1. Final Fantasy Legend

Download Final Fantasy - Crystal Chronicles ISO ROM for Nintendo Gamecube to play on your pc, mac, android or iOS mobile device.

It's extremely difficult to talk about RPGs without bringing up Final Fantasy. There's a good reason for this, as the Final Fantasy series is one of the best RPG franchises and contains some of the best games ever made. In fact, it would be hard to say that out of all the games that have been released in the franchise, not a single one of them is objectively bad. While some FF games are certainly better than others and they do all have strengths and weaknesses, Square is more or less batting a thousand when it comes to the series. Pushing all of that praise to the side, it does get a little annoying that the Final Fantasy games seem to constantly overshadow games that are just as good, if not better.

A major problem with the series is it doesn't follow the adventures of the characters that fans clamor for. We got three Final Fantasy XIII games (Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII-2, and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII), instead of a Final Fantasy VII sequel. This looks fine, but fans haven't exactly been quiet about what they've wanted out of the franchise (how about another Tactics too!).

While the franchise is great, it would be nice to have a conversation about top-notch RPGs that don't involve Final Fantasy. If you'd like to play and discuss some RPGs that blow FF series out of the water, check out some of these titles.

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15 Legend Of Mana

Legend of Mana was ahead of its time and yet it doesn't get the same recognition as the original Secret of Mana. Both games have their roots in Final Fantasy in a roundabout way that we'll get to later.

A great feature in Legend is that the player was able to choose from a male or female hero. In 1999, most games put you in the shoes of a male by default. In addition, the game toyed with the idea of 'the sandbox' and a landscape completely created by the player as the game progressed. The player built the world map as they played and the main story was broken up into three acts that didn't require being played in a linear fashion. While the sandbox and a 'play as you want' style is normal now, it certainly wasn't in '99.

Mad props to the beautiful hand drawn landscapes and animation as well.

14 Terranigma

It's a shame this little gem never made it to the U.S. because it's easily up there with Chrono Trigger as one of the best RPGs the SNES had to offer. That's saying something when you consider that the SNES was probably the premier console in terms of its library of RPGs.

The greatest asset to just about any RPG is its story and Terranigma had one of the better ones. You play as a boy named Ark, tasked with resurrecting planet Earth after the world was submerged during a battle in Antarctica between God and the Devil. Each chapter in the story looks and feels different, as are Ark's goals. You almost feel like you've been given three or four different games on one cartridge as each segment feels like a different experience.

13 Tales Of..(Series)

The Tales of.. series hasn't been around as long as the Final Fantasy series, but the former is starting to gain on the latter in terms of available titles in the franchise. The latest installment in the Tales of.. series, Tales of Berseria, has a perfect 10/10 score on Steam at the moment this piece was written.

If you're a fan of the animated television series Steven Universe, you might want to check out the previous installment, Tales of Zestiria. The combat features a fusion ability where two characters combine into one fused super being that combine their likenesses and abilities, much like the Crystal Gems do on Steven Universe.

12 E.V.O. Search For Eden

If you actually know someone who has actually played E.V.O., then you've probably heard them talk at great lengths about how fantastic this RPG is.

You start out as a very simple creature that lives in the depths of the ocean, collecting experience and orbs to make your way to different stages of Evolution. Unless you write down all your steps, it's unlikely you'll ever play the same character twice. Once you make it out of the water, the game adopts some adventure and platforming elements and the story gets much more involved. The player also chooses between two endings depending on their evolutionary path - one for if they chose to become a normal human, and one for if they've chosen a reptilian humanoid.

E.V.O. was way ahead of its time. It was a far better (and much earlier) version of Spore.

11 Dragon's Dogma

As a player that mainly plays action platformers and RPGs, I tend to shrug my shoulders at the First Person Shooter genre. I asked a clerk at my local GameStop to find me a good FPS that would change my mind. He sent me away with some great shooters, but conned me into Dragon's Dogma as well. This clerk knew what he was talking about and I'll always be grateful he kept me from abandoning my gaming comfort zone.

The fixed day/night cycles and timelines for the hundreds of NPCs are impressive feats, as are the size and scope of the world and its beasts (think Monster Hunter meets Elder Scrolls). The Hybrid Vocations are another great feature. Everyone should devote at least one play-through to playing the Magick Archer.

