WoW players: we have all your patch 2.4 news!
Add to: My AOL, MyYahoo, Google, Bloglines
Joystiq presents
Posts with tag finalfantasyfables

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Sale

Chocobo Tales, Square Enix's Final Fantasy spinoff, made for a great release to pass the Spring months with, but it can be hard for a minigame-filled RPG to elbow its way to the front of a crowd filled with must-have DS titles. If you haven't had a chance to pick up Chocobo Tales yet, maybe Amazon's latest sale will be what finally motivates you. The online shop has slashed $10 off of the game's usual cost, bringing it down to a budget price of $19.99. This bargain ends today though, so quit being lazy about buying it!

See also: DS Fanboy Review: Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales

[Via CAG]

Comparing Square Enix's Japanese and US boxart


In a recent interview with 1UP, Square Enix's marketing communications manager gave us some insight on the process behind adapting Chocobo Tales' packaging for the US. We happen to prefer the Japanese version's modest artwork over North America's chaotic cover, but we understand that the company had a younger audience to appeal to and a different message it needed to convey.

We've collected DS covers from Square Enix's Japanese and US releases after the post break for you to compare and decide which one you like best. To its credit, the company hasn't completely mangled its DS boxarts so far (The same can't be said about Nintendo's bastardization of Hotel Dusk's cover). How do you feel about Children of Mana's simplified design? Does Final Fantasy 3's stripped packaging appeal to your western tastes? And do you agree with 1UP that publishers have been doing a better job with dressing their products?

Continue reading Comparing Square Enix's Japanese and US boxart

Metareview: Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales [update 1]


We've had our eye on Chocobo Tales for quite some time now, watching with fevered anticipation that the spin-off game would provide us with some more entertainment on our handheld system already populated by other highly-entertaining games. Now that the game has hit retail and been reviewed, we can finally see if the full NTSC version is for us. Not that imports aren't our thing, mind you, just we usually steer clear of the Square-Enix titles (lots of text, don'tchaknow).

So, what did the critics have to say? Let's check it out:
  • IGN (83/100) doesn't want the presentation to fool you, the game is fun for older gamers: "The game might feel a bit "kiddy" in its focus, what with those great, big, cute Chocobo eyes peeking at you from the box art. But even though the idea might skew young, the product is surprisingly enjoyable for the older crowd."
  • GamePro (80/100) finds the game to be a melting pot of good ideas: "Chocobo Tales is about quick and easy fun. The Crayola art style, pop-up book style graphics and fable stories may make it seem like a kiddie title and technically, it is. However, the game is fun enough that and packed with enough nods to diehard fans that Final Fantasy fans of all ages should give it a look."
  • New York Times (75/100) has issues with the card system: "Tales has a ridiculously cumbersome system in which you can't easily swap one card for another or compare two cards; even finding a particular card in your collection requires a tedious search. The designers would find it challenging to come up with a worse system. This flaw is surprising in a game that is otherwise beautifully designed."
The other remaining reviews come from Japanese import copies of the game, so as soon as more reviews of the English NTSC version come in, we'll update the post. In the meantime, discuss!

Update: Added the New York Times review.

DS releases for the week of April 2nd

What a week! At this rate, we could almost use a DS drought, just to give us time to save up some cash! But we shouldn't complain, since our counterparts in the UK and Australia aren't having much of a week as far as releases go. Isn't that always the way of it? One week, we get a ton of games and they get none, and the next week it's reversed. The only thing we can ever count on is that Japan is going to debut a veritable truckload of new titles. No matter what's going in the rest of the world, the Japanese must have their new DS games.

US releases

  • Cake Mania
  • Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales
  • Honeycomb Beat
  • Konami Classics: Arcade Hits

Continue reading DS releases for the week of April 2nd

More Chocobo Tales videos than you can shake a gysahl green at

By the time Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales hits shelves next month, we'll hardly even need to play it! We've already seen several of the minigames in action, and GameVideos has added even more to the collection.

And we know, we're not fooling anyone. We're going to play this one until our fingers cramp. That little chocobo is just too cute to resist, and we're helpless when it comes to Final Fantasy.

