Thanks for watching everyone! This has been a long time in the making. Like I said in the individual parts that make up this video, I initially planned on just making 1 turbo sized video, and after breaking them into chunks I always intended to do one of these supercuts of the 3. And y'all can't call me a sellout because roughly 50% of my viewers are only here because of my KH supercut. I was a sellout before y'all knew me. In all seirousness, I'm very happy with how this came out. FFCC may have it's problems here and there, especially with accessibility, but I figured if anyone's gonna make a video like this about it, it'll probably be me. For actual changes here, the main thing is just some audio rebalancing and glitches I fixed in parts 2&3. My project file for part 1 was corrupted so I couldn't do much there. 1:54:48 I added an email I received from an FFCC fan about something that confused me. Feel free to pause and read their explanation for where I was confused. 4:34:20 This spot has minor FF16 spoilers and I forgot to change the time I put on screen for the compilation. It would take 13-20 hours to rerender & and upload, which lets be real, is a little long for something the chapters fix. If you have not touched FF16 or know nothing about it, I'd rec skipping this part I made into a chapter. However, it is something you'd know within the first 3-5 hours of the 60+ hour game, so use your own discression.
@NovaZoneTv quick question are you interested in recommending the Guyver biobooster armor manga series or OVA 1989 franchise? It’s really good I heard but it’s kinda niche. I hope you respond.
I've gotta be honest man: this is probably the most impressed I've been with a project of yours. Your KH one may have been longer, but the amount of love, research, and analysis in this one makes it far more impressive to me, especially when I know how much work you've put in behind the scenes. I've loved watching you come more and more into your own as a creative and I'm so excited to see where you go from here. I mean haha armless crystal chronicles moogles funnee
Man I just loved playing Echoes of time back when i was still growing up. Always went with 4 Selkies because double jump was just insanely useful. Skipping certain puzzles was suddenly very easy.
I really enjoyed watching this video as a Crystal Chronicles lover! However, I believe the part about single-player gameplay forgot to mention something somewhat important- or at least I missed it if it did- that I'd like to put here for any future solo CC players: the Moogle that carries your chalice is actually REALLY important! Mog will cast spells when he's not holding the chalice, and you can combine with him to get higher-level spells like Gravity without needing to fuse magicite. Some sources (including the official guidebook) say that the color you paint Mog will change the spells he uses, but it can be a little finnicky- theoretically, painting him all blue will cause him to only use Blizzard, but I've seen cases where I've covered every inch of his fur in blue paint and he still cast one of the other elements randomly during a dungeon. His casting reticle will automatically align with yours. Managing Mog correctly makes the single-player experience MUCH smoother. It's still inferior to multiplayer, but Mog has a lot of little quirks that make him feel like a character all his own IMO. Remember to cut his fur when you go into the desert!
I think I spent 1 sentence mentioning it, but since I didn't have footage, I decided not to dwell on it. Especially because I have way more experience in 2/3P mode.
it's worth mentioning that he has a cooldown on spells. when you get him to cast a spell you'll have to wait a bit/hit some enemies and wait for him to say a line that's not about being tired of carrying the chalice. He will also flash iirc
@lynxthewise7233 this comment popped up while I was watching the My Hero Academia movie trailer (I'm not a mega fan, just curious sometimes) and now I'm thinking of the All Might "It’s Your Turn" with the tired Moogle
@@NovaZoneTV quick question are you interested in recommending the Guyver biobooster armor manga series or OVA 1989 franchise? It’s really good I heard but it’s kinda niche. I hope you respond.
As someone who bought the first crystal chronicles, but didn't have a gba, I tried to play it single player... I gave up after the 2nd year started. It was nice to see the rest of the game in a video. I doubt I will ever try to pick it up again but even with the half assed attempt nearly a decade ago it was a good memory.
It’s doable solo it just fucking sucks and you have to powergame the whole time, go back to levels to get materials and build the best possible weapon and gear you can have at that point. It still sucks though don’t recommend. Always keep a cura crystal or 2 on you.
That was my problem with Crystal Chronicles as well, actual enjoyment of the game was hard locked behind having three things: GameBoy Advances Gamecube Link Cables for said GBAs Friends I was never very good at that last one...
Playing the GameCube Crystal Chronicles was such a blast with my friends. I saved up a lot of money to get enough GBAs and link cables to get 4 players going. It taught me that failing as a team is a lot more fun than succeeding alone.
Some more things about the Remaster additions that weren't mention that I feel like are worth bringing up. -The storage moogle allows someone to trade items and money between characters when playing single player. they can also trade weapons, armor and accessories, which is something you couldn't do in the original. This allows you to get end game equipment for freshly made characters in the late game when they can't survive third cycle dungeons. This does allow you to pass Ultima Weapon around to characters of the same race. If you actually deleted the alchemist's child character 3 times to get 4 copies of the scroll (an endeavor that takes 62 in game years btw) you can make one for each race and swap them around freely. Force Ring luckily only would need to be made once. -New weapons, armor and accessories from the Hard mode dungeons help add a reason to actually try out the hard mode dungeons and keep playing past the credits. Shoutouts to the Yuke specific accessory that essentially adds a whopping *75* points of magic. Combine that with their new ultimate weapons that cast a tier 3 spell as the focus attack and you become an absolute menace, especially in multiplayer when you can have allies distract the enemies for the incredibly long cast time. -New artifact rings for Gravity, Holy and Meteor. This allows a single person to cast them in multiplayer and save so many command slots in single player. I actually end up not knowing what to put in a few slots in post game and don't have to constantly worry about fusing the spell rings again at the start of every dungeon. unfortunately these are exclusive artifacts from hard mode dungeons -Hard mode dungeons actually feature rearranged or remixed versions of the dungeon themes which is an incredibly nice touch. -On the topic of hard mode dungeons, they do have a challenge rating so some are meant to be done immediatly and others are meant to be done after you get post game gear. They don't follow the same progression as the main story, for example Goblin Party (hard mode of Goblin Wall) will absolutely fuck you up.
For me, the remaster was everything I wanted. But I had experienced the drawbacks to multiplayer in 5-6 groups over the years. Getting link cords, GBAs, certain types of people expecting to play for one hour and others for eight. Durdling around in towns for 20 minutes every time anyone needs something. Always having to be the one to carry the chalice... I have fond memories of playing with neighborhood kids for 10 hours straight when I was 13 or so, but modern remaster-style single dungeon matchmaking with the FFCC discord ended up being better as an adult.
Honestly glad to see someone with a different opinion on the remaster. It didn't work for me since I wanted it as a way to replay with old friends or introduce it to new friends, but I guess it does work if you want the kind of experience you got.
I'll never forget the memories of me and 3 buddies getting a full squad to play Crystal Chronicles together, following the Nintendo Power guide that I still have and sunk so many hours into. I still hope to this day to get a group to play together (that isnt just randos on netplay). It's such a shame that the multiplayer on the remake couldnt be as tidy as the original. Given that they touched "Morning Sky" as well, I have to give a big round of applause to the madmen working on Dolphin being able to help preserve as much of the experience as is *currently* possible.
My favorite moment in Crystal Bearers was breaking the pots in the Library(?) and being in massive debt to the point where an NPC spawned and started showering the whole area with money. I don't remember much from that game but that moment will always stay with me
You have some of my favorite videos. Some people make long-form videos but for some reason, their speaking style is hard to listen to, but I really enjoy listening to you.
Cool to see a video by someone passionate about the series who also understands the context with Kawazu and the Wonderswan. I always describe Crystal Chronicles as a beautiful combination of Kawazu sensibility, on a Secret of Mana framework, with Final Fantasy IX flavor and some rogue like dungeon crawling elements.