Final Fantasy Legend

10 Elder Scrolls (Series)

Oh, Elder Scrolls. Try as we might to hate on you, we just can't. You can be glitchy and repetitive, but you've yet to make an installment that isn't almost infinitely re-playable.

Elder Scrolls set the standard for the play as you want style. You'll hear a lot of people say this was perfected in Skyrim, but the ability to play how you want and as whatever you want was probably more robust in Daggerfall, the second installment in the series. You could even build your own spells in Daggerfall. It's also possible Daggerfall is one of the largest open-worlds in gaming (destroying the world size of all its sequels), though much of the map is randomly generated.

9 Shining Force II

Get out of here, Final Fantasy Tactics! The superior tactical RPG is, and always will be, Shining Force 2.

While it was really cool that the battle maps were in three dimensions for Final Fantasy Tactics, Shining Force 2 would offer huge battles and very large scales across all sorts of terrains. In fact, there were thirty playable characters with a number of different abilities to use on the battlefield.

One of the best features was the ability to promote your characters into new classes after a certain level. This not only added some change to the already killer fight and character animations, but you could take a character that was growing stale as your roster grew, like the Centaur, and promote him into a Pegasus Knight!

8 EarthBound (Mother)

When EarthBound first hit North America, it didn't do very well. In Japan it was called Mother 2, the second installment in the Mother series. The North American version only sold half the copies that Mother 2 sold in Japan. Over time, the game would gain quite the cult following and would pull itself out of cult status when the main character, Ness, appeared in a Super Smash Bros. game. The attention would help the first Mother eventually see a release on the Wii U Virtual Console.

What made EarthBound so great was its irreverent humor, but, more importantly, its real world setting that broke the fantasy setting trend in RPGs. It was a breath of fresh air at the time.

EarthBound was so good it directly inspired one of the finest RPGs to be released in the last five years..

7 Undertale

Undertale is an extremely simple looking game made almost entirely by a single individual using the Game Maker: Studio software. When you play it, the game is anything but simple. That isn't to say that Undertale is difficult, what I mean to say is Undertale is very unique and features a battle system where your character doesn't necessarily level up and nobody even has to die. In a gaming climate where even an altruistic and heroic style of play requires you to kill the crap out of just about everything that sets foot in your path, it's extremely nice to see a game that can still be 'beaten' if you spare your enemies and put them into good moods.

You also can't shirk at the nostalgia of the retro Earthbound inspired design.

6 Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, is probably up there as one of the greatest JRPGs ever made. It originally was released for the DS under the name Ni no Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djinn, but a significantly enhanced similar version with nearly the exact same plot was made for PS3, which is the White Witch title most of us are more familiar with.

What sets the Ni no Kuni games apart from other RPGs is the Studio Ghibli animated sequences and character designs that nodded to past Studio Ghibli animated features. Not only did Studio Ghibli create the look of the game, but their past features inspired the complexity and relatability of the game's characters and story as well.

5 The Witcher 3

You can't put together a list of RPGs, good or bad, without mentioning TheWitcher 3. There's a lot of folks out there who think the game-play holds your hand and TheWitcher 2 is superior (and in some ways it is), or that you're so wrapped up in the personality of Geralt that the game doesn't offer a true RPG experience. I'm inclined to disagree. The game is beautiful, the map size is more than sufficient, many RPG main characters have strong personalities, and the creatures are just as incredible as the beasties in the FF series, but The Witcher games have a much more grounded look. There's a scariness to the creatures and world of TheWitcher 3 that makes the stakes seem so high.

4 Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger might very well be the indisputable best video game RPG of all time. In fact, when Chrono Trigger was being made, Final Fantasy VII was in the beginning stages of being made right alongside it on the Super Nintendo. Chrono was getting so big and promising that all the plans for Final Fantasy VII were shelved for a later date. Even Square was looking at Chrono Trigger as a project that was more deserving of their time and resources. In fact, some elements of Final Fantasy VII ended up being a part of Chrono Trigger.

To this day, even among those players that weren't around for the days of the SNES, an FF6 combo-pack on the original PlayStation, a DS release, and the Virtual Console have kept the game alive and well.

