Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King | |
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Developer(s) | Square Enix |
Publisher(s) | Square Enix |
Director(s) | Kenichiro Yuji |
Producer(s) | Toshiro Tsuchida |
Designer(s) | Kenichiro Yuji |
Artist(s) | Yasuhisa Izumisawa |
Writer(s) | Motomu Toriyama Nanako Saitoh |
Composer(s) | Kumi Tanioka |
Series | Final Fantasy |
Platform(s) | Wii |
Release |
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Genre(s) | City-building |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Download the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles - Echoes Of Time ROM for Nintendo DS /NDS. Filename: 3574 - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles - Echoes of Time (US)(M3)(PYRiDiA).7z. Works with Android, Windows, and Mac OS X devices. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (ファイナルファンタジークリスタルクロニクル エコーズ・オブ・タイム, Fainaru Fantajī Kurisutaru Kuronikuru Ekōzu Obu Taimu) is a Wii and Nintendo DS action role-playing game in the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series developed by Square Enix. 20 product ratings - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (Nintendo Wii, 2009) no instruc $8.00 Trending at $9.99 Trending price is based on prices over last 90 days. FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES ECHOES OF TIME WII ISO (USA) - http:/. The Alliance Alive (Region Free) [Decrypted] 3DS (USA) ROM.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King[a] is a video game developed for the WiiWare service of the Wiiconsole by Square Enix. Square Enix decided to make a game for the WiiWare service that would be high profile, and it was decided that the game would be a simulation game and, later in development, a Final Fantasy title.
The game is a city-building game set in the world of the action RPGFinal Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and is the third title in the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series. Following the events of the first Crystal Chronicles game, the son of a king who lost his kingdom during that game establishes a new one and sets about creating a peaceful and prosperous land.
A WiiWare launch title in all regions, it was released on March 25, 2008 in Japan, May 12, 2008 in North America, and May 20, 2008 in Europe. Reviews of the game were generally favorable, and it has been seen as one of the most innovative games released on the WiiWare service. A followup, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord, was announced at a Nintendo keynote speech at the Game Developers Conference 2009, and was a tower defense game that was also met with positive reviews.
My Life as a King takes place after the events of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, in a remote area of the peaceful world where the miasma that ravaged the land has now cleared. As kingdoms rebuild, the new king of a realm somewhere, having lost his father's old realm to the Dark Lord, now tries to revive his kingdom through a mysterious power called 'Architek' that he received from the crystal.[1] The king pays for research for new items for his warriors to purchase and sends them out to purge the land of evil.[2] The player is free to give the kingdom the name of their choice, with 'Padarak' being the suggested default.
The game is a fantasy city-building simulator in which the player creates a kingdom from the ground up. Starting with a barren town consisting of a lone castle and a large power crystal, by using the crystal's power the player can magically place a variety of buildings to populate the settlement and draw in residents. The game makes limited use of the Wiimote's motion-sensing abilities and can be played one-handed.[3] Each 'day' lasts approximately 10 minutes and players are given an increasing number of options and as to what to do that day as the game progresses.[4][5] At the end of each day, adventurers return and the player reviews what was accomplished that day.[4][5]
To continue using the crystal to build up the settlement, the player must accumulate elementite which must be obtained from the dungeons and caves that surround the town.[4] Instead of gathering the crystals first hand, the game prompts the player to recruit young citizens to do so by posting tasks on a town bulletin board.[3][4][5] These 'adventurers' are paid via taxes the player collects from the residents of the town, as well as from treasures found during their quest. The player can follow their progress by reading message boards placed around town, as well as by talking to their penguin assistant, Pavlov.[3]
The player must also tend to the needs of their residents by building amenities such as a bakery to increase their morale, which increases the citizens' productivity and helps the kingdom develop.[5] Other needs include weapons shops to better equip their adventurers. As the game advances and the number of quests increases for the player, their adventurers will be able to gain experience and new aspiring adventurers will also appear, asking to be recruited.[6] Players are also rewarded for repeatedly talking to their citizens.[4]My Life as a King also includes a New Game Plus feature, available upon completion of the storyline. It offers 'hard' and 'very hard' difficulty levels for subsequent playthroughs which retain the adventurers, with their statistics and equipment, from the previous playthrough.[7]
My Life as a King also features additional downloadable content including new costumes for the king and his assistant Chime, the addition of three different races to become employable warriors for quests, new quests which unlock new buildings, a jukebox, new adventurer names, a library to gain new warrior abilities, and 'Infinity Spire', a new dungeon with unlimited challenges.[8][9] The additional content was priced between 100 and 800 Wii Points.[10][11][12] The downloadable content was first made available on April 1, 2008 and 8 items were initially offered.[13] Users who purchased and downloaded the game before April 1 were able to download the update from the add-on software menu within the castle.[14]
