Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon

Final Fantasy is one of the most successful video game franchises of all time. It's certainly one of the most recognized for its achievements in both the 2D sprite and 3D platforms. The franchise encompasses twelve signature titles, a thirteenth coming (sometime), and even spin-offs. Yes, the brainchild of Square has branched out to establish children franchises. Perhaps the most well-known of these is Kingdom Hearts, which incorporates characters from Square games and Disney films, an odd match-up, but one that worked surprisingly well.

In the late 90's, Square produced another spin-off franchise, revolving around one of the timeless staples of Final Fantasy, the Chocobo. Chocobos are flightless birds, a fantasy genre's ostrich or emu. Some species are able to achieve flight, specifically the Black Chocobos. For this new franchise, Square took one of its signature birds, gave it a cutesy, kiddy face, and named it simply "Chocobo." On the PlayStation, the games were meager success, eclipsed perhaps by the parent franchise, but years later, Square would break the franchise into Nintendo markets with the release of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon.

A minor point of interest. Until the advent of voice acting on the PS2, I had always pronounced Chocobo like this: cho-CO-bo, emphasis on the second syllable. I said it that way for all of the SNES and PlayStation incarnations. Some of my friends at college also pronounced it this way. Others dissented, most of them saying "CHO-co-bo" emphasis on the first syllable. One of my roommates in college even said "Chick-a-boo," clearly lampooning us all.

So first and foremost, the voice acting of this game further confirms the pronunciation. I'm thrilled to have the debate settled, but at the same time, I have to fight to get it right! Nevertheless, Chocobo's Dungeon on the Wii is a near-endless delight.

At first glance, I thought, "It's a spin-off. It will obviously be different from the FF games I've come to love. It can't be anywhere near as good." Given the very kid-friendly look of the characters, one could very easily come to that conclusion. But that's where you'd be dead wrong! This game is every bit a Final Fantasy, just a more toned down one. The game contains the same conventions found in the parent franchise: magic, mystery, a quest to uncover a past calamity, a job-building system, levelling and dungeons, and elaborate summons. Even returning are the crystals of Water, Fire, Light, and Darkness. Not exactly the same elemental crystals found in every game, but certainly following that given formula.

In the game, Chocobo and Cid (yet another Final Fantasy familiar) find themselves in the land of Memoria, specifically the city of Losttime. The exact location of this land is not clearly defined, but it's not really important. Something happened in the past, something happens in the present, and something will soon happen if Chocobo fails to act. The town clocktower features the Bell of Oblivion, which oddly removes memories upon tolling. Chocobo travels into a person's mind and rescues the memories, thus restoring the town, learning of the past's haunting secret, and preparing to fight the ominous future.

Gameplay mechanics are not a major concern in this game. It's certainly nothing revolutionary. The game features dungeons filled with enemies and items, obvious opportunities to increase your character's skills. But this is common in every Final Fantasy. Travelling into a person's mind, which then becomes a dungeon, in order to retrieve memories is a bit unique. Certainly, this makes the game fun, but it's not a breakthrough.

The all-too familiar job-system returns. Really, what would Final Fantasy be without the classic Black Mage/White Mage? Chocobo's Dungeon for the Wii offers ten jobs in all, including Knight, Thief, Black Mage, White Mage, Dragoon, and Dancer. The only challenge here is that the game is a solo mission. Yep. Chocobo goes into dungeons by himself. That bird's got guts! If you choose a job at the beginning of the dungeon, you are stuck with it until you leave, or until you encounter another job crystal in the dungeon. So plan ahead.

Leviathan, Phoenix, Alexander, Shiva, and Ifrit return, just to name a few. Other summon creatures from the Fantasy franchise do make appearances in the pop-up card mini-game. But what would any Final Fantasy be without our favorite mischief-prone creatures, the Moogles? Yes, those little guys return, depicted here as tiny, cuddly-cute creatures often found wearing masks, calling themselves various "Heroes." It's definitely entertaining.

The controls leave a little to be desired. The game is intended to be used with either the Wii Remote or Classic Controller. Why not the nunchuck? I can use the Remote by itself just fine, but there is one problem. The Wii Remote only has a directional pad. The main map is 3D. I am a firm believer that an analog joystick is the best deviced to control a character upon a 3D plane, especially if the game uses an over-the-shoulder view. Directional pads (cross pads or D-pads as they are often called) were designed and used for the 2D years. Why use them in a 3D game? When the character moves about on the main screen, the camera follows him, and often the view shifts. This orients Chocobo on a different axis. Yep. You have to move your thumb to accomodate it. On a joystick, then can be accomplished, but on a D-pad, it's clunky.

So why would Square do this? Well, it is somewhat justifiable. The dungeons use a solid grid-based system. The movements lend themselves to a D-pad more accuractly, and that's where the player will spend most of his time (probably levelling up those jobs like I do). As much as I dislike using a D-pad in an 3D environment, this makes it all understandable.

The game is fun, but also very challenging. It's kept me playing for three weeks straight, and I'm only half-finished. A big finale is on its way. Is Chocobo ready? Well, that's up to the player. So grab yourself copy if you're a Final Fantasy fan.