This was an extremely interesting watch, as someone who played a decent amount of the original solo but never got to experience multi-player....... and also never knew most of the sequels existed. Even though I played alone, the world of the original felt so fascinating to me, I wanted to explore it and to keep my town and family safe. It had this feeling of desolation and anxiety from exploring alone that both terrified me and made me excited. Evem though I technically have the equipment, I doubt I could wrangle some friends into playing with me now, considering our busy work schedules. But I still have fair amount of awe and nostalgia for this game and its world, so thank you for such an in depth review of the entire series.
i do love that you touch upon the fact that trying to make the original work on a single TV screen would be incredibly difficult or impossible because trying to change commands or do anything in the menus would take up to much screen space or require it to pause for everyone, wrecking the pace. I have seen absolutely no one else share that opinion
It's interesting seeing your perspective on multiplayer because for me, i have always enjoyed single player way more than multiplayer. I just found trying to coordinate with another player frustratingly clunky. Someone always having to be on chalice duty limited your mobility in frustrating ways (in single player you don't have to worry about that because the moogle does it for you, giving you way more mobility). And spell fusion in multiplayer...*shudder* To this day i still have flashbacks to saying "One, two, three! No! Shoot we did it wrong!" Having to have perfect timing just to cast gravity or holy is SUPER clunky and frustrating, especially when they are required spells for certain enemies. But i still agree with you that multiplayer was fun and i have cherished memories of playing with ny brother to this day.
I loved the original crystal chronicles on the gamecube. Me and my younger sister would play when we were kids but we never knew how to progress much beyond i think the sleuce. It was the only game we had that required the link cable. As a teenager i similarly bought more gba cables and one thanksgiving break, my siblings and cousins all together were trying to play through and beat the game, figuring out spell combos, the puzzles for different areas, and levelling up all our characters. We never did end up completing the game but definitely some of the most fun memories i have that truly arent replicatable without the hardware.
As somebody who almost never has friends to play with, the issues with multiplayer did not hurt me nearly as much as it did to everybody else. But I'd be a liar if I said I didn't feel its sting with how severely limiting it was to play online, even it was to simply help players get further into their games and collect artifacts to boost my stats without progressing too far into my own adventure. Because when the multiplayer's issues reared its ugly little head, it felt like I was getting blasted by a Malboro's Bad Breath attack at point blank range. At least the single-player mode is still every bit the delight I loved the original for. But half of the game being amazing is still *half the game*, and it's not the half that made Crystal Chronicles such a well-beloved classic.
ys mentioned! now there's a criminally under-discussed franchise, even though it's still alive. i never played all the other games, but crystal chronicles itself holds a soft spot in my heart, i played so many hours of it back in high school. i remember back in the day my kid-brain made a weird visual connection between the final boss of crystal chronicles and kingdom hearts chain of memories because they've got a very similar silhouette (that being, "shaped kinda like an N64 controller")
Tbh, I've wanted to do an Ys video for a while now. I played 1&2 (PC Engine and Chronicles), OiF, Ys IV DoY, 6, & 7 last year. I had an idea for making an "every version of Ys 1&2" type video similar to one I made about Castlevania 1/Akumajo Dracula. It'll take some work though because, quite honestly, getting the PC 98 emulator to play and record the small clip of the intro was a real bitch and a half.😅 I ended up doing one recording of the audio while the video was glitched out, another of the video while muted, and then lined them up . 🙃 It was worth it though to me. I'm very happy with how this whole project came out.
@@NovaZoneTV oh jeez, i can imagine trying to emulate and record the PC-98 is a pain, i have a tough enough time trying to work just with DOS games on occasion (tomb raider, my nemesis...). i've only played the easily-commercially-available versions of the ys games myself, so not the originals of 1-4 but their assorted remakes, a couple years ago back when 9 came out, so it would be fun to see how some of the originals compare to the remade versions. i think 8 and oath in felghana hold the fan-favorite spots, very justifiably imo, though i had a pretty good time with all of them, it's a blast getting to see how experimental jrpgs can be (not unlike crystal chronicles).
I really appreciate this in-depth look at a game that could have been great but was completely strangled by the incredibly constraining, convoluded way its multiplayer nide was implemented. I'll also giggle Ievery time I hear TITS village, I cant help it.
Crystal Chronicles and Tales of Symphonia were two of the most influential games I played with my sister as a kid. They still define what I look for when I'm looking at new games, especially RPGs and co-op games. Wanted to add that the music was also awesome. I still have the original Japanese 2 disc version somewhere around here that I saved up for almost a full year to get, lol.
Crystal Chronicles, I can honestly say, is one of the best multiplayer experience games I ever played. I wished they'd expand and make a new one, where you travel in a caravan with friends and just explore the world. This series has so much potential that's not being played into! I imagine you and your group travelling together, fighting monsters, doing puzzles, writing letters and outside battle. You can even do cooking and other odd jobs that can give you pluses in battles. Also, you could meet other people's caravans and network, assist them and open up new paths. Honestly, with everyone just travelling in a caravan together. It would be so relaxed and fun, with a lovely homely whimsical feel, that's the true appeal and strength of the franchise. I hope they develop something new for it one day!
Played this with 3 close friends growing up. We ran this game so many times. It was sooooo awesome. So sad that they never really did this game justice.
44:00 Withholding what map you have in four player doesn't work because someone will call BS. I was fortunate to play this and Four Swords and PacMan VS in four player in college, but never again since. I am glad to see a video cover this.
To be fair I think to this day square Enix is asking itself what is final fantasy lol. It feels like the series has been going through an identity crises since 12/13. I liked 12 btw
back in high school i wanted a remake of this for the 3DS sso bad. i felt that both screens could be used to emulate how the original felt perfectly with top screen being what would be on your TV and the bottom screen could handle the radar. I'm actually one of the few people who loved the remaster because i understood that you'd have to completely redesign how the game worked on a fundamental level just to make this work for a single screen in the case of couch coop that everyone was demanding.
I have the original and the remaster. Loved this game when I was in high school. And I remember just never being able to find anybody that had a game cube link cable so we could play this game with multiplayer. It’s still a dream for me today is to have a four player game of this go through the whole thing. One day I hope
This video showed a few ffcc characters I also have in dffoo, and now I'm starting this video sad about dffoo... But I'm a huge fan of crystal chronicles, of the game, of the music, of the gameplay! So much so that I got a friend to lend me their old gameboy advance sp and gamecube link cable, so if I have friends over, I have two of each so we can play on the wii (I sadly never owned a gamecube). The musician also worked on some zone music in final fantasy 11, specifically the Bastok region. I love them, the music is so timeless! So much so that I felt like the anime for Dungeon Meshi reminded me of FFCC. XD Edit: I'm a bit disappointed that you just excluded final fantasy 11/14 from the high fantasy to science fantasy meter at 3:10:35 Here, this is my take on where these mmorpg titles fall, since I understand a lot of people don't want to play the multiplayer games. Or don't have time since the story of FFXI is several hundred hours long. I would say FFXI rests between FF3 and FFIV, as Tanaka Hiromichi stated, heavily inspired by FF3. Also, I would say FFXIV falls closer to FFVII and FFVIII. There we go, for anyone curious. ^^
Lol, so funny thing with the MMOs there. So 11, it's just that I nor anyone in my friend circle has really played it. But with 14, I asked a few friends, and we came to a conclusion that 14 is so all-encompassing at this point that it'd be at the entire spectrum. (Also, I made that for a dumb Twitter post when playing Stranger of Paradise. Wasn't something I spent a lot of time one)
@@NovaZoneTV Understandable, it is daunting, and the sub spooks a lot of people haha. I will say, ff14 is more of an amusement park final fantasy, if just draws in from all the games (though most of the models are pretty much from FFXI lol). So the fantasy spectrum being all over, makes sense XD If you for whatever reason have FFXI questions about retail that isn't about endgame, feel free to ask. I've played since NA launch (we were sneaky norwegian kids and used a fake canadian address to play on it asap lol), and I love rambling about it. I mostly just wanted to add a few cents about the fantasy level.^^ Thanks so much for this hefty FFCC video. I will deffo have to re-visit the game now.
God i loved every crystal chronicles! I remember when the DS version came out and I put more hours into that than every pokemon i owned on the DS combined!
I've got my next few projects planned out but I'll never say never. I haven't played it but I remember being interested when I saw ads in comics and magazines.
I liked the remaster a lot but I had a group of friends that loved this game growing up too. The addition of the non paid cosmetic overrides was cool as well!
Never got to play most of the Crystal Chronicle series, but I have some fond memories after renting Crystal Bearer for a few weeks from Netflix. It's a neat little game that used the story as a vehicle to get you to the next playground and I would have loved a sequel that gives you a bit more to do combat wise. I thought it would have been cool to pick up lesser versions of other Bearers' powers and mix them with the telekinesis ability. Or hold on to certain weapons or items that are used in neat ways with those powers. Anyways, this was a great retrospective that has inspired me to try and hunt some of these games down.
