Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon – Review

	Available On: Nintendo Wii Format Reviewed: Nintendo Wii Publisher: Square-Enix Developer: Square-Enix Players: 1 Online: 1-2

At first glance you would be completely forgiven for thinking Chocobo’s Dungeon was merely Final Fantasy: Junior Edition. And in all honesty, that is what it is really: a dumbed down version of the series. I mean the main character, who is the only character that you play as throughout the entire game, is a chicken for crying out loud! But does that mean that us hardcore gamers should chicken out, and disregard it altogether? Well obviously I’m not going to tell you in the first paragraph, so hit the link below to read on!

In my personal opinion, the Final Fantasy games are an acquired taste. You have to be into the whole grinding thing, the patience of a saint and the willingness to accept the incomprehensible storyline. Casual players wouldn’t think twice about trying one. The Final Fantasy Fable spin-off games, however, aim to change that. Last year we had Chocobo’s Tales on the Nintendo DS, which was basically just a mini-game compilation, and now we’ve got Chocobo’s Dungeon on the Wii.

Before the title screen appears, a very nicely rendered cutscene plays which shows off the main characters and a few environments in glorious 3D. This is one of the Final Fantasy trademarks, and they’ve done well not to scrap it for Chocobos Dungeon. Anyway, begin the game and you find Cid and Chocobo travelling through the desert in what looks like a buggy, searching for treasure. They soon come across a dungeon, and that’s where you come in. The first dungeon serves merely as a tutorial, and at this point you’ll be thinking that the game is far too easy. Not for long though…

After the tutorial dungeon, you’ll spend the next half hour or so watching cutscenes, which basically explain the whole premise of the game. Basically Cid and Chocobo somehow end up in a town with a clock tower that wipes the memories (Sometimes partially, sometimes completely) of its citizens every time it chimes. How they came up with that I don’t know. So a good many of the town’s people have forgotten who they are altogether, and soon the same happens to our friend Cid.

Now from here it gets a bit strange: a baby, who you soon learn is called Raffaello, appears from out of nowhere, and goes into the memories of the town mayor who has forgotten a good many things, including his very own name. You, Chocobo, follow the baby into his the mayor’s memories, and you find yourself in a dungeon. Your goal is to scour the dungeon and find the baby, whilst restoring the memories of that particular individual. It sounds a little complicated, but it’s not really when you play and see it yourself.

The graphics are superb at points in the game, whilst at other times it all looks a bit on the rough side. Thankfully most of the time it’s the former, and in-game it definitely isn’t bad for the Wii. The cutscenes look absolutely gorgeous, in true Final Fantasy style. The soundtrack is yet another one of the game’s plus points with a very distinct Final Fantasy-like sound to it, which of course can only be a good thing. I also found it interesting that most of the game is actually voiced, so you’ve got a rest from reading hundreds of text boxes. The quality of the voice acting isn’t very good, mind you, but it’s the thought that counts.

Interestingly the actual look of the dungeons is randomised, so you’ll never enter the same one twice. But that comes at a cost. They have an extremely basic look to them, and although they aren’t all the same shape and size, they all look far too similar I suppose you have got to bear in mind that the game was designed with a younger audience in mind, but I still find it to be a bit of a disappointment. Other than the look though, they are fully functional. At the beginning they’re a tad on the easy side, but as you progress they get harder and harder to survive through. Enemies attack for a lot more HP and become a lot more resilient.

There are three control methods available for Chocobos Dungeon: the Wii remote upright, the Wii remote on its side or the Classic Controller. Let me make it clear first off that using the Wii remote upright is not comfortable whatsoever, so forget that completely. The classic controller is also a good method, but my favourite has to be the Wii remote on its side. The controls are very simple: the directional buttons move you, the ‘A’ button brings up the menu and the ‘2’ button is for attacking. It may well be simple but it’s very effective and works brilliantly.

Chocobos Dungeon is a great spin-off to the Final Fantasy series. Although it is designed with a younger audience in mind, us hardcore gamers are still capable of enjoying it. You may not do so at first, but if you can seriously resist the charm after an hour or so with the game then you must be inhuman. If you are looking for a proper, full-on RPG, then you won’t find what you are looking for here. But if want a game with all of the fun of an RPG without the tons of grinding and intense difficulty, then you’ll most certainly enjoy this.