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Nintendo DS : Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring Of Fates Reviews

Gas Gauge: 79
Gas Gauge 79
Below are user reviews of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring Of Fates and on the right are links to professionally written reviews. The summary of review scores shows the distribution of scores given by the professional reviewers for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring Of Fates. Column height indicates the number of reviews with a score within the range shown at the bottom of the column. Higher scores (columns further towards the right) are better.

Summary of Review Scores
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ReviewsScore
Game Spot 75
Game FAQs
GamesRadar 80
CVG 84
IGN 80
GameSpy 80
GameZone 80
Game Revolution 70
1UP 90






User Reviews (1 - 11 of 19)

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FFX Crystal Chronicles: Rings of Fate

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The game started out okay and then as more characters were introduced, things got hard to manage. I had difficulty keeping track of where characters were on the screen and what abilities they were using (if you are not careful, characters could have algorithms that use all of your items). I also never figured out how to to pile rings to do multiple damage -- perhaps that is something that can only be done in multiplayer mode ???. Anyhow, I got bored with the game about 2/3 of the way through because the platforming and the lever hunting wore on my nerves too much. Unfortunately, there wasn't much of a story for me to bear with it until the end. Personally, I'm a fan of turn-based game play. This game, though, is real-time, so it just may have not been the right game for me :(. I think if you like platforming and hack-n-slash mixed with chibi-cuteness, then you will enjoy this game more than I did. It is really, really, cute :).

Beautiful but short

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: March 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I enjoyed this game dramatically. The graphics were gorgeous for a 3D DS game. The gameplay was fairly simple but fun, the story was great, and even the voices weren't AS bad as some people seem to have said. The biggest complaints I've seen with the game were that it is repetetive, personally I didn't think so. Each environment is new and exiting, and the puzzles grow more elaborate as you go. Unlike the first one, the focus seems to be more on the single player adventure, with a story mode containing a detailed story, unlike the sparse dialogue mixed in with the first one. The problem I had was that I was able to complete story mode in 13:00 hours. That's in my opinion really short. The game does however make up for it in replayability. There are incentives to play again after completing the story, I won't get too detailed with spoilers, but also multiplayer allows you to create and progress your own character(s) in his or her own adventures. And while certain treasures and features require a certain amount of party members or certain races to be in the party, the multiplayer dungeons change depending on what the party consists of, so new challanges await depending on the party you go in with. I would have given this game a five star rating if story mode had been a little longer, and if there had been more places to explore.

good game, a bit childish, NO QUICKSAVE?!?!?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: April 14, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I played FF III for the DS and I loved playing to pass the time as I have to take a long train ride to and from work. One of the best things is if I need to quickly get off the train I can hit quicksave at any time and quickly exit out of the game. As a portable gaming system game I would find this feature very common on most games. But yet Square Enix decided to take out that most basic feature for FFCC: Ring of Fates.

The story I found to be very childish, of course that lends itself to the characters. Don't get me wrong, the game was enjoyable, but spending most of my time trying to find save crystals certainly added to my annoyance of wanting to play it.

If I had known before hand that this game had no quicksave, I most likely would not of bought it.

Seriously fun, but has issues

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: April 30, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is a lot of fun. There's no two ways about that. Let's start with a handy pros/cons list, to set the mood for this review:

Pros:
-Crafting system is so much fun
-The character classes/races are interesting and don't get boring; work together well
-Combat is enjoyable
-Multiplayer is (would be, I haven't played it but I can conjecture) great
-Storyline, though childish, has some interesting twists and turns

Cons:
-Meeth, the Lilty character, is the worst Final Fantasy character I've ever encountered, and the most annoying character on a Nintendo system since Navi in Ocarina of Time
-Wonky controls (use my thumbs on my DS screen? No.)
-Worst team AI I have ever encountered in a videogame career that spans nearly two decades.

The crafting system is my favorite part of this game. Making items with customizable bonuses (although these bonuses seem to be random and not dependent on the type of gem you use) is such fun. And the fact that they show up on your character adds a whole new level of customization. Each race is enjoyable to play (except maybe the Lilty, the part where you have to play as Meeth solo and do the boss fight is absurd). The Clavat are great for bashing things, the Yukes have class and are the most interesting to look at, and the Selkie double jump makes life so much easier.
The control scheme is...odd. The switching with the stylus is difficult and time-consuming, often getting me killed in boss battles. I refuse to use my thumbs on my DS screen. The ring-lock magic system is something I just stopped messing with. Even with multiple rings, the casting system is hard to use, and also frequently gets my Yuke character killed in battle. This goes double for the tribal abilities. Charge attacks make up for them once they are acquired.
The AI is the worst aspect of this game. Having teammates is pointless. Those few times where you only have to play one character are so much more fun than having the whole team bogging you down. It feels more like babysitting than squad combat. They can be standing on lava (LAVA!), getting burned, and will not move. They randomly fall off objects, they refuse to attack enemies, the list goes on. Bonuses such as black mage's eye are annoying, as they just use up your magicite non-stop. Bonuses like warrior's eye/thief's eye serve no purpose. I just stuck with the Selkie most of the time and let the others meet their fate. In boss fights, I'd switch to the Clavat for massive damage.
The biggest problems are switching characters and really bad AI, which is why I think that multiplayer would be great. If I could get three of my friends to buy this game, we would have a great time. All in all, it feels a lot more like Zelda than Final Fantasy. There're some mild puzzles, real-time combat, etc. This game should get 3 stars, but its too much fun, so I gave it 4.

