Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (GC) Preview

Square's first game for the Nintendo GameCube will be a GameCube exclusive in the Final Fantasy series. It's not like any of the other Final Fantasy games though. This game is still a role-playing game except it's an action one. The other FFs are traditional (or turn-based) RPGs, but in this one there's no taking turns. You just walk up to a monster and start beating the crap out of it with whatever weapons you have as well as magic spells (sort of like Zelda, but with complicated but cool spells and character classes). When you first start the game you learn that you are on a world that has been cursed with giant poisonous clouds. The villages keep safe by using the magic power of the crystals to keep away the poison clouds, but after a while the crystals start to run out of power so every year the towns call on somebody to go out and gather some dew from the Maura trees which is the only thing that can restore the cyrstals' power. The journey to the trees is long and difficult. You'll encounter many hardships along the way including monsters, puzzles, sickness, and most likely some evil dudes. It's your town's turn and this year you and your friends have been picked to go on the journey.You must pick your characters' classes (Clavat which is all around, Selky which is thieves that use bows, Yuke which is magic users, or Rilty which are warriors - small, cute warriors that is). You take control of whatever character you want and up to 3 of your friends can pick their own characters to use (this game features heavy co-op). Next you name your characters and you're on your way. The party travels by a caravan. Somebody has to carry a so-called "crystal cage" that protects the party from the poison at all times (although you can take turns carrying it). The person holding the cage can't attack or defend, so that kinda makes them the party's guardian angel against the poison but a walking target against bad guys. Of course, you can also ditch the cage but your party will all become poisoned and will die if not they aren't treated often. You aslo recieve mail from your family (which is delivered by Moogles). They will tell you tips and send you useful stuff. However, if you don't write back, they'll get mad at you for ignoring them and not thanking them or telling them how you're doing.They'll send you a letter charging money for your disrespect (ouch!). The Game Boy Advance will play a major role in this game so you might wanna invest in Nintendo's handheld as well as a GC-GBA link (but it's not required). Final Fantasy: Cystal Chronicle looks very interesting and should be worth checking out. We'll post more info as it becomes available.