Lest I receive another curious brown package from Amir Ahmed, I will reveal my biases right now. I am a big fan of the Final fantasy series; I even liked VIII. Ever since I heard about Gabe's New Hat , I've been waiting for a Final Fantasy for the Cube. Square and Nintendo, together again...

I AM THE LIZARD KING!

The game has all the makings of a standard Squaresoft RPG; you and as many friends as you can muster (up to four) are on a mission. You see, the town you live in, and all of the other towns in the area, have been enveloped by an omnipresent, highly toxic gas, similar to the Mist in Legends of Legaia (how's that for obscure?). The towns use magical crystals, of varying size according to population, to ward off the gas. These crystals require Mirula Droplets (more engrishly known as Mana Water) in order to function. You, being the heroic guy you are, volunteered to gather up a party and go out to get some droplets. Sounds pretty average, right?

The gameplay, however, is borderline revolutionary. The first thing, and the thing that irks me the most, is that it is almost totally dependent on GBA and link cable functionality. The rundown is as follows: on screen you see your entire party, any items, etc, while the GBA acts almost as a little PDA. It contains things like a list of your inventory, a map, and menus as to what you can do. To access these, hit select, sending your character into a sort of auto-pilot so he/she stays with the group as you do your thing with the assorted options presented to you. One of the more nifty ideas presented is each players' Memory. Not all the players in a multiplayer game have access to all the information at once; for example, only one of the four players has a map. This adds an element of communication to the game, forcing players to share information back and forth in order to make the game go smoothly. According to Square, multiplayer is key in FF: CC. The game adjusts according to the number of members in your party, so you can play single player if you'd like, but apparently a large part of the experience is missed that way. Also, when it comes to those of us who don't have a GBA and link cable, Square has placed its fingers firmly in its ears, and begun loudly singing "Oh, When the Saints Go Marching In". Rather than accommodate the regular GCN controller, they have chosen simply to eliminate the options that would be available to GBA users. Save considering a bundle with a link cable, Square has pretty much shafted the no GBA set. From what I've seen, you can still play an enjoyable game with one GCN controller, but that there is a lot more available in the multiplayer with the GBA and linkup.

The Eye sees all. Do you dare question the Eye?

On top of that, the battle system has received a major shakeup. Rather than being purely turn-based, each character can attack at any time, though selecting the attacks makes things seem a little bit turn-ish. The game walks a fine line, but should come off as familiar once you get used to looking at the GBA occasionally to see what you're doing. Inevitably, comparisons can be made to Phantasy Star Online, though it is important to note that all the characters exist on a single screen, not split. Closeness is promoted throughout the game through the use of the Crystal Cage. The Cage holds the Crystal that protects your party from the gas. Wander too far from the tour group, and get blasted with more fumes that Carl did in the trunk of that hatchback riding through Englewood. Also, group member can cast various spells in combination with each other to deal big damage. These spells exist as stones that can be collected in your wanderings, and disposed of when the magic in them is used up. Characters who die exist as ghosts, following the group and helplessly waving their arms in hopes of attracting the attention of passing Phoenix Down or Life Spell. The game will consist of, basically, a giant mission made up of littler missions. Secure this, kill that, explore there and talk to him are the orders of the day, and as always, enemies will have a strange tendency to burst forth from the ether while you wander around. The game should last around 30 hours if you play straight through and don't stop for any of the sights.

Now, you must chop down the mightiest tree in the forest, with...A HERRING!

The graphics are incredible. My jaw is actually rugburnt from hitting the floor every time I see a movie or look at a screenshot. Environments are vast and detailed, and range from deserts to jungles to swamps to mountains. The characters are beautifully designed, and move around smoothly and artistically as they perform various combat actions. The enemies range from giant bipedal lizards to heavily armored turtle beasts to little annoying things that rather resemble squirrels, and are very convincing. Unfortunately, the big, cinematic FMVs we've come to expect are being dropped. Fortunately, they're being replaced by scenes that are rendered live. I'll say that again. The cut scenes are rendered live, and they are gorgeous. As we've come to expect, Square spared no effort graphically on FF: CC and it shows.

We seem to have interrupted a Unitarian mass of some sort

To sum things up, if you only buy three Xbox games this year, sell them, buy a GameCube, and get this game. There's a reason that this was the biggest buzz to come out of the Nintendo wing at E3. Thanks to my newly acquired Freeloader, FF: CC might give me reason to take up Japanese over the summer.

Steve Gazzo