Some of us, me including, didn't have GBA-owning friends to share GC Crystal Chronicles with, mind you. -.- ->I played the game always with my solo-character (only story's final boss was where I couldn't progress on my own) and just had company in terms of someone sitting next to me, making suggestions what to do when or cheering for me when facing a dungeon-boss.
@@MelodyCrystel which is exactly why many of us were excited to play it again! we expected a multiplayer experience akin to the original since it was way too difficult to set it up back then and now? well looks like ill just have to play solo again lol
MelodyCrystel solo isn’t bad but it would have been nice to have some sort of characters with you to choose when playing solo so it doesn’t feel like your so alone. I’m trying really hard to play solo but it ain’t cutting it for me sadly
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can you fill a party with npcs so you can have them help you?
Literally a game about working together and traveling as a village only to be taken away and it feels even less of an adventure. Might as well just play solo.
@Lil Y Literally a game about working together and travelling as a village only to be taken away and it feels even less of an adventure. Might as well just play solo.
Agree, I may pick this up if it's on sale or I'm gifted an eShop card. The fact that we can't travel the world and build a village together is just sad..
@@ShadeKoopa This is literally the reason I'm not getting it. I have insane nostalgia for this game. I was obsessed with it an beat it solo as a kid because I loved the world and the fantasy so much. I had always imagined how awesome it would be if I could actually play it with friends consistently, like it was intended to be played and I was so excited for this release because I could finally have that experience. But not having your friends on a collective save file is just so counter to that fantasy. I mean, hell, it's all there in the amazing opening cutscene: a group of adventurers set out and grow together on an epic journey. The fantasy isn't just the playing together part - it's also (and maybe even more) the being from the same village part, the talking to each other's families part, the getting mail together part, the progressing together part. To fail at those elements so badly... its inexplicable. Unforgivable even. I get not having local coop (ui issues are hard and I get that). But there's nothing in the game that makes a shared save unfeasible. This all just seems like an attempt to transform the game into a mobile F2P title without fully committing. And it just sucks, especially coming from a director who claims that he was a massive fan of the original.
@@Dahras1 There are online games that let you and your friends share your mission progression regardless of if it's your or your friend's party. This game should be able to share that progress between players the same way. Not to mention the full game code that the host is able to share. That should be another way to link progression. It's surprising how square dropped the ball on this when a number of bigger releases have gotten it right from the start.
Ughhhh T_T ...This is honestly such a bummer. I was so excited when it was announced, the nostalgia was super strong and to now watch this review...it's just disheartening man. This could have been (and should have been) so much better. I'm just going to go listen to its wonderful soundtrack for the rest of the day. At least they can't mess that up.
if you liked it back in the day you'll like it now. the game is fine, ive been playing it. remember this is just this guy's opinion, he doesnt like everything you like.
Best feature of this game (multi-player).... DESTROYED.. don't get me wrong.. I waited way too long for this game because I love it!! But now I'm disappointed... Hope they fix it...
They won't fix it. The game is messed up because everything was made to work for the mobile versions. No updated controls, insane multiplayer implementation, only the host gaining town progress, and the host needing to make multiple characters with each profession to progress the town because it isnt shared with other players, all because of mobile integration. They won't be fixing it. They value the mobile market over console.
I'm still playing it because this was literally the game I bought my Switch for, but god damn did they destroy the entire point of Crystal Chronicles: traveling with your caravan. The world feels so lifeless and lonely when you can't truly travel and play with your friends. They should have done better.
I was watching this review thinking it would be great to play with my daughter as an intro to rpg's but then no local co-op? Hard pass. For a system that promotes picking up joycons to share with friends this is baffling.
We have waited almost 20 years and they had to go and ruin it by taking away the one thing that made it so great, local co-op. And to add insult to injury even when you do play multiplayer only ONE person owns the caravan which means only they can actually progress through the story. So much potential to be an amazing remaster if just the small things were fixed and local co-op remained intact. Such a shame... I guess the only thing I can hope is for a sequel to come out in the future that has pretty much every aspect improved and of course LOCAL CO-OP!!!
7:50 "Also there's no voice chat, you're instead relegated to using and external app like Discord..." Hmmmm if only the main system of a major platform holder in 2020 had a usable Party System like other consoles even from well over a decade ago. Not saying the game shouldn't have it too, but let's be honest, 99% of the time you just use the console's party system to communicate between friends.
@@BamfIamone Considering I was refering to Discord (or 3rd party programs) specifically, I meant communication with friends, not randoms. But speaking of which, if Switch had an acceptable party system you _could_ invite them to your party and chat that way - right now the alternative is to private message them on Switch (is that possible? I don't own one) then ask them for their personnal discord which is much more shady than sending them a party invite on the system you're playing on. But this being a cross-platform game complicates things with randoms, I highly doubt more than 5% of the population across Switch/PS4/phones would ever use voice chat. Who on the Switch would have a microphone always attached, and when do you ever want to voice chat with randoms when playing on your phone? Loudspeaker? Using full headset when playing on a phone? Even on PS4 not everyone is wearing headsets when playing with randoms.
Not having local wireless multiplayer AND not sharing progress is a problem to be sure. I'm enjoying the game, but it's less pure enjoyment and more putting up with it. I don't know what the delays were for.
The delays were probably for the cross-platform multiplayer. You know, getting the companies in charge to agree to work together instead of asking players to buy the game multiple times to play with all their friends on different systems. The lack of local multiplayer is 100% because of the cross-platform multiplayer. How are you going to get a Switch, PS4, and phone to connect to each other locally? I personally think this is a 100% worthwhile trade-off. I would much rather be able to play with my friends who don't have Switches (which I already have) than play with people in the same room (which I might use once every 2 months or so). Besides, you can still play with people in the same room, you just have to connect to the internet to do so.
@@carstan62 Yeah, you "just" have to connect to the Internet. And hope your ISP, your network, the game's netcode, and Square-Enix' servers behave. Yesterday, even if you were with your pals in the same room, you could not play, because the servers went offline for emergency maintenance (because even though they made it online-only, they managed to botch that one job). Online will never have the reliability and simplicity of local connectivity. Oh, and when they unplug the servers, you will not be able to play with people in the same room any more, or in fact with anybody at all. The original will literally outlive the pale copy. There's also the false dichotomy of trying to make us accept that it was a trade-off, when there was no good reason for them to go out of their way to _remove_ local co-op and substitute it with a crappy cross-platform online system they had to build from the ground up anyway. Besides, "how are you going to get a Switch, PS4, and phone to connect to each other locally?" _That is their own damn job to figure out._ Nobody asked for Android and iOS ports, and plenty of successful multi-platform games do not support cross-play. Yet they insisted on it, completely butchered the multiplayer in the process, and this mess is the result. It did not have to turn out the way it did. This game deserved better.
@@gaohkai9441 A lot of people I know picked this up specifically because of the cross-platform play. If you don't care about it that's your opinion to have, but cross-platform play is infinitely more valuable to me than a slightly more consistent way to do something we can still do. Not being able to play with friends who own the same game as you is the literal worst thing in the gaming industry and any game that incorporates cross-platform play deserves to be praised for that decision (even if they don't deserve to be praised for anything else in their game).
@@carstan62 cross platform play is not a necessity. It would have been better to make it cross-save with local co-op instead. That way you get to play with friends on any device without sacrificing local co-op.
The inability to play through the game with a full caravan of friends brutalized any chance for this game to succeed, unfortunately. Anecdotally, I had several groups of friends plan to get this game to play through it together, only for NONE of them to end up buying it because they knew they wouldn't be able to play together. I honestly wonder how many more copies they would have sold of this game if they had made the game fully multiplayer throughout. Like many others here have said, playing through the game is a very hollow experience even if you have randoms drop into dungeons with you. Being surrounded by short-term strangers who vanish forever as soon as the boss is dead leaves a lonely single-player campaign feeling even more isolating. It's just tragic, since the original experience was so special. Even worse, due to the remake's utter failure, there's no hope of any money being spent to fix the issue or give the game proper justice. This is probably the last we will ever see of Crystal Chronicles.
Has the original writer even been paying attention to the characters? Roland(Your town mayor) tells you about the scholar and knight, and you meet these characters. The little bits that you come across are integral to the story, not just the world building.
As someone who has placed the original Crystal Chronicles in my top ten favorite games (as crazy as that seems), what has entirely killed it for me was how they set up multiplayer. Was planning on playing it with a friend (and still am going to), but holy crap, it's like I'm trying to play Dark Souls multiplayer, and that's not what you want. Heck, I can forgive the online only because you can replicate couch coop well enough if need be. But to take a game whose original premise was about a group of friends traveling in a caravan across the world on a journey to refill a chalice in order to restore their towns defenses, and turn it into a journey you are required to travel alone, where people randomly join you when you enter a dungeon. Ugh. Strips basically all of the charm out of traveling in the caravan together, discovering new towns and locations, reading mail together to have a laugh at the goofy things our families had to say, even just watching the moogle pick up my mail after I finished my reply, waiting for those sitting with me to finish reading on their Gameboys and see the moogle waddle over and pick it from their character to have them then sit down with me. Those little things all add into the original experience and why I valued it so highly. It was a simple game, certainly not much of any kind of RPG, but that didn't matter because it wasn't the focus. What the original game did best was create an genuinely comfy, atmospheric adventure with friends; a kind of classic journey of adventurers bonding through trials. But nope, they had to rip all of this out for matchmaking sake. :( People were right, LFG and LFR killed WoW and it's killed this too.
