Ranking Every Final Fantasy Spin-Off Game

As we’ve seen in previous entries, the Crystal Chronicles subseries took a sharp downturn in quality over time, leaving the GameCube original at the top of the pile. Highly innovative at the time, it delivered a unique blend of action and role-playing as players were tasked with defending a caravan and collecting resources. It was notably the first offline Final Fantasy game to offer real-time combat that necessitated physical movement as well as the input of actions, comparable to the-then new Kingdom Hearts.

The game’s true appeal came through the ability to link 4 Game Boy Advances to the GameCube and use them as controllers. In an era where offline multiplayer reigned supreme, this undoubtedly facilitated countless gaming sessions cramped around a 4:3 television. Unlike other Crystal Chronicles games though, the game wasn’t adversely affected by a lack of partners, being equally suited to single player play.

Crystal Chronicles will be the next game in the franchise subject to a HD re-release later on the PS4 and Switch. It’s a testament to its superiority over its successors that this remake will not include any elements of Ring Of Fates, Echoes Of Time or the Crystal Bearers akin to the decision to remaster X-2 alongside X or incorporate lore from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII into the remake.

Focus has instead been placed on creating an expanded soundtrack, new dungeons and cross-platform online multiplayer. The August release has barely been hyped, but could end up being a sleeper hit.