I have to admit, today was an exciting day for me. I got up, got settled in front of my computer and started to go down the list of morning to-do's. The Virtual Console update is usually first on my Monday list, but I realized I didn't have a press release from Nintendo yet, and it seemed a bit late ... wait ... is today May 12th? WiiWare launch day?
That means, among other titles I am actually interested in playing, that I have a new Square-Enix game to play today.
Delight!
Hit the jump to check out my first impressions of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King.
No matter whether or not I enjoy a Square game (and believe it or not, sometimes I don't), the quality of the experience is always high -- from music to surroundings, I expect a lot when I turn on a game made by them, and I'm rarely ever disappointed in that aspect.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King upholds the usual standards, opening with a pan of the kingdom you've just discovered. The story is that you (miniature king) and your two loyal assistants have wandered for years, refugees from a destroyed homeland. The game begins when you finally arrive in the land established by your father, gifted to you by him. I sure appreciate that, Dad, but it would have been swell had you given it to me a little sooner...
The king will soon learn Architek, a magical skill that allows him to rebuild the land he has found from a barren field into a prosperous kingdom. After creating your first house with its power, you'll start to learn about the ins and outs of life as a king, which apparently includes a whole lot of micromanagement (think reading budget reports, issuing adventurers on quests, erecting shops, etc.)
Character design is crisp and extremely cute, with a touch of the slightly deformed look from the previous Crystal Chronicles titles. Along with new characters Chime and Hugh Yurg, you'll meet familiar faces, such as the ubiquitous Mog brothers. Any fan of the series will adore the look from the word "go," as everything about the game fulfills those consistently charming standards.
Personally, I found myself slightly disappointed with one major aspect -- the fact that you send adventurers into the field to explore and fight for you, eventually conquering dungeons and bringing back the spoils. I'm certainly not condemning the idea, but being a hands-on type of player, I was hopeful to experience combat personally rather than indirectly. Fans of strategy titles should enjoy this aspect, however.
The title may develop more later, so I don't want to pass judgment just yet, but it looks like My Life as a King is shaping up to be a casual resource management game so far. I hoped for more, but as soon as I adjusted to having a different type of role than I usually do in the games I favor, I found myself enjoying it. It's extremely pleasant without taking a lot of your energy, and since it saves every night when your character goes to sleep, it makes it very easy to pick up and play whenever you want.
So, should you download it? Yes, if you love all things Final Fantasy, especially the Crystal Chronicles series, and definitely if you enjoy strategy and resource management. If you prefer to swing your own sword rather than ordering some guy to go swing it for you, you may want to pass.
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I agree completely. I just posted my thoughts in the c-blogs before. It's very strange how I find myself enjoying this game, especially considering just how passive the gameplay is. It's addicting in it's own way. I like it.
Still, yeah, would like to do the fighting personally. Goblin's Den sounds like a fun dungeon.
You know, maybe it's just me, but don't most of you guys post first impressions in the cblogs instead of front page? just curioz.
@ Reaprar: I'd imagine she posted this because currently you can't even find WiiWare reviews online. So first impressions are better than nothing, especially for a title many FF fans are interested in. I went ahead and downloaded it myself, because Square Enix has my balls in an iron grip, and I must buy all FF games. I'm a whore like that.
The Wii is starting to live up to my expectations now. Today I was downloading DS demos, playing Mario Kart Online, Playing Okami, and downloaded this game then thought to my self "This is by far the most time I've used the Wii in a single day ever"
Going back to this game, I absolutely love it. Its like a mix between Sim City, Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing and all those games. I really love it.
@Reaprar -- Yeah, Eternal Death Slayer nailed it. With stuff like this, we can at least give people something to check out right away so they can decide whether or not to download this. Since Wiiware is pricier than VC downloads, we want to give people a reference point as soon as possible. :)
@covah - That was EXACTLY how I felt, word for word. And I haven't even posted the Lost Winds impressions yet ^__^
maybe if I ever make it downstair to update the wii and become unpoor, i'll try some stuff out wiiwarewise.
$15?!?! No thank you! I am in the latter group of people. ;)
Besides I'm going to wait for MLE: The Game to hit WiiWare :3
One of the only games where you lose weight while you eat...I mean come on, that's awesome!
Sounds like SimCity set in the FFCC world. I never did like micromanagement that much, so I think I'll pass. Nice to see a good start to the WiiWare service though, I cant wait to see who else decides to jump on the bandwagon. :3
A little too pricey for me at $15, especially since the completest in me would just have to get all the extra content as well. Thanks for the impressions!
Do not want. I'll go and reinstall Majesty again... I'm melting!
You know, this game reminds me a lot of Harvest Moon for the SNES, which is my favorite version. At least in terms of pacing, which is quite brisk actually. A day just flies right by in this game. You'll lose yourself in the day to day happenings of your kingdom. I looked up and realized it had been over 2 hours. Then my wife chewed me out for being lazy.
Anyway, I agree with Covah also. This is really exciting. I've only got 800 pts right now though, so I need to get some more. Can't wait for to try Lost Winds! And where is my Dr. Mario? Great time to own a Wii, all of a sudden.