So, I got this game the day it came out for nostalgic reasons, and yes...the first 'cycle' of the game where you play through the old game with a new skin is essentially unchanged. However, the game shines in the post game, increased difficulty dungeons. There are new weapons, items, artifacts, enemies, places in dungeons, it is a full upgrade and I have been having a blast playing it to be honest. I can admit that I was at first pretty disappointed in the unchanged nature of the game, but was very, very pleased to find the new and improved things after I beat the game. I don't think that you should have to play 15-20 hours to be able to get to that content of course, but they have been very much worth it.
The ability to run dungeons in multiplayer and collect artifacts without progressing your own save could actually be seen as something of a blessing though (bit of a *SPOILER WARNING* here if you don't want deep game knowledge dump) as after a certain point in the game, about year 3+ some of the earlier artifacts, namely the +1 ones, become much harder to find. Since the artifacts are unique, only allowing you to permanently acquire 1 of each this can be an issue in the later parts of the game if you want to get them all.
@@Maenso1 You run the dungeon more than 4 times anyway regardless so you can farm for artifacts. The biggest problem is not being able to read mail and travel in town together and talk with your family along your friends.
@@jimmyle4501 I agree too, that's like my only complaint, because they at least added a lot of sorta quality life improvements like the storage system in your village, the inventory being a lot larger so you don't have to get rid of stuff every 5 seconds, the thing that Yasha said about the earlier artifacts not being lost anymore, spell casting indicator thing so I no longer have to count whenever I want to count when I want to use something like thundaga with just 2 players, etc.... But it's disappointing that they removed the traveling around the world with people though.
It does feel a bit empty the way it was implemented for sure. Me and my wife used to play the GC version a lot when we first met as teenagers and it doesn't feel quite the same. Still fun though if you have people to play with at least.
Sorry everyone. It feels like this game was made specifically for me. It’s almost everything I ever could have hoped for at this point in my life. I fully acknowledge that it has many flaws that ruin the experience for others and those flaws shouldn’t exist, but they do nothing do impede my personal enjoyment
Agree 100% with everything you said. This game was huge for me growing up, and have nothing but fond memories of it. I was so ecstatic when they announced the remaster, just to be able to play it with my sister again. Last night i did one year by myself well aware of the changes, and just like you i started feeling kind of bored. It was never meant to be played in single player. It doesn’t seem like much but all those little things they removed from multiplayer just absolutely kill it for me. 😔 At least the soundtrack is still phenomenal. That will always be true!
7:41 You do have a permanent friend code, it's the "invite code" that's 12 numbers long. The friend code that changes every 30 minutes is only an option. "It's like they missed the point of multiplayer and said "hey it's online and cross play" and called it a day and that's really disappointing" exactly :'( I loved this game and this remastered could have been so much more. Painful.
Jokes on you. I absolutely loved it in the past and still love it today. Yes there is a number of things they could have improved on. But its still a great game if you loved its original release.
I could look past every original flaw that the game had (and there are many) if it at least had a proper progression system for multiplayer where EVERYONE could progress and not just the host. I can't believe they overlooked that. Even if you don't mind repeating the levels to catch up, it makes it very hard to even out the amount of treasures each person has since each person would have to take turns hosting whilst the others have to catch up to the exact same point. Pretty ridiculous when you think about it. Only way it truly works is if the people you play with don't care about the need to progress themselves nor care about being equally as strong, but it shouldn't have ever been like that.
Just started playing this with my kids! They love it so far... On the GameCube... Where we can play together... Really badly managed development. How could whoever was in charge allow this. If you strip down the multiplayer and gatekeep it more than it was originally (which was quite a bit tbh but I still had my set-up from when I was a kid so it just worked out.) Like the man said. Really disappointing. Four Sword Adventures next.
There is a friend code that changes every 30 mins but there is also a permanent friend code displayed on the same page so this isn't actually an issue.
Alex, you don't need to physically move to the place. You just need it unlocked. In fact you can run the volcano mountain level for FREE in multiplayer rather than paying 500 gil. You can literally make the lobby from the menu in game.
I just wanted LAN play available, so I could play with my buddies in the same room without having to worry about four Switchs hooked up to the same wifi. And now this version will completely lose it's multiplayer function once NSO shuts down in a decade or so.
This game is great!!! The single player campaign is what I remembered from the GameCube era. It has flaws. I remember when it came out and my biggest complaint was it wasn’t a true Final Fantasy game. I didn’t play it for months. Once I understood the gameplay mechanics and campaign loops it all clicked. It can get repetitive but it is also addicting. The music is grand. The price is right. I do not want online play for this one and if you are looking for that you will be a bit disappointed with the way it is set up. I would give this a 7.5.
I've heard a couple other reviewers get this wrong too, and it's not a big deal, but let me correct it here. You have a 12 digit friend code. You can also generate a 6 digit friend code that lasts for 30 minutes. It's not that your friend code changes every 30 minutes. EDIT: I think this is actually a decent way to do this. Since the game has cross-platform multiplayer, friend codes are a logistical necessity. A long friend code means you won't have players overlapping codes, but it's harder to share. So they gave us the option to temporarily generate a bite-sized friend code that won't overlap with anyone else because it's only temporary.
@@alexmaganda5827 they just have to make sure to follow each other on the friends list in order to become friends. Then you can just send an invite when making a lobby.
It's worth noting that the original had a cross save system where you would import your character into the save of someonelse and if you did only the save file host would get ANY credit for the quests. It seems current system is an expansion of that. Frankly I don't understand the complaints here, especially on the commands since imho they are fine on the switch
Creators: "Relive and play this remastered version for that nostalgia" me: "Nice I can do local play with my brother again" Creators: "Does not support local play" me: "How does this make it possible to relive the nostalgia?" Honestly, might as well fire up Game Cube with the link cable instead, just gotta find a nice analog to digital video converter to buy for my PC monitor first.
It wasn't. It was all on one save file and all the characters were from the same town and travelled together in the same caravan. Meaning, everyone progressed at the same time.
As Rhino mentioned, there was a feature that let you play as characters on the host file. Progress is stored on the file so all characters on that file progress. That's still here, and you can still make 8 characters, but there's no way to control more than 1 at a time or have those characters play together anymore. The old one also has a feature where you can bring a memory card to a friend's house and import your character to their file temporarily. When you returned you made no progress on your game but got to keep items and artifacts, same as the current online. The difference, unfortunately, is that imported characters in the old one got to go on the full adventure with you. They could visit your town and take advantage of your leveled up family and so on. The new one only let's you drop in on dungeons.
Some things I agree with... Like I hate that I cant get mail with everyone else. Just feels pointless to have people waiting around for it if only one person benefits. BUT , when you get to a certain point in the game you can just use the "Set out together" option and select any dungeon without traveling and invite your friends. Wish you could keep the lobby . But there are at least some shortcuts.
I must say that this remaster has been a great experience for me. In my particular case, I don't have friends to play so that we want to progress at the same pace. Playing with strangers therefore works perfectly fine for me. This game requires to replay dungeons several times if you want to get hold of a particular artifact, so even if you don't get the myrrh drop in the end, it matters not. I personally don't like to be taken back to the village after collecting three drops. I prefer to be in control over when I complete a year. Regarding the option to replay the same dungeon, I find it useful when I am hosting and nobody joins until I am close to the end of the dungeon. This way we can just complete whatever is left in the current run and restart a new one properly.
Been really enjoying this tbh. I know its not great, never was honestly, but its charming world and character designs still wins me over. For now im playing it solo and building up a few characters at once to fill out my town, but i do hope they patch up the multiplayer offerings so i can caravan with friends online.
"Damningly mediocre" Yep! The soundtrack is still one of my favorites though. I wish solo play wasn't such a pain. This is probably going to be a pass for me. I'd love it if they released the My Life as King/Dark Lord games, Ring of Fates, and the other games set in this world on the Switch. It really is a beautiful game world.
Eh I still love solo play tbh and it still has its boon like the fact that you can easily cast high level spells like thundaga or haste without having to coordinate in the heat of battle with people, but that's my opinion, and the multiplayer here is ridiculously easy considering somebody who's boosted to high hell can join and steamroll through everything (at least the beginning stages. I still love the game even though they took out the whole traveling through the world together which sucks because that was fun and the whole appeal of the game. So if enjoyed the game before you might still have fun here since they did a number of quality of life improvements. If not, it's fine too I'm just saying. Btw yeah the soundtrack is amazing and I still think it's the best FF soundtrack imo, and I've had a lot of the tracks with me on my phone since I first played the game forever ago.
@@Rex13013 I liked it in the beginning when I played it on the Gamecube (solo, as I didn't have any friends who also played the game). After awhile though it became too repetitive, and I lost interest. Plus I found the chalice so cumbersome, especially since it slows you down when it has 2 drops of myrrh in it (plus Mog getting tired is an unnecessary mechanic in my opinion). Wasn't wild about the command wheel (I understand the need for it back when GBAs were used as controllers for co-op, but it doesn't make sense on the Switch). Small adjustments could have been made to make it a more pleasant overall experience. Some of the choices that Square Enix made with this remaster baffle me a bit. I'm glad you're enjoying it though! :)
@@sarahwalsh8632 Understandable, I know the game is far from perfect and isn't for everyone, I also wanted some minor changes and I still hoping they listen and maybe fix some stuff so more people would play it but I don't know if they ever will, which is sad because I really wanted to see this game succeed.