3 The Last Story

If you played The Last Story, you probably fell in love with it. Back in 2012 when it was released for the Wii, it was highly rated alongside another Nintendo exclusive JRPG called Xenoblade Chronicles. Both were released around the end of the system's life and it's a shame because if games like The Last Story had come out earlier, perhaps the Wii would have performed better.

The Last Story is from Hironobu Sakaguchi, the original creator of Final Fantasy, which might explain the synonymous titles. One of the best features of the game was the battle system that made room for both real-time melee and more importantly (as it was far more fun), stealth and tactical battle.

2 The Secret Of Mana

The reason Secret of Mana is just as good, if not better than any Final Fantasy game is because the first installment was actually released as a Final Fantasy game. The North American release of Secret of Mana was actually Secret of Mana 2, or more accurately Legend of the Sacred Sword2. The first installment was released in North America as Final Fantasy Adventure.

The game had a fantastic and involved plot that progressed wonderfully. Sanitary pipe fittings autocad software. Another big perk was the life bar and real time battle system that also used a 'Ring Command' system to use your spells, special abilities, set the AI of your party, and change items. You could also let a second player join up and play in your party, a rarity for an RPG (outside of MMO) game both then and now.

1 Xenoblade Chronicles X

Okay. The Wii U was a colossal failure. It didn't perform as well as Nintendo had hoped for. There were a lot of reasons for this and one of those reasons was most definitely a shallow library of good games. That being said, Xenoblade Chronicles X might be the game that could entirely make up for the lacking library.

In Chronicles X, you can do so much. You survey an alien planet to sustain Earthlings without a planet, you fight massive beasts, you use your gathered resources and invest money to improve your commerce and equipment, you can (and are encouraged to) play as every class, there are countless side quests, a HUGE map, and the loot drops are varied and plentiful. Now times that all by two because you can do it all over again for your gigantic mech suits that also turn into vehicles.

If you must, wait for a used Wii U to drop in price. Hell, it's worth it to buy a new one for this game alone.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers^[a] is a Wiiaction-adventure game announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo.^[4] It was released on November 12, 2009 in Japan and on December 26 in North America.^[2][1] The game was well received in Japan, with praise for the game's well-written story and characters, but criticizing the map system. Western reviewers however were more negative, citing that the game was less of a traditional RPG and more for action adventure.

• 2Plot

Gameplay[edit]

Unlike the GameCube predecessor, Crystal Bearers features fully real-time combat, focusing on single-player, free-roaming and action-adventure. Enemies and civilians can show emotion or status effects via symbols hanging over their heads, such as hearts for attraction or musical notes. The producers suggested that enemies can gain a wider variety of tactics and abilities. It has also been shown that some enemies have the ability to hurt fellow creatures and opposing the player. This is part of the AI reaction, in which different creatures react in unique ways to other ones nearby and to the attacks. The player controls Layle. He can use psychokinetic gravity powers to perform different combat actions, such as moving certain enemies against their will, making them use their abilities against other enemies and utilizing various objects as projectiles. He can perform some type of reaction elements with creatures, affecting them in different manners. To further the telekinetic gameplay, he can utilize abilities to interact with the environment, such as activating switches, or grabbing ledges and other objects from a distance via an energy-based grappling hook. He can also perform such actions as moving civilians against their will. Civilians share traits with enemies in that they can attack the player, when irritated by actions. Unlike other RPG oriented Final Fantasy games, the action adventure one has the player customizing Layle's status, using accessories with materials and other items. The player can increment the character's maximum HP by clearing miasma stream fights and collecting the myrrh from each areas. Exploration and free-roaming are heavily focused on the game to the point that only four out of fifteen bosses are needed to progress through the story and the rest are scattered everywhere for the player to find. Based on the most recent video trailers and the general setting of the game, it also features a combat for sky diving. Quicktime events will also appear throughout the game, allowing the player to take actions with the controller during certain events, such as aiming the remote and shooting monsters in the sky. It has been commented that while most of these events are for mere enjoyment, some must be completed in order to advance the story. Other gameplay aspects as hinted at by the trailers include participation in minigames, traversing the land on chocobos (which can ram anyone and objects), riding on trains and swimming.