Not quite perfect

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: April 24, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I love the concept, all the stuff I've seen so far, but the controls are *terrible*. Your character is in a world that's oriented diagonally, so you constantly have to hold down two directions on the d-pad to move properly. I can't imagine why they didn't rotate the input 45 degrees like they did for Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. It doesn't make the game unplayable, but it sure makes it less fun.

Needed a pause, and a quick save

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is really fun to play, and the characters and graphics are super cute. If you prefer action/adventure RPG's (like the ____ of Mana and Summon Night series,and Zelda) as opposed to turn-based and strategy types, you will probably enjoy Ring of Fates. Each character has a variety of different moves to choose from in battles, so you don't have to feel like you are just mashing the attack button until all the monsters go away (although, you probably can get by doing that, if you really want to). The story and general formula (dungeon, boss fight, back to town for supplies and info, repeat) are nothing new, but considering it only takes 20-30 hours to complete, you probably won't get bored of it before you finish.

The number one problem for me was that this game isn't really very portable. There is no pause. Even when you switch to the menu screens, monsters will still appear and attack you on the other screen. There is also no quick save function. You can just close the DS (assuming your battery isn't running out) and it goes into suspend mode, but when you open it back up, you'll be immediately immersed in monster fighting action. In short, it's not very good for playing on the bus, on lunch breaks or for an hour or less in between other activities.

I had also hoped to use the stylus more (like in Zelda: Phantom Hourglass) but most game play is done with the buttons and the the d-pad, and switching over to the stylus for the few tasks you need it for is kind of awkward.

This game could have been better, but I still had a lot of fun playing it and would recommend it if you liked the above mentioned games.

Final Fantasy?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

As far as a Final Fantasy game goes, I am not sure how much this qualifies. The reason i say this is that, using an online guide maybe once, i finished the game in just under 12 hours. The game was very short. The characters we pretty good, but it would have been nicer if your other members did more while you controlled one. I also agree that the point of view was a little hard to use. Dont get me wrong, it was a good game, the biggest thing was it was too short, and in a way, almost too easy for a Final Fantasy game.

A Fun Little Dungeon Crawler

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 17 / 17
Date: March 13, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Ring of Fates is a great dungeon crawler with superb graphics. With local friends, it's the best multiplayer game around, but it's worth picking up for the single-player as well. You can play through the obligatory quest, controlling 4 characters at once if you feel like it. I found far more fun in creating my own character and playing the multiplayer "free mode" by myself - no cutscenes or story, but all of the same towns and dungeons. The controls are sufficient when you are controlling just one character, but when you're babysitting up to four, they occasionally get convoluted and cumbersome. The selling factors on this game are the graphics and the loot. Your avatar changes appearance with each item you equip - a surprising and rewarding bonus to finding rare helmets or synthesizing a new cloak, etc.

The game is fun, and should be a must-buy if you enjoyed the GC version, or like action/RPGs at all (Diablo, Champions of Norrath, Sword of Mana, "Tales of" series, etc.)

A satisfying, but not superior, dungeon crawler

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: March 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This followup to Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles takes the mechanics developed in the first game, polishes them, and wraps them up in a new story and game for the DS. The overall effect is something that would be excellent from any other publisher, but is merely good from SE.

The main complaint from the first game (the annoying bucket), is gone. Whether in one player or multiplayer modes, your characters will all have a chance to play the game. The new one-player mode gives you a party of 4 characters, only one of which you control directly at one time. Changing controlled characters and spells are now just a touch of the lower screen rather than the convoluted menu system of the first game. Overall, controls have improved, though in the single player it's hard to juggle all of the players.

In multiplayer, every player (up to 4, everyone needs a card) controls one character of any of the 4 races. Each race has its own particular strengths, weaknesses, and special abilities that make them useful at some point in every dungeon. Although the game slows down significantly in this mode, it's the way the game is at its best, as all the characters can act intelligently, and the cooperative abilities start to shine.

The graphics of this game make full use of the DS's capabilities, and are the best I've seen on the system, a step up even from the acclaimed Final Fantasy III. Environments are well-defined, special effects are wonderful, and on the whole the game shows a good level of polish. The soundtrack is similarly excellent, but the voices get annoying very quickly.

Difficulty tends to ramp up at a reasonable rate, and never does the game get frustrating, which is amazing considering the variety of challenges in the dungeons. Dungeons are well-designed, and contain a variety of items to acquire and create for your characters, whose look changes depending on what they wear.

This offering from Square Enix is worth a purchase, especially with friends around to join in your game. Although it fits a fairly standard Final Fantasy formula, the game entertains just like its bigger brothers.

Ring of Fates

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: April 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This game is definitely different from what I've played so far regarding Final Fantasy games. I like the fact that the game is a step up from FFIII. The graphics is amazing; however, the game play is not practical. I find it annoying and difficult using the buttons to fight and using the stylus to collect magic crystals at the same time. Since Ring of Fates and FFIII&XII have totally different game play style I cannot compare them together; however, my favorite of all is XII because I play it the most. According to gamespot.com, the upcoming FF games for the DS are FF Tactics A2 and a remake of FFIV. Hopefully it will be good because I'm definitely getting FFIV!


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