it was released. Definitely following, as I never did get to experience the four-player fun.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 23:35
|
|
|
curiousCat posted:I had fun playing this game, but I just didn't make it very far. I played it solo as one of the mage dudes, and played aaaaallll the way to the final boss where I realized that without multiplayer joint-magic damage or rare item-swapping capabilities it would take me literally hours to chip away at it's health and kill it  Neat game and all but pretty poorly designed for solo players
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 23:35
|
|
|
ah! So looking forward to seeing this! CC is such a good game I never hear anyone talk about. The soundtrack is probably my favorite of all video games.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 00:20
|
|
|
I have petitioned the admins for a more appropriate thread tag and I see they have delivered.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 00:22
|
|
|
I always wanted to play this, but never managed to grab a copy. Thanks for this, Fedule!
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 00:23
|
|
|
I need an inhaler for miasma.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 00:24
|
|
|
I recall playing this game with my siblings when it came out. I just couldn't get past some of the levels after boss 3 and it marred my impression of any future installments of the series. It's definitely nice to see the series get some love.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 00:41
|
|
|
Oh this game. I have some good memories, but there are some key things about it that drove me nuts. I'll keep quiet about them but there are some big flaws to this game in my mind. There was a reason why I never finished it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 00:45
|
|
|
I remember my friends being so excited for this game when it first came out in my junior year of high school, since all of them had GBAs and getting link cables was easy enough for them. We had a Gamecube stashed in a locker in school, and every day after classes were over, we'd bring it to a classroom that was empty, hook it up to one of the TVs there, and play video games until the security guards kicked us out of the school as the building closed at 5. One of my friends quickly picked up a copy of this game, and he told everyone else to get the cables, and then got us all to try out the game. Spent like half an hour trying to get the thing to recognize that we were all hooked up, then only got through one dungeon before we had to pack up for the day. The game got maybe a week of play, then it was back to Smash and Soul Calibur (and then the Japanese Naruto Ninja Taisen fighting game a couple months later) in the rotation. It was just too much work to get going for little eventual payoff, I guess.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 00:59
|
|
|
I had a good time with this game. We started it out as a group of friends, and we made it to the last stretch of the game's plot before the final dungeon. I might've even finished it with one of them. Though I know I've soloed it with at least two characters. Many condolences to Fedule for being the only Yuke in a party. May your class's talent rest in piece. Not that it matters much. The differences between classes can be summarized as "Yukes cast fast, the end." The big strong physical class deals 4 damage per hit at the start of the game. The weak fragile magic class also deals 4 damage per hit at the start of the game. Everyone has the same damage reduction and hit-point total, too. The classes aren't different until much, much later in the game.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 01:44
|
|
|
The family stuff seems really unique, and the asthetic so far is really cool but this game looks like it would be boring as hell single player. It might be a tad unfair to judge a game after the first dungeon but man that combat looked really simple. Despite dooming a lot of people to suffer through single player, I dunno if I agree that it could work without the gameboy screens. Ignoring the stuff like "each player only gets a bit of the hud and a secret sidequest" which implies that only you have that information, as someone that tried to play four player PSO on the gamecube I can say that having all the menu stuff on the main screen can be a real mess.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 02:06
|
|
|
Had a gamecube, didn't have a gameboy or a link cable so I never picked it up. Always looked decently interesting at least! Looking forward to this.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 02:12
|
|
|
TheBlandName posted:Many condolences to Fedule for being the only Yuke in a party. May your class's talent rest in piece. Hey man don't diss Yukes. I'll be using that casting speed to help people with spell fusion later, and until then I will keep everyone blanketed in Cure. darealkooky posted:The family stuff seems really unique, and the asthetic so far is really cool but this game looks like it would be boring as hell single player. It might be a tad unfair to judge a game after the first dungeon but man that combat looked really simple. Single Player is helped considerably by a few things. First, like I said, you get Mog, who carries the chalice as fast as you can run and only asks that you carry it for like 10 seconds out of every 2 minutes or something silly like that. Plus, if you tell him to put it down, he'll help you out with the occasional spell fusion. Speaking of which, in single player you can fuse magicite by yourself by equipping duplicates (this does take up slots though). Also, you can pause to use the menu, so that's nice too. E: What single player does completely rob you of is the ability to have multiple family perks active in the village at once (read: stocking the shops, which have some exclusive stuff, and fully developing the Alchemist, which gets you some serious poo poo). Well, you could play primarily as an Alchemist and run other characters for three full years to get the shops but gently caress that poo poo. The thing about FF:CC's menus is that they're really simple. There's barely anything graphical in them, it's just text and lists and scrolling. They could be shunted off in your little corner and rendered at a reasonable size, and there's so little to them that you could still see all the action. All you'd really lose is the maps. It's not like I don't see what the GBAs add; having a private menu is really nice. But I don't think the GBA needed to be required for multiplayer. Fedule fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Feb 27, 2016 |
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 02:17
|
|
|
I used to play this with my brother, but as I recall we hit an absolute brick wall where there were maybe 2 levels we were actually able to reach, neither of which we could complete due to the bosses being too difficult. Was I just being a dumb kid or was that some kind of artifact of playing 2 player?
