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In Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, you'll enter a fun and enchanting game world, from the Final Fantasy franchise. When a black magician brings a picture book onto the Chocobo farm, it unleashes the great devil Bebuzu. The farm gets sucked into its pages, where white & black magicians must stop Bebezu from reviving himself to full form.
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Coming to Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales was actually somewhat awkward at first. Final Fantasy spin offs are usually hit or miss. On one hand there are spin offs like Final Fantasy Tactics that are absolutely amazing. On the other hand you have games like Dirge of Cerberus that aren't exactly wonderful, and then you've got the downright horrible like the Chocobo Dungeon games. So you can't blame Final Fantasy fans for being skeptical when the next spin off comes around. Thankfully, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales isn't a bad experience at all. It's just too bad that the kiddie look and feel of this game will probably turn older, more experienced Final Fantasy fans away.
In Chocobo Tales, your buddies have been sucked into an evil book and turned into cards. In the process the book also managed to suck up a bunch of fables. Now these fables have been scattered across the land and so you'll need to go into these fables and complete the stories. Completing the fables opens up new routes in your adventures. Completing fables also might help you save some of your friends, or they'll net you cards for the boss battles.
Progressing through the adventure itself is no arduous task. The game is pretty straightforward, and the fables are mini-games. These mini-games are not frustrating at all. They're really simple to pick up on and play actually. Most of them are very well designed as well, taking complete advantage of the touch screen controls to have you perform certain tasks. Even better, the progress in difficulty is exactly how a game of this caliber should be. The game starts off pretty easy, but as you get further the mini-games become more difficult to master. But they still maintain being fun and intuitive without making you want to smash something.
As noted above, there's a card battling system in this game. These are moments where you'll face off against the games bosses. It's so simple to play. You create a deck of cards, and you hold three in hand. Whoever plays their card first will deal damage first. There are certain complexities to battling with cards, though. Cards require crystals to play in battle. If you have no crystals, however, the card doesn't really do anything. Still there is an emphasis on strategy seeing as how you need to be fast. It seems complicated, but in the long run it's pretty simple to pick up on, just like every other mini game here. There are hundreds of cards in Chocobo Tales, so collecting each and every one in and of itself is a quest. And you'll especially want to when you discover the wonderful world of wi-fi.
The mini-games aren't just to be played throughout your adventure either. You'll be able to play these games with friends or online. It uses the DS download play so only one person needs to actually own the game, and as long as you've got a wi-fi connection, you'll be able to play online against other people.
In addition to the games mini-games there are also micro games. These games don't have to be completed to advance the storyline, but doing so can net you some rare cards for your collection. Much like the mini-games, the micro games are easy to pick up on and fun to play.
Graphically, Chocobo Tales is gorgeous looking. There aren't that many games out there that take advantage of the Nintendo DS's 3D capabilities, but when a game does, it's usually not a bad feat, and that's exactly what's happened here. The games graphics are on par with Final Fantasy III, except in this game it looks smoother and the art design just works better. Not only that, but there are countless Final Fantasy references to be found throughout the game. If you're a die-hard Final Fantasy fan, the references to the main series itself can--even for the die-hard fan--be overwhelming! Yet its enjoyable. The music is also really good and charming. You'll recognize some tunes from the Final Fantasy games, and there are some original tunes here that also sound really good. In truth, this is a high quality Nintendo DS game.
Chocobo Tales probably won't appeal to most Final Fantasy fans, and that's rather sad because it's actually a really fun, really good game. If you can get past the kiddie storyline and appeal, you're in for a real treat, and even the storyline isn't all that bad as you get deeper into the game. In fact, it's rewarding. There's not a whole lot that holds this game down really. If anything, there are some mini-games that just aren't great, but that's to be expected in a game that's packed full of mini-games. The other is simply that the game isn't all that long.
Despite these small shortcomings, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales is a promising game that Final Fantasy fans will love and enjoy.
On the Positive Side
+There's actually an interesting story here +Simple mini-games, that are easy to pick up on +Simple course of gameplay +Tons of Final Fantasy references for fans of the series +Great soundtrack +Fantastic visual art style
On the Negative Side -Some mini games aren't great, but in a game full of mini-games you couldn't possibly expect all of them to be good, could you? -It's too bad that many gamers will be turned off by the games "kiddie" appeal and nature -The game is on the short sideRead more ›
I must say that I am a 33-year-old female DS user, and a mom to 2 boys (ages 10 and 7) who also have their own DS system. We all have a copy of this game. I didn't think that I would like the card-based battle system but I thought that I would give it a try, if only to be able to play multi-player with them. First of all, the game is absolutely adorable and the graphics are great. It's fun to see all of the Final Fantasy characters in a kid-friendly setting (we all liked Kingdom Hearts, too). The card-based play turned out to be really easy to get the hang of with this game. The mini-games can be tough for those of us who are beyond our best years of hand/eye coordination (but, hey, I rolled Asteroids when I was 8). I'm a bit behind the boys, but getting through the game anyway.
The first thing you may notice about Final Fantasy Fables is that even though it bears the Final Fantasy name, this game is pretty much aimed at kids. That being said, what's to be found here with Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales is actually pretty good. Pretty much a collection of card battles and mini-games to go along with some tried but true Final Fantasy stule gameplay, Chocobo Tales puts you in the role of the feathered, friendly animal that's become a mainstay of the series over the years. As far as the story goes, you get sucked into a book and have to progress through the various challenges to get back out. Throughout the game, you'll play through various mini-games and card challenges with a fairy tale flavor, which gets accelerated even more thanks to the game's uniquely charming look which is a very nice blend of 2-D and 3-D. Most of the mini-games are fun, and the card games are surprisingly even more fun and can be played via the DS' Wi-Fi capabilities. The only downsides to Chocobo Tales are that some of the mini-games aren't very fun, besides the card games, only microgames can be played via the Wi-Fi, and the overall look of the game may be a turn off for older players. All that aside, thanks to it's charming appearance and addictively fun multiplayer, Chocobo Tales is definitely a pleasent surprise that Final Fantasy fans young and old should check out.
The most adorable flightless bird is hero in its own DS game! How cute! But don't think the gameplay is easy or only for children because it has one of the most recognizable yellow animated characters as its protagonist.
The goal of the game is to defeat Bebuzzu and save the crystals (a la Final Fantasy) and your fellow chocobo friends. There are fable books scattered around the world to help you achieve this task.
There are 2 types of gameplay in this game. The first is the minigames that pop up from the books and the microgames found throughout the world. Each minigame has 3 modes - Story, Battle & Trial - 5 levels and 7 unlockables. These unlockables hold cards, your chocobo friends, and etc. Freeing your chocobo friends sometimes (usually) brings about microgames & the cards give you a chance to strengthen your deck. Story Mode tells you a revised fairy tale, fit for chocobos (the way they are altered are very fun), and each comes with 3 endings that are unlocked. Unlocking these endings may change your game world and give you access to places you didn't have access to before.
The second type of gameplay is card duels. From the cards you find or win, you fight duels with Mog X, other mini bosses and Bebuzzu. It is through the card duels that you defeat Bebuzzu and protect the crystals.
Don't be tricked into thinking this is an easy game because of how it looks! The minigames are difficult, especially if you're trying to unlock everything. The card battles need strategy, but also luck.
There are cons to any game, and the biggest one would be waiting for the minigames to load and start. It's very detailed - so the book pops up into 3D, but if you're retrying to get the best results to unlock secrets, it takes too much time.
But there are also places where your chocobo can interact with certain objects - to sleep or play on seesaws and etc. Which adds to the "must play" for any chocobo fan.