I completely agree. I feel the same. I loved this game and I was excited to get to share it with new people; however, there are so many issues with it that I can't even honestly suggest buying to anyone.
Yeah, this game is clunky and dated in more ways than one. It boggles my mind that modern systems couldn't have had a multiplayer where you invite a player into your caravan and they get to travel through the overworld and dungeons together with you without disconnecting (I'm gonna blame the mobile release). The fact that a player will be disconnected after only a couple minutes of inactivity even in a friend only lobby is ridiculous. This also applies to before you actually start the dungeon, so if you're waiting for your friend to accept your invite, you better not just afk in the meantime. I would have liked to have seen Attack and Defend separated out from the other slots in your command list to different buttons. All of that being said though. If you get a friend interested in the game and hop in a call together you can have a fantastic time. Originally I was stuck playing this game single player as an only child whose friends never brought their Gameboys to my house, so I was super stoked to get the opportunity to actually play this game with friends. There have definitely been frustrating things that make me question the competency of the developers, but I haven't been disappointed by the actual experience at this point.
@@Inari_the_Fox ....you realize that doesn't make it better right? That just proves how poorly made it is and that it doesn't function at the most basic level on the 1 thing it was marketed on
You can only play multiplayer in the dungeons right? Or is there a way to actually have the other players join your caravan and explore towns and stuff with you? I own the game and haven't found a way to do that if it's even there.
I really love this game. I played the hell out of the original release as a kid. But it just seems like Square almost WANTS the multiplayer to be disappointing. An actually good multiplayer setup would make this game SO much better. (And hell, it’s not like there aren’t COUNTLESS games that give examples of how to do co-op right.) I was going to make this remaster a day-one purchase, but I’ll wait till the price goes down . . . or, better, till they fix the multiplayer. In the meantime, I don’t mind breaking out my old Gamecube copy and enjoying the charm and still-solid graphics.
I just cant believe how many Micro Transactions they offer, besides the $30 there 2 different $5 weapon packs, a $5 +Gil accessory/$5 Recovery accessory and a $5 Crystal item for each one of the characters 8 in all I think.. that's a lot.
Here's the cold hard truth. SquareEnix neglected to update outdated game mechanics, or take advantage of modern consoles controls and infrastructures. Instead they took the lazy route and tried to make a cash grab to accommodate the mobile game audience. In their attempt to entice this audience all they have wound up doing was isolating everyone. I'm so disappointed this remaster has turned out the way it has. I had hoped Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered might reinvigorate interest in the Crystal Chronicles series, but all it's done was put a nail in the coffin.
Multiplayer was the best part about the original. I can't believe they went and made the multiplayer experience *worse* this time around. I just want to play through the game together with my friend. :(
Why does everyone that I see reviewing this game automatically assume that everyone who liked this game before is because of nostalgia? And that I haven't played it in years? I know this game has flaws but doesn't mean it's not fun, I've replayed FFCC multiple times (99% of those times in single player) and the last time I played it was like 2 years ago.
ikr not sure y ether. maybe they need to tell themselves that to justify just bashing it to pieces? or maybe they think no one likes the game. i plaied this game last year a bit on game cube. the flaws suck yes but im sure they could fix the progression with a patch or something if any fix at all
Pretty much, and even then old CC fans are pretty rational. Most fans admit the game itself is....less than stellar, but we all love it for the experience thats more than them the sum of its parts and even more so if you managed to play the multiplayer with friends before.
Oh that is sad news indeed, well they don’t have much hope in American tastes they know Americans play first person shooter like crazy, I suppose it’s true what Hideo Kojima said about us and our first person shooter madness I think that’s why they don’t release physical editions here
@@rockvault3284 that is true lol but they have been releasing less physical copies for remastered versions of games which sucks if you like collecting physical copies.
Okay you are way too harsh on this title. I'm having a blast on the Switch using Discord with some friends. It's really not that complicated to add each other as friends. In fact one of my friends is playing on the PS4 and it's totally fine with Cross Play. The only thing bad about this release in my opinion is the fact it's not on PC. The fact that you don't get credit from a dungeon unless you host it in my opinion is great. I can do random Quick Plays for Artifacts I don't have without accidentally getting ahead of my friends when they aren't online. For example I got 4 Artifacts with Quick Play last night and continued the game with my friends this afternoon. It's perfect for me I'm sorry you all are so upset over some of the features they changed but I think it's for the better honestly x.x
Yeah, honestly I'm enjoying the game too, since I've only played the 2 DS titles (my favorite ones). The game feels good, funny, and in the end ok. I agree with some of the issues, but in my opinion, they don't ruin my game esperience at all.
I played solo in the original. So the multiplayer part has no effect on my experience. I wish they had local co-op available along side online, but it is not a deal breaker for me. The only people who hate it are those who almost never played the game solo.
1 rather serious fatal flaw, which I'm sure the developers didn't consider, and after speaking it here, (I'm sure others will go mimic it to troll people) is the sole amount of power that the chalice bearer has on the group dynamics. As you mentioned around the 4 minute mark, if the chalice holder wants to explore, everyone must follow, if they rush, everyone must follow. If the chalice holder decides they don't want to move an inch, no one else can progress. Currently, there doesn't appear to be any reporting tools in game for this type of rather annoying behavior and exiting a match with this type of player seemingly can only be resolved by disconnecting since there doesn't look to be any options to leave a quick matched group. Adding insult to injury is disconnected players get a penalty (whether their fault or not) on joining multiplayer games afterwards. I really hope SE can come up with some fixes for this.
In the options section of the menu, the last options tab has a red button at the end that lets you exit the match. Found it on my own when I was figuring out things with friends. I don't know if it gives a penalty or not if done in this way. At least it's something besides resetting the game?
Huh.....well....unless you got some sort of collector's edition then i find that hard to be since in the US it's priced at $30 right now (have my switch open and looking at it at this moment) and $30 is equal to 25 Euros (farily certain that's the Euro money symbol....looked through a list of all current ones just to be sure and the only one like that is the Euro) so unless they changed how the Euro works and each country in the EU's Euro now holds a different value from other countries in the EU than your either lying, mistaken, or just haven't looked it up and think SE/Nintendo's trying to sell it at full price....or the E shop was glitched cause right now when i look it up online it's showing it's being sold for 25 Euros with no sales according to this website that's showing it's current prices it's only being sold for 25 Euros: eshop-prices.com/games/5058-final-fantasy-crystal-chronicles-remastered-edition With all that said....i think the game should be priced down to $20/15 Euros at most with what was given in this remaster.
Yea it really sucks, game was great originally too all they had to do was not remove any core features and they would have raked in the cash, sadly they were far too stupid to get out of their own way
If it had local multiplayer all the negatives would basically disappear. I still love it tho, but it's cause I know it can be a great experience because I played the original.
Online multiplayer will never have the same energy local multiplayer does. I'm so old for just saying that lol. It's true tho, and this game is the perfect example.
Overcooked, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime and Minecraft are a few good ones. Death Squared is a cool little co-op puzzle game. Super Mario Odyssey can be played with 2 people. Death Road to Canada is a charming, but sometimes intense little zombie game. My 4 year old nephew likes Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (he calls it the dinosaur game), and it is one of my favourite games, lots of depth and challenge, but if you've never played a Monster Hunter Game it might be tough to get into. Stardew Valley is an amazing co-op game, but it's hard to say if an 8 year-old would be into it. I know I was when I was a kid though (into Harvest Moon, its inspiration that is). Aside from that, you could play games like Mario Kart and Super Smash Brothers and just play on the same team, but they are more party/competitive games than co-op games. Edit: Monster Hunter and Stardew Valley do not have split screen so you would need more than 1 Switch for multiplayer.
I feel like Final Fantasy Explorers was a bit of the update of this. I'd like to see that brought forward to Switch. I loved playing this game with friends back in the day, but yeah it really wasn't that good of a game. There was a lot of stuff that was frustrating. I think this is a hard pass, the nostalgia won't carry it long. I did really like all the races, I'd like to see more lilties and yukes in other games. We also really liked Four Swords. But god forbid our one friend got fire... and yeah there were periods of chucking friends into holes.
I’ve never played Final Fantasy: Chrystal Chronicles. So the Switch version left me with a great first experience. I thoroughly am enjoying it so far. It’s just enough for me. Plus people need to understand this is a 2003 game being remastered and spruced up. So far for solo play I’ve been satisfied. I can’t wait to try online. Sure, I was hoping this have a deeper grind and gameplay. But I keep saying this is a 2003 game. So I keep forgiving it’s flaws. Plus I believe Square Enix could patch some things. All in all, if you can look past some minor flaws and know it’s a game that’s almost two decades old. Then it all makes sense. Sure I could want more and there are flaws. But you have to be real nit picky to see those cons. I just wish there was more grind and difficulty. I’m satisfied and that’s what matters. 😊
Unfortunately the multiplayer pales in comparison to the original one, which was annoying to do because of all the extra hardware you needed, but the experience was very unique. I would recommend trying your best to experience the old multiplayer, but its expensive.
@@NintenDub the worst part is that without any form of local co-op (not even wireless co-op for seitch) is that when the servers eventually go down, the original game will still be the only way to experience multiplayer.