Just waiting on Dr. Mario, maybe I'll scrounge up some money so I can check whatever comes to Wiiware next week.
The only problem now is space. I have 852 blocks left on my Wii's flash memory. I copied MLAAK to an SD card but I'm not sure if you can play it off that. If all these Wii Ware games come out and are good, what the hell are we going to do?
I went and checked today and lo and behold I have a wopping 686 points left. If I buy this and Lost Winds that means... I'm done. And I really don't have that many VC games and the ones I do have I really want access too on an easy basis. I know its a broken record complaint but the rumored storage solution can't come too soon.
Other than that, I am really psyched to download a few of these titles. Nice starting line-up for wiiware.
Yeah I'm at Day 14 and it was a bit different than I expected, but I found it a pleasant surprise. I thikn I understand why your role doesn't switch to adventurers to fight. As a King, you see the good stuff in games. But this game actually shows you a bit more.
If you think about it, it's like he's trapped. He wants to go fight, you can tell, but he cannot because the loss of him would mean that the town would not continue to bloom. You can even see through the doors out of hte kingdom, though you cannot exit. I enjoy that aspect of it. Gets ya thinking.
I dunno, for a game like this I feel like I would need a physical copy because that seems the only way to get me through a game that is any more than an FPS. Maybe some day.
I like strategy but I'm not touching this because I refuse to support DLC rape. Paying 300 points for the privilege of using a building obviously coded into the game? 100 points for new outfits? No thank you.
holy crap i totally forgot
thanks man.
brb
Hmmm... So is this micromanagement rewarding at all? You build houses. What else?
For those of you unsure about this game, I recommend it. I think the idea that you do not fight the battles yourself may seem like a turn-off, but it certainly is a new take on the FF series. I don't think the additional races are necessary. What they do is that each race specializes in a particular area (for instance, one is a good thief, one a good warrior, and one a good mage). Not a big deal.
And, there isn't a whole lot of micromanagement. You quickly learn how to read the reports and move on. Half the time I just create missions, send out my adventurers, and call it a day.
While this game has a very cutesy presentation, I think it is actually fairly challenging. Especially when you start to unlock other classes, then you have to start figuring out how you want to branch off your characters. Also, I'm currently at around day 45 and I'm starting to have problems clearing areas. A lot of my adventurers keep getting owned by bosses or simply while exploring. My biggest gripe so far is I can't send them out in parties, which from what I understand is a feature you get with a building later.
Sorry for the double post, but something else I'm starting to believe is that this is a very long game...
I've played it for about 6-7 hours today, and when I look at the world map I've only finished about 5 to 6 areas, which takes up probably about 10% of the map, and there's still some things I'll have return to those areas for.
Yeah . . . looks like I'm going to get this one.
Also, I dunno. I'm not too peaved about the additional DLC. The game sounds fairly robust for what it is "right out of the box", and the prices of extra stuff seem pretty reasonable. Considering you're talking about the price of a soda and a bag of chips, doesn't seem like the worst things in the world.
I did love the original Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, but this sounds like a wild departure, so I'm not sure how I feel about it. Just to be clear, this isn't the one where you have to pay extra to play as the other races, right?
@Dexter
Yes, yes it is.
I'm still not wholy convinced by the pay-to-play-system they were going to use... If you pay for a game it should be complete, DLC should be realy EXTRA DLC like extra missions, extra maps whatever, but not just items...
The extra DLC is bullshit, but beyond that, I think I'll try this sometime, even though it sounds nothing like the original game.
This sounds like something I would love, but I still feel unsure about getting this instead of some VC games.
I suppose what matters is how much money you have. For 15 bucks, this game is better than half the crap on the shelves for $50. As for hte DLC, well, none of it is neccessary to complete hte game, but I just HAD to buy the other costume for hte king, eyepatch ftw! It was a dollar. As for the other races, I will buy that when I want to replay through with more variety, if I want ot replay through.
You also have to love the simulation aspect. If simulations aren't your thing then it would be a waste of 15 bucks.
"It's extremely pleasant without taking a lot of your energy"
Sounds like the majority of the Wii's catalogue (but not in a bad way). Ditto Covah, though. WiiWare may well pry me away from GTA IV's violent consumption of my spare time.
This is a nice little distraction from more action-oriented games, and I was pleasantly surprised by it. It is a little disappointing you can't control your adventurers, or at least get to see them do their thing out in the field, but it's a minor complaint. The game is fun, and like Covah said, it's a mix of Animal Crossing, Sim City, and Harvest Moon...and if anyone played it, Metropolismania.
And I'm a sucker...I grabbed all of the DLC. When I put out my first behest and had to choose a location...holy shit. There were a lot.
And it's amusing to see the king parade around in an eye patch, and Chime in some sort of goth girl costume.
WiiWare has been around a day and it's already a big rival for XBLA. If they keep this level of quality up then they could be onto another winning formula.
I think I'm going to pass on this title. It DOES look cute and fun... but I was definitely wanting to have action based game-play. Also, this looks too much like "MySims."
If you're interested in city building or had any sort of fun with sending dudes out on side missions in the Final Fantasy Tactics games, this game's definitely worth it.
Final Fantasy : Animal Crossing edition.