Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates

About This Game

Gameplay

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates is an action role-playing game; players take on the role of lead character Yuri in the single-player campaign, and a troop of adventurers in the co-op multiplayer mode dubbed "Multiplay". The player characters in both modes are selected from four playable races of the world; the balanced Clavats, tank-style Lilties, magic-focused Yukes, and ranged Selkies. Each character has specific weapon skills based around their race. The gameplay and general information is separated between the two screens of the Nintendo DS: the in-game display is shown on the top screen, while the lower touch screen displays the menu and weapon selection. The player explores the 3D environments from an overhead third-person perspective, with levels consisting of interlinked rooms filled with enemies and sometimes a puzzle blocking progress until solved. Combat takes place in real-time within areas of a level. The player character attacks enemies in each zone, with combined inputs of the DS face buttons and d-pad resulting in faster combination attacks. Different combinations of button prompts create a variety of attacks.

History

Ring of Fates was developed and published by Final Fantasy franchise developers Square Enix. The concept emerged following the release of the DS, with the production team feeling it was "perfect" for the Crystal Chronicles series, focusing on using the platform's capabilities to create a title that would be better than the original. Production of Ring of Fates began in the spring of 2006. Series creator Akitoshi Kawazu acted as executive producer and executive director for the game. Mitsuru Kamiyama, the main programmer for Crystal Chronicles, made his debut as game director, while also acting as lead programmer. The scenario was written by Hiroyuki Saegusa, who also acted as lead designer. The game was produced by Kiyoko Maeda.