Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord
Encyclopedia
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord is a tower defense
video game developed and published by Square Enix
for the Wii
and distributed through the WiiWare
download service. It is the most recently announced game in the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
series. The game follows the Darklord as she defends her mobile tower from waves of attacks as it travels across the kingdom. Unlike most tower defense games the game is played from a side view of the tower, as the player places units and traps to attempt to prevent enemies from reaching the top of the tower and the Dark Crystal kept there. The game received generally positive reviews, with critics generally praising the game's gameplay and presentation while critiquing a perceived lack of depth to the game.
takes place in a different part of the kingdom, as the tower is mobile, and consists of multiple waves of attacks. Unlike most tower defense games, the gameplay takes place in a side-viewed tower with enemies marching through each of the tower's floors linearly, rather than through a top-down perspective of a circuitous route. The player places traps and combatants in the floors of the tower, which then cannot be removed. The level ends when the attackers have reached the Dark Crystal at the top of the tower, or when they have all been defeated.
Defeating enemies gives the player Negative Power, which can be spent in the level to place more obstacles, upgrade existing obstacles to more powerful ones, or build more floors onto the tower. Karma is earned for finishing levels, and can be spent between levels to increase the maximum size of the tower or the starting power of the units. The floors come in different varieties, and provide offensive, defensive, and supportive powers to the obstacles placed on them or the enemies walking on them. Each floor has an artifact, which if reached by the enemy is destroyed, in turn destroying all units and traps placed on that floor, removing any status effects the floor provided, and allowing the attackers to move onto the next layer. Traps and units are divided into melee, ranged, and magic categories, with the three types dealing extra damage to each other in a rock-paper-scissors
manner.
Each level begins with all obstacles removed, and completing levels earns the player additional types of units and structures to build. The path that the player takes through the levels of the game is not linear; there are side paths that can earn the player additional Negative Power and units. If a level is failed, the player retains some of the Karma they had earned before being defeated. Despite being released for the Wii, there is no support for motion control with the Wii controller. There is additional downloadable content for the game, such as new items or levels. At launch time there were 14 different DLC packs, with more being added later.
. The protagonist
, Mira, is the daughter of the Darklord, the antagonist
of the previous game. She lives in a tower that she must defend from marauding adventurers by populating it with monsters and traps. You progress through the game by surviving hordes of enemies that are on adventures trying to destroy the crystal at the top of your tower.
alongside fellow WiiWare title Final Fantasy IV: The After Years.
awarded it an 8.1 out of 10, calling it "an amusing strategy game and a standout title on WiiWare", praising the gameplay and presentation while saying that "The limitations of WiiWare are apparent". Eurogamer
gave the game a 7 out of 10, praising the depth of the gameplay but complaining that without purchasing any of the downloadable content the player has "little room to really dig deep into the tempting tactical depths that the concept so clearly offers". The game currently has a rating of 71.78% on GameRankings.
Tower defense
Tower defense is a subgenre of real-time strategy computer games.The goal of tower defense games is to try to stop enemies from crossing a map by building towers which shoot at them as they pass. Enemies and towers usually have varied abilities, costs, and ability costs...
video game developed and published by Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
and distributed through the WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
download service. It is the most recently announced game in the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (series)
is a series of video games by Square Enix. Created by Akitoshi Kawazu, the Crystal Chronicles series is a spin-off series of the Final Fantasy media franchise, and has so far only appeared on Nintendo consoles.- Titles :...
series. The game follows the Darklord as she defends her mobile tower from waves of attacks as it travels across the kingdom. Unlike most tower defense games the game is played from a side view of the tower, as the player places units and traps to attempt to prevent enemies from reaching the top of the tower and the Dark Crystal kept there. The game received generally positive reviews, with critics generally praising the game's gameplay and presentation while critiquing a perceived lack of depth to the game.
Gameplay
In My Life as a Darklord, the player is tasked with defending their tower from waves of attacking enemies. Each levelLevel (video gaming)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
takes place in a different part of the kingdom, as the tower is mobile, and consists of multiple waves of attacks. Unlike most tower defense games, the gameplay takes place in a side-viewed tower with enemies marching through each of the tower's floors linearly, rather than through a top-down perspective of a circuitous route. The player places traps and combatants in the floors of the tower, which then cannot be removed. The level ends when the attackers have reached the Dark Crystal at the top of the tower, or when they have all been defeated.
Defeating enemies gives the player Negative Power, which can be spent in the level to place more obstacles, upgrade existing obstacles to more powerful ones, or build more floors onto the tower. Karma is earned for finishing levels, and can be spent between levels to increase the maximum size of the tower or the starting power of the units. The floors come in different varieties, and provide offensive, defensive, and supportive powers to the obstacles placed on them or the enemies walking on them. Each floor has an artifact, which if reached by the enemy is destroyed, in turn destroying all units and traps placed on that floor, removing any status effects the floor provided, and allowing the attackers to move onto the next layer. Traps and units are divided into melee, ranged, and magic categories, with the three types dealing extra damage to each other in a rock-paper-scissors
Rock-paper-scissors
Rock-paper-scissors is a hand game played by two people. The game is also known as roshambo, or another ordering of the three items ....
manner.
Each level begins with all obstacles removed, and completing levels earns the player additional types of units and structures to build. The path that the player takes through the levels of the game is not linear; there are side paths that can earn the player additional Negative Power and units. If a level is failed, the player retains some of the Karma they had earned before being defeated. Despite being released for the Wii, there is no support for motion control with the Wii controller. There is additional downloadable content for the game, such as new items or levels. At launch time there were 14 different DLC packs, with more being added later.
Plot
As the title suggests, My Life as a Darklord is a direct sequel to Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a KingFinal Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King is a video game developed for the WiiWare service of the Nintendo Wii console by Square Enix...
. The protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
, Mira, is the daughter of the Darklord, the antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
of the previous game. She lives in a tower that she must defend from marauding adventurers by populating it with monsters and traps. You progress through the game by surviving hordes of enemies that are on adventures trying to destroy the crystal at the top of your tower.
Development
My Life as a Darklord was revealed at the 2009 Game Developers ConferenceGame Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference is the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers, focusing on learning, inspiration, and networking...
alongside fellow WiiWare title Final Fantasy IV: The After Years.
Reception
My Life as a Darklord has received generally positive reviews. IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
awarded it an 8.1 out of 10, calling it "an amusing strategy game and a standout title on WiiWare", praising the gameplay and presentation while saying that "The limitations of WiiWare are apparent". Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
gave the game a 7 out of 10, praising the depth of the gameplay but complaining that without purchasing any of the downloadable content the player has "little room to really dig deep into the tempting tactical depths that the concept so clearly offers". The game currently has a rating of 71.78% on GameRankings.