I played FF:CC when it launched. I had more than one GBA (one regular, and one SP), and friends with their own GBAs. I bought the link cables, and so I actually played on a GameCube, with GBAs, with 4 people. I consider the Caravan from Townia to be an important, and formative, experience. I do not understand why anyone says the remake "messed up" the co-op. I played the remake with most of the same people who formed my OG caravan, and we all liked it a lot better. I'm genuinely confused that no one else seems to appreciate the huge upgrade the remake introduced.
it usually stems form people wanting the exact same experience without realizing how incredibly difficult to impossible it would be, plus their nostalgia glossing over how actually bad the original experience was when you're not in the middle of the dungeon crawling. Like, acting like the original is an 8/10 game and the remaster is a 2/10 jsut baffles me
oh i wanna mention something about stats. they basically go in 5s so an increase in any stat of like going from 20 to 24 would not do anything where going from 24 to 25 would make you do more/take less damage. so if it feels like sometimes you're not any stronger after an artifact or stat boost it's most likely cause you didn't hit the next multiple of 5
if you had 5 game cubes,5 tvs, and the game boy player, you can do a work around where you dont need the gba. i did that with my friends after we had a nightmare experience when 1 gba shut down in middle of the marlboro boss fight. i still have ptsd from that but it was amazing. it was like 2 am at my friend's place and we ended up taking a trip to the store to restock on snacks while recharging. this trick worked with 4 swords as well
I think I saw an article about that one time. No way am I ever going to be in a situation where I'll have 5 gamecubes and 5 tvs next to me, but if y'all had fun with it, then more power to you!
@@NovaZoneTV i was lucky and had a bunch of friends from our halo lan party game days and we did the the crazy set up. 16 tvs(4 in living room, 4 in dining room, and 2 bed rooms 4 each) it sounds crazy but if you had the people its a experience every gamer would love.
I love this game. I played it a ton as a kid, and I played the remaster for 250+ hours. Got every artifact and piece of gear for all 8 character slots. It’s a shame it doesn’t have couch coop. I was never able to connect and play with friends in the end. At least I got to join other people online though.
For the longest time I thought Crystal Chronicles was some kind of fever dream since I remember playing the game in highschool with my ex but I think I forget it was on the gamecube. Wasnt until it was put on Switch that it made it all come back, I even messaged my ex YEARS later to try and confirm that the memory was actually real and that this was the game we played back then lol.
@NovaZoneTv quick question are you interested in recommending the Guyver biobooster armor manga series or OVA 1989 franchise? It’s really good I heard but it’s kinda niche. I hope you respond.
I love Crystal Chronicles. I rarely got to play with others, but I've definitely sunk more than 100 hours on the singleplayer. I printed a 100+ page guide from Gamefaqs and made spreadsheets to keep track of which character had/needed which artifact. It's such a shame the remaster fumbled the multiplayer. I never played the other CC games but I hope they someday get batter remasters/sequels.
I remember a friend setting up FF:CC back when I was about 10 or so however I didnt really enjoy using the GBA as a controller and carrying and moving the chalice felt like a chore that just slowed down the game and I also didnt like the reticle system for spells AND charge skills...i think it would have been better if it was limited to spells. I kinda just noped out along with my other friend that really wasnt getting it either after maybe the fourth dungeon. It is definitely a love it or hate it kinda series.
I was so excited for Crystal Chronicals as a kid! I remember going to my cousin's house who had Playstation (my family only bought Nintendo consoles because they were always cheaper) and he would show me cool things from Final Fantasy VII (like Knights of the Round Table) and even the beginning scene of Final Fantasy VIII. My main games were always Zelda and Smash Brothers, so I was SO hyped that an RPG, especially one as prolific as a Final Fantasy, was coming to Nintendo. After I got the game as a birthday present... I decided I hated it and it wasn't a true Final Fantasy. Eventually, this sentiment washed away and it kind of grew on me somewhat. When I got older, sometimes I would reminisce back on it and remember some of the banger soundtrack or the cool little lore they would tell before a dungeon! I bought the updated version of the Switch and had a lot of fun. The nostalgia was REAL! Looking back with a new state of mind, I think they were on the precipice of a very cool and unique idea! This game mostly suffered from being inaccessible (I didn't have a GBA back then, and the friends that I had weren't going to buy a cable for this single game) and it was slightly too basic... Even when I played (by myself) as a Yuke, I found myself doing the SAME exact attack pattern for EVERY single enemy: bait an attack, back up, cast - rinse and repeat until dead. I have played with my brother and sister-in-law and it was slightly more fun, but still too basic. Overall... it's hard for me to love this game but equally hard to hate it. There was a lot of missed potential. I was really hoping that when they re-released it, they would make more quality of life changes to better adapt it to the current era. Needless to say, I was slightly disappointed. Regardless, I loved your video! Thanks and keep up the good work!
I'd also like to note that at 1:32:30 you said, "Not a single RPG came close to this status in English speaking territory...." I have to argue with you there. Tales of Symphonia was BELOVED on the Gamecube. Even to this day, it is regarded as one of the strongest entries in the "Tales of..." franchise. Of course, it was later released on different consoles, but that was one of the first solid JRPG's to really grace Nintendo since the Golden Era of the SNES JRPG's. Baiten Kaitos also existed... but it's kind of hard to compare. It flew under the radar as an obscure title where Tales of Symphonia really found enough of an audience that a sequel was encouraged.
I had FFCC when I was a kid. Me and my younger brother each had a GBA, for Ruby and Sapphire obviously, and I had 2 link cables. Imagine how bored the guy who had to carry the chalice was. Yeah we could have taken turns but we were kids and the guy on chalice duty just wasn’t enjoying himself.
I've always put echoes of fates long after FFCC1 where the great crystal civilization appeared when crystal energy could be used for something else than repelling miasma.
My two siblings and I played the hell out of this game, it was a lot of fun with 3 players. My brother got bored and stopped playing at some point, he likes more action oriented games typically. Our mom even played with us when she could since brother dropped out. We never knew anyone with a fourth Gameboy or cable but we played a lot of 2-3 players 😁 I was only missing like four artifacts last I remember. Could not get the Life ring to save my, well, life.
i played crystal chronicles for the first time on og hardware with friends somewhat recently and whilst it was really cool and i liked it a lot, truly the hardest part is getting other people to stick around for the full game and organising that and everyone being in the mood for it, we beat 5 or 6 other games between sessions and we're still not done we named our charicters after the beatles but since there were only 3 of us we pretended as if the whole quest was to find a fourth purely because its a slower paced game and how slowly the plot plays out wasnt gripping their attention (not a bad thing but it makes it harder to get into for people who arent too familiar with ff like they are) although now i know more about the rest of the series, maybe id have an easier time getting them though the other games first though
I forgot if I ever said in the video, but Echoes of Time and Ring of Fates are sizeably shorter. Of course, your playtime of FFCC1 is variable since you can beat it mostly when you want, but leisure runs for each, I found EoT to be a solid 2-4 hours shorter. Bryce and I also did a ton of those little side missions and talked to every NPC, so our run was about as long as possible for EoT.
I have nostalgia of renting this game at blockbuster a few times wanting to play it.. but never got past the mines, as we didnt have the obscure requirements for my brothers to play
at 4:04:33 I just realized, the Crystal games has at the same time a lot and almost nothing to do with Crystals, like, the first one made sense, it protected them from Miasma, and you needed to recharge every year, but RoF, there isn't any miasma, so to not make the Crystal useless, it is now literally the monolith, EoT has so little to do with it, but story isn't its forté, both My Life literally doesn't use it (or does, I'm gonna be honest, I was doing cave of evils in Muramasa Rebirth at this point of the video), and now Crystal Bearers like RoF again, tries to change the crystal to be the Monolith, but slightly nerfed, and also specific for each race, in which you are currently explaining your theory
i think there's a possibilty you missed when trying to reconcile the crystal bearers lore with that of the rest of the series. in crystal bearers, the myth states that there were 4 crystals at the beginning of humankind, functioning as an origin story. in the rest of the series, the lore states that there was originally a single crystal, that broke off into many more after the calamitous events. crucially however, the four tribes existed long before the events of any of the games, and we never get any direct information to contradict the origin myth, by virtue of never going back in time to see the advent of people in any of the games. this instead opens up two potential questions of "what happened between the time of 4 great crystals and a single great crystal?", or "what were the three other crystals doing while the 4th took center stage in the rest of the game?"
