Licensed roguelike outings don't always turn out so well, but Chocobo's Dungeon works far better than the likes of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon -- the perfect delta of hardcore dungeon crawling and the world's most popular RPG series. The Final Fantasy trappings are more than mere window dressing, yet they complement the underlying genre mechanics rather than compromising them.
It's definitely a game for RPG fanatics who go in more for the challenge than the plotline, and no doubt casual players who pick it up for the oh-so-cute cover art will be rather surprised by how brutally it savages their dignity (although a generous learning curve should help ease them into their suffering). Still, it's a definite success, taken on its own terms. The only question, really, is whether or not gamers are ready to accept those terms.
It’s one of the most iconic names in the games industry. Square Enix needs only slap “Final Fantasy” on the box to almost guarantee to generate a fever hype behind the game.
lol, dudes worried about getting chewed out for mentioning Lightning Returns but fails to include any of the FF's from VI to IX. Madness indeed!
No need to include those because everyone knows they the best Final Fantasy games. IX being my favourite. Final Fantasy XIII series is just shockingly bad!
Digitally Downloaded writes: "What is appealing about the roguelike is that on a very fundamental level, from the very building blocks of the sub-genre's creation, it is absurdism in motion. And, just like absurdism in theatre, literature, and the other arts, through its repetitive mechanical structure it tells us a lot about the human condition because it is so damned addictive."
Endlessbacklog's Kira Sutherland takes a look back at Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon.
