Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
Developer(s)	The Game Designers Studio
Publisher(s)	Square Enix Nintendo (North America)
Series	Final Fantasy series Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series
Platform(s)	Nintendo GameCube
Release	JPN August 8, 2003 NA February 9, 2004 EUR March 12, 2004 NZ March 19, 2004
Genre(s)	Role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (ファイナルファンタジー・クリスタルクロニクル, Fainaru Fantajī Kurisutaru Kuronikuru) is a video game for the Nintendo GameCube. It is the first Final Fantasy game on a Nintendo console since Final Fantasy VI^[1], as well as the second Square-produced game on a Nintendo platform (after Chocobo Land: A Game of Dice) since Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars in America (in Japan, it was Treasure Hunter G). The game follows the quest of various fictional races to replenish the magic crystals that keep them safe from the miasma of poisonous gas that has enveloped their world.

Square (now Square Enix) created The Game Designers Studio, a second-party studio which included people who had worked on the Final Fantasy games for PlayStation to make Final Fantasy games for Nintendo consoles. Many new gameplay elements were included in this game, such as real time fighting, as well as being the first RPG to incorporate GameCube-Game Boy Advance compatibility. It was scored by Kumi Tanioka. The game was greeted with mixed reviews, with many calling the graphics beautiful and the multiplayer design innovative, but others disappointed that it was significantly different from the main Final Fantasy series.

The game can be broken down into three general things players can do: explore, interact and fight. Like many RPGs, these constitute the bulk of the game.

Like the other games in the Final Fantasy series, the story involves a character or group of characters journeying great distances throughout the world to complete a central quest, although many smaller quests will arise along the way. In the process, they meet dozens of people, fight off monsters, discover hidden treasure and unfold the storyline. In Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, movement in the game is similar to the third-person follow-cam mode found in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. This type of movement is where players will spend the majority of their time. However, with more than one player, the movement must be restricted to keep all the players on the screen at the same time. Because of this technical fact, an aura given off by the "crystal chalice," (see below, in plot and setting) restricts characters to staying on-screen, otherwise the miasma rapidly damages the character. For movement across large distances, the players go to the "world-map" view, which is a highly zoomed-out view of the world which players use to venture from town to town and other far-away locales.

Combat in Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles is real-time and takes place in the regular movement mode, much like in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker or Secret of Mana. The button layout is relatively simple. Pressing the L and R buttons scrolls through a list of actions that are executed with the A button, and the B button is used for miscellaneous actions. Magic plays a large role in the game, with classic Final Fantasy spells like "Fire," "Blizzard," and "Thunder" being used by the player. Enemies drop stones called Magicite, which allow characters to cast these spells. Magicite stones are retained by players until they leave the combat area, drop them, or destroy them. In addition to these stones, rare rings of spells may be acquired which are retained permanently.

Advanced spells in this game are achieved when the effects of two spells are fused together. Some of these "fused" spells include "Fira", "Firaga", "Blizzara", "Blizzaga", "Thundara", and "Thundaga". The spells ending in -aga require special timing while used in multiplayer mode. Others involve fusing different spells like Thunder and Fire to cast Gravity. Some of these spells require special timing as well and so are only available in multiplayer mode. Adding more spells to a fused spell in multiplyer will also add to its effectiveness in some way, and often change its name. Spells can also be "fused" with a weapon (or a charged "Focus Attack" from an ally in multiplayer) to form a magical strike with secondary effects and increased damage.

The most unique aspect of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles is that up to four players can play at once utilizing a Game Boy Advance (GBA) connected to the GameCube via a Nintendo GameCube-Game Boy Advance cable. When more than one player wishes to play the game, each player is required to play using a GBA as their controller. Multi-player mode allows several things to happen. Players use the GBA to switch between various attack commands, spells, items and equipment. This allows the game to proceed uninterrupted when one player wants to make an adjustment in the middle of a battle. However, this also means that monsters will continue attacking the defenseless player who is navigating the menus. When the players enter a dungeon or a cave (which happens quite often in Final Fantasy games), each player's GBA screen will show different information. A map will appear on one player’s GBA, and a radar showing monster locations will appear on another. When playing with three players, a radar showing the location of chests or a read-out detailing monster stats will appear on the third player's GBA. If four people are playing, the fourth player will be allocated the screen that the third player did not get. Players must therefore communicate the information to each other to venture safely through each dungeon, which adds a unique interactivity element to playing Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. Additionally, when entering a dungeon or cave, each player is awarded a secret goal displayed on their GBA. The order in which prizes are selected at the end of a level is determined based on how well each player has satisfied his or her goal when compared to others. The GBA also has the added benefit of clearing away information clutter from the game screen itself, so that players can get a clear view of the game without obscuring the screen with excess information.

