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.
Contest:
6:27 PM on 05.12.2008
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Still, yeah, would like to do the fighting personally. Goblin's Den sounds like a fun dungeon.
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.
@covah - That was EXACTLY how I felt, word for word. And I haven't even posted the Lost Winds impressions yet ^__^
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!
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.
Other than that, I am really psyched to download a few of these titles. Nice starting line-up for wiiware.
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.
thanks man.
brb
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.
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.
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.
Yes, yes it is.
You also have to love the simulation aspect. If simulations aren't your thing then it would be a waste of 15 bucks.
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.
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.