Chocobo Tales

[Wyvern]

Has anybody else here played this ultimately quite shallow but excellently presented game? It's only on the DS (I SWEAR I NEVER PIRAET) and is pretty much a minigame collection (thanks Square, Nintendo doesn't have enough of them right now). Before you think "crap spin off", I'll just relay a little about the game:

-It's in full 3D, and has arguably some of the best gameplay graphics of the DS on the west cliff
-You play as a chocobo
-The minigames are set inside magic picture books and have the same graphical style as Yoshi's Island, with the characters looking like paper cutouts
-The storyline is shallow at first but as you go on, and if you explore a bit, it's actually a little depressing, for a game supposedly aimed at children
-Playing the minigames in competetive mode against the computer in 5 difficulty modes, and then playing it in trial mode (high scores) a different way is quite fun. An example:

The first minigame, Tortoise and the Hare/Adamantoise and the Cactuar, opens with the first half of the story before you play through it as the adamantoise. In the battle levels you race the other adamantoise to the top. And in trial mode, you try and set a record time, but also get rewards for dodging all the boulders, etc. When you beat certain targets or levels, you either get:
-A battle card, used in a moderately fun rock paper scissors styled battle card game
-A new epilogue (these also advance you in the game, for example when the angry Cactuar fires spikes at the adamantoise, a balloon pops in real life, dropping a key to the ground)
-Saves a villager trapped in the book (they let you play ridiculously addictive 2D microgames)


So, yeah. If you have DS this is worth a play, although I'm not sure it's worth a buy unless you want to collect all the FF games or you buy quite a lot of DS games.

[John]

Gamespot gave it a 8.5 I think, and I think that was the main reason I bought myself a copy. I also bought a copy as a clearance title at Circuit City so I was fortunate to own one than buying one at EB Games for $30 dollars.

Mine actually froze up, I dont exactly know how a SD Card would freeze up a game but it did at the first puzzle I came across to. Then I kinda stopped, but I will get into it eventually.

Wyvern, nice signature by the way, haha.

[Synesis]

Sounds 'meh' to me. I much prefer big epic adventures myself. I may pick it up eventually though.

[John]

I guess you can consider it something for those die-hard FF fans that will purchase anything Final Fantasy related. It really is an underdog title, people shouldn't overlook it.