History VideoGame / FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesEchoesOfTime

[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles The third game in this series]] of spinoffs from the [[RunningGag neck-severingly popular]] ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' franchise, which was released on both UsefulNotes/{{DS}} and UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}. Unfortunately, the Wii version was a straight port of the DS version, which lead to half the screen being taken up by the map. Gameplay is very similar to [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesRingOfFates Ring Of Fates]] with only slight differences.

* ThatOneLevel: The Desert Ruins are loaded not just with damage floors, but spike panels that race across the floor, spiked balls that swing from the ceiling in erratic loops, doors and switches that require you to haul butt before they deactivate, and loads of bottomless pits. Not a surprise they were designed by Larkeicus.

* InfinityPlusOneSword: Every class gets at least one (Lilties and Selkies get two since they have mastery in two types of weapons each). They require a significant amount of materials to craft (one item is a super rare drop from the secret boss you can challenge in the post game), and are actually weaker than most weapons until you level them up to Level 30, but when you do, they are the strongest weapons in the game, and have three empty customization slots, meaning they can be powered up even further.

* NothingExcitingEverHappensHere: A frequent complaint of the large town's citizens, not that they do much to change it.

* OlympicSwimmer: [[SuperDrowningSkills In contrast to]] [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesRingOfFates the previous game]], the hero and whatever allies they pick up can swim and even dive indefinitely despite their heavy equipment. An area in one dungeon is ''entirely'' swum.

* MechaMooks: The numerous [[PaletteSwap mostly-identical]] self-destructing enemies that start showing up in the second half of the game, which are apparently created by the BigBad.

* CompanionCube: Lian names all of his vegetables when he plants them.

* CoolBigSis: Sherlotta has the personality when she starts traveling with the hero.

* ExpressiveMask: The eye-holes in Norschtalen's mask change shape with her mood. Additionally, the notch at the top of each eye-hole shifts around like eyebrows.

* HappilyAdopted: The hero, by the village in general and Sherlotta in particular.
* HeroicWillpower: During the final battle, [[spoiler:Sherlotta--the real one whose body has been comatose and used as a crystal vending machine by Larkeicus for 2,000 years--gets up and puts him in a chokehold after he expels her from her cat form and moves to kill the hero.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Sherlotta is a jerk to people in town, but a CoolBigSis to the hero and the villagers. [[BrokenBird Given her past]], her short temper is understandable.

* ManualLeaderAIParty: The AI is more advanced than in ''Ring of Fates''. Players can set AI behvior to be aggressive, to refrain from spellcasting (as other party members will now cast spells even when not under player control), or to follow without acting.

* NoSenseOfDirection: Norschtalen. Every time she attempts to leave the village, she gets hopelessly lost and someone has to fetch her. In fact, this is how she got to the village in the first place.

* PunnyName: Veriaulde, the very old Yuke.

* ThisCannotBe: Larkeicus says this so strongly when he realizes [[spoiler:he's worked for 2,000 years trying to stop something that he is instead causing to begin with]] that he starts desperately ''begging'' for it not to be.
* ThisIsUnforgivable: One of the hero's final journal entries, after learning what happened to Sherlotta, is a declaration that they will never forgive Larkeicus.

* TokenHuman: Aside from the hero, Norschtalen is another adoptee of the village; an orphanage runaway who wound up there after getting lost in the woods. [[spoiler:This gives the hero someone to talk to when everyone else vanishes--they are the only people there who were actually alive.]]

* UnwittingPawn: The hero, being a decent and honest individual, decides to repay Larkeicus for his help in Eryll's cure. The tasks that Larkeicus asks the Hero to perform lead to the villagers disappearing.
* WillOfTheWisp: [[spoiler:The villagers dwindle to formless apparitions, in which form they bid farewell to the Hero.]]

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Larkeicus summons a number of golems to dispose of the hero after they reactivate the mountain devices.

* AfterTheEnd: The setting has only two population centers, a town and an isolated village. [[spoiler:And the latter is actually populated by ghosts, bar your character and Norschtalen.]] Although it's mentioned that the town is a hotspot for adventurers from other places, the only places within your reach are ancient ruins and the barren

%% * WillOfTheWisp:

* YouAllLookFamiliar: All of the town NPCs are recycled from Rebena Te Ra's population in ''Ring of Fates''.

* ApocalypseHow: [[spoiler:Class One, Societal Disruption occurred when the crystals were wiped out.]]

* ArtificialStupidity: Your allies on single-player can be prone to this - while at times they can be useful, diverting enemy attention and other things depending on the AI Setting - most of the time they can also get in the way, such as killing enemies you want to harvest materials from, and calling them sometimes makes them do a strange jumping action that prevents them from being called. Adding to that, allies don't use abilities like the charge attack, and depending on the AI setting, don't use magic or healing.

** Neither the village nor the town have a proper name--they're just "Village" and "Town" on the map.

** All the sprites (but the Clavat/Yuke girl) are from the previous game, unless you're playing as a Yuke. If you talk to Artimecion, he'll change your character's hair color. You can also do this with the other characters you've created to join in your adventure.

* AfterTheEnd: The setting has only two population centers, a town and an isolated village. [[spoiler:And the latter is actually populated by ghosts, bar your character and Norschtalen.]] There are a number of abandoned ruins and to the north, a barren wasteland of a valley, but no other civilization.

* NoNameGiven: The protagonist is referred to in-game by whatever name the player gave them, but all outside materials refer to them simply as "the hero". When making an appearance elsewhere, Sherlotta just calls them "my kiddo."