@@NovaZoneTV dude, good luck 😂 I tried doing a 100% run with a guide and there’s a story boss that’s almost impossible to beat towards the end. Probably the hardest in the entire FF series, no joke haha X-2 I’m referring to btw
I Haven't watched the full video yet, so I'm hoping future me will be vindicated in 5 hours time - however my biggest gripe with the re-release on the Switch was that it ruined the magic of the Village/Caravan by letting anyone join in on your dungeon crawl rather than set characters from your Caravan. You didn't grow and journey with a group, you could potentially have 4 separate villages/worlds to save. It would be great if it had two modes - one where you had a single instnace of a save file that the same player hosted and people could join that world as the character they made in that world and a mode where you could find random matches but you'd be forced to play as one of the host Caravan's characters. (think of it like a long DnD campaign vs just joining a one shot instance) You'd have to get some kind of reward for playing the latter mode (i.e. if you were running just Conall Curach for the Life Ring and when you got it on some random's character it could potentially pass it back to your in game Caravan)
My fan theory for a while: FFCC is the Dark World/World of Darkness that is often referenced in the mainline Final Fantasy games. There's always the Light warriors. *The* Crystals that shine with Light. But this is Japan so there is always the "there cannot be light without darkness". Although I think FF3 is the only one that explicitly has you go to the World of Darkness and deal with Dark Crystals that compliment the Crystals of the world. But FFCC isn't dark and scary. Correct. Light and Dark aren't opposites, they are the same thing. They are compliments. What is FF about in games that deal strongly with Crystals? The basic elements of the world are being destroyed (1, 3, 5) or used to promote some evil purpose (4, 6). In FFCC what are the crystals for? Memories, Fate, Magic which means Probabilities of Time/Reality. The big problems in FF have to deal with the physical building blocks of the world, while FFCC is with the Spiritual/Conceptual building blocks of reality. The only time there is the number Four in FFCC its for the living soul-having human races of Clavat, Lilty, Yuke, & Selkie; while FF has the Classic Aristotelian physical Earth, Fire, Water, & Air. Further backing I draw is that FFCC is in a natural stat of Chaos. FFCC has the miasma world. RoF has the Red Moon always trying to corrupt the world. Even when the Red Moon is wiped from reality Miasma portals are popping up in CB. Or if the FFCC world isn't naturally in a state of Chaos, Crystals are to protect the world from Miasma & Monsters, which are living problems. While Crystals in FF are to keep the four Elements literally working which is a physical problem.
god i love the original so much i treid running a long term multi-player session over Dolphin net play. i played the remake on bluestacks just so i could use a GC controller 😂
How do you make a Made in Heaven reference, and NOT a Gold Experience Requiem reference for Ring of Fates? And honestly, I'm fine with the ending. Otherwise, it would be depressing as heck.
So i am someone who will adamantly defend the Remaster. There was no way easy way for them to make this game work on modern consoles outside of making everyone download a companion app/game on their phone and use those as the controllers much like the GBAs on the original. The issue there ends up stemming from having to develop an app that would work consistently on like every possible phone type which is a nightmare. Aside from that, there's not really anything they could do. One of the main issues of having the multiplayer function like the OG is that it's gonna end up with one person being the host/owner of the console that the save is on. If you're not able to get the full group together anyone who couldn't make it might end up falling behind in terms of artifacts and gear and then you have to spend time catching them up. I know that the solution to this is just for no one to play on that save unless you can get everyone together but that can end up with you and your friends almost never getting around to playing it. I understand people being disappointed with the change in the multiplayer system overall but there really wasn't a right answer here. Another aspect that I see people fixate on a lot is the game not having you all move around on the over-world together. A lot of people say that the way it should have been does is that you all pick your characters and then join together in a lobby and you'd have the lead control as you go along the overworld. The main problem with this is the random encounters. Since a lot of these are sequenced events that progress side-quests, you run into a big issue here. Let's say someone isn't on the final step of the Black Knight side-quest and the leader is. If the final cut-scene happens where he gets killed, what happens to the players who haven't made it that far in the side-quest? does it skip to the end of the quest for them, completely ruining it for them, or does it not count for them, therefore not affecting their progression or memory count? If it's the latter, it means that only the party lead benefits from such scenes happening and you might need to run around just to get stuff to spawn to put everyone on the same page, which might end up making the problem worse. Maybe you only have the encounters count for the part lead and that's it. in that case, you end up having everyone else in the party being forced to watch the cut-scenes they don't benefit from in any way, which could drastically de-sync memory counts and could affect the final boss. Imagine getting to the final boss and 3/4 the party have a memory count of less than 10 lmao. The reason for only party lead recieving Myrhh is actually an obvious one. You'd be able to do a lot of sequencing breaking if you could join someone else's party and get a drop from Mount Kilanda or Rebena Te Ra on the first year, for example. While these are extreme edge cases, you have to account for these otherwise you'll end up with situations where the players might be soft-locked. In wanting to remaster this game, they were put in an incredibly "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. I'm not gonna act like this was the *best* situation but it definitely is one of the better ones. I'm not gonna try and act like this game was perfect or anything, but acting like this game is a 3/10 or an absolute trash fire is fucking pathetic.
I think it's pronounced like the actual English word, but anytime I read the word (for example, off of a video script) I always say it with a hard emphasis on the "AR". I never do this in casual conversation. English is my only fluent language.
@NovaZoneTV I also pronounce it with the AR emphasized but only for the game(and the silver star in it). When I say the word in reference to things involving...moon stuff, I say it the normal way that normal people say lunar lol.
Thanks for watching everyone! This has been a long time in the making. Like I said in the individual parts that make up this video, I initially planned on just making 1 turbo sized video, and after breaking them into chunks I always intended to do one of these supercuts of the 3. And y'all can't call me a sellout because roughly 50% of my viewers are only here because of my KH supercut. I was a sellout before y'all knew me. In all seirousness, I'm very happy with how this came out. FFCC may have it's problems here and there, especially with accessibility, but I figured if anyone's gonna make a video like this about it, it'll probably be me.
For actual changes here, the main thing is just some audio rebalancing and glitches I fixed in parts 2&3. My project file for part 1 was corrupted so I couldn't do much there.
1:54:48 I added an email I received from an FFCC fan about something that confused me. Feel free to pause and read their explanation for where I was confused.
4:34:20 This spot has minor FF16 spoilers and I forgot to change the time I put on screen for the compilation. It would take 13-20 hours to rerender & and upload, which lets be real, is a little long for something the chapters fix. If you have not touched FF16 or know nothing about it, I'd rec skipping this part I made into a chapter. However, it is something you'd know within the first 3-5 hours of the 60+ hour game, so use your own discression.
@NovaZoneTv quick question are you interested in recommending the Guyver biobooster armor manga series or OVA 1989 franchise? It’s really good I heard but it’s kinda niche. I hope you respond.
Crystal Chronicles Remaster not being couch co op will forever not be forgivable
15000% unforgivable. my friends and I were so excited, and it was the biggest letdown
My heart is still broken 😭 So sad
I hate when people talk like that please stop it
Especially the fact that multiplayer progression wasn't saved. If I remember correctly.
I agree!!! So dissapointing, the missed the mark for what could have been the best couch co op
A random 4 hour video by an impassioned person I've never heard of about a game series I forgot to play. Thank you algorithm, and thank you NovaZone
OMG crystal chronicles on the GameCube is a nostalgic experience for me, game came to me on a low point in my life and definitely filled a void
I've gotta be honest man: this is probably the most impressed I've been with a project of yours. Your KH one may have been longer, but the amount of love, research, and analysis in this one makes it far more impressive to me, especially when I know how much work you've put in behind the scenes. I've loved watching you come more and more into your own as a creative and I'm so excited to see where you go from here.
I mean haha armless crystal chronicles moogles funnee
Man I just loved playing Echoes of time back when i was still growing up. Always went with 4 Selkies because double jump was just insanely useful. Skipping certain puzzles was suddenly very easy.
I had only ever played FFCC in single player so that lonely, doomed sense you talked about was actually my favorite thing about it.
