Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life As A King - Reception

Reception

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King received a generally favorable response. IGN, reviewing the Japanese version of the game after its launch, was impressed with the quality and expansiveness of the game, saying that it was a "good start" to Nintendo's WiiWare download service. In a later review of the North American release they cited disappointment at not being able to undertake quests, calling it "a Final Fantasy game where you stay at home and send other people out to play Final Fantasy", and felt that elements of the game were repetitive. However, they praised the presentation and felt the game could be "engaging if put enough time into it". 1UP.com compared the game to Animal Crossing but with a distinct RPG feel, and praised the game for its depth. Other reviewers felt it had a "plodding" pace, but had a soundtrack that is "quite good". Some wished the game ran in progressive scan mode, a deficit rectified in a later update.

The Official Nintendo Magazine gave the game 88% commenting that it was 'incredibly deep' and that it was 'highly addictive'. They did however mark it down for being 'Slow and really niche'. N-Europe gave the game an 8/10, praising it for being 'surprisingly deep' and said that it was worth its weight in points, despite the pricey downloadable content. WiiWare World gave the game a 9/10, saying "Of all the WiiWare titles to date, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King is easily the most ambitious game on the wii and cheap. The scope of the game is enormous and there's never a lack of things to do as you live out each day of the game's adventure." Mike Smith of Yahoo! Games commented on the addictive nature of the game, stating "Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King is harder to quit than crack cocaine".

However, while GameSpot thought the game had visual charm, they believed the game was in large "shallow, limiting, and padded with unrewarding gameplay", and felt constrained by their belief that much of the game's variety comes from the downloadable content. Wired's Chris Kohler also felt the pricing for the game's downloadable content was "exorbitant", with all available items at the time of review costing almost as much as the game itself to purchase.