Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers

 Wii
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 187 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 153 out of 187
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 187
  3. Negative: 17 out of 187
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  1. Nero97
    Jan 26, 2012
    6
    The game is fun. Yeah, the combat is quite bad, you throw things, that's it, but the rest is ok. The history is quite nice, the cutscenes are nice, the final boss is NICE, and some parts of the game that requires more strategy are fun. But again, the combat isn't that nice, it's not like the final fantasy games, and it's easy...but i had a good time playing it :)
  2. OwtDaft
    May 10, 2018
    7
    + Has a really good story that's very funny and has great characters.
    + The battle system is kinda fun.
    + The game is full of mini games that are fun though some are not. + The graphics and music are fantastic. + I really enjoyed this game a lot despite it's odd game play issues. - The game is not long for a Final Fantasy game though Crystal Bearers is not an RPG. - Controls while    + Has a really good story that's very funny and has great characters.
    + The battle system is kinda fun.
    + The game is full of mini games that are fun though some are not.
    + The graphics and music are fantastic.
    + I really enjoyed this game a lot despite it's odd game play issues.
    - The game is not long for a Final Fantasy game though Crystal Bearers is not an RPG.
    - Controls while battling can be a pain and objects you pick up block your view affecting aim.    … Expand
  3. NorwayGamer
    Mar 1, 2019
    7
    I finished this game a few years ago, but forgot to leave a review for it, so I guess I'll write one now.
    for me, it's a hard game to review, because I did have quite a bit of fun with it, but it also felt like a chore quite often.
    the game is just plain weird.. and I don't know if it's in a good or a bad way. it definitely falls into the action/adventure genre a lot more than the Rpg    I finished this game a few years ago, but forgot to leave a review for it, so I guess I'll write one now.
    for me, it's a hard game to review, because I did have quite a bit of fun with it, but it also felt like a chore quite often.
    the game is just plain weird.. and I don't know if it's in a good or a bad way. it definitely falls into the action/adventure genre a lot more than the Rpg genre, and doesn't really focus on building your character. but you can buy some artifacts to enhance certain aspects of it.

    the combat is like the rest of the game - a bit weird. instead of wielding any weapons, you simply use your "crystal powers" to pick up & throw things at enemies - both objects laying around and enemies themselves.
    the story is okay, not too interesting unfortunately, but it was interesting enough for me to follow it to the end & finish the game. some of the boss-fights are really fun though, and there are also some minigame-like segments that feel very arcade-like.

    all in all: an okay game overall, but not very memorable unfortunately.    … Expand
  4. XV_
    Jul 29, 2020
    7
    FFCCTCB starts pretty solid, you get a fun combat sequence, interesting narrative, and stylistic choices but sooner or later you'll find that something is a little off.

    The Crystal Bearers is a weird game, I don't see how it came to existence but I'm thankful that it did. I love the original game and it's my favorite game, but I'm also aware that it is by no means a masterpiece (at    FFCCTCB starts pretty solid, you get a fun combat sequence, interesting narrative, and stylistic choices but sooner or later you'll find that something is a little off.

    The Crystal Bearers is a weird game, I don't see how it came to existence but I'm thankful that it did. I love the original game and it's my favorite game, but I'm also aware that it is by no means a masterpiece (at least combat-wise) however it has an incredible amount of charm in its narrative, lore, music, mechanics, aspects that I believe The Crystal Bearers inherit, alas for the most part in a shallow way but also on its own way. The big draw here is that this is a new story told within the universe of the Crystal Chronicles with some drawbacks and references to its lore but that's all, the most notorious part would be the combat system, you now control Layle a Crystal Bearer, one of a handful of persons that can use magic, Layle is a gravity wielder and it makes all the sense since it surely was a technical choice to use the Wii motion to its main potential, well sort of it.

    The original game lacked a lot in the combat department, it was simple, serviceable and repetitive at its worst, in this game the combat, in theory, should be a lot of fun, since you use motion controls to control gravity, pull and throw enemies at the will of your movements like a fantasy Jedi, it sounds like it would be a match made in heaven but in reality, it feels unpolished, the battles are always as follows: pull an enemy to you, throw it to another enemy or wall to deal some damage, rinse and repeat, surely you can throw objects like rocks, or furniture too, and some enemies require that spin them first or activate a status but are basically the same thing over and over, you control the camera with the directional pad and it's way too awkward and unnatural when you're in combat that it almost became a chore, it would benefit greatly to have a lock-on reticle just to focus an especifc enemy even if you still need to aim it manually (a thing that I like mind you) to attack it. Although since it's an action game I never felt that the passing was off or the battles too regular to be a huge problem, what I find it pretty odd and it was a nice surprise, is that I have a lot of fun with the minigames within the story, one moment you're sliding through a waterfall, another you're in a beach butt-fight competition, semi-shooter segments, stealth segments and even rhythm games, similar to its combat they're not so polished but they're so brief and fresh that they were always enjoyable, they even forward the main story so they feel with purpose.

    The plot is nothing to write home about and it falls in some of the conventions of the franchise but it's good, the characters are charm enough just to look forward how the story will unfold, unfortunately, I have some issues with its localization, mainly the dubbing, it seemed that the original intention was to make something in the spirit of Cowboy Bebop at least character and narrative-wise, but the acting is way too cartoony and dull (a problem that most RPGs from Japan have when they're dubbed that prevails to this day), it's not the worst acting and maybe you can't pass behind it but to me, it was distracting, although, I really fall in love with this Yuke character and also her actress was genuinely good portraying her. The rhythm of the game as I stated before it's OK for the most part, my only issue is that at some points the story needs you to backtrack a lot from point A to point C just to make you go point A again, it can be bothersome since a good portion of the game you don't have a way to fast-travel and you move pretty slowly when navigating, there are some Chocobos here and there but they were always far away to me and they're not that fast also.

    Aside from the main story, you can make some "side-quests" that are hinted in notes or newspaper, things like: "there's a bunch of enemies floating around in the beach, we hope that someone could take care of them" they're not cryptic but it's hard to keep track of them since the game would not track anything but the main campaign and since the only reward is extra HP and some materials, the game is not that hard and the combat isn't that fun so honestly you can skip them easily.

    A thing that it's worth to note is that this game looks absolutely beautiful, it aged incredible well that at times it even looks better than a lower PS3 game, I believe is mostly for the art direction and artistic choices. Another great aspect is the music, the original game has a masterfully crafted soundtrack, and even when this one doesn't get to that height of finesse it has a lot of personality and variability than it needed to have, and for that I'm thankful.

    The Crystal Bearers is quite the unique if a mixed title, it has a lot of good ideas that fall short for the most part, but the sum of its parts make for at least an entertaining journey.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

100
#100 Best Wii Game of 2009
19
#19 Most Discussed Wii Game of 2009
18
#18 Most Shared Wii Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
66

Mixed or average reviews - based on 53 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 53
  2. Mixed: 33 out of 53
  3. Negative: 5 out of 53
  1. Game Informer
    55
    After a cool introductory sequence, things go downhill immediately. [Jan 2010, p.85]
    Read full review
  2. GamesRadar+
    70
    The absolute best part of the game is all of the stuff you can do besides the main plot. Not that the main plot isn’t fun – it’s just that the minigames are limited to chases, jumping puzzles and the occasional weirdness like ballroom dancing.
    Read full review
  3. IGN
    62
    While the game's main adventure was off to a good start, and even manages to be truly entertaining at times, these oddly paced, often poorly controlled pit stops really bring down the game's more appealing core mechanics.
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