I really enjoyed watching this video as a Crystal Chronicles lover! However, I believe the part about single-player gameplay forgot to mention something somewhat important- or at least I missed it if it did- that I'd like to put here for any future solo CC players: the Moogle that carries your chalice is actually REALLY important! Mog will cast spells when he's not holding the chalice, and you can combine with him to get higher-level spells like Gravity without needing to fuse magicite. Some sources (including the official guidebook) say that the color you paint Mog will change the spells he uses, but it can be a little finnicky- theoretically, painting him all blue will cause him to only use Blizzard, but I've seen cases where I've covered every inch of his fur in blue paint and he still cast one of the other elements randomly during a dungeon. His casting reticle will automatically align with yours. Managing Mog correctly makes the single-player experience MUCH smoother. It's still inferior to multiplayer, but Mog has a lot of little quirks that make him feel like a character all his own IMO. Remember to cut his fur when you go into the desert!
I think I spent 1 sentence mentioning it, but since I didn't have footage, I decided not to dwell on it. Especially because I have way more experience in 2/3P mode.
it's worth mentioning that he has a cooldown on spells. when you get him to cast a spell you'll have to wait a bit/hit some enemies and wait for him to say a line that's not about being tired of carrying the chalice. He will also flash iirc
I'm tired, its your turn, kupo!
@lynxthewise7233 this comment popped up while I was watching the My Hero Academia movie trailer (I'm not a mega fan, just curious sometimes) and now I'm thinking of the All Might "It’s Your Turn" with the tired Moogle
@@NovaZoneTV quick question are you interested in recommending the Guyver biobooster armor manga series or OVA 1989 franchise? It’s really good I heard but it’s kinda niche. I hope you respond.
As someone who bought the first crystal chronicles, but didn't have a gba, I tried to play it single player... I gave up after the 2nd year started. It was nice to see the rest of the game in a video. I doubt I will ever try to pick it up again but even with the half assed attempt nearly a decade ago it was a good memory.
It’s doable solo it just fucking sucks and you have to powergame the whole time, go back to levels to get materials and build the best possible weapon and gear you can have at that point. It still sucks though don’t recommend. Always keep a cura crystal or 2 on you.
That was my problem with Crystal Chronicles as well, actual enjoyment of the game was hard locked behind having three things:
GameBoy Advances
Gamecube Link Cables for said GBAs
Friends
I was never very good at that last one...
@@shadowtheimpurecould have really benefited from a modern re-release with online co-op if Square Enix hadn’t absolutely flubbed it up
Playing the GameCube Crystal Chronicles was such a blast with my friends. I saved up a lot of money to get enough GBAs and link cables to get 4 players going. It taught me that failing as a team is a lot more fun than succeeding alone.
Some more things about the Remaster additions that weren't mention that I feel like are worth bringing up.
-The storage moogle allows someone to trade items and money between characters when playing single player. they can also trade weapons, armor and accessories, which is something you couldn't do in the original. This allows you to get end game equipment for freshly made characters in the late game when they can't survive third cycle dungeons. This does allow you to pass Ultima Weapon around to characters of the same race. If you actually deleted the alchemist's child character 3 times to get 4 copies of the scroll (an endeavor that takes 62 in game years btw) you can make one for each race and swap them around freely. Force Ring luckily only would need to be made once.
-New weapons, armor and accessories from the Hard mode dungeons help add a reason to actually try out the hard mode dungeons and keep playing past the credits. Shoutouts to the Yuke specific accessory that essentially adds a whopping *75* points of magic. Combine that with their new ultimate weapons that cast a tier 3 spell as the focus attack and you become an absolute menace, especially in multiplayer when you can have allies distract the enemies for the incredibly long cast time.
-New artifact rings for Gravity, Holy and Meteor. This allows a single person to cast them in multiplayer and save so many command slots in single player. I actually end up not knowing what to put in a few slots in post game and don't have to constantly worry about fusing the spell rings again at the start of every dungeon. unfortunately these are exclusive artifacts from hard mode dungeons
-Hard mode dungeons actually feature rearranged or remixed versions of the dungeon themes which is an incredibly nice touch.
-On the topic of hard mode dungeons, they do have a challenge rating so some are meant to be done immediatly and others are meant to be done after you get post game gear. They don't follow the same progression as the main story, for example Goblin Party (hard mode of Goblin Wall) will absolutely fuck you up.
For me, the remaster was everything I wanted. But I had experienced the drawbacks to multiplayer in 5-6 groups over the years. Getting link cords, GBAs, certain types of people expecting to play for one hour and others for eight. Durdling around in towns for 20 minutes every time anyone needs something. Always having to be the one to carry the chalice... I have fond memories of playing with neighborhood kids for 10 hours straight when I was 13 or so, but modern remaster-style single dungeon matchmaking with the FFCC discord ended up being better as an adult.
Honestly glad to see someone with a different opinion on the remaster. It didn't work for me since I wanted it as a way to replay with old friends or introduce it to new friends, but I guess it does work if you want the kind of experience you got.
My family and I used to play FFCC together, and the whole world has been carried around with me for years now. Thanks for making this retrospective!
Lol literally just finished watching all three videos back to back to find this video uplaoded 20 mins ago
Now you can send people 1 link they'll never open instead of 3 links! So convenient!
I'll never forget the memories of me and 3 buddies getting a full squad to play Crystal Chronicles together, following the Nintendo Power guide that I still have and sunk so many hours into.
I still hope to this day to get a group to play together (that isnt just randos on netplay). It's such a shame that the multiplayer on the remake couldnt be as tidy as the original. Given that they touched "Morning Sky" as well, I have to give a big round of applause to the madmen working on Dolphin being able to help preserve as much of the experience as is *currently* possible.
The final boss for this game is so absolute peak in every aspect. The music is one of the best I've ever heard
Still my top 3 final boss themes. Chills every time.
My favorite moment in Crystal Bearers was breaking the pots in the Library(?) and being in massive debt to the point where an NPC spawned and started showering the whole area with money. I don't remember much from that game but that moment will always stay with me
You have some of my favorite videos. Some people make long-form videos but for some reason, their speaking style is hard to listen to, but I really enjoy listening to you.
Cool to see a video by someone passionate about the series who also understands the context with Kawazu and the Wonderswan.
I always describe Crystal Chronicles as a beautiful combination of Kawazu sensibility, on a Secret of Mana framework, with Final Fantasy IX flavor and some rogue like dungeon crawling elements.
This was an extremely interesting watch, as someone who played a decent amount of the original solo but never got to experience multi-player....... and also never knew most of the sequels existed.
Even though I played alone, the world of the original felt so fascinating to me, I wanted to explore it and to keep my town and family safe. It had this feeling of desolation and anxiety from exploring alone that both terrified me and made me excited.
Evem though I technically have the equipment, I doubt I could wrangle some friends into playing with me now, considering our busy work schedules. But I still have fair amount of awe and nostalgia for this game and its world, so thank you for such an in depth review of the entire series.
i do love that you touch upon the fact that trying to make the original work on a single TV screen would be incredibly difficult or impossible because trying to change commands or do anything in the menus would take up to much screen space or require it to pause for everyone, wrecking the pace. I have seen absolutely no one else share that opinion
I loved playing through 4 player Chrystal chronicals on the gamecube in college.
1:23 gosh seeing this really hit me with nostalgia to staying up late on a video essay on the story behind that game, gosh it was so rough
It's interesting seeing your perspective on multiplayer because for me, i have always enjoyed single player way more than multiplayer. I just found trying to coordinate with another player frustratingly clunky.
Someone always having to be on chalice duty limited your mobility in frustrating ways (in single player you don't have to worry about that because the moogle does it for you, giving you way more mobility).
And spell fusion in multiplayer...*shudder*
To this day i still have flashbacks to saying "One, two, three! No! Shoot we did it wrong!" Having to have perfect timing just to cast gravity or holy is SUPER clunky and frustrating, especially when they are required spells for certain enemies.
But i still agree with you that multiplayer was fun and i have cherished memories of playing with ny brother to this day.
I loved the original crystal chronicles on the gamecube. Me and my younger sister would play when we were kids but we never knew how to progress much beyond i think the sleuce. It was the only game we had that required the link cable. As a teenager i similarly bought more gba cables and one thanksgiving break, my siblings and cousins all together were trying to play through and beat the game, figuring out spell combos, the puzzles for different areas, and levelling up all our characters. We never did end up completing the game but definitely some of the most fun memories i have that truly arent replicatable without the hardware.
