14 DAY TRIAL // Square-Enix is adjusting to a market where Nintendo dominates the console sales, and the creator of the Final Fantasy series is readying a FF title which will be launched with the aid of the Wii Ware service. What's strange is that Square-Enix went out and created a brand new title pertaining to the neverending Final Fantasy series and it's not even an RPG!
You can compare Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles to SimCity if you want, as the future Wii Ware hit will allow you to ... build a town instead of roaming through those beautifully designed fictional universes. And what's with those graphics anyway? After seeing the trailer of Final Fantasy Versus XIII and playing Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII on the PSP, nothing can satisfy our hunger for Square-Enix-branded eye-candy. However, considering the fact that Nintendo's fanbase is made mostly out of children, Mario and Sonic fans, the childish characters you can see in the trailer below will surely be adored by the public.
Crystal Chronicles' graphics remind me of Final Fantasy IX, one of the titles from the main series that was criticized for the childish approach, especially when compared to gaming cult predecessors. What does that mean exactly? We'll probably be forced to play and evolve in a universe defined by one word: "cuteness". That's right, Moogles all the way, plus those little Chocobos, puerile characters and a bunch of kids acting like they're the heroes of Chrystal Chronicles. Where does town-building fit in this picture?
Only Square-Enix and Nintendo can answer that and I sure hope that my favorite game developer is not turning into a sellout, as it seems to have been doing lately, by migrating from the status of a brilliant RPG producer to the one of a casual action games developer.