Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Echoes of Time

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time

Share the dungeon-exploring fun across Nintendo Wii and DS with this magical new adventure from Square Enix.

Each new Final Fantasy game is both a blessing and a curse for publisher Square Enix. On the one hand you have the prestigious name lending credibility, while on the other more casual players can be forgiven for thinking ‘What, another one already?!’ Also you’re not quite sure what manner of Final Fantasy you’ll be getting from one version to the next – real-time strategy or a turn-based fighting RPG.

In fact Echoes of Time is neither! It’s an action-oriented dungeon quest in which part of the fun is adventuring alongside friends. If you’re familiar with Sega’s Phantasy Star Online series you’ll already get the gist. If not, well it’s fairly straightforward. Anyway we think it’s just as well that you don’t get too hung up on the Final Fantasy brand here if it only confuses you because Echoes of Time is simply a great game.

The novel twist for Echoes of Time is that the game is available for Nintendo Wii and DS, and that players can accompany each other in the same locations during the same game. If you’re playing in the same room, one person gets to use the Wii via the TV while other players connect using their DS and personal copies of the game. Most of the time you can all watch the big screen and it’s only if your character leaves the party to search a different area that you’ll need to peer down at the DS. You can also play Echoes of Time online and join a four-player party anywhere in the world and to this end there is a multi-lingual messaging function (again like Phantasy Star but never mind) that lets you converse using basic terms. Clever, eh!

If you don’t fancy, or can’t always find, friends to quest alongside there’s also the option to enlist A.I. characters and customise these in the same way that you attend to your own. A.I. heroes can be ‘instructed’ to focus on specific strategies too such as attacking, defending or depending on the use of magic. If anything this adds another layer of depth to Echoes of Time as you discover party combinations that work best. Whenever you do want to invite or join a real person to the adventure you can do so at any ‘Save’ point, similar to how it works in co-op games for the bigger consoles.

As for the meat of the game itself, well the storyline is typically twee but supports a rewarding treasure hunt that requires lots of co-operative thinking. You’re mainly playing to see what item you’ll get next that will magically transform your hero into something more amazing than before in order to combat increasingly larger and more exotic beasts. You’ll have fun discussing the best strategies against certain enemies and sharing the spoils between you. There are lots of puzzles of an elemental nature to figure out too, transforming the world around you in real time.

If you’re looking to lose yourself in a fantasy world that’s not as heavy as World of Warcraft but enjoy the experience of journeying alongside real-world players, Echoes of Time is a real treat. You shouldn’t expect the Wii version to compare graphically with the very best on the console, but this isn’t the draw. The DS version, on the other hand, is visually quite special. The combined experience is just awesome.

5 out of 5