As somebody who almost never has friends to play with, the issues with multiplayer did not hurt me nearly as much as it did to everybody else. But I'd be a liar if I said I didn't feel its sting with how severely limiting it was to play online, even it was to simply help players get further into their games and collect artifacts to boost my stats without progressing too far into my own adventure. Because when the multiplayer's issues reared its ugly little head, it felt like I was getting blasted by a Malboro's Bad Breath attack at point blank range.
At least the single-player mode is still every bit the delight I loved the original for. But half of the game being amazing is still *half the game*, and it's not the half that made Crystal Chronicles such a well-beloved classic.
Chucking coco on screen when you said taiwan was incredibly unnecessary.
You know how hard it is to hold in my laughter at 2am?
Don't laugh. Loudly o7
omg, thank you for having a great narration voice, I need more videos like this!
Another great video to play in the background at work! Or to fall asleep to 🙌🙌🙌
Rùng mình
I dont even like rpgs. yet here I am, watching, liking, and commenting on this video.
God I loved couch co op with my friends through CC onthe Gamecube, that was before the dark days, good times
One of my new fave channels ❤
Recently watched all your FFCC videos. Just hope more are aware of this subseries
ys mentioned! now there's a criminally under-discussed franchise, even though it's still alive.
i never played all the other games, but crystal chronicles itself holds a soft spot in my heart, i played so many hours of it back in high school. i remember back in the day my kid-brain made a weird visual connection between the final boss of crystal chronicles and kingdom hearts chain of memories because they've got a very similar silhouette (that being, "shaped kinda like an N64 controller")
Tbh, I've wanted to do an Ys video for a while now. I played 1&2 (PC Engine and Chronicles), OiF, Ys IV DoY, 6, & 7 last year. I had an idea for making an "every version of Ys 1&2" type video similar to one I made about Castlevania 1/Akumajo Dracula. It'll take some work though because, quite honestly, getting the PC 98 emulator to play and record the small clip of the intro was a real bitch and a half.😅
I ended up doing one recording of the audio while the video was glitched out, another of the video while muted, and then lined them up . 🙃 It was worth it though to me. I'm very happy with how this whole project came out.
@@NovaZoneTV oh jeez, i can imagine trying to emulate and record the PC-98 is a pain, i have a tough enough time trying to work just with DOS games on occasion (tomb raider, my nemesis...). i've only played the easily-commercially-available versions of the ys games myself, so not the originals of 1-4 but their assorted remakes, a couple years ago back when 9 came out, so it would be fun to see how some of the originals compare to the remade versions. i think 8 and oath in felghana hold the fan-favorite spots, very justifiably imo, though i had a pretty good time with all of them, it's a blast getting to see how experimental jrpgs can be (not unlike crystal chronicles).
I really appreciate this in-depth look at a game that could have been great but was completely strangled by the incredibly constraining, convoluded way its multiplayer nide was implemented.
I'll also giggle Ievery time I hear TITS village, I cant help it.
awesome video, loved this series growing up
Alright you got me I'll see this through to the end over the next week or so
These games were in my childhood and i've been waiting for someone to do a video like this for a while. Thank you.
Crystal Chronicles and Tales of Symphonia were two of the most influential games I played with my sister as a kid. They still define what I look for when I'm looking at new games, especially RPGs and co-op games.
Wanted to add that the music was also awesome. I still have the original Japanese 2 disc version somewhere around here that I saved up for almost a full year to get, lol.
Crystal Chronicles, I can honestly say, is one of the best multiplayer experience games I ever played. I wished they'd expand and make a new one, where you travel in a caravan with friends and just explore the world. This series has so much potential that's not being played into!
I imagine you and your group travelling together, fighting monsters, doing puzzles, writing letters and outside battle. You can even do cooking and other odd jobs that can give you pluses in battles. Also, you could meet other people's caravans and network, assist them and open up new paths. Honestly, with everyone just travelling in a caravan together. It would be so relaxed and fun, with a lovely homely whimsical feel, that's the true appeal and strength of the franchise.
I hope they develop something new for it one day!
please what is the intro music, i adore the piano
I didn't realise it was 5h long....
2:30 hits different ❤
It’s finally here!
Played this with 3 close friends growing up. We ran this game so many times. It was sooooo awesome. So sad that they never really did this game justice.
44:00 Withholding what map you have in four player doesn't work because someone will call BS. I was fortunate to play this and Four Swords and PacMan VS in four player in college, but never again since. I am glad to see a video cover this.
To be fair I think to this day square Enix is asking itself what is final fantasy lol. It feels like the series has been going through an identity crises since 12/13. I liked 12 btw
The memory of TITS Village now lives on in all of us.
back in high school i wanted a remake of this for the 3DS sso bad. i felt that both screens could be used to emulate how the original felt perfectly with top screen being what would be on your TV and the bottom screen could handle the radar.
I'm actually one of the few people who loved the remaster because i understood that you'd have to completely redesign how the game worked on a fundamental level just to make this work for a single screen in the case of couch coop that everyone was demanding.
I have the original and the remaster. Loved this game when I was in high school. And I remember just never being able to find anybody that had a game cube link cable so we could play this game with multiplayer. It’s still a dream for me today is to have a four player game of this go through the whole thing. One day I hope
This video showed a few ffcc characters I also have in dffoo, and now I'm starting this video sad about dffoo...
But I'm a huge fan of crystal chronicles, of the game, of the music, of the gameplay! So much so that I got a friend to lend me their old gameboy advance sp and gamecube link cable, so if I have friends over, I have two of each so we can play on the wii (I sadly never owned a gamecube).
The musician also worked on some zone music in final fantasy 11, specifically the Bastok region. I love them, the music is so timeless! So much so that I felt like the anime for Dungeon Meshi reminded me of FFCC. XD
Edit:
I'm a bit disappointed that you just excluded final fantasy 11/14 from the high fantasy to science fantasy meter at 3:10:35
Here, this is my take on where these mmorpg titles fall, since I understand a lot of people don't want to play the multiplayer games. Or don't have time since the story of FFXI is several hundred hours long.
I would say FFXI rests between FF3 and FFIV, as Tanaka Hiromichi stated, heavily inspired by FF3.
Also, I would say FFXIV falls closer to FFVII and FFVIII.
There we go, for anyone curious. ^^
Lol, so funny thing with the MMOs there.
So 11, it's just that I nor anyone in my friend circle has really played it. But with 14, I asked a few friends, and we came to a conclusion that 14 is so all-encompassing at this point that it'd be at the entire spectrum.
(Also, I made that for a dumb Twitter post when playing Stranger of Paradise. Wasn't something I spent a lot of time one)
@@NovaZoneTV Understandable, it is daunting, and the sub spooks a lot of people haha.
I will say, ff14 is more of an amusement park final fantasy, if just draws in from all the games (though most of the models are pretty much from FFXI lol). So the fantasy spectrum being all over, makes sense XD
If you for whatever reason have FFXI questions about retail that isn't about endgame, feel free to ask.
I've played since NA launch (we were sneaky norwegian kids and used a fake canadian address to play on it asap lol), and I love rambling about it.
I mostly just wanted to add a few cents about the fantasy level.^^ Thanks so much for this hefty FFCC video. I will deffo have to re-visit the game now.
God i loved every crystal chronicles! I remember when the DS version came out and I put more hours into that than every pokemon i owned on the DS combined!
Hello! i think you should cover "Magical Starsign" on this series. hardly see any content on it on RUclips and i think it fits this format really well
I've got my next few projects planned out but I'll never say never. I haven't played it but I remember being interested when I saw ads in comics and magazines.
@@NovaZoneTV Thank you for even considering! Great work here on this channel, looking forward to your next videos
I liked the remaster a lot but I had a group of friends that loved this game growing up too. The addition of the non paid cosmetic overrides was cool as well!
I used to love Crystal Bearers on my Wii. A good story, solid gameplay, and fun characters.
Never got to play most of the Crystal Chronicle series, but I have some fond memories after renting Crystal Bearer for a few weeks from Netflix. It's a neat little game that used the story as a vehicle to get you to the next playground and I would have loved a sequel that gives you a bit more to do combat wise. I thought it would have been cool to pick up lesser versions of other Bearers' powers and mix them with the telekinesis ability. Or hold on to certain weapons or items that are used in neat ways with those powers.