Plot[edit]

Setting[edit]

The game is set one thousand years after the events of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, populated by four races.^[5] During the Great War, the Yuke tribe was banished to their own world, after the crystal is destroyed by the kingdom's destructive machines called 'crystal reactors'. The new era for the imbalanced world revealed that each members of the race have the power of the crystals, calling themselves as 'Crystal Bearers', a rare breed of powerful beings with magical abilities. Their use of arcane arts defy against the law of the kingdom. In March 2008, an official advertising article about Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates noted that the Nintendo DS installment is set before Crystal Bearers.^[6]

Characters[edit]

The main protagonist is Layle, a Clavat mercenary and one of the four eponymous bearers. His Selkie partner, Keiss, becomes a military colonel of the kingdom. Belle, a female Selkie, helping them solve the case. Amidatelion (also known as Goldenrod), a female Yuke summoner whose goal is to revive the race and restore the principle. Althea Sol Alfiraria, an orphaned princess of the Lilty Kingdom. Cid, Layle's former engineer and tinker. The main villain is Jegran, the kingdom's high commander. After the accident caused the power of the crystal reactor to replace his arm, he uses it to turn anyone into red crystal statues and disrupt the principle. Jegran plans to conquer the world, using a god complex. Other characters include Vaigali, the leader of Selkies, selling information for highest bidders and Blaze, Layle's pyrokinetic ex-partner.

Story[edit]

Layle drives the cruise ship to safety near the capital, when Amidatelion uses one of the 'Crystal Idol' pieces to absorb the energy from the ship.^[7] Layle discovers Amidatelion using the idol to revive parts for the crystal in the ancient ruins. As he continues to investigate the case, he is framed by Jegran. Layle and Amidatelion escape through the portal. While planning to protect the crystal, Layle examines the battleship, learning that Jegran killed Althea's father. Layle frees all prisoners and uses the Idol to recover another part for the crystal, while Jegran kills Vaigali and Amidatelion. Before Layle arrives to the palace, Jegran awakens his power to disable all reactors. However, Layle defeats Jegran, while Althea and the Yuke tribe protect the Lilty crystal. With the world restored, Althea invites the tribe to unite the race.

Development[edit]

The Crystal Bearers is intended to be a more 'single-player experience', as opposed to the GameCube installment which focused on cooperative play.^[8] Toshiyuki Itahana stated he wants a more 'world weary' protagonist, and wanted him to seem rugged, which influenced the hair design of the character.^[9] The game is intended to feature a more 'mature' design to help bolster the heroic structure of the story.^[8] Itahana wanted to make 'an exhilarating tale of this great hero set against sweeping blue skies', which influenced many decisions in game design and story.^[9] The game's existence was announced at E3 2005^[10] and at E3 2006 a short pre-rendered teaser trailer was included within a Wii games compilation video. In May 2007 a new trailer including gameplay was released and a few interviews with the developers were given.^[11][12] Since then, no game information was given. Crystal Bearers has had no presence at recent Square Enix events or the website (the Crystal Chronicles developer blog has not made mention of Crystal Bearers since June 6, 2007^[13]) coupled with the developers of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King refusing to comment when asked about the status of The Crystal Bearers at the Game Developers Conference of February 2008, stating only that the public should 'wait for a press release.'^[14] In November 2008, in response to a section in the next month's issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly stating that the game had been 'quietly canceled' Square Enix released a statement confirming that the game had not been canceled and that they fully intend to release it, although no release date could be given.^[15] A trailer for the game was packaged with the Wii version of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time. It shows the game in a further state of development, and displays game characteristics such as combat, magic, puzzle solving and an overworld, as well as traditional elements of the Final Fantasy series, such as the Cactuar and Bahamut. At the end of March, an official teaser site opened up.^[16] In Japan, a commercial for the game aired with the song We Weren't Born to Follow by Bon Jovi playing in the background.^[17]

Reception[edit]