I managed to play it with some friends in 2013 out of nostalgia but it was cumbersome. Had to buy cables and gbas. Couldn't get the GCN emulators to work properly for everyone back then. I just wanted to play the damn game but getting old friends together in one room is haaaard, specially in Covid year. For me and my friends, this game is a win. I didn't know couch coop was such a big issue for people... I tried diablo 3 in local couch coop once (like all looking the same screen) and it was a terrible experience. I for one welcome being able to re-do year one dungeons for my friends, that way I can grind a little. Its like doing urgent quests for friends in MH, no story advancement but materials.
If i had to choose between the original and the switch, I’d choose the original. I like the idea of progressing with multiple people and sharing data as well as town felt like we were an actual community growing together. Sadly, the game wasn’t mine to own so I had very limited exposure, but to even now it was a game I knew I would most enjoy playing with more people. The switch feels like it took a lot of that away and even the title song didn’t feel as nice as it did when I first saw it. I still adore the new graphics, voiceovers, and even the character models, but I feel like it lost the multiplayer features I loved about it the most. Granted I only played the demo as of this comment, but until something is done to allow me to play the game with my friends and family, this game is little more than crystal chronicle character archive for the game I wish it was.
So, you have to charge an attack, aim and attack, and dodge the attacks of opponents. Have you never heard of strategy before? And, you have a problem with not having a leveling system, but instead, people have to work together to complete a stage to get totems. I enjoy the game and its pretty cool. Bit nitpicky here.
But can you play it in Handheld mode for Switch? (Bring it to a friend's home and local play.) Edit: Wait, you can't connect to another switch that's right next to it? wtf? EditEdit: Can't you just connect both Switches to the same internet and Play online co-op, locally?
Played this all summer with my friends many years ago, we got all the way to the end of the last boss then died. Arguments ensued, this game definitely ended those friendships.
Never played the original but I remember the DS sequel Ring of Fates being quite enjoyable so I was psyched for this. Glad they gave us a demo however because this was atrocious. Hopefully better Crystal Chronicles games might still materialise because this is a very poor showing for the franchise.
I personally am excited for this. I got near the end of the game when I was emulating it on Dolphin and the game crashed loading the boss. I freaking raged quit cause it took me a half an hour to get through that dungeon and I did not have the energy to get through it again. With the remaster I at least know it'll be stable and won't crash on me (here's hoping).
As long as your playing solo. Was playing multiplayer in the mines dungeon, beat the boss and then was met with a white screen. Turns out we lost connection to SE servers.
I felt more of a connection with Sherlotta and mom and my village in the original ds game than the family assigned to you in this version. She’s crucial to the plot and they don’t start out with her?
The demo didn’t do any favours to this game, crushed the memories I had playing this years ago. Slow, barely remastered, clunky yet it’s on the top selling games list.That’s why devs get away with lazy jobs like this.
Vote with your dollar, right? Personally, I won't buy it because they didn't even bother with a physical release. They wouldn't take the hit up front to print game cartridges because they already knew this "remaster" wouldn't sell well.
Damn. We can tell that he didn’t personally enjoy the game. This game is fun af. And me and my friend have been enjoying multiplayer. There’s new enemies, and the difficulty is higher than before. New items. I think it’s great.
So, the big problem here is that they made what is clearly a local multiplayer game into an online-only multiplayer game. But at least they don't hide the condition to earn bonus points behind a paywall. :P
Honest question: when is the last time ANY of us played this game, on a GameCube? Y’all are expecting a 2020 game experience from a REMASTERED (not a remake!) 2003 game. Yeah, there’s a few things that I’m also like, “you really couldn’t fix this?” but they don’t stump gameplay. Grab some friends, hop on discord, and have fun. Some friends and I have been playing this since yesterday and it’s been FUN.
Guessing you never actually played it, then. Because any cunt worth his salt remembers it all fondly even with 1 other person and how great it was. No excuses, stop defending this industry bullshit.
@@strikerzac Not the point. People still get enjoyment where there is any to be had out of current next-gen games like FIFA even though it's the exact same thing every year only with less effort put in each time and shit loads of bugs; by your logic does that justify it? I'm not saying you can just make people care, but it's the attitude of "Well I can enjoy it so I don't give a shit" that lets the publishers get away with all of this.
Hysteria98 I did play it! Two things I’ll admit is that I never finished it and I don’t remember several things. My point is that most of us haven’t played this game or even remember what it was like (most reviewers even mention they don’t remember) so it’s a really biased opinion. I never said there’s nothing wrong with it because I do have some grievances with it, but it doesn’t hinder gameplay. I hop on discord with friends and play it; there’s fun aplenty. If you can’t manage to have fun with people, that’s a personal problem tbh. Suggestion: find some friends or new ones.
I didn't care too much about the local gameplay so long as online worked... But the fact you can't traverse the map with the Host, have to keep disbanding the group to go to new levels, don't get mail from your families, that your family doesn't appear in the world of the Host when you join them... What the actual fuck were they thinking here? I'm going to play the game with friends who are excited to experience this, but what let down... I really hope they go back and fix this, but considering it took them TWO YEARS (maybe more) to release... this? I don't see that happening. The online for this is inexcusable.
The multiplayer criticism is valid, but yeah, harsh. They should add local multiplayer as an option, FOR SURE, but I love this game. I have zero nostalgia for this one, and I love experiencing it for the first time.
That 30 minute thing is a broadfaced lie. You have your invite code which is below your comment and then you have your ONE-TIME INVITE CODE. They are two seperate things, fix that misinformation asap.
Agreed. Not to mention if two people follow each other on the friend screen, they become friends. Then all you have to do is a friend only lobby and send them an invite.
Why would you use a group of travelers with a caravan in your trailer Square-Enix but in the game I’m the only traveler with the caravan 😭
Some of us, me including, didn't have GBA-owning friends to share GC Crystal Chronicles with, mind you. -.-
->I played the game always with my solo-character (only story's final boss was where I couldn't progress on my own) and just had company in terms of someone sitting next to me, making suggestions what to do when or cheering for me when facing a dungeon-boss.
@@MelodyCrystel which is exactly why many of us were excited to play it again! we expected a multiplayer experience akin to the original since it was way too difficult to set it up back then
and now? well looks like ill just have to play solo again lol
MelodyCrystel solo isn’t bad but it would have been nice to have some sort of characters with you to choose when playing solo so it doesn’t feel like your so alone. I’m trying really hard to play solo but it ain’t cutting it for me sadly
can you fill a party with npcs so you can have them help you?
Literally a game about working together and traveling as a village only to be taken away and it feels even less of an adventure. Might as well just play solo.
@Lil Y Literally a game about working together and travelling as a village only to be taken away and it feels even less of an adventure. Might as well just play solo.
@Lil Y You might want to improve your own English.
I have this game for game cube and have nostalgia for it but I’ll wait until it’s on sale for $4.99
Same I just got it a few days ago ☺️
GameCube lives forever
Agree, I may pick this up if it's on sale or I'm gifted an eShop card.
The fact that we can't travel the world and build a village together is just sad..
@@ShadeKoopa This is literally the reason I'm not getting it. I have insane nostalgia for this game. I was obsessed with it an beat it solo as a kid because I loved the world and the fantasy so much. I had always imagined how awesome it would be if I could actually play it with friends consistently, like it was intended to be played and I was so excited for this release because I could finally have that experience.
But not having your friends on a collective save file is just so counter to that fantasy. I mean, hell, it's all there in the amazing opening cutscene: a group of adventurers set out and grow together on an epic journey. The fantasy isn't just the playing together part - it's also (and maybe even more) the being from the same village part, the talking to each other's families part, the getting mail together part, the progressing together part. To fail at those elements so badly... its inexplicable. Unforgivable even.
I get not having local coop (ui issues are hard and I get that). But there's nothing in the game that makes a shared save unfeasible. This all just seems like an attempt to transform the game into a mobile F2P title without fully committing. And it just sucks, especially coming from a director who claims that he was a massive fan of the original.
@Darth Kennedy More often then you realize. Even if it's just 10% off, I'd take it.
@@Dahras1 There are online games that let you and your friends share your mission progression regardless of if it's your or your friend's party. This game should be able to share that progress between players the same way. Not to mention the full game code that the host is able to share. That should be another way to link progression. It's surprising how square dropped the ball on this when a number of bigger releases have gotten it right from the start.
Ughhhh T_T ...This is honestly such a bummer. I was so excited when it was announced, the nostalgia was super strong and to now watch this review...it's just disheartening man. This could have been (and should have been) so much better. I'm just going to go listen to its wonderful soundtrack for the rest of the day. At least they can't mess that up.
if you liked it back in the day you'll like it now. the game is fine, ive been playing it. remember this is just this guy's opinion, he doesnt like everything you like.
Best feature of this game (multi-player).... DESTROYED.. don't get me wrong.. I waited way too long for this game because I love it!! But now I'm disappointed... Hope they fix it...
we are 3 friends and we have to play every dungeon 3 times for every on of us :'D its not really funny to play that way xD
@@TrexxWind oof...that's rough buddy
@@TrexxWind Back when it was released it wasn't different. And it's "just" a remastered edition and not a remake ;D
@@JangoFox11880 you played as an Caravan member with the Others Player, so you only Had to Play every Dungeon one time, (on Splitscreen) i think 🤔
They won't fix it. The game is messed up because everything was made to work for the mobile versions. No updated controls, insane multiplayer implementation, only the host gaining town progress, and the host needing to make multiple characters with each profession to progress the town because it isnt shared with other players, all because of mobile integration. They won't be fixing it. They value the mobile market over console.