Anyways, this was a great retrospective that has inspired me to try and hunt some of these games down.
I played FF:CC when it launched. I had more than one GBA (one regular, and one SP), and friends with their own GBAs. I bought the link cables, and so I actually played on a GameCube, with GBAs, with 4 people. I consider the Caravan from Townia to be an important, and formative, experience.
I do not understand why anyone says the remake "messed up" the co-op. I played the remake with most of the same people who formed my OG caravan, and we all liked it a lot better. I'm genuinely confused that no one else seems to appreciate the huge upgrade the remake introduced.
it usually stems form people wanting the exact same experience without realizing how incredibly difficult to impossible it would be, plus their nostalgia glossing over how actually bad the original experience was when you're not in the middle of the dungeon crawling. Like, acting like the original is an 8/10 game and the remaster is a 2/10 jsut baffles me
oh i wanna mention something about stats. they basically go in 5s so an increase in any stat of like going from 20 to 24 would not do anything where going from 24 to 25 would make you do more/take less damage. so if it feels like sometimes you're not any stronger after an artifact or stat boost it's most likely cause you didn't hit the next multiple of 5
What is the name of the first song playing over the title select screen for crystal chronicles at the very beginning of the video?
It's the title theme from FFX-2
if you had 5 game cubes,5 tvs, and the game boy player, you can do a work around where you dont need the gba. i did that with my friends after we had a nightmare experience when 1 gba shut down in middle of the marlboro boss fight. i still have ptsd from that but it was amazing. it was like 2 am at my friend's place and we ended up taking a trip to the store to restock on snacks while recharging. this trick worked with 4 swords as well
I think I saw an article about that one time.
No way am I ever going to be in a situation where I'll have 5 gamecubes and 5 tvs next to me, but if y'all had fun with it, then more power to you!
@@NovaZoneTV i was lucky and had a bunch of friends from our halo lan party game days and we did the the crazy set up. 16 tvs(4 in living room, 4 in dining room, and 2 bed rooms 4 each) it sounds crazy but if you had the people its a experience every gamer would love.
How does that workaround even work??
@@SchrollShepard the gameboy player simulates a ds, so you need 4 if you have 4 players
@@Assyrianking Ok, but how do you play the game with t different consoles? None of you would be on the same game, right?
I love this game. I played it a ton as a kid, and I played the remaster for 250+ hours. Got every artifact and piece of gear for all 8 character slots. It’s a shame it doesn’t have couch coop. I was never able to connect and play with friends in the end. At least I got to join other people online though.
What's that theme at the intro? I swear I've heard it somewhere before.
Memory of Lightwaves. The title screen music from Final Fantasy X-2.
@@NovaZoneTV Thanks, also great video dude.
Anyone remember Crystal defenders?
This game was my childhood.
For the longest time I thought Crystal Chronicles was some kind of fever dream since I remember playing the game in highschool with my ex but I think I forget it was on the gamecube. Wasnt until it was put on Switch that it made it all come back, I even messaged my ex YEARS later to try and confirm that the memory was actually real and that this was the game we played back then lol.
@NovaZoneTv quick question are you interested in recommending the Guyver biobooster armor manga series or OVA 1989 franchise? It’s really good I heard but it’s kinda niche. I hope you respond.
I love Crystal Chronicles. I rarely got to play with others, but I've definitely sunk more than 100 hours on the singleplayer. I printed a 100+ page guide from Gamefaqs and made spreadsheets to keep track of which character had/needed which artifact.
It's such a shame the remaster fumbled the multiplayer. I never played the other CC games but I hope they someday get batter remasters/sequels.
Subscribed because I saw phantasy star.
I remember a friend setting up FF:CC back when I was about 10 or so however I didnt really enjoy using the GBA as a controller and carrying and moving the chalice felt like a chore that just slowed down the game and I also didnt like the reticle system for spells AND charge skills...i think it would have been better if it was limited to spells. I kinda just noped out along with my other friend that really wasnt getting it either after maybe the fourth dungeon. It is definitely a love it or hate it kinda series.
I was so excited for Crystal Chronicals as a kid! I remember going to my cousin's house who had Playstation (my family only bought Nintendo consoles because they were always cheaper) and he would show me cool things from Final Fantasy VII (like Knights of the Round Table) and even the beginning scene of Final Fantasy VIII. My main games were always Zelda and Smash Brothers, so I was SO hyped that an RPG, especially one as prolific as a Final Fantasy, was coming to Nintendo. After I got the game as a birthday present... I decided I hated it and it wasn't a true Final Fantasy. Eventually, this sentiment washed away and it kind of grew on me somewhat. When I got older, sometimes I would reminisce back on it and remember some of the banger soundtrack or the cool little lore they would tell before a dungeon!
I bought the updated version of the Switch and had a lot of fun. The nostalgia was REAL! Looking back with a new state of mind, I think they were on the precipice of a very cool and unique idea! This game mostly suffered from being inaccessible (I didn't have a GBA back then, and the friends that I had weren't going to buy a cable for this single game) and it was slightly too basic... Even when I played (by myself) as a Yuke, I found myself doing the SAME exact attack pattern for EVERY single enemy: bait an attack, back up, cast - rinse and repeat until dead. I have played with my brother and sister-in-law and it was slightly more fun, but still too basic.
Overall... it's hard for me to love this game but equally hard to hate it. There was a lot of missed potential. I was really hoping that when they re-released it, they would make more quality of life changes to better adapt it to the current era. Needless to say, I was slightly disappointed.
Regardless, I loved your video! Thanks and keep up the good work!
I'd also like to note that at 1:32:30 you said, "Not a single RPG came close to this status in English speaking territory...."
I have to argue with you there. Tales of Symphonia was BELOVED on the Gamecube. Even to this day, it is regarded as one of the strongest entries in the "Tales of..." franchise. Of course, it was later released on different consoles, but that was one of the first solid JRPG's to really grace Nintendo since the Golden Era of the SNES JRPG's. Baiten Kaitos also existed... but it's kind of hard to compare. It flew under the radar as an obscure title where Tales of Symphonia really found enough of an audience that a sequel was encouraged.
I had FFCC when I was a kid. Me and my younger brother each had a GBA, for Ruby and Sapphire obviously, and I had 2 link cables. Imagine how bored the guy who had to carry the chalice was. Yeah we could have taken turns but we were kids and the guy on chalice duty just wasn’t enjoying himself.
I've always put echoes of fates long after FFCC1 where the great crystal civilization appeared when crystal energy could be used for something else than repelling miasma.
1:27:22 so your solo moogle cast spells when he puts down the chalice
My two siblings and I played the hell out of this game, it was a lot of fun with 3 players. My brother got bored and stopped playing at some point, he likes more action oriented games typically. Our mom even played with us when she could since brother dropped out. We never knew anyone with a fourth Gameboy or cable but we played a lot of 2-3 players 😁
I was only missing like four artifacts last I remember. Could not get the Life ring to save my, well, life.
The remaster version would do so well on Steam. I can only wish.
i played crystal chronicles for the first time on og hardware with friends somewhat recently
and whilst it was really cool and i liked it a lot, truly the hardest part is getting other people to stick around for the full game and organising that and everyone being in the mood for it, we beat 5 or 6 other games between sessions and we're still not done
we named our charicters after the beatles but since there were only 3 of us we pretended as if the whole quest was to find a fourth purely because its a slower paced game and how slowly the plot plays out wasnt gripping their attention (not a bad thing but it makes it harder to get into for people who arent too familiar with ff like they are)
although now i know more about the rest of the series, maybe id have an easier time getting them though the other games first though
I forgot if I ever said in the video, but Echoes of Time and Ring of Fates are sizeably shorter. Of course, your playtime of FFCC1 is variable since you can beat it mostly when you want, but leisure runs for each, I found EoT to be a solid 2-4 hours shorter. Bryce and I also did a ton of those little side missions and talked to every NPC, so our run was about as long as possible for EoT.
I have nostalgia of renting this game at blockbuster a few times wanting to play it.. but never got past the mines, as we didnt have the obscure requirements for my brothers to play
oh my god ROBA music... ive been wanting music like crystal chronicals but never knew what to look for
Tbh I always played those since Ring of fates as a solo game, and it was awesome still.
The music of this game has stuck with me.