** All the sprites (but the Clavat/Yuke girl) are from the previous game, unless you're playing as a Yuke. If you talk to Archimedon, he'll change your character's hair color. You can also do this with the other characters you've created to join in your adventure.

* DeaderThanDead: [[spoiler:The villagers lose their corpoeal forms and become ghosts. Then, they fade away completely... which is what they've wanted.]]

* ExpressiveMask: The eye-holes in Norschtalen's mask change shape with her mood. Additionally, the projection at the top of each eye-hole shifts around like eyebrows.

* ManualLeaderAIParty

* NoSenseOfDirection: Norschtalen. Every time she attempts to leave the village, she gets hopelesly lost and someone has to fetch her. In fact, this is how she got to the village in the first place.

%%* QuirkyTown:

* JackOfAllStats: Calvats has decent damage and range, also decent MP, HP, and defense.

* MamaBear: Sherlotta, over the hero.

* ConvenientlyAnOrphan: The hero. ''How'' s/he came to be abandoned in the woods is never revealed and has no bearing on the plot.

%%* DeaderThanDead

* ThisIsUnforgiveable: One of the hero's final journal entries, after learning what happened to Sherlotta, is a declaration that they will never forgive Larkeicus.

* DoomedHometown: The hero's town [[spoiler: was in fact destroyed thousands of years ago, Sherlotta and the spirits of the deceased citizens of the town built a new one so that the hero could grow up in a normal life]].

-->Eryll: "The Crystal Core is peaceful and loving and kind. [[spoiler:*giggle* Kinda like you, Sherlotta.]]"

* ImprobableWeaponUser: Selkies use paddles, in some cases directly taken from a boat.

* MythologyGag: A little over half of the outfits you can craft are based off of the many [[JobSystem Jobs]] that appeared in previous Final Fantasy games, from the iconic Black and White Mages to the slightly more obscure Scholar and Magic Knight. One of the highest level Male outfits is an Onion Knight outfit.

* OlympicSwimmer: [[SuperDrowningSkills In contrast to]] [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesRingOfFates the previous game]], the hero and whatever allies s/he picks up can swim and even dive indefinitely despite their heavy equipment. An area in one dungeon is ''entirely'' swum.

* PaletteSwap: All the sprites (but the Clavat/Yuke girl) are from the previous game.
** Unless you're playing as a Yuke, if you talk to Archimedon, he'll change your character's hair color. You can also do this with the other characters you've created to join in your adventure.

* CombinationAttack: Magic fusion returns, but it's much simpler this time.
%%* CompetitiveBalance

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The world is saved, and the hero returns home to the village. Entering the forest where the pond with the Crystal Core once was, the hero angrily throws the crystal received from Sherlotta at the beginning of the game into the water.]] In the post game, [[spoiler:returning there shows that the crystal has become a new Crystal Core,]] and talking to Norsy reveals [[spoiler:the cat Sherlotta possessed is still acting like her, suggesting she may be alive after all]].

** Sticking to Mythology within the Crystal Chronicles series of games, after beating the main game, you are granted access to [[spoiler: River Belle Path, the first level of the very first Crystal Chronicles game, complete with health draining Miasma.]]

** The best Clavat armor is [[spoiler: [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesTheCrystalBearers Layle's jacket and goggles]] ]], in a weird, roundabout call forward (the game the bonus items was based on was in development since the first Crystal Chronicles game came out).

[[UnexpectedCharacter Surprisingly]], both Sherlotta and the Undead Princess make an appearance in ''VideoGame/WorldOfFinalFantasy'', a {{Mon}}-centric ''Final Fantasy'' game.

* ThisCannotBe: Larkeicus says this so strongly when he realizes [[spoilers:he's worked for 2,000 years trying to stop something that he is instead causing to begin with]] that he starts desperately ''begging'' for it not to be.

[[Franchise/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles The third game in this series]] of spinoffs from the [[RunningGag neck-severingly popular]] ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' franchise, which was released on both UsefulNotes/{{DS}} and UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}. Unfortunately, the Wii version was a straight port of the DS version, which lead to half the screen being taken up by the map. Gameplay is very similar to [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesRingOfFates Ring Of Fates]] with only slight differences.

[[UnexpectedCharacter Surprisingly]], the character Sherlotta makes an appearance in ''VideoGame/WorldOfFinalFantasy'', a {{Mon}}-centric ''Final Fantasy'' game.

Surprisingly, the character Sherlotta makes an appearance in ''VideoGame/WorldOfFinalFantasy'', a {{Mon}}-centric ''Final Fantasy'' game.

[[Videogame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles The third game in this series]] of spinoffs from the [[RunningGag neck-severingly popular]] ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' franchise, which was released on both UsefulNotes/{{DS}} and UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}. Unfortunately, the Wii version was a straight port of the DS version, which lead to half the screen being taken up by the map. Gameplay is very similar to [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesRingOfFates Ring Of Fates]] with only slight differences.

** The best Clavat armor is [[spoiler: [[FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesCrystalBearers Layle's jacket and goggles]] ]], in a weird, roundabout call forward (the game the bonus items was based on was in development since the first Crystal Chronicles game came out).

* CompetitiveBalance
** Calvats: JackOfAllStats (decent damage and range, also has decent MP, HP, and defense)
** Yukes: SquishyWizard; GlassCannon (less defense and HP, but has the best magic and ranged attack.)
** Selkies: FragileSpeedster (are the only ones who can naturally double jump, but the bows have the lowest damage of anything.)
** Lilities: StoneWall (highest HP, and decent damage, but shortest melee range and least MP.)