Man, I've never been more wrong about anything in my life. In the short amount of time I'd played WiiWare's Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King to gather early impressions, I'd passed some pretty silly judgments on it. I'd decided that it was well-made for what it was, but felt that it was lacking in depth and presentation quality, especially considering that it arrived as WiiWare's most expensive launch title.
At the insistence of others (including a roommate who is so hooked on the game that she's sitting here playing it right now, in my room, as I type this), I was urged to play some more and reconsider my initial reaction. I did, and I was impressed by what the game eventually became. My Life as a King contains a deceptive amount of depth, and its limited gameplay scope features enough content to make the experience more than worth your 1,500 Wii Points.
Kingly Chronicles
My Life as a King marks a significant departure for the Final Fantasy series. The whole of the game takes place inside a single small kingdom, and gameplay consists of constructing buildings for its residents. In return, you can then order them to fight through neighboring dungeons in search of money and building materials.
Many battles will be fought in My Life as a King, but you'll never personally see a single one. Instead, all dungeon progress made by your townspeople is reported at the end of a gameplay day, and any bonuses earned can be spent funding further exploration and kingdom expansion.
Sounds boring, right? Yeah, that's what I thought at first. After all, where's the fun in simply reading about treasure hunting and boss battles? As it turns out, you'll have your hands full enough in My Life as a King that you'll never be bothered by its lack of first-hand action.
Your individual townspeople need guidance, and must be told when to rest or gain experience in preparation for tough battles. Kingdom construction extends way beyond the simple houses at the game's outset, too. Many townspeople have specific neighborhood requests that will enable them to become better warriors, and you'll need to build weapon shops, training facilities, and parks in appropriate places. All of this comes at a price, though, and expansion depends on money management and effective leadership.
Life as a Wii King
My Life as a King's graphics are underwhelming at first, but after an hour or so of gameplay, it becomes obvious that the lack of detail is a necessity. Your kingdom can house dozens of structures and hundreds of residents, and the few animations and repeated textures suit the limitations of the Wii's hardware and WiiWare's file size restrictions. Sound design is equally limited and repetitive, but the game's few musical tracks are pleasant and inoffensive enough to never be a distraction.
I'm still not entirely sold on the game's approach to downloadable content, though. After buying all of the additional dungeons and races, it takes a significant amount of game time before you'll see their results. Most of the bonus dungeons will be way out of your adventures' league at the game's outset, and you won't have the option to build houses for other races until you've made several hours' worth of progress in your kingdom. As far as bonus content goes, My Life as a King's DLC serves more as late-game extension than immediate enhancement.
In a way, though, this is a good thing. It's fortunate that Square Enix chose not to cripple My Life as a King's core experience for the sake of milking a few extra dollars from crucial downloadable content, as many publishers have done in the past. Whether you pay $15 for the game itself or more than $30 for the title and its expanded content, you'll find a surprisingly fun and refreshingly original experience that rivals full-priced retail software in depth and scope. Just make sure that you give it a chance past its slow first hour. I'm glad I did.
PROS: Fun strategic elements; features a deceptive amount of depth and content.
CONS: Underwhelming presentation quality; expensive DLC; actionless gameplay may disappoint some.
GRAPHICS: 4.00
SOUND: 3.50
CONTROL: 4.50
FUN FACTOR: 4.50