Continue reading More Chocobo Tales videos than you can shake a gysahl green at

Kweh! Or, fresh new Chocobo screens

Oh, that little scamp of a Chocobo -- what will he get into next? If these screens are any indication, it looks like he's getting into a giant beanstalk. Considering the upcoming Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales is peppered with references from children's stories, that's probably exactly what it is ... but really, how many times do we need to see the beanstalk here? It's all over this latest batch of screens!

Check after the jump for selected screens -- only one beanstalk included.

Continue reading Kweh! Or, fresh new Chocobo screens

Chocobo Tales breaks out this April

This year's contender for Most Precious Game finally has a release date stateside: Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales is slated to hit shelves April 3. Since we are suckers for everything Final Fantasy-related, it's a sure bet that we've already got the date circles in our calendars ... and if you saw all these trailers, you probably want to borrow our marker.

DS LifeBiggest BlipsHomebrew
Features
DS Daily (327)
DS Fanboy Lite (20)
DS Fanboy poll (35)
Friday video (48)
Game Night (123)
Metareview (38)
Show and Tell (40)
The DS Life (33)
What are you playing? (69)
Bits
Accessories (85)
Downloads (49)
Fan stuff (1271)
Features (246)
GBA (110)
Hacks (71)
Homebrew (151)
How-tos (63)
Imports (563)
Interviews (116)
Meta (70)
News (2395)
Nintendo Wi-Fi (169)
Reviews (157)
Sales (115)
Screens (521)
Video (459)
Rumors (114)

RESOURCES

RSS NEWSFEEDS

Powered by Blogsmith

Featured Galleries

Spiderwick Chronicles DS
Spore Creatures
Race Driver: GRID
Ninjatown
Yasetore DS
My Weight Loss Coach
City Life
Ninja Reflex
Lost in Blue 3

 

Most Commented On (14 days)

Recent Comments

Weblogs, Inc. Network

  • Autos
    • Autoblog
    • AutoblogGreen
    • Autoblog Spanish
    • Autoblog Chinese
    • Autoblog Simplified Chinese
  • Technology
    • Download Squad
    • Engadget
    • Engadget HD
    • Engadget Mobile
    • Engadget Chinese
    • Engadget Simplified Chinese
    • Engadget Japanese
    • Engadget Spanish
    • TUAW (Apple)
  • Lifestyle
    • AisleDash
    • DIY Life
    • Gadling
    • Green Daily
    • Luxist
    • ParentDish
    • Slashfood
    • Styledash
    • That's Fit
  • Gaming
    • Joystiq
    • DS Fanboy
    • Massively
    • Nintendo Wii Fanboy
    • PS3 Fanboy
    • PSP Fanboy
    • Second Life Insider
    • WoW Insider
    • Xbox 360 Fanboy
  • Entertainment
    • Cinematical
    • TV Squad
  • Finance
    • BloggingBuyouts
    • BloggingStocks
    • WalletPop
  • Also on AOL
    • African-American Culture
    • Autos
    • Games
    • Maps
    • Money
    • Movies
    • Music
    • News
    • Sports
    • Switched
    • Television
    • Travel

Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in:

PS3 Fanboy
  • It's really over, folks - Toshiba drops HD DVD
  • Imports: Dynasty Warriors 6 trading figurines in Japan
  • Fallout 3 interview reveals world size and voice actors
WOW Insider
  • Love no longer in the air
  • One Boss Leaves: Ragnaros vs. Kel'Thuzad
  • Hail to the (Lich) King, baby
Xbox 360 Fanboy
  • Stick a fork in HD DVD it's done
  • Condemned 2: Bloodshot GDC video blowout
  • Commander Shepard has never looked this good
Nintendo Wii Fanboy
  • Blast Works: it's also a shooter
  • Wii Warm Up: The Wii 2.0
  • Who needs red potions when you have delicious cake?
PSP Fanboy
  • FCC report: Sony changing PSP innards
  • Sony Magazine says 'PSP style phone in the works'
  • MyStylist is also your stylist in this trailer