I'm still playing it because this was literally the game I bought my Switch for, but god damn did they destroy the entire point of Crystal Chronicles: traveling with your caravan. The world feels so lifeless and lonely when you can't truly travel and play with your friends. They should have done better.
I was watching this review thinking it would be great to play with my daughter as an intro to rpg's but then no local co-op? Hard pass. For a system that promotes picking up joycons to share with friends this is baffling.
This game needs a remake not a remaster.
That's my argument about the older FFs(I-VI, and VIII, and IX). Too much dick sucking for VII, as great as that game is.
The fact they removed Local Co-op shows how much they really know the core fan base LMFAO
We have waited almost 20 years and they had to go and ruin it by taking away the one thing that made it so great, local co-op. And to add insult to injury even when you do play multiplayer only ONE person owns the caravan which means only they can actually progress through the story. So much potential to be an amazing remaster if just the small things were fixed and local co-op remained intact. Such a shame...
I guess the only thing I can hope is for a sequel to come out in the future that has pretty much every aspect improved and of course LOCAL CO-OP!!!
7:50 "Also there's no voice chat, you're instead relegated to using and external app like Discord..."
Hmmmm if only the main system of a major platform holder in 2020 had a usable Party System like other consoles even from well over a decade ago. Not saying the game shouldn't have it too, but let's be honest, 99% of the time you just use the console's party system to communicate between friends.
What if you're playing with randoms online
@@BamfIamone Considering I was refering to Discord (or 3rd party programs) specifically, I meant communication with friends, not randoms. But speaking of which, if Switch had an acceptable party system you _could_ invite them to your party and chat that way - right now the alternative is to private message them on Switch (is that possible? I don't own one) then ask them for their personnal discord which is much more shady than sending them a party invite on the system you're playing on.
But this being a cross-platform game complicates things with randoms, I highly doubt more than 5% of the population across Switch/PS4/phones would ever use voice chat. Who on the Switch would have a microphone always attached, and when do you ever want to voice chat with randoms when playing on your phone? Loudspeaker? Using full headset when playing on a phone? Even on PS4 not everyone is wearing headsets when playing with randoms.
@@Highlaw if a random could at least hear you speak that would make things easier.
Not having local wireless multiplayer AND not sharing progress is a problem to be sure. I'm enjoying the game, but it's less pure enjoyment and more putting up with it.
I don't know what the delays were for.
You'd hope
The delays were probably for the cross-platform multiplayer. You know, getting the companies in charge to agree to work together instead of asking players to buy the game multiple times to play with all their friends on different systems.
The lack of local multiplayer is 100% because of the cross-platform multiplayer. How are you going to get a Switch, PS4, and phone to connect to each other locally?
I personally think this is a 100% worthwhile trade-off. I would much rather be able to play with my friends who don't have Switches (which I already have) than play with people in the same room (which I might use once every 2 months or so). Besides, you can still play with people in the same room, you just have to connect to the internet to do so.
@@carstan62 Yeah, you "just" have to connect to the Internet. And hope your ISP, your network, the game's netcode, and Square-Enix' servers behave. Yesterday, even if you were with your pals in the same room, you could not play, because the servers went offline for emergency maintenance (because even though they made it online-only, they managed to botch that one job). Online will never have the reliability and simplicity of local connectivity. Oh, and when they unplug the servers, you will not be able to play with people in the same room any more, or in fact with anybody at all. The original will literally outlive the pale copy.
There's also the false dichotomy of trying to make us accept that it was a trade-off, when there was no good reason for them to go out of their way to _remove_ local co-op and substitute it with a crappy cross-platform online system they had to build from the ground up anyway. Besides, "how are you going to get a Switch, PS4, and phone to connect to each other locally?" _That is their own damn job to figure out._ Nobody asked for Android and iOS ports, and plenty of successful multi-platform games do not support cross-play. Yet they insisted on it, completely butchered the multiplayer in the process, and this mess is the result.
It did not have to turn out the way it did. This game deserved better.
@@gaohkai9441 A lot of people I know picked this up specifically because of the cross-platform play. If you don't care about it that's your opinion to have, but cross-platform play is infinitely more valuable to me than a slightly more consistent way to do something we can still do. Not being able to play with friends who own the same game as you is the literal worst thing in the gaming industry and any game that incorporates cross-platform play deserves to be praised for that decision (even if they don't deserve to be praised for anything else in their game).
@@carstan62 cross platform play is not a necessity. It would have been better to make it cross-save with local co-op instead. That way you get to play with friends on any device without sacrificing local co-op.
The inability to play through the game with a full caravan of friends brutalized any chance for this game to succeed, unfortunately. Anecdotally, I had several groups of friends plan to get this game to play through it together, only for NONE of them to end up buying it because they knew they wouldn't be able to play together. I honestly wonder how many more copies they would have sold of this game if they had made the game fully multiplayer throughout. Like many others here have said, playing through the game is a very hollow experience even if you have randoms drop into dungeons with you. Being surrounded by short-term strangers who vanish forever as soon as the boss is dead leaves a lonely single-player campaign feeling even more isolating. It's just tragic, since the original experience was so special.
Even worse, due to the remake's utter failure, there's no hope of any money being spent to fix the issue or give the game proper justice. This is probably the last we will ever see of Crystal Chronicles.
Has the original writer even been paying attention to the characters? Roland(Your town mayor) tells you about the scholar and knight, and you meet these characters. The little bits that you come across are integral to the story, not just the world building.
Me: I can't wait to play this for the first time and fight monsters and explore dungeons!
*Half hour into the game*
Me: I'm painting a Moogle...
As someone who has placed the original Crystal Chronicles in my top ten favorite games (as crazy as that seems), what has entirely killed it for me was how they set up multiplayer. Was planning on playing it with a friend (and still am going to), but holy crap, it's like I'm trying to play Dark Souls multiplayer, and that's not what you want. Heck, I can forgive the online only because you can replicate couch coop well enough if need be.
But to take a game whose original premise was about a group of friends traveling in a caravan across the world on a journey to refill a chalice in order to restore their towns defenses, and turn it into a journey you are required to travel alone, where people randomly join you when you enter a dungeon. Ugh. Strips basically all of the charm out of traveling in the caravan together, discovering new towns and locations, reading mail together to have a laugh at the goofy things our families had to say, even just watching the moogle pick up my mail after I finished my reply, waiting for those sitting with me to finish reading on their Gameboys and see the moogle waddle over and pick it from their character to have them then sit down with me. Those little things all add into the original experience and why I valued it so highly.
It was a simple game, certainly not much of any kind of RPG, but that didn't matter because it wasn't the focus. What the original game did best was create an genuinely comfy, atmospheric adventure with friends; a kind of classic journey of adventurers bonding through trials. But nope, they had to rip all of this out for matchmaking sake. :( People were right, LFG and LFR killed WoW and it's killed this too.
So, I got this game the day it came out for nostalgic reasons, and yes...the first 'cycle' of the game where you play through the old game with a new skin is essentially unchanged. However, the game shines in the post game, increased difficulty dungeons. There are new weapons, items, artifacts, enemies, places in dungeons, it is a full upgrade and I have been having a blast playing it to be honest. I can admit that I was at first pretty disappointed in the unchanged nature of the game, but was very, very pleased to find the new and improved things after I beat the game. I don't think that you should have to play 15-20 hours to be able to get to that content of course, but they have been very much worth it.
The ability to run dungeons in multiplayer and collect artifacts without progressing your own save could actually be seen as something of a blessing though (bit of a *SPOILER WARNING* here if you don't want deep game knowledge dump) as after a certain point in the game, about year 3+ some of the earlier artifacts, namely the +1 ones, become much harder to find. Since the artifacts are unique, only allowing you to permanently acquire 1 of each this can be an issue in the later parts of the game if you want to get them all.
I don't think having to do each dungeon 4 times with your friends in order for all to progress can be seen as a blessing :/..
@@Maenso1 You run the dungeon more than 4 times anyway regardless so you can farm for artifacts. The biggest problem is not being able to read mail and travel in town together and talk with your family along your friends.
@@jimmyle4501 yea big agree, takes away from the whole appeal of the game lol just feels like a bad mmo now
@@jimmyle4501 I agree too, that's like my only complaint, because they at least added a lot of sorta quality life improvements like the storage system in your village, the inventory being a lot larger so you don't have to get rid of stuff every 5 seconds, the thing that Yasha said about the earlier artifacts not being lost anymore, spell casting indicator thing so I no longer have to count whenever I want to count when I want to use something like thundaga with just 2 players, etc....
But it's disappointing that they removed the traveling around the world with people though.
It does feel a bit empty the way it was implemented for sure. Me and my wife used to play the GC version a lot when we first met as teenagers and it doesn't feel quite the same. Still fun though if you have people to play with at least.
I'd be more interested in Crystal Chronicles My Life as a King being remastered
Sorry everyone. It feels like this game was made specifically for me. It’s almost everything I ever could have hoped for at this point in my life. I fully acknowledge that it has many flaws that ruin the experience for others and those flaws shouldn’t exist, but they do nothing do impede my personal enjoyment
👌🏽
Yep. I feel the same way. People who loved it and enjoyed single player, are the ones who will love the remaster.