At the end of each dungeon lies a myrrh tree and a selection of prizes. These prizes, called 'artifacts', permanently increase one stat (strength, defense, or magic) by a certain amount, permanently increase maximum health points or number of activity slots by one (pendants and pockets), or allow a character to cast a specific spell without magicite (magic rings). After defeating the boss in an area, players obtain 4 random artifacts. In addition, artifacts encountered inside the dungeon temporarily increase the stat the artifact controls until the player exits the dungeon.

The story unfolds as the players journey from territory to territory, talking with people and completing quests set before them. While traveling a caravan may encounter other travelers, which is displayed in cut-scenes. These movie-like breaks in the game further enhance the story and can be random or part of the storyline. Each encounter is recorded in the caravan's journal and is recorded as a memory. By piecing memories together the player learns the history of the world, the nature of the miasma, or subplots of the game, depending on what they have seen.

One unique role-playing aspect of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles is that the players can and should interact with their in-game parents. The players actually choose the occupation of their parents at the start of the game, and based upon this occupation the parents will aid the players in various ways. Blacksmith parents, for example, will forge new equipment for the players, merchant parents will sell rare items, alchemist parents can create designs for new equipment, and so on. Additionally, players will have opportunities at the end of each dungeon to write home or send gifts to their parents. Players with good relationships with their parents are more likely to receive gifts from them in return, as well as gain discounts on their wares.

In Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, the world is covered by a miasma poisonous to the four races: Selkies, Lilties, Clavats, and Yukes. Despite this, cities are located in several places, protected by magical crystals that fend off the miasma temporarily. In order to maintain the power of the crystals, each city recruits a crystal caravan. These caravans carry with them a "crystal chalice", a magical container with a shard of protective crystal attached. The caravans then travel around the world, seeking trees of the magical essence myrrh, which recharges the power of the crystals.

The Clavats are biologically similar to humans and are a very peaceful race.^[2] They are generally farmers or ranchers. In the present day, a majority of Clavats live and work in the fertile Fields of Fum, providing a majority of the world's produce and cereals. Clavats are only confirmed to be capable of interbreeding with Selkies, however there is a princess that is said to be half Clavat and half Lilty. Their emblem is a crystal with a wing seen in profile, similar to the ones on the heels of their shoes.

The Lilty are a proud, stout race of warriors. In the past they ruled the world in an empire,^[3] founded off the weapons forged from materials of the Cathurgian mines. Even though their empire is now gone, the Lilties upkeep the roads built then, and form patrols to ensure the safety of the towns and caravans. Their emblem is a triple pronged spear with two banner furls.

Selkies are taller than Lilties, shorter that Clavats, and usually have silver or light purple hair. They are a rugged race dressed in furs and stolen goods, and are mostly thieves. They usually put their own interests first and are often scorned by the other tribes.^[4] In the past the Selkies were under the control of the Liltian empire and migrated from their ancestral homes to search for a safer place to live. They also seem to have been more developed culturally than in the present. They had their own language, and modern Yukes are studying Selkic texts on the Miasma suggesting that they had lore of their own. It is said that they come from the sea. Their emblem is a stylized Selkie dancing, kicking, or jumping. It has two arms raised up, and one leg to the side.

Yukes are tall, slender creatures with a suit that never seem to reveal their face, (one Yuke does open his helmet in the opening but closes it before he turns toward the screen) long, feathered, striped, dextrous hands, and small, non-used wings. In the past the Yukes were the only tribe not to be under the control of the Liltian empire. They achieved this by being sieged on the island of Shella aided by their magic.^[5] In the recent past they built the Sluice of Veo Lu, which diverts Lake Shella into the Jegon River and enables the high fertility in Fum. A majority of Yukes live at Shella teaching magic to others, but they still retain their aloofness. A non-Yuke can enter the city only if they have a Mark of Shella from the Sluice. Their emblem is a stylized Yuke seen head on.

