Product Description

The Great Crystal protects the land from the malefic glow of the blood red moon. Twins are born to this land, endowed with a shared, mystical power. Their peaceful life is suddenly changed with the rise of the blood red moon. All fates are etched into the crystal. Realize the tale of two heroic yet innocent twins in a unique story of fate, adventure and fraternal love. Hundreds of different item and costume combinations add to the fun. Changes to costume/equipment are directly visible on your character in the game Trade with friends using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection functions Additional content over the original Japanese version, with four new quests Can be played in four different languages - English, French, German and Spanish. The multiplayer mode, which allows up to four players to play together, can be played seamlessly even when each player selects a different language

• An incredible, epic storyline from the makers of FINAL FANTASY
• Fast-paced real-time combat system
• Multiplayer mode for up to 4 players via DS Wireless Play
• Create weapons, armor, and other items
• Customize your Moogles with Moogle Paint, then trade them with friends
  
  

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2135 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Square Enix
• Released on: 2008-03-30
• Platform: Nintendo DS

Manufacturer's Description
FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: Ring of Fates is a high quality and unique action adventure, in the universe of FINAL FANTASY, the world’s number one RPG brand. Using real time, action-based control, immersive 3D graphics, multiplayer game play for up to four friends and use of the innovative Nintendo DS touchscreen – players everywhere can experience the story of innocent twins caught in an action-packed, fateful and fantastic adventure.

Customer Reviews

Crystal Chronicles Strikes Back
Having played, the original gamecube version; I was greatly pleased with the new DS update of the game. However, it provides something much more fun and enjoyable than its predecessor. The Gamecube's Crystal Chronicles featured a character of the player's choice visiting a series of dungeons in order to access more dungeons. The characters development system was particurely dislikable due to the fact that the only way you could boost your character's stats; was to obtain an item at the end of each dungeon. These items would do things like 'boost attack by 1'; not a good way to level up and increase attributes. The game also seemed to lack a proper story with the only ressemblance to an actual plot (which the Final Fantasy games are so famous for) was a brief message every 3 dungeons.
Ring of Fates is completely different from the original. You play as Yuri; a young clavat who begins as a child but as the story goes on; he grows up. The story contains fantastic graphic cutscenes and develops into something much more dark than the gamecube original. A memorable cast features the 'young at heart' litlie; Meeth and the selkie who fails to grasp any part of the plot; named Gnash. There are 4 playable characters; each from one of the original tribes and they all have their own special skills. Admittedly, the controls for some of them do not work as well as others (Meeth's pot particurely) but the game can be completed despite this. The best new feature is the inclusion of a levelling system in which you gain experience by defeating enemies. The whole game is played out in real time as in the original.
Finally, the replay value. There is actually a completely different mode which is basically the same as the original Crystal Chronicles. You explore dungeons (levelling up) and there is also a chance to complete missions with friends who own the game. You can create your own 8 characters to attempt this mode with. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that you will have 3 friends to play it with and so it is hard to advance far on the missions. There is also a Story + and a Story ++ each with their own features and a secret dungeon to conquer.
Overall, the game measures up to be a good game and I give it 4 stars out of 5 stars. From the secret moogle shop in Rebena Te Ra to the many many bosses you can fight; there is lots to discover and enjoy.

The Crystal Chronicles Continue
This is not actually a direct continuation of the GameCube game, but is set in a similar world.

Two twins who have lost their mother years previously set out from home with friends for adventure. They don't stray too far at first, but one stormy night, something terrible happens. They suffer a terrible loss, though their bond grows stronger.

On their journey they will make new friends, despatch many monsters, use magics, and try to set the world right.

In the game you have a party of up to four characters and battle monsters in real-time. The DS's touch screen is used for special abilities such as mixing elements into spheres and targeting enemyies.

I gave the game 4/5 overall as it has an interesting and original storyline, seemlingly endless combinations of equipment and is highly playable. However, it can be frustrating to play due to the level design, and you'll find your companions play only a minor role in combat, usually dying constantly. It multiplayer mode it is more interesting, but it can only be played locally not over the internet thus limiting the options there.

I enjoyed it and will definitely be playing through it again in the future.

Pretty good
I hadn't actually played the original Crystal Chronicles before buying this game, as I don't own a gamecube - so in terms of how it compares to the first game, I can't comment.
However, in my opinion this is the best Final Fantasy game on the DS so far. The graphics are beautiful, even in-game, and the gameplay is fun and easy to understand and grasp. Despite it's length, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Only two things let this game down - firstly, the voice acting, which was extremely grating after a while. There's only a certain amount of baby voices I can stand, and the first couple of cutscenes had me muting the sound a couple of seconds in. Secondly, the use of the touch screen. After playing Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and seeing the innovative ways it had you useing the touch screen, I couldn't help feeling that this game was a bit of a missed opportunity. Don't get me wrong, the gameplay was fun and much more engaging than FFIII, but it would've been greatly enhanced and a lot more fluid by using the stylus a little more.
Despite this, Ring of Fates is certainly worth a look.