Don't apologize for liking something.
The game is great. While it is really flawed, and the multiplayer is nothing like before, but it's still a gem.
Im really pissed they took out local Co-op because I was looking forward to that most of all but glad you're enjoying it
Local co op would be perfect man, you already have two joy cons and a dock
Agree 100% with everything you said. This game was huge for me growing up, and have nothing but fond memories of it. I was so ecstatic when they announced the remaster, just to be able to play it with my sister again. Last night i did one year by myself well aware of the changes, and just like you i started feeling kind of bored. It was never meant to be played in single player. It doesn’t seem like much but all those little things they removed from multiplayer just absolutely kill it for me. 😔
At least the soundtrack is still phenomenal. That will always be true!
They should've remade Ring of Fates imo, that game was more fun from what I remember
7:41 You do have a permanent friend code, it's the "invite code" that's 12 numbers long. The friend code that changes every 30 minutes is only an option.
"It's like they missed the point of multiplayer and said "hey it's online and cross play" and called it a day and that's really disappointing" exactly :'( I loved this game and this remastered could have been so much more. Painful.
How can I enjoy the Cow Races and show off how awesome my cow is, if my friends can't come into the town and compete with me....
Jokes on you. I absolutely loved it in the past and still love it today. Yes there is a number of things they could have improved on. But its still a great game if you loved its original release.
I could look past every original flaw that the game had (and there are many) if it at least had a proper progression system for multiplayer where EVERYONE could progress and not just the host. I can't believe they overlooked that. Even if you don't mind repeating the levels to catch up, it makes it very hard to even out the amount of treasures each person has since each person would have to take turns hosting whilst the others have to catch up to the exact same point. Pretty ridiculous when you think about it. Only way it truly works is if the people you play with don't care about the need to progress themselves nor care about being equally as strong, but it shouldn't have ever been like that.
What makes it good now? I can’t seem to figure it out.
WAIT! There is a Remastered of Crystal Chronicle for the Nintendo Switch? How did I miss this?! I must buy it!
only the temporary friend code changes every 30 mins, there are two friend codes.
And if you add the person as a friend you don't have to worry about it
@@LMG8807 excactly they should know what theyre talking about before spouting nonsense next time its really simple
@@alexmaganda5827 my problem is they like rushing videos without experimenting.............
This game could've taken a lot of notes from its sort of sequel, Final Fantasy Explorers.
If they brought FF explorers Remastered out id be all over that sh**
I've played Explorers. It sucked.
Thats your opinion.
Ff explorers was a shitty clone of monster hunter.
@@strikerzac - At least it has a working multiplayer AND a efficient spell system.
Not like this trash game (Crystal Chronicles).
Just started playing this with my kids! They love it so far... On the GameCube... Where we can play together... Really badly managed development. How could whoever was in charge allow this. If you strip down the multiplayer and gatekeep it more than it was originally (which was quite a bit tbh but I still had my set-up from when I was a kid so it just worked out.) Like the man said. Really disappointing. Four Sword Adventures next.
There is a friend code that changes every 30 mins but there is also a permanent friend code displayed on the same page so this isn't actually an issue.
Alex, you don't need to physically move to the place. You just need it unlocked. In fact you can run the volcano mountain level for FREE in multiplayer rather than paying 500 gil. You can literally make the lobby from the menu in game.
I just wanted LAN play available, so I could play with my buddies in the same room without having to worry about four Switchs hooked up to the same wifi. And now this version will completely lose it's multiplayer function once NSO shuts down in a decade or so.
This game is great!!! The single player campaign is what I remembered from the GameCube era. It has flaws. I remember when it came out and my biggest complaint was it wasn’t a true Final Fantasy game. I didn’t play it for months. Once I understood the gameplay mechanics and campaign loops it all clicked. It can get repetitive but it is also addicting. The music is grand. The price is right. I do not want online play for this one and if you are looking for that you will be a bit disappointed with the way it is set up. I would give this a 7.5.
I've heard a couple other reviewers get this wrong too, and it's not a big deal, but let me correct it here.
You have a 12 digit friend code.
You can also generate a 6 digit friend code that lasts for 30 minutes.
It's not that your friend code changes every 30 minutes.
EDIT: I think this is actually a decent way to do this.
Since the game has cross-platform multiplayer, friend codes are a logistical necessity.
A long friend code means you won't have players overlapping codes, but it's harder to share. So they gave us the option to temporarily generate a bite-sized friend code that won't overlap with anyone else because it's only temporary.
plus you do it one time then the person is on your friendslist it takes 30 seconds no biggie
@@alexmaganda5827 they just have to make sure to follow each other on the friends list in order to become friends. Then you can just send an invite when making a lobby.
I never played in co-op. So it never really bothered me on that front. I think I still get this anyway. Portability factor for me.
It's worth noting that the original had a cross save system where you would import your character into the save of someonelse and if you did only the save file host would get ANY credit for the quests. It seems current system is an expansion of that. Frankly I don't understand the complaints here, especially on the commands since imho they are fine on the switch
Creators: "Relive and play this remastered version for that nostalgia"
me: "Nice I can do local play with my brother again"
Creators: "Does not support local play"
me: "How does this make it possible to relive the nostalgia?"
Honestly, might as well fire up Game Cube with the link cable instead, just gotta find a nice analog to digital video converter to buy for my PC monitor first.
That’s a real bummer about the progress during multiplayer 🥴 I can’t remember if the old game was like that or not though 🤔
It wasn't. It was all on one save file and all the characters were from the same town and travelled together in the same caravan. Meaning, everyone progressed at the same time.
I hope they can work out a patch to streamline things, I love the game. Repeating the dungeon multiple times so each player progresses will get old
As Rhino mentioned, there was a feature that let you play as characters on the host file. Progress is stored on the file so all characters on that file progress.
That's still here, and you can still make 8 characters, but there's no way to control more than 1 at a time or have those characters play together anymore.
The old one also has a feature where you can bring a memory card to a friend's house and import your character to their file temporarily. When you returned you made no progress on your game but got to keep items and artifacts, same as the current online.
The difference, unfortunately, is that imported characters in the old one got to go on the full adventure with you. They could visit your town and take advantage of your leveled up family and so on. The new one only let's you drop in on dungeons.
Some things I agree with... Like I hate that I cant get mail with everyone else. Just feels pointless to have people waiting around for it if only one person benefits.
BUT , when you get to a certain point in the game you can just use the "Set out together" option and select any dungeon without traveling and invite your friends. Wish you could keep the lobby . But there are at least some shortcuts.
I must say that this remaster has been a great experience for me. In my particular case, I don't have friends to play so that we want to progress at the same pace. Playing with strangers therefore works perfectly fine for me. This game requires to replay dungeons several times if you want to get hold of a particular artifact, so even if you don't get the myrrh drop in the end, it matters not. I personally don't like to be taken back to the village after collecting three drops. I prefer to be in control over when I complete a year. Regarding the option to replay the same dungeon, I find it useful when I am hosting and nobody joins until I am close to the end of the dungeon. This way we can just complete whatever is left in the current run and restart a new one properly.
Been really enjoying this tbh. I know its not great, never was honestly, but its charming world and character designs still wins me over.
For now im playing it solo and building up a few characters at once to fill out my town, but i do hope they patch up the multiplayer offerings so i can caravan with friends online.
Over 16 hours of solo play and I'm still not bored of it ; u ;
Me 2 I like it su much ; u ;
"Damningly mediocre"
Yep! The soundtrack is still one of my favorites though. I wish solo play wasn't such a pain. This is probably going to be a pass for me.
I'd love it if they released the My Life as King/Dark Lord games, Ring of Fates, and the other games set in this world on the Switch. It really is a beautiful game world.
Eh I still love solo play tbh and it still has its boon like the fact that you can easily cast high level spells like thundaga or haste without having to coordinate in the heat of battle with people, but that's my opinion, and the multiplayer here is ridiculously easy considering somebody who's boosted to high hell can join and steamroll through everything (at least the beginning stages. I still love the game even though they took out the whole traveling through the world together which sucks because that was fun and the whole appeal of the game.
So if enjoyed the game before you might still have fun here since they did a number of quality of life improvements. If not, it's fine too I'm just saying. Btw yeah the soundtrack is amazing and I still think it's the best FF soundtrack imo, and I've had a lot of the tracks with me on my phone since I first played the game forever ago.
@@Rex13013 I liked it in the beginning when I played it on the Gamecube (solo, as I didn't have any friends who also played the game). After awhile though it became too repetitive, and I lost interest. Plus I found the chalice so cumbersome, especially since it slows you down when it has 2 drops of myrrh in it (plus Mog getting tired is an unnecessary mechanic in my opinion). Wasn't wild about the command wheel (I understand the need for it back when GBAs were used as controllers for co-op, but it doesn't make sense on the Switch). Small adjustments could have been made to make it a more pleasant overall experience. Some of the choices that Square Enix made with this remaster baffle me a bit.
I'm glad you're enjoying it though! :)
@@sarahwalsh8632 Understandable, I know the game is far from perfect and isn't for everyone, I also wanted some minor changes and I still hoping they listen and maybe fix some stuff so more people would play it but I don't know if they ever will, which is sad because I really wanted to see this game succeed.