Square Enix wanted to be one of the first companies to make games for the WiiWare service to attract more attention to their game as it was very different from other Final Fantasy games.[15] One of the developers of Front Mission: Online, Kenichiro Yuji, was chosen as the games director.[16] Several gameplay ideas were considered for the project, including making it an action role-playing game or a sandbox video game, but the developers were not fans of the sandbox genre and settled on making an action role-playing game.[3][8] The game originated from the concept that the player should control a king, rather than the hero, what they called an 'inverted game' from the usual format.[3][15] The battle system went through four revisions, much of which was discarded before the final design was agreed upon.[3][17] At first it was thought that players would spend most of their time observing the action, but eventually features were added to encourage player engagement through various activities.[18] Battle reports thus became one of the toughest challenges for the team, and went through several iterations to get right.[7] The development team also found it difficult to write dialogue that would keep the game exciting without the player actually participating in or even witnessing the battles.[15]
Not originally conceived as a Final Fantasy title, the game began from a prototype of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles to cut down on the projects costs.[17] The game was linked to the Crystal Chronicles story through the game mechanic of summoning objects into existence through thought, a theme of the game series.[8] Later in development empire building and strategy genres influenced the gameplay, but effort was made to simplify that genre's usual high learning curve.[8] Many features did not make it into the final game, including a 'freeplay' mode with randomly generated dungeons every game, and an epilogue, which was removed for not fitting in with the finished game.[10] The bakery was going to be replaced by a general store, but using a bakery was more appealing to the developers.[16] Multiplayer was another feature the director was enthusiastic about, with ideas including a 'kings tournament' where players competed against each other, and recruiting adventurers from other kingdoms, but was not included.[3][7]
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Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King received a generally favorable response. IGN, reviewing the Japanese version of the game after its launch, was impressed with the quality and expansiveness of the game, saying that it was a 'good start' to Nintendo's WiiWare download service.[28] In a later review of the North American release they cited disappointment at not being able to undertake quests, calling it 'a Final Fantasy game where you stay at home and send other people out to play Final Fantasy', and felt that elements of the game were repetitive. However, they praised the presentation and felt the game could be 'engaging if [the player] put enough time into it'.[5]1UP.com compared the game to Animal Crossing but with a distinct RPG feel, and praised the game for its depth.[21] Other reviewers felt it had a 'plodding' pace, but had a soundtrack that is 'quite good'.[29] Some wished the game ran in progressive scan mode,[4] a deficit rectified in a later update.
The Official Nintendo Magazine commented that it was 'incredibly deep' and that it was 'highly addictive'.[25] They did however mark it down for being 'Slow and really niche'. N-Europe praised the game for being 'surprisingly deep' and said that it was worth its weight in points, despite the pricey downloadable content.[27] WiiWare World was quoted as saying 'Of all the WiiWare titles to date, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King is easily the most ambitious game on the wii and cheap. The scope of the game is enormous and there's never a lack of things to do as you live out each day of the game's adventure.'[6]
However, while GameSpot thought the game had visual charm, they believed the game was in large 'shallow, limiting, and padded with unrewarding gameplay', and felt constrained by their belief that much of the game's variety comes from the downloadable content.[24]Wired's Chris Kohler also felt the pricing for the game's downloadable content was 'exorbitant', with all available items at the time of review costing almost as much as the game itself to purchase.[14]
The game was named the 21st best WiiWare game in 2011 by IGN.[30]GamesRadar listed it as one of their 'Top 7... Final Fantasy Spinoffs'.[31]
On May 20, 2008, the web browser sidegame Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King - Everyone's Kingdom was launched on the North American Square Enix Members website. The game acts as a foil to My Life as a King, where the players are the citizens, encouraging the growth of the kingdom (seen practically as increasing house levels and unlocking features) and, eventually, fulfilling behests.[32] A sequel to the game, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord, was released in 2009. Playing as Mira, the daughter of the predecessor's antagonist, players discourage the growth of the kingdom while keeping adventurers from taking siege of her tower.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time | |
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Developer(s) | Square Enix |
Publisher(s) | Square Enix |
Director(s) | Mitsuru Kamiyama |
Producer(s) | Kiyoko Maeda |
Designer(s) | Hiroyuki Saegusa |
Artist(s) | Yasuhisa Izumisawa |
Writer(s) | Hiroyuki Saegusa Miwa Shoda |
Composer(s) | Kumi Tanioka |
Series | Final Fantasy |
Engine | Pollux Engine |
Platform(s) | Nintendo DS, Wii |
Release |
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Genre(s) | Action RPG |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time[a] is a Wii and Nintendo DSaction role-playing game in the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series developed by Square Enix.
