Final fantasy Fables

Final Fantasy Fables, recently released on the Wii, is a enjoyable Mystery Dungeon game, and a good start for anyone not fermilure with the genre.

To sum it up, the Mystery Dungeon genre revolves around exploring randomly generated dungeons, finding items and battling enemies, all the while working your way towards the boss. There are several aspects that make this genre harder than your average RPG game. First of all, each dungeon is littered with traps, ranging from damage dealers to status effects and even some special effects. These traps can often be seen, but some are invisible, forcing you to tread carefully. Second, the game is turn based. For every action you take, from moving to attacking and using items, the enemies make an action too. This means that while you're fighting that one tough enemy, the rest could be coming to attack you from behind.

Third, and most importantly, are items. You can only carry a limited number of items into a dungeon, and items do not stack at all, forcing you to be very careful of what you bring. Items and equips are found in dungeons, but are often unidentified. By using a special item or returning to town, the effects of the item are revealed, but this isn't always an option. If you use an item in a dungeon it could be something useful or something bad. The same can be said for equipment found. In the worst case, you may equip an item that poisons you and is cursed. Curse items can not be removed, forcing you to endure the poison until you can have the curse removed. Finaly, when you die you lose your items and the money you have on you at the time. So those powerful claws you found, gone. Sometimes your level resets or you're forced to start the game over when you die, depending on the game.

FFC takes some liberties with these aspects and makes it a tad easier than the normal MD game. In FFF, when you die, you lose all your items and money becides the claw, saddle and collar your wearing. No loss of EXP or JP.

ALA 8 and 16 bit Final Fantasy games, jobs return for your cuddly hero to use. Each job has different stats and skills, allowing you to choose the best ability for the dungeon you're in. You want a ranged character? Use Black Mage. For Utility and overall usefulness, standard is fine. For power and elemental might, use Dragoon. The different jobs are unlocked as the game progresses (Minus 1 which requires a special code not revealed in game, but is easily found online). Each job starts with 1-2 skills unlocked and the rest must be unlocked by earning JP. Once ane enemy is defeated, it may drop a crystal worth an amount of Job Points, which go towards the next level of your currently equiped job.

The story is also a throw back to the classic FF, and there are a couple amusing minigames. It's a very enjoyable game for those looking for a lighter take on the Mystery Dungeon genre, or just want to try a different sort of Final Fantasy, and I'd recoment it for a rental at least, assuming of course, you have a Wii.

Ps. There is also a version being released on the DS, so look forward to that too.