Solo play is all I've ever known. Playing with others is nice, but I like the challenge of solo play. It gives me the feeling of having to strategize.
I completely agree. I feel the same. I loved this game and I was excited to get to share it with new people; however, there are so many issues with it that I can't even honestly suggest buying to anyone.
Yeah, this game is clunky and dated in more ways than one.
It boggles my mind that modern systems couldn't have had a multiplayer where you invite a player into your caravan and they get to travel through the overworld and dungeons together with you without disconnecting (I'm gonna blame the mobile release).
The fact that a player will be disconnected after only a couple minutes of inactivity even in a friend only lobby is ridiculous. This also applies to before you actually start the dungeon, so if you're waiting for your friend to accept your invite, you better not just afk in the meantime.
I would have liked to have seen Attack and Defend separated out from the other slots in your command list to different buttons.
All of that being said though. If you get a friend interested in the game and hop in a call together you can have a fantastic time.
Originally I was stuck playing this game single player as an only child whose friends never brought their Gameboys to my house, so I was super stoked to get the opportunity to actually play this game with friends. There have definitely been frustrating things that make me question the competency of the developers, but I haven't been disappointed by the actual experience at this point.
Correction, you can't even do that causr the online multiplayer doesn't work, even with good wifi
@@tena2013 that's because you are on wifi. Two people on PS4 on Ethernet have almost no issues.
@@Inari_the_Fox ....you realize that doesn't make it better right? That just proves how poorly made it is and that it doesn't function at the most basic level on the 1 thing it was marketed on
You can only play multiplayer in the dungeons right? Or is there a way to actually have the other players join your caravan and explore towns and stuff with you?
I own the game and haven't found a way to do that if it's even there.
I really love this game. I played the hell out of the original release as a kid. But it just seems like Square almost WANTS the multiplayer to be disappointing. An actually good multiplayer setup would make this game SO much better. (And hell, it’s not like there aren’t COUNTLESS games that give examples of how to do co-op right.) I was going to make this remaster a day-one purchase, but I’ll wait till the price goes down . . . or, better, till they fix the multiplayer. In the meantime, I don’t mind breaking out my old Gamecube copy and enjoying the charm and still-solid graphics.
I wish they could remake this or make a new crystal chronicles
We need last story and pandora tower remake
I just cant believe how many Micro Transactions they offer, besides the $30 there 2 different $5 weapon packs, a $5 +Gil accessory/$5 Recovery accessory and a $5 Crystal item for each one of the characters 8 in all I think.. that's a lot.
Here's the cold hard truth. SquareEnix neglected to update outdated game mechanics, or take advantage of modern consoles controls and infrastructures. Instead they took the lazy route and tried to make a cash grab to accommodate the mobile game audience. In their attempt to entice this audience all they have wound up doing was isolating everyone. I'm so disappointed this remaster has turned out the way it has. I had hoped Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered might reinvigorate interest in the Crystal Chronicles series, but all it's done was put a nail in the coffin.
Multiplayer was the best part about the original. I can't believe they went and made the multiplayer experience *worse* this time around. I just want to play through the game together with my friend. :(
Played this way back on the GC...think I'll keep the nostalgia and memories back there
Why does everyone that I see reviewing this game automatically assume that everyone who liked this game before is because of nostalgia? And that I haven't played it in years? I know this game has flaws but doesn't mean it's not fun, I've replayed FFCC multiple times (99% of those times in single player) and the last time I played it was like 2 years ago.
ikr not sure y ether. maybe they need to tell themselves that to justify just bashing it to pieces? or maybe they think no one likes the game. i plaied this game last year a bit on game cube. the flaws suck yes but im sure they could fix the progression with a patch or something if any fix at all
Pretty much, and even then old CC fans are pretty rational. Most fans admit the game itself is....less than stellar, but we all love it for the experience thats more than them the sum of its parts and even more so if you managed to play the multiplayer with friends before.
Exactly I'm like damn we just want to replay it again. The original was flawed
See the thing is the remaster is so bad nostalgia doesn't even save it. They butchered the multiplayer and on top of that it doesn't even work
@@tena2013 my multiplayer works fine it's tedious but it works fine
I want to know if there’s a Physical release of this game for the switch or if it’s just digital
Just digital physical is japan only sadly
Only digital:( I hate it
Oh that is sad news indeed, well they don’t have much hope in American tastes they know Americans play first person shooter like crazy, I suppose it’s true what Hideo Kojima said about us and our first person shooter madness I think that’s why they don’t release physical editions here
@@rockvault3284 that is true lol but they have been releasing less physical copies for remastered versions of games which sucks if you like collecting physical copies.
@@puppytosser yeah it sucks the box looks cool to i wanted it next to my original GC version of the game
What is up with the Carbuncles appearance in this game? It of course was the same on GC
I remember playing with my gameboys hooked up to GameCube for my brother and best friend to play along 😊
Okay you are way too harsh on this title. I'm having a blast on the Switch using Discord with some friends. It's really not that complicated to add each other as friends. In fact one of my friends is playing on the PS4 and it's totally fine with Cross Play. The only thing bad about this release in my opinion is the fact it's not on PC. The fact that you don't get credit from a dungeon unless you host it in my opinion is great. I can do random Quick Plays for Artifacts I don't have without accidentally getting ahead of my friends when they aren't online. For example I got 4 Artifacts with Quick Play last night and continued the game with my friends this afternoon. It's perfect for me I'm sorry you all are so upset over some of the features they changed but I think it's for the better honestly x.x
Yeah, honestly I'm enjoying the game too, since I've only played the 2 DS titles (my favorite ones). The game feels good, funny, and in the end ok. I agree with some of the issues, but in my opinion, they don't ruin my game esperience at all.
I played solo in the original. So the multiplayer part has no effect on my experience. I wish they had local co-op available along side online, but it is not a deal breaker for me. The only people who hate it are those who almost never played the game solo.
1 rather serious fatal flaw, which I'm sure the developers didn't consider, and after speaking it here, (I'm sure others will go mimic it to troll people) is the sole amount of power that the chalice bearer has on the group dynamics. As you mentioned around the 4 minute mark, if the chalice holder wants to explore, everyone must follow, if they rush, everyone must follow. If the chalice holder decides they don't want to move an inch, no one else can progress. Currently, there doesn't appear to be any reporting tools in game for this type of rather annoying behavior and exiting a match with this type of player seemingly can only be resolved by disconnecting since there doesn't look to be any options to leave a quick matched group. Adding insult to injury is disconnected players get a penalty (whether their fault or not) on joining multiplayer games afterwards. I really hope SE can come up with some fixes for this.
In the options section of the menu, the last options tab has a red button at the end that lets you exit the match. Found it on my own when I was figuring out things with friends. I don't know if it gives a penalty or not if done in this way. At least it's something besides resetting the game?
The Nostalgia Drew Me In Real Fast But Then I Watched The Trailer & Forgot It Wasn’t An Earthbound Style Turn Based RPG 🤣
This should be a €20 release on the eShop, tops. However, I see that it is €70.
Shaking my damn head.
Huh.....well....unless you got some sort of collector's edition then i find that hard to be since in the US it's priced at $30 right now (have my switch open and looking at it at this moment) and $30 is equal to 25 Euros (farily certain that's the Euro money symbol....looked through a list of all current ones just to be sure and the only one like that is the Euro) so unless they changed how the Euro works and each country in the EU's Euro now holds a different value from other countries in the EU than your either lying, mistaken, or just haven't looked it up and think SE/Nintendo's trying to sell it at full price....or the E shop was glitched cause right now when i look it up online it's showing it's being sold for 25 Euros with no sales according to this website that's showing it's current prices it's only being sold for 25 Euros: eshop-prices.com/games/5058-final-fantasy-crystal-chronicles-remastered-edition
With all that said....i think the game should be priced down to $20/15 Euros at most with what was given in this remaster.
So my big question here is ... Do the host make only the process and the other members in the party don’t get new stuff ? Did I understand it right ?
The story progresses for the host only. Everyone can still get artifacts.
this has to be one of the absolute worst remasters to come out in recent memory. nothing positive was altered/added/changed.
Yea it really sucks, game was great originally too all they had to do was not remove any core features and they would have raked in the cash, sadly they were far too stupid to get out of their own way
If it had local multiplayer all the negatives would basically disappear. I still love it tho, but it's cause I know it can be a great experience because I played the original.
Online multiplayer will never have the same energy local multiplayer does. I'm so old for just saying that lol. It's true tho, and this game is the perfect example.
What co-op games would you recommend to play with kids? (8yr old)
Overcooked, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime and Minecraft are a few good ones. Death Squared is a cool little co-op puzzle game. Super Mario Odyssey can be played with 2 people. Death Road to Canada is a charming, but sometimes intense little zombie game.
My 4 year old nephew likes Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (he calls it the dinosaur game), and it is one of my favourite games, lots of depth and challenge, but if you've never played a Monster Hunter Game it might be tough to get into.
Stardew Valley is an amazing co-op game, but it's hard to say if an 8 year-old would be into it. I know I was when I was a kid though (into Harvest Moon, its inspiration that is).
Aside from that, you could play games like Mario Kart and Super Smash Brothers and just play on the same team, but they are more party/competitive games than co-op games.
Edit: Monster Hunter and Stardew Valley do not have split screen so you would need more than 1 Switch for multiplayer.