On its first day of release in Japan, The Crystal Bearers sold 26,000 units, which is about 34% of its initial shipment in the region.^[24] The Japanese version sold 43,705 units by its second week of release,^[25] and over 54,000 copies by the end of the year.^[26] The game was praised by Weekly Famitsu, saying the game's plot elements were well done: one reviewer stated 'The way the story develops, along with the unique characters and world setting, is brilliant. There are lots of little details to everything.' However, the publication criticized the game's map, finding it difficult to pinpoint the player's location with respect to the surroundings.^[19]

The game received mixed and generally less favorable reviews from western outlets. X-Play gave a negative review, while Game Informer and IGN faulted the game for being an action adventure rather than an RPG. However, GameTrailers and Nintendo Power reviewed the game more positively.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abSpencer (September 14, 2009). 'Yes, You Can Buy Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers This Year'. Siliconera. Archived from the original on September 23, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-14.
2. ^ ^abSpencer (September 15, 2009). 'Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers Gravitates Earlier'. Siliconera. Archived from the original on September 23, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
3. ^Infernal Monkey. 'Crystal Bearers hitting Australia in February'. aussie-Nintendo. Archived from the original on 2009-10-09. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
4. ^Nix (2006-05-06). 'E3 2006: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Wii'. IGN. Archived from the original on 2008-03-26. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
5. ^IGN Staff (May 16, 2007). 'FF: Crystal Bearers Update'. IGN. Archived from the original on August 9, 2007. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
6. ^Square Enix web staff (2008-03-24). 'A Crystal Record'. member.square-enix.com/na. Archived from the original on 2008-07-02. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
7. ^Square Enix. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers. Layle: I'm the escort. You called for me.
8. ^ ^abCraig Harris (May 16, 2007). 'Interview: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles'. IGN. Archived from the original on August 13, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
9. ^ ^abJames Mielke (May 15, 2007). 'Interviews on Final Fantasy's Nintendo DS, Wii Assault'. 1UP.com. Archived from the original on August 13, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
10. ^'Square Enix Announces Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles'. IGN. May 18, 2005. Archived from the original on 2012-07-28. Retrieved November 14, 2008.
11. ^Harris, Craig (2007-05-16). 'Interview: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles'. IGN. Archived from the original on 2009-02-02. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
12. ^'FF: Crystal Bearers Update'. IGN. 2007-05-16. Archived from the original on 2009-01-31. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
13. ^Mitsuru Kamiyama (June 6, 2007). 'Director's Voice'. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles News (Japanese). Archived from the original on February 2, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
14. ^JC Fletcher (2008-02-22). 'GDC08: Square Enix no-comments FFCC Crystal Bearers'. Joystiq. Archived from the original on 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
15. ^Ashcraft, Brian (2008-11-14). 'Rumor Smash: Square Enix On Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Canning Rumor'. Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
16. ^'FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES：THE CRYSTAL BEARERS - Global'. Archived from the original on 2009-04-01.
17. ^YouTube. Archived from the original on 2016-03-16.
18. ^ ^ab'Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers Critic Reviews for Wii'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
19. ^ ^abGifford, Kevin (November 4, 2009). 'Crystal Bearers Shot Through The Heart, Famitsu's to Blame'. 1UP.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
20. ^'Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers'. Game Informer. December 26, 2009. Archived from the original on February 6, 2010. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
21. ^Carolyn Petit (January 4, 2010). 'Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers Review'. GameSpot. Archived from the original on November 26, 2015. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
22. ^'Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers Review'. GameTrailers. December 18, 2009. Archived from the original on February 15, 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
23. ^Mark Bozon (December 18, 2009). 'Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers Review'. IGN. Archived from the original on December 25, 2015. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
24. ^Ishaan (November 15, 2009). 'Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers Not Flying Off Store Shelves'. Siliconera. Archived from the original on August 13, 2012. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
25. ^'【ゲームソフト販売本数ランキング TOP30】集計期間：2009年11月16日〜11月22日'. Archived from the original on 2010-07-15.
26. ^'2009年ゲームソフト年間売上TOP1000' [2009 Game Software Annual Sales Top 1000]. Famitsū Gēmu Hakusho 2010ファミ通ゲーム白書2010 [Famitsu Game Whitebook 2010] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Enterbrain. 2010-05-21. p. 385. ISBN978-4-04-726511-0. Archived from the original on 2015-06-27.

External links[edit]

• Official website