The game was released in Japan on January 29, 2009.[1] The North American version was released on March 24, 2009 and the European version was released on March 27, 2009.[2][3] The Australian version was released on April 2, 2009.[4]
The Wii version of the game contains all of the major elements of the DS version, but must be played on a single screen. To compensate, the Wii version has two adjustable in-game windows. Each window has a maximum size that is approximately 40% of the total screen which can make the text (on both the play and item windows) difficult to read. As a minor addition, the Wii version also contains a new trailer for the next Crystal Chronicles game entitled 'The Crystal Bearers', and allows players to create masks based on their Miis which cost 5000 gil.
Sherlotta
Sherlotta is an immortal female Clavat that is 2000 years old, she seems to knows the forest better than anyone.
Lakeicius
Lakecius is a 2000 years old immortal wizard.He and his army stayed in the tower. Before that, he was in the library reading about the crystals and the ancient cilivians. 2000 years ago, he killed all the villagers, except for Sherlotta, who turned immortal.
Veriaude
Veriaude is an immortal male Yuke who was Larkeicius guinea pig before Sherlotta. When Veriaude sees a crystal, he will turn into a beasts the hero defeated.He now stays at the bottom of the ruins.
Norshtalon
Norshtalon is a female Yuke that was living in the town studying with her parents. She later ran into the forest and got lost. Fortunately, the villager Watrill found her and raised her as his student.
The villagers
Watrill
Watrill is a Yuke who became Norshtalon's teacher. As a Yuke, he has a library with books about crystals. His appearance is with a wizard cloak and hat.
Eryll
The only villager who remains when the old Crystal Core broke. She usually plays with Norshtalon and was Lian's favorite Sister. She was cured by the hero when she had crystal sickness.
Llina
Llina is a Clavat who befriended Lian and went back to the village with him. She took care of Eryll when she was ill.
Lian
Lian is Eryll's Brother, and a male Clavat. He usually names his vegetables. A close friend of Llina, he is one of the first ones to return to the village.
Ullz
Ullz is a young male selkie with purple hair. He usually plays catch with the other younger villagers. He gave the hero the way to Ruins Entrance 2.
Toumli
Toumli is a female Lilty who was the second one to return to the village. She took care of the hero when he/she was an infant.
Phelple
Phelple is a rather bratty young Lilty child who often gets away with various pranks due to the meekness of his mother, Toumli.
Tratt
Tratt is a female Selkie who resides in the same forest as the Hero. She is the mother of Ullz and appears to be friends with the Lilty, Toumli.
Bachenn
Bachenn is a middle aged Clavat man, the husband of Tratt and father of Ullz. He is a slothful man and can often be found sleeping by the water wheel.
The protagonist of the game returns from a forest where they battled a great number of monsters to celebrate their sixteenth birthday and coming-of-age ceremony. Upon completion, a Clavat cat-girl named Sherlotta rewards them with a personal crystal. The hero returns home to find a young village girl, Eryll, suffering from 'crystal sickness'. The hero then sets out to find a cure for the disease. However, he is unaware that outside his village lies a world where crystals are merely artifacts of the past and no longer exist.
In the town, they meet a man named Larkeicus, who agrees to make them a cure in return for a favor. Obtaining the necessary ingredients, the hero is able to make the potion and saves Eryll. As part of the bargain with Larkeicus, the hero must activate two long-dormant statues atop a fire and ice mountain.
When they complete their task, Larkeicus begins plotting against the hero, first by destroying the 'Crystal Core', which is said to be the last crystal remaining in the world.The following day, the hero awakens to find their village empty, as if all the villagers had left. Eryll is still left behind and asks him to find the broken pieces of the Crystal Core, believing that putting it back together will bring everyone back to their home. Larkeicus goes rogue and attacks the player, but returns from the dead after defeat, warning that should they meet again, he will kill them. Later finding an immortal Yuke Veriaude who worked alongside Larkeicus 2000 years ago, Veriaude gives them a method of locating the crystals and hopes that by doing so he amends for some past mistake of some sort.
One by one, the hero locates the crystal fragments, discovering more about their infancy and the town's history through sudden flashbacks, particularly Sherlotta, who found the hero abandoned as a baby and raised them as a child.They also notes that none of the villagers seemed to have aged from their past selves. When the crystal core is complete, it suddenly manifests itself into the hero's body, giving them the power to interact with ancient technologies. They uses their newfound power to delve further into the forests near their village, where they learns a startling revelation.
The hero discovers their village in ruins. Sherlotta appears and explains that Larkeicus and Veriaude apprentice razed the village 2000 years ago, and all of the inhabitants were slaughtered in the attack. Sherlotta and Eryll were attempting to escape, but Eryll was killed and Sherlotta was made immortal when she made indirect contact with the Crystal Core. It also gave her the power to create crystals, although Sherlotta herself doesn't understand why it chose her to be the harbinger of such powers.
