From the corpse of a once great kingdom, plagued by a deadly miasma, rises a new kingdom, led by a young king gifted with a powerful magic. He has the ability to create buildings using only magic. Using this incredible power, the young king will rebuild the land in his father's image, hoping to make the kingdom as it once was. Along the way, his kingdom will face many trials and hardships. Will the little king be able to keep the promised land alive?
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King is a city-building game set in the Final Fantasy universe. It is easily one of the best and most expensive WiiWare games. It can be purchased for 1500
Wii Points.
Console: Wii
Release Date(s):
March 25, 2008 (JP)
May 12, 2008 (NA)
May 20, 2008 (PAL)
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E
Storyline: In FFCC: My Life as a King, you play as King Leo (who can be renamed) who has been looking for a kingdom left to him by his father, King Epitav, after the miasma of the original game all but wiped everyone out. After years of searching, Leo and his entourage, Chime and Hugh Yurg, find said kingdom and are tasked with rebuilding it, as it is completely deserted. Of course, the easiest way for them to do so is by using a magic known as Architek, granted to Leo by the large crystal in the center of town. Using his newfound magical abilities, Leo starts to rebuild his father's once great kingdom bit by bit.
This is Leo. No, seriously. My Life as a King's graphics are probably some of the best on the system. The graphics are crisp, colorful and can usually maintain a smooth frame rate. Occasionally it drops here and there, but when building something it takes a noticeable dip. Another gripe: once your kingdom gets on the larger side, the frame rate drops are a bit more frequent. But, other than that, My Life as a King looks nice and keeps a nice frame rate.
Gameplay: Using the magic Architek, you can build a variety of buildings in your kingdom, such as houses, bakeries, weapon and armor shops and even schools for your warriors to train in a new job. However, Architek requires a substance known as elementite, which can only be found in dungeons. This is where it’s a good thing you are a king. Some of your residents will want to be adventurers, and will gladly go to the dungeons to collect the elementite. Unfortunately, you cannot control your adventurers. You have to commission them to explore a new dungeon and take out its boss. Everything they do is updated to you in real time via a pop-up window in the right hand corner of the screen. During the beginning of the game, there really isn't that much to do. You might find yourself skipping ahead to the next day a little while after you start one because of the lack of content. As the game goes on, more and more dungeons become available, each one holding bigger and better rewards than the last, which means more things to do in town and less time asleep for King Leo.
There will always be a limit to how many of each building you can create. My Life as a King is a surprisingly long game. If you’re like me and want to build as many buildings as possible, this game will last you quite a while. Of course, you can’t just breeze through all of the dungeons; odds are at some point you’ll have to level up your adventurers a few times before attempting some of the later dungeons. Even if you just want to get through the plot, this game will still last you quite a while. And with the downloadable dungeons the folks at Square Enix have added, you unlock even more buildings, elementite locations and a new race or two. There’s also a New Game + Mode, which kicks the difficulty level up a couple of notches. Of course, the stats of your warriors will remain the same to help you out.
Sound: The soundtrack of My Life as a King is it’s major downfall. Sure, the music in this game is nice and pleasant, but after hearing the same songs over and over again you might start to hate them. Voice acting in this game is virtually nonexistent, and is somewhat reminiscent to the Legend of Zelda where the only voiced parts are certain grunts or signs of approval and the like.
You can also get an aerial view of your kingdom, by pressing the + Button on the Wii Remote
Overall: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King is still one of the best WiiWare games available to date. Although the music is repetitive, the frame rate drops from time to time and there isn't much to do in the beginning, once you get a little further into the game, you'll find that My Life as a King is amazing and somewhat addictive. It'll keep you coming back for weeks.
Linear Mode
