Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon

August 1,2008 - It was no surprise to hear that Square Enix wanted to make a game for the Wii starring their cute and cuddly Chocobo character, but to see a new installment in the Chocobo’s Dungeon series was a surprise. That’s mainly because we haven’t seen the series for 10 years now since its last installment on the original PlayStation. Although this game is attached to the Final Fantasy Fables series that originated on the DS with a mini-game collection, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon is certainly not a casual game by any means.

Chocobo's Dungeon revolves around Cid and his partner Chocobo working their way through a dungeon, the training area for you. Before they know it, they’re transported to a mysterious town called Losttime. They learn that the bell in the middle of the town is causing folks to lose their memories whenever it rings, but the creepy part of the story is that the townsfolk chant in harmony that forgetting who they are and forgetting their past is a good thing. Adding to the strange story, a baby is born from an egg that crash lands nearby and apparently has some strange ability to help these townsfolk regain their memories if they can survive the treacherous path through the dungeon in their mind to recover their memories. This is where the story and gameplay kicks off, where you’re tasked with helping the townsfolk recover their memories and it all starts to unravel into an even bigger story.

For those who don’t remember the Chocobo’s Dungeon games for the PS1, these games are dungeon crawlers, rogue-likes for those in the know, a form of RPG that focuses on using randomly-generated dungeons as the main place for battles to occur with an emphasis on item management as well. Though the game is turn-based, it’s not menu-heavy like you may expect, as you’re allowed to move freely around the dungeon with every step you take or move you make allowing the enemies around you to move and attack, so you must be very aware of your surroundings. Walking around also replenishes health and SP while lowering your hunger meter, which can be replenished by eating food. Besides just enemies, you’ll find other items scattered around dungeons as well as traps and such on the ground that can be either helpful or harmful, so you must tread lightly to stay safe.

The controls of Chocobo’s Dungeon are rather simple, as you can use the Wii Remote vertically or horizontally or just use the Classic Controller if you want to use a normal controller. It’s strange that you can use the analog stick of the Classic Controller to move around, but you’re not allowed to plug in the Nunchuck to achieve the same goal. With an analog stick, it’s a bit difficult to pull off diagonal moves when you really need to pull them off. You’re now able to pick jobs for your Chocobo when you enter a dungeon, at least as long as you collect the job memories in the dungeon first, each of which have their own strengths and weaknesses for the situation. If you’re not familiar with rogue-likes, they can be hard games, and Chocobo’s Dungeon is no slouch thanks to the regenerating enemies, boss battlers, traps, and the general gameplay rules that rogue-likes have.

Outside of the required dungeons that Chocobo’s Dungeon’s quest offers, there are plenty of side missions and mini-games to keep you busy when you need to take a break from the story. The side missions come from the other townsfolk, whose dungeons generally come with special restrictions that up the difficulty. If you do need to replay previously beaten dungeons, the church offers an archive of sorts, which is nice when you feel a bit to underpowered for your next dungeon in the storyline. Because your base of operations is a farm, you do have the opportunity to try your hand at fishing or gardening while the Mog House in town offers some of its own mini-games, including a card game that can be played over the internet with cards that you find in the dungeons.

In the visual department, Chocobo’s Dungeon certainly makes the most of what the Wii’s capable of with simpler graphics, but with good textures and details. Chocobo definitely looks like the cute and fluffy creature that he is while the many other characters you meet also look good. The many dungeons you visit do offer a good variety in visual styles, from underwater dungeons to dungeons that seem to take place within a volcano. The game also has some really good music, though it’s not all original stuff, as Final Fantasy fans will be easily to recognize some of the music here from past Final Fantasy games. As a bonus, the Wii Remote’s speaker lets you hear Choocobo’s various noises and attacks that adds a bit to the experience.

Wii owners that crave the newest RPGs will definitely find a lot to like in Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon, especially those that are into the rogue-like subgenre of RPGs. Even if you’re just into the typical turn-based RPGs that come out these days and is a newbie at rogue-likes, Chocobo’s Dungeon features a pretty good tutorial that eases you into its particular gameplay style quite nicely. You’re certainly going to get a lot of value, but if you’re not into RPGs, you’ll find little like here, but it’s a definite buy for those who do.

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