The Crystal Core also made the villagers live, although they could not age, and their existence was tailored toward the Crystal and to the minds of those who wish to see them. Sherlotta and the villagers lead empty lives for 2000 years, until they found an infant which they could grow and raise to live for them in the outside world, the infant being the hero. With this, Sherlotta accompanies the player to put an end to Larkeicus's plan, as he wishes to stop a future event which was so powerful it destroyed all the crystals, and his city which ran on their power.
Sherlotta and the hero attempt to find a way to gain access to a tower which emerged when the hero activated the two statues, as she believes that is where Larkeicus plans to stop the future event.To do so, they gather a number of artifacts, including the hero's crystal locator and an 800-year-old spirit-witch made by Larkeicus to guard the artifacts (Who later aids the player greatly in finding the later artifacts).During this search, the villagers begin their slow process of disappearing from the world, valuing every moment the hero comes by to see them.
Eventually, only Norschtalen remains, as she is the second orphan the village raised and still mortal in her time. With nothing left to cherish or protect, Sherlotta and the hero go to the tower. To open the way, they use the artifacts and abandon the witch to an isolated spot near the entrance, saying that maybe someday somebody will come to retrieve her. At the top, the hero is surprised to see another, human Sherlotta, blind and deaf to her surroundings.
The cat-Sherlotta explains that her present was made after Eryll's pet cat had also retrieved the power of immortality. Through the cat, Sherlotta was able to live off in a depression until she found the hero, where the meaning of life and death became clear in her head again as she and the villagers dedicated their lives to helping you grow into a suitable adult. She then gives one final request to the player, to kill her so that her lifeless body cannot aid Larkeicus any longer with its powers. Larkeicus appears to make good on his promise to kill the hero, after a long battle where he destroys Sherlotta's cat-form and continually abuses her power, the hero and he reach a stalemate.
The human Sherlotta suddenly grabs hold of Larkeicus and summons the Crystal Core, realizing that it was created by her so that she may live, and that its choice to give her power must have been fate. Larkeicus and Sherlotta realize that it is the destruction of the Crystal Core that destroys the crystals of the past. With Larkeicus unable to move in the Crystal Core's presence, Sherlotta asks that the hero destroy it as the finale of their coming-of-age ceremony to prove that they are a worthy adult, despite the fact that its destruction will result in the death of the immortals and destruction of all crystals.
The hero does so, and returns home triumphant, though deeply depressed at the cost of victory. With only they and Norschtalen inhabiting the village, the hero makes one final pilgrimage through the forest where they received their own crystal. Still holding the crystal they received, they throw it into the pond where the Crystal Core was once located and walks away, their past gone and future ahead.
After the credits roll, the player is free to continue playing on harder difficulties. It is also revealed that Eryll's cat, conveniently named Sherlotta, is still alive. As such, the hero takes notice to the reminder of the past. It is also shown that the tiny crystal the hero had thrown into the pond has grown into a larger one, resembling the Crystal Core. It is likely a new Crystal Core created by the hero's own will. It is presumed that the hero will live out the rest of their adult life seeking comfort and happiness, just as their family (the villagers) would have wanted.
The game was revealed to the public at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show.
It uses a new engine created by Square Enix called the 'Pollux Engine', which allows players to link up and adventure together in multiplayer mode regardless of which version of the game (Wii or Nintendo DS) they are playing.[5]
The Wii version of the game contains a new trailer for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers.
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In the first week of release, the DS version of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time sold 101,718 copies in Japan, while Wii version sold only 21,721 copies.[11] The following week, the DS version sold an additional 33,985 copies.[12] By the end of the year, the DS version had sold nearly 260,000 copies in Japan, and the Wii version nearly 57,000 copies.[13] Sales in its first week in North America weren't so positive, as approximately 25,000 were sold on the Wii and 16,000 were sold on the DS.[14] As of May 31, 2009, the game has sold 570,000 copies worldwide.[15]
On Metacritic, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time has an aggregate score of 75/100 based on 37 reviews for the Nintendo DS version, and a score of 64/100 for the Wii version based on 29 reviews.[6][7]Famitsu magazine gave the Wii version a 29 out of 40 and the Nintendo DS version a 30 out of 40.[16] Reviews in the west were also positive. IGN gave Echoes of Time 8.5 out of 10 (but only 6.5 for the Wii version), commenting on the tighter controls and gameplay, particularly praising the multiplayer, stating, 'multiplayer is a blast with Echoes of Time'.[9][10]Game Informer gave the game 7.75 out of 10.[8]