Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is an action role playing game developed by The Game Designers Studio and published by Square Enix in 2003 for the Nintendo GameCube. This was the first Final Fantasy game to include real-time fighting, which has since become a staple of Final Fantasy games. It was also the first Final Fantasy game to be published on a Nintendo console since Final Fantasy VI on the SNES.
You play as a caravanner, trying to beat dungeons to collect myrrh drops to be able to sustain your village's crystal energy, which protects the villagers from the mortal effects of the miasma. In this run, you go out as a Yuke, a race of mages, to go explore the whole world and beating every boss in the game to cleanse the world of all miasma corrupted monsters.
Game objectives
- Emulator used: Dolphin 5.0
- Completing all dungeons at least 1 time by beating the boss at the end of each of them
- Finishing the game as fast as possible
- Don't use any glitch
Secondary objectives
- Taking damage to save time
- Using the RTA suboptimal race
- Being an overall jerk against your in game family
- Having a nice name by sacrificing some frame at the start
Comments
This is my fourth TAS of this game, and fourth time on this category. I chose this category because with All Dungeons, we can see more of the game, the different dungeons and the bigger picture of the overworld. In any%, you do almost the same thing but you skip longer dungeons, which I don't skip here. Also, I do glitchless because the only glitches known in this game are multiplayer exclusive.
Final Fantasy is my favorite game of all time, even if it's mostly nostalgia. Here, you go on an epic quest to discover characters and cities, new stories unfold and there is sidequests offered to you along the way. Unfortunately, in this run, I skip most of it. In this game, the fastest way to beat it is to get to the last dungeon, wich is blocked by a miasma wall. The only way to pass it is to get the unknown element in the Lynari Desert, which is only accessable at year 5. You have to collect 3 drops of myrrh to complete a year, wich means I have to beat 12 dungeons before even being able to get to the last boss, 13 if we count reviving the flowers in Veo Lu Sluice to rise up the river to even get there. I do all 14 single dungeons in this game, and I also do a revisit of River Belle Path to get a necessary drop.
I chose to play the Yuke, because he is not only the fastest caster, but his casts are even faster than autoattacks. Not only that, but spells are way