Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers

Parking the ship at a nearby city, I finally get full control of Layle and see what he can do. Movement is on the nunchuk, while his Crystal Bearer telekinesis power is handled with the Wiimote pointer. Having a Final Fantasy character chucking bits of scenery around makes this one of the more immersive games in the series; rather than feeling like you're wandering through a series of exquisite paintings, you can actually affect the locations you're visiting, using your powers to rip the tops off fire hydrants or pull newspapers from people's hands. Almost anything or anyone can be moved, although they may not be happy about it.

Asked whether the idea for object manipulation came before or after the Wii's specifications were announced, Kawazu reveals that there were originally meant to be many different powers for the player to explore: "Some of the early characters could cause instant death, or putrification - one could toy with gravity, and the more we experimented, the more he seemed to suit the Wii the best." Soon after, you bump into the Lilty Princess Althea, and find yourself chasing after her naughty ferret, which in turn leads to a dramatic chocobo-back chase through the city's surrounding woodland.

If you're one of those gamers who make snide comments about the amount of waggle in Wii games, then start running for the hills, because it's everywhere. During the chocobo chase, for example, you'll mainly be targeting enemies and the interactive environmental hazards you can use against them (destroying bridge supports, causing landslides, etc), but if one of the pursuing Lilty guards gets too close to your cart you'll have to shake the controller as if your life depends on it - because it does, and failure will send you right back to the start of the sequence.

Those with a fondness for more obscure JRPG's may be thinking this all sounds distressingly familiar. Seiken Densetsu 4 (aka Dawn of Mana in the US) on PS2 used a similar object-manipulating mechanic for battling to miserable effect, and Crystal Bearers doesn't entirely improve on it. There's a slight delay before objects are picked up as you wait for the circular bar to fill. Presumably this is to give you time to cancel the action if you aim poorly, but it does seem to destroy the flow of the action considerably at this (admittedly early) stage of the game.

Crystal Bearers is a risky project that doesn't hesitate to do things differently - after the shooting gallery opening you get a giant score plastered across the screen, and, similarly, success at the canyon driving section offers you a completion time. It's the least Final Fantasy thing I've ever seen, and I haven't even mentioned the Awards (think Achievements) that are constantly flashing up on-screen. It's the ultimate feel-good 'press-button-get-bacon' mechanic, and it's instantly rewarding. According to Itahana it would take almost 60 hours to get every one, although the game's main story is a positively nippy (by JRPG standards anyway) 15 hours by comparison.

Kawazu says the game was developed at a difficult time for Square Enix, and that it took a while before he was convinced that the potentially lightweight Crystal Bearers could be a great game. While it's undoubtedly fresh for a Final Fantasy effort, the biggest challenge is yet to come, as the game lines up in one of the most packed first quarters in recent memory. Look out for our review closer to release.