And this is playable with people online on dolphin now? Sounds like I need to get the gang together!
Anyone know the song starting at 2:54?
"Free Time" from the soundtrack to the anime 'Call of the Night'
@@NovaZoneTV Thank you, sir!
@@NovaZoneTV wow that whole soundtrack is amazing
1:29:33 mario hoops, is right there
1:57:38 that is, literally, just the monolith from the Xeno franchise
2:00:42 and now that's just diavolo lmao
2:38:55 1,3 and 5, shows 4, just found it really funny
2:43:46 that I envy a lot, wish my dad had such nostalgia from games
at 4:04:33 I just realized, the Crystal games has at the same time a lot and almost nothing to do with Crystals, like, the first one made sense, it protected them from Miasma, and you needed to recharge every year, but RoF, there isn't any miasma, so to not make the Crystal useless, it is now literally the monolith, EoT has so little to do with it, but story isn't its forté, both My Life literally doesn't use it (or does, I'm gonna be honest, I was doing cave of evils in Muramasa Rebirth at this point of the video), and now Crystal Bearers like RoF again, tries to change the crystal to be the Monolith, but slightly nerfed, and also specific for each race, in which you are currently explaining your theory
Bruh, that gelbooru moment
He's a really big Zelda fan, you've GOTTA understand
i think there's a possibilty you missed when trying to reconcile the crystal bearers lore with that of the rest of the series. in crystal bearers, the myth states that there were 4 crystals at the beginning of humankind, functioning as an origin story. in the rest of the series, the lore states that there was originally a single crystal, that broke off into many more after the calamitous events. crucially however, the four tribes existed long before the events of any of the games, and we never get any direct information to contradict the origin myth, by virtue of never going back in time to see the advent of people in any of the games. this instead opens up two potential questions of "what happened between the time of 4 great crystals and a single great crystal?", or "what were the three other crystals doing while the 4th took center stage in the rest of the game?"
What's the song at the beginning of the video?
My first final fantasy, which led me to play X-2 immediately after lol
X-2 was also one of the first few I played. Before the year ends, I wanna finally play X-1 and replay X-2.
@@NovaZoneTV dude, good luck 😂 I tried doing a 100% run with a guide and there’s a story boss that’s almost impossible to beat towards the end. Probably the hardest in the entire FF series, no joke haha X-2 I’m referring to btw
YOU FORGET ABOUT CLONE HERO (actually bought an old rockband guitar off ebay when i found it)
Final Fantasy became just another fantasy.
I Haven't watched the full video yet, so I'm hoping future me will be vindicated in 5 hours time - however my biggest gripe with the re-release on the Switch was that it ruined the magic of the Village/Caravan by letting anyone join in on your dungeon crawl rather than set characters from your Caravan. You didn't grow and journey with a group, you could potentially have 4 separate villages/worlds to save.
It would be great if it had two modes - one where you had a single instnace of a save file that the same player hosted and people could join that world as the character they made in that world and a mode where you could find random matches but you'd be forced to play as one of the host Caravan's characters. (think of it like a long DnD campaign vs just joining a one shot instance) You'd have to get some kind of reward for playing the latter mode (i.e. if you were running just Conall Curach for the Life Ring and when you got it on some random's character it could potentially pass it back to your in game Caravan)
My fan theory for a while: FFCC is the Dark World/World of Darkness that is often referenced in the mainline Final Fantasy games. There's always the Light warriors. *The* Crystals that shine with Light. But this is Japan so there is always the "there cannot be light without darkness". Although I think FF3 is the only one that explicitly has you go to the World of Darkness and deal with Dark Crystals that compliment the Crystals of the world.
But FFCC isn't dark and scary. Correct. Light and Dark aren't opposites, they are the same thing. They are compliments. What is FF about in games that deal strongly with Crystals? The basic elements of the world are being destroyed (1, 3, 5) or used to promote some evil purpose (4, 6). In FFCC what are the crystals for? Memories, Fate, Magic which means Probabilities of Time/Reality. The big problems in FF have to deal with the physical building blocks of the world, while FFCC is with the Spiritual/Conceptual building blocks of reality. The only time there is the number Four in FFCC its for the living soul-having human races of Clavat, Lilty, Yuke, & Selkie; while FF has the Classic Aristotelian physical Earth, Fire, Water, & Air.
Further backing I draw is that FFCC is in a natural stat of Chaos. FFCC has the miasma world. RoF has the Red Moon always trying to corrupt the world. Even when the Red Moon is wiped from reality Miasma portals are popping up in CB. Or if the FFCC world isn't naturally in a state of Chaos, Crystals are to protect the world from Miasma & Monsters, which are living problems. While Crystals in FF are to keep the four Elements literally working which is a physical problem.
god i love the original so much i treid running a long term multi-player session over Dolphin net play. i played the remake on bluestacks just so i could use a GC controller 😂
shouts out to Clone Hero for keeping guitar hero alive
10/10
How do you make a Made in Heaven reference, and NOT a Gold Experience Requiem reference for Ring of Fates?
And honestly, I'm fine with the ending. Otherwise, it would be depressing as heck.
13:40 while interesting again everyone just forgets XI exists
1:27:03 I managed to defeat the original Crystal Chronicles game in Single player as a Yuke.
So i am someone who will adamantly defend the Remaster. There was no way easy way for them to make this game work on modern consoles outside of making everyone download a companion app/game on their phone and use those as the controllers much like the GBAs on the original. The issue there ends up stemming from having to develop an app that would work consistently on like every possible phone type which is a nightmare. Aside from that, there's not really anything they could do.
One of the main issues of having the multiplayer function like the OG is that it's gonna end up with one person being the host/owner of the console that the save is on. If you're not able to get the full group together anyone who couldn't make it might end up falling behind in terms of artifacts and gear and then you have to spend time catching them up. I know that the solution to this is just for no one to play on that save unless you can get everyone together but that can end up with you and your friends almost never getting around to playing it. I understand people being disappointed with the change in the multiplayer system overall but there really wasn't a right answer here.
Another aspect that I see people fixate on a lot is the game not having you all move around on the over-world together. A lot of people say that the way it should have been does is that you all pick your characters and then join together in a lobby and you'd have the lead control as you go along the overworld. The main problem with this is the random encounters. Since a lot of these are sequenced events that progress side-quests, you run into a big issue here. Let's say someone isn't on the final step of the Black Knight side-quest and the leader is. If the final cut-scene happens where he gets killed, what happens to the players who haven't made it that far in the side-quest? does it skip to the end of the quest for them, completely ruining it for them, or does it not count for them, therefore not affecting their progression or memory count? If it's the latter, it means that only the party lead benefits from such scenes happening and you might need to run around just to get stuff to spawn to put everyone on the same page, which might end up making the problem worse. Maybe you only have the encounters count for the part lead and that's it. in that case, you end up having everyone else in the party being forced to watch the cut-scenes they don't benefit from in any way, which could drastically de-sync memory counts and could affect the final boss. Imagine getting to the final boss and 3/4 the party have a memory count of less than 10 lmao.
The reason for only party lead recieving Myrhh is actually an obvious one. You'd be able to do a lot of sequencing breaking if you could join someone else's party and get a drop from Mount Kilanda or Rebena Te Ra on the first year, for example. While these are extreme edge cases, you have to account for these otherwise you'll end up with situations where the players might be soft-locked.
In wanting to remaster this game, they were put in an incredibly "Damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. I'm not gonna act like this was the *best* situation but it definitely is one of the better ones. I'm not gonna try and act like this game was perfect or anything, but acting like this game is a 3/10 or an absolute trash fire is fucking pathetic.
Wait, is Lunar not pronounced loon-AR in regards to the game series?
I think it's pronounced like the actual English word, but anytime I read the word (for example, off of a video script) I always say it with a hard emphasis on the "AR". I never do this in casual conversation.
English is my only fluent language.
@NovaZoneTV I also pronounce it with the AR emphasized but only for the game(and the silver star in it). When I say the word in reference to things involving...moon stuff, I say it the normal way that normal people say lunar lol.
This world is fascinating enough for me to want a mainline FF game set in this world.
However, knowing Square Enix, this will never happen.
I doubt it, but FFXII was based in a spin-off's world. So it's not impossible.
Lore of Falling to Obscurity - A Crystal Chronicles Retrospective momentum 100