I feel like Final Fantasy Explorers was a bit of the update of this. I'd like to see that brought forward to Switch.
I loved playing this game with friends back in the day, but yeah it really wasn't that good of a game. There was a lot of stuff that was frustrating. I think this is a hard pass, the nostalgia won't carry it long.
I did really like all the races, I'd like to see more lilties and yukes in other games.
We also really liked Four Swords. But god forbid our one friend got fire... and yeah there were periods of chucking friends into holes.
I’ve never played Final Fantasy: Chrystal Chronicles. So the Switch version left me with a great first experience. I thoroughly am enjoying it so far. It’s just enough for me. Plus people need to understand this is a 2003 game being remastered and spruced up. So far for solo play I’ve been satisfied. I can’t wait to try online. Sure, I was hoping this have a deeper grind and gameplay. But I keep saying this is a 2003 game. So I keep forgiving it’s flaws. Plus I believe Square Enix could patch some things. All in all, if you can look past some minor flaws and know it’s a game that’s almost two decades old. Then it all makes sense. Sure I could want more and there are flaws. But you have to be real nit picky to see those cons. I just wish there was more grind and difficulty. I’m satisfied and that’s what matters. 😊
Unfortunately the multiplayer pales in comparison to the original one, which was annoying to do because of all the extra hardware you needed, but the experience was very unique.
I would recommend trying your best to experience the old multiplayer, but its expensive.
Valoe7 eh I’ll be fine and get the same experience cheaper. Doing multiplayer now. 😊 thank you for your input though.
@@DWS2020 it's really not the same experience but it's understandable.
@@NintenDub the worst part is that without any form of local co-op (not even wireless co-op for seitch) is that when the servers eventually go down, the original game will still be the only way to experience multiplayer.
I managed to play it with some friends in 2013 out of nostalgia but it was cumbersome. Had to buy cables and gbas. Couldn't get the GCN emulators to work properly for everyone back then. I just wanted to play the damn game but getting old friends together in one room is haaaard, specially in Covid year. For me and my friends, this game is a win. I didn't know couch coop was such a big issue for people... I tried diablo 3 in local couch coop once (like all looking the same screen) and it was a terrible experience. I for one welcome being able to re-do year one dungeons for my friends, that way I can grind a little. Its like doing urgent quests for friends in MH, no story advancement but materials.
If i had to choose between the original and the switch, I’d choose the original. I like the idea of progressing with multiple people and sharing data as well as town felt like we were an actual community growing together. Sadly, the game wasn’t mine to own so I had very limited exposure, but to even now it was a game I knew I would most enjoy playing with more people.
The switch feels like it took a lot of that away and even the title song didn’t feel as nice as it did when I first saw it. I still adore the new graphics, voiceovers, and even the character models, but I feel like it lost the multiplayer features I loved about it the most. Granted I only played the demo as of this comment, but until something is done to allow me to play the game with my friends and family, this game is little more than crystal chronicle character archive for the game I wish it was.
Too bad, I love this game but with no local co-op I just cannot buy it or recommend it.
So, you have to charge an attack, aim and attack, and dodge the attacks of opponents. Have you never heard of strategy before? And, you have a problem with not having a leveling system, but instead, people have to work together to complete a stage to get totems. I enjoy the game and its pretty cool. Bit nitpicky here.
But can you play it in Handheld mode for Switch? (Bring it to a friend's home and local play.)
Edit: Wait, you can't connect to another switch that's right next to it? wtf?
EditEdit: Can't you just connect both Switches to the same internet and Play online co-op, locally?
Sure you can. But it'll be no different than if you were at your own house
Played this all summer with my friends many years ago, we got all the way to the end of the last boss then died. Arguments ensued, this game definitely ended those friendships.
Got Ultimate Alliance 3 instead. For that local coop to play with my friend and my sister.
This was my favorite game on my wii
I Love Cute Games like this, I'm Glad I Bought PS4 Pro & Nintendo Switch, PS for Serious Stylish Games & Nintendo for Cute Eye Catchy Games!!! 😍😍😍
Never played the original but I remember the DS sequel Ring of Fates being quite enjoyable so I was psyched for this. Glad they gave us a demo however because this was atrocious. Hopefully better Crystal Chronicles games might still materialise because this is a very poor showing for the franchise.
I personally am excited for this. I got near the end of the game when I was emulating it on Dolphin and the game crashed loading the boss. I freaking raged quit cause it took me a half an hour to get through that dungeon and I did not have the energy to get through it again.
With the remaster I at least know it'll be stable and won't crash on me (here's hoping).
As long as your playing solo. Was playing multiplayer in the mines dungeon, beat the boss and then was met with a white screen. Turns out we lost connection to SE servers.
No issues on solo though!
I felt more of a connection with Sherlotta and mom and my village in the original ds game than the family assigned to you in this version. She’s crucial to the plot and they don’t start out with her?
You're thinking of Echoes of Time, that game was great though, especially the costumes.
So now you have to level up 8 characters yourself to lv up family traits in your village?
For those of us who could only play single player, this is nothing new.
Okay but what about a Final Fantasy ECHOES OF TIME remastered? ❤️
Mam, I was looking forward to this. Thank you for the in depth review
If you’re someone who doesn’t care about multiplayer.
I adore the Single player!
And this remaster 100% delivers in that area!
The demo didn’t do any favours to this game, crushed the memories I had playing this years ago. Slow, barely remastered, clunky yet it’s on the top selling games list.That’s why devs get away with lazy jobs like this.
Vote with your dollar, right? Personally, I won't buy it because they didn't even bother with a physical release. They wouldn't take the hit up front to print game cartridges because they already knew this "remaster" wouldn't sell well.
I keep my GameCube original
Damn. We can tell that he didn’t personally enjoy the game. This game is fun af. And me and my friend have been enjoying multiplayer. There’s new enemies, and the difficulty is higher than before. New items. I think it’s great.
So, the big problem here is that they made what is clearly a local multiplayer game into an online-only multiplayer game.
But at least they don't hide the condition to earn bonus points behind a paywall. :P
wtf you talking about to earn bonus points?
I'll stick to the gamecube one, just need to fix the 2nd gba sp i have then can play co-op with my brother
Is there a hard copy to purchase for this game
If you live in japan and want a Japanese version of the game then yes. If not, then no.
@@strikerzac Thanks! I have a son named Zac LOL
Are there physical switch copies?
Is it possible they could be able to fix all these problems with a patch? Or not likely? I was looking forward to this T_T
no
I think they could fix it down the road but I think it would be a hard thing so only if lots of people get it will it happen
www.change.org/p/square-enix-bring-in-local-and-online-story-co-op-to-final-fantasy-crystal-chronicles-remastered
Honest question: when is the last time ANY of us played this game, on a GameCube? Y’all are expecting a 2020 game experience from a REMASTERED (not a remake!) 2003 game. Yeah, there’s a few things that I’m also like, “you really couldn’t fix this?” but they don’t stump gameplay. Grab some friends, hop on discord, and have fun. Some friends and I have been playing this since yesterday and it’s been FUN.
they cut out content that i was hoping to relive :/ thats my main grief with it
Guessing you never actually played it, then. Because any cunt worth his salt remembers it all fondly even with 1 other person and how great it was. No excuses, stop defending this industry bullshit.
@@Hysteria98 many people played this game solo, hence why most people don't care.
@@strikerzac Not the point. People still get enjoyment where there is any to be had out of current next-gen games like FIFA even though it's the exact same thing every year only with less effort put in each time and shit loads of bugs; by your logic does that justify it?
I'm not saying you can just make people care, but it's the attitude of "Well I can enjoy it so I don't give a shit" that lets the publishers get away with all of this.
Hysteria98 I did play it! Two things I’ll admit is that I never finished it and I don’t remember several things. My point is that most of us haven’t played this game or even remember what it was like (most reviewers even mention they don’t remember) so it’s a really biased opinion. I never said there’s nothing wrong with it because I do have some grievances with it, but it doesn’t hinder gameplay. I hop on discord with friends and play it; there’s fun aplenty. If you can’t manage to have fun with people, that’s a personal problem tbh. Suggestion: find some friends or new ones.
I didn't care too much about the local gameplay so long as online worked... But the fact you can't traverse the map with the Host, have to keep disbanding the group to go to new levels, don't get mail from your families, that your family doesn't appear in the world of the Host when you join them... What the actual fuck were they thinking here?
I'm going to play the game with friends who are excited to experience this, but what let down... I really hope they go back and fix this, but considering it took them TWO YEARS (maybe more) to release... this? I don't see that happening.
The online for this is inexcusable.
I think the multiplayer is ok. As you can fill out your characters Artifacts quite easily.
Damn ... might still buy it anyway.
This is a fantastic game, and I'm perfectly happy with the remaster. :-)
The multiplayer criticism is valid, but yeah, harsh. They should add local multiplayer as an option, FOR SURE, but I love this game. I have zero nostalgia for this one, and I love experiencing it for the first time.
I wanted to use this game to play with my wife, brother in law, and his gf. To learn local coop is non existent and online is bad, I'm really sad
That 30 minute thing is a broadfaced lie. You have your invite code which is below your comment and then you have your ONE-TIME INVITE CODE. They are two seperate things, fix that misinformation asap.
Agreed. Not to mention if two people follow each other on the friend screen, they become friends. Then all you have to do is a friend only lobby and send them an invite.