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 03:25
|
|
|
Clavats are the best. I remember the soundtrack being really good. Did that hold true?
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 03:40
|
|
|
A jargogle posted:I used to play this with my brother, but as I recall we hit an absolute brick wall where there were maybe 2 levels we were actually able to reach, neither of which we could complete due to the bosses being too difficult. Was I just being a dumb kid or was that some kind of artifact of playing 2 player? I believe enemy stats scale in multiplayer but that should be balanced by, well, multiplayer. Later in the game there are times where your ability to travel is restricted but I forget if it's ever so severe that only two dungeons are available. In any case, you can repeat previous dungeons for artifacts (basically level grinding) so it's basically impossible to be truly stuck in this game. Orcs and Ostriches posted:I remember the soundtrack being really good. Did that hold true? Oh yes. I'm going to throw in some music links tomorrow too.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 03:47
|
|
|
I love this game! I never beat but I got far I think. I can't wait to see how this plays out.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 03:55
|
|
|
Well I'm glad that all that time you spent bugging me was actually worth something in the end. Never played this one much, I only had one person to play with and he wasn't available very much so we never got very far. Nice music though.AweStriker posted:Never have I been so happy to be wrong in my entire life. Crystal Chronicles is a fantastic game. Buddy if you think for a second you're getting off without an LR thread, you are sorely mistaken.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 04:23
|
|
|
Artix posted:Buddy if you think for a second you're getting off without an LR thread, you are sorely mistaken. I was awaiting it positively to begin with, actually, that just didn't come across well.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 04:28
|
|
|
I love this game. I always wanted to see it done. It has great music too, and I was really happy Crystal Chronicles made the cut to get into Theatrhythm Curtain Call because some songs are just that good. I did a single player run of this after multiple tries getting people together long enough to play along, but they liked Four Swords Adventures better so it never got very far. The Moogle House in River Belle Path is in the south east part of River Belle. There's also one in Geoffrey behind the crystal that you might get to at the start of the next year anyways. Also, even if we can't see it, I hope you challenge each other to one game of Flaming Caravans or whatever it's called. It's worth experiencing once then never again.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 07:01
|
|
|
I have so many fond memories of Crystal Chronicles, and I love to see it get some recognition. The few times I was able to work out the logistics for multiplayer, it was super fun. It also has my second favorite Final Fantasy soundtrack after 6. The Celtic style is absolutely my poo poo. If Nintendo re-released this for the 3DS with net play I would be all over that.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 07:25
|
|
|
pichupal posted:The Moogle House in River Belle Path is in the south east part of River Belle. There's also one in Geoffrey behind the crystal that you might get to at the start of the next year anyways. Also, even if we can't see it, I hope you challenge each other to one game of Flaming Caravans or whatever it's called. It's worth experiencing once then never again. Even if they do, it will be a very private experience as it happens entirely on the GBAs.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 07:27
|
|
|
Oh, I've wanted to see an LP of this game for so long! Thank you for doing this! I played this a lot, but only had a moogle for a friend  Though it's a really cute moogle!  Anyway, I'll certainly be watching!
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 08:18
|
|
|
Oh man this game is amazing. I'm so completely upset they didn't make one for the Wii U. It would've been perfect.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 08:32
|
|
|
MarquiseMindfang posted:Oh man this game is amazing. I'm so completely upset they didn't make one for the Wii U. It would've been perfect. Likewise. I loved this game and a Wii U port with online multiplayer would have been the greatest thing. Also, the Selkies were my favorite, though now that time has passed I also have quite an appreciation for the Yukes. Roland Jones fucked around with this message at 08:40 on Feb 27, 2016 |
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 08:35
|
|
|
So I have the opening theme song stuck in my head until this LP is over. Every time I see this thread I'll be like ♪ WE'LL BE SAFE FROM NOW ON ♫ MORNING STAR Thanks for doing this though! I've been wanting to play this again but my friends live across Canada now. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 08:44
|
|
|
I haven't played CC since it first came out and somehow that opening song STILL came rushing back to me.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 08:49
|
|
|
So, I actually picked up this game and a link cable just because I could (I already have a GBA). Tempted to see if my brother still has his GBA and his link cable and to see if he'd let me borrow them sometime so my roomie and I could play. If I'm crazy enough, I might actually get enough link cables and GBAs from retro stores and online to be able to have a full four player game going. I've always wanted to play this game to completion with three other people. I've just never had the opportunity. It'll be great to see four buddies doing it
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 10:09
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 01:08 |
|
|
I do love this game. It's so pretty. Yet it's actually pretty dark as far as the story goes. I won't spoil anything though Also for combo-ing your melee attacks, I find the pace to hit the button actually matches the blinking light on your command bar in the corners. You can try practicing that assuming you haven't recorded it all already.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2016 10:41
|
|