• Andy: The main male member of the Fields of Fum caravan. When players meet him on the road he will sometimes give them farming advice.
• Amidatty: the rather eccentric leader of the Yuke caravan from Shella. At one point in the game, he buys a loaf of bread from Gurdy, who claims it to be a highly scientific model of the world. Amidatty reveals later that he knew it was bread the entire time.
• Bal Dat: the Selkie leader of a band of thieves, the Striped Brigands.
• The Black Knight: a mad Lilty knight clad from head to toe in black armor. He spends his time chasing a 'light' across the countryside claiming it stole his memories. Later he is mortally wounded by a child Lilty, Leon Esla, that believed the Black Knight killed his father. Before the Black Knight dies, he seemingly remembers who he was before he died. It turns out that Leon Esla was his son, born after he left with Hurdy to try and rid the world of miasma.
• Dah Yis: The male member of the Leuda caravan.
• De Nam: A rather peculiar Selkie who players meet in Shella. He is studying magic and wants to one day rid the world of miasma. He will send players letters if they talk to him in Shella saying he is drinking miasma filled water in Conall Curach to try and build up immunity to miasma. His final letter to players tells them to come to Conall Curach, where a random monster will give them his worn bandana when killed.
• Gurdy: The rather untrustworthy Clavat makes his living out of cheating people out of their money. Players see him cheat both the Fields of Fum caravan and Amidatty. Possessing a great acting ability and silver tongue he seems to get away with it, though he often comes begging to players for help or money. Though one of the less pure characters he does help players a great deal in their quest with his poems. It later turns out that he has suffered from a loss of memories and barely knows who he is.
• Hana Kohl: The female member of the Leuda caravan. She has the same character model as the female Selkie who plays tambourine in Tipa; just different colors. She and Dah Yis often argue because they are both too lazy to think about collecting myrrh.
• Hurdy: A traveling priest who is apparently Gurdy's brother. However, near the end of the game, players will be given clues that suggest that Hurdy IS Gurdy, who thought his name was Gurdy after his memories were stolen by Raem. This is confirmed in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Official Guide.
• Mio: A similar creature to Raem, she does not benefit from miasma like him and wants only to live in harmony. She is known as 'the Queen of Memories'.
• Mog: A moogle who carries the chalice for the player in single-player mode. He will also ask the player to paint him and trim his fur in the moogle holes. Depending on what color he is painted, he may add his power to the player's for spells (red for fire, blue for blizzard, green for thunder). If a GBA (Game Boy Advance) or SP is connected to socket two with a GBA GCN connector during single player mode, the color will also change the type of radar it displays. (Normal or cut hair for Map, red for Enemy Radar, blue for Treasure Chest Radar, green for Monster Data)
• Princess Fiona: The half Lilty half Clavat princess of Alfitaria. She runs away from Alfitaria during the game because she is scared of her duties, but is eventually inspired by the caravan and decides to return home giving a large sum of money to the caravan.
• Raem: An evil demon or monster who consumes people's memories. He thrives on painful memories and therefore benefits from the miasma's effect on civilization.
• Rolf Wood: The leader of the hotheaded lilty caravan from Marr's Pass. He is often getting into fights with the 'posh city lilties' (mainly Sol Racht) though is always friendly towards players' caravan and often gives away weapons.
• The Scholar of Tipa: In year 2 onwards till around year 5 the village elder will stop characters on the bridge on their way out of Tipa to give them some information about a scholar from Tipa who wanted to rid the world of miasma and hired the Black Knight for protection when he traveled in search of a way to get rid of miasma. The scholar apparently disappeared after sending a letter home to him from Mag Mel. He also claims that he recited certain poems which seemed to refer to the Lynara Desert. Gurdy will later recite these poems for players revealing that he could possibly have been the scholar before he lost his memories, when he was named Hurdy. This is confirmed in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Official Guide.
• Shaullo: The main female member of the fields of Fum caravan. At one point Gurdy cheats her. She will often offer players lunch if they meet her on the road.
• Sol Racht: The Lilty leader of the Alfitaria caravan. He is the first character players meet in the game and introduces them to the moogle who teaches them how to fight. Although he is a little obtuse he helps the caravan, often giving advice, food, or weapons. Later in the game, his child is born, and he retires to provide parental care.

In Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, players take on the role of caravaners from a small town that they may name themselves, and work to maintain their town's crystal and ultimately eliminate the miasma. In doing this, they visit many other cities, cross oceans, and explore dungeons, fields, caves, and other varied locales in order to obtain myrrh and acquire better equipment. The trees of myrrh are universally guarded by strong monsters, so it is up to the players to defeat them and gain access to the trees.

The game's soundtrack is composed by Kumi Tanioka. It was released on the Pony Canyon label on August 20, 2003

Like most Final Fantasy games, this game received overall good reviews. IGN rated it a 7.6 and its users an 8.0.^[1] The game was also noted in IGN for its Phantasy Star Online-like multiplayer cooperative play, but the use of the Game Boy Advance, while innovative, was thought to be detrimental to the gameplay.^[6] Both GameSpot and its users rated it 8.0.^[7] GameRankings has it rated at 80%.^[8] Metacritic has it rated at 80 out of 100 and its users at 8.5.^[9] The game received the Japan Media Arts Festival Grand Prize (7th, Entertainment Division) in 2003.^[10]

A Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles sequel is in the works for the Nintendo DS and will be called Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates.^[11] Another sequel is being produced for the Wii, called Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers.^[12] A manga series titled Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Hatenaki Sora no Mukou ni (ファイナルファンタジー・クリスタルクロニクル～はてなき空の向こうに～) ran in Monthly Shonen Gangan.

• Official site by Square-Enix
• Official site by Nintendo
• GameFAQs entry for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
• Collection of reviews of Final Fantasy:Crystal Chronicles

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