Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers is an almost entirely different game than anything you've played before within the Final Fantasy branding. Far from the classic turn-based gameplay and free-roaming battles like Final Fantasy XII, and even a sizable departure from the other Crystal Chronicles games, Crystal Bearers is a pure adventure title, mixing combat areas with an open world filled with huge locales. The core game is still linear in design, but with an emphasis on exploration, material gathering, and a huge focus on adaptive AI. Crystal Bearers is far more of an open world than players might expect.
The story itself also goes in a new direction for the Crystal Chronicles series. Set 1,000 years after the original events of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Crystal Bearers tells the story of the world after the Great War. As you may or may not know, the Crystal Chronicles world is based off four tribes, including the Lilty, Clavat, Selkie, and Yuke, with each nation representing a different lifestyle and culture. The Lilty are scientists, the Clavat are a peace loving race that find harmony within the world, and the Selkie are renegade, nomadic wanderers that often find solace outside of the walls of a common city.
Then there's the Yuke tribe. Known for their adept magic skills and powerful sorcery, the Yuke have all but vanished from the land after the results of the Great War. Lilty and Yuke faced off, and amidst the storm of battle Yuke's crystal was destroyed. The Lilty took over as the dominant race, set up their own world where law, science, and order reign supreme, and the Yuke vanished from the planet.
The "Crystal Bearers" are a new and often-feared breed, mixed amongst the remaining tribes with a strange, divine power to harness energy and manipulate the world. They are feared by some and resented by others, and the reason for their birth is unknown. That's where Layle comes in. As the story's protagonist, Layle is a Crystal Bearer that works as a mercenary for the Lilty kingdom. During an escort mission for the maiden voyage of a luxury airship called the Alexis, a mysterious attack occurs and Layle is caught up in the middle of it. Out of nowhere emerges a Yuke -- now 1,000 years removed from history -- who steals the energy from the airship and escapes, leaving behind a mysterious stone known as the crystal marker. With little to go off of but the strange little gem, Layle begins a quest to find its origin, find the Yuke, and eventually exact revenge.
The information above is carried out within the first few minutes of the game and rather than spoil any of the story elements from there, I'll tough on a few of the finer points we've encountered during our first three hours with Crystal Bearers.
As mentioned, the world is huge, including a style all its own that feels entirely centered around Layle's magic abilities. The young mercenary travels with no weaponry, instead using his magic powers as a sort of telekinesis within the world. Point at an enemy or object, hold the B button, and a quick circular meter will fill up, filling faster based on his proximity to the object. Once locked, the remote can be flicked either left, up, down, or right to pull off different actions; most of which are simply tossing the object around the screen, pulling a lever up or down, or pulling Layle to that object.
Enemies can break the lock-on by moving too quickly or attacking, and oftentimes Layle's actions are limited based on a specific situation. Levers, for example, can only be flicked up or down. The classic "Bomb" enemy from the Final Fantasy universe, however, needs to be spun initially to dizzy the monster (a quick flick to the left or right will pull that off) at which point it can be picked up and used as a gigantic grenade. The relation between Layle and the world is what will make or break the Crystal Bearers experience, and while the first few hours have some pretty basic combat, the game is showing promise of more complex ideas to come.
Outside of simply using the pointer as the game's "hook" and then calling it a day, the entire Crystal Chronicles experience is built around the core functionality of Layle's powers, and some of the aspects are very charming. In one of the first traversable towns, I came across three shops that appeared to be closed. Linked together, the three sheds were almost like adjoined carnival booths than actual buildings. Using the "When in doubt, lock on" rule of Crystal Bearers, I pointed at a small lever and flicked it down. Up went one of the shutters that blocked the storefront, and out of nowhere ran in a tiny moogle. It was an item shop. I checked his prices, found a few accessories to equip -- rather than dealing with full armor and weapons, certain accessories can be piled on which will in turn affect attack, defense, focus, range, and luck -- and moved to the next booth.
When pulling down the next lever the original storefront closed, metal shutters rose on the new shop, and again the moogle ran on over. Rather than having the standard shop system with a keeper at each, Crystal Bearers made its own little poke at the system. Each lever I pulled closed the door, opened the next, and the tiny moogle ran from place to place. Why have multiple shops in the first place if it's the same guy working all three? Pulling levers is fun.
Apart from running around the world, getting into random battle zones where enemies warp on in, and progressing the story by moving from point to point, Crystal Bearers has plenty to see and do for those looking for a more open, freeform experience. The all new Medal system is the game's own version of achievements, with over 300 activities that all result in a medal for discovering or mastering them. Each time you earn a medal it's added to your menu screen on a gigantic chart -- similar to the skills chart from Final Fantasy XII, but less complex -- and the neighboring boxes of undiscovered medals become little hint boxes, telling you how to unlock further achievements within the chart.
It's a simple little mechanic, but considering the entire game is all about grabbing onto random items or discovering Easter eggs in the world, it's nice to be rewarded every time you do something unique. The first time you collect certain materials, figure out how to beat an enemy, or discover a secret within a town or dungeon, you'll most likely be rewarded with a medal for your hard work.
Speaking of materials, the entire game's upgrade system is based not only on cash, but also the merging of random items within the world. Shops often have a price to upgrade, but also a set of materials needed to do the upgrade, so while you can go from area to area and find plenty of cash -- treasure chests reset once you leave an area, so you can literally mine for cash as much as you want -- you'll need the proper drops to actually upgrade your gear.
This can be an annoyance or a great gameplay feature depending on your style of gaming. I spent a good five minutes straight harvesting nuts off of trees and plucking magical "rainbow grapes" from a vineyard, while other people will undoubtedly pass them up. Maybe I'll be better off with a surplus of supplies later on, or maybe not; that's the idea.
Outside of random material gathering and plenty of medals to search for, Crystal Bearers also includes a huge list of mini-games to find. I've only come across a few so far, but they work great in fleshing out the world. In one of those "off the beaten path" areas, I found an old fisherman who was bored and looking for some competition. I jumped into the mini-game, pointed my telekinesis at fish, and started pulling them on in once I felt them tug via the Wii-mote's rumble feature. Sure enough, I was ranked, got a medal for fishing, but noticed there was a mysterious "?????" fish listed as well. I'd bet my bank roll in saying that pulling up that fish would not only give me some sort of item or cash bonus, but also another medal with further tips to other treasure down the line. I had to move on, but I'll be back for that fish.
There is, of course, a whole lot more to see and do in Crystal Bearers -- it's a Final Fantasy game -- so be sure to check back for more coverage as I continue my playthrough for review. If you're looking for more on the game, be sure to hit up my previous hands-on article found here, and check back tomorrow for our video preview. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers is set for launch on December 26th of this year, but you'll be able to catch our full review of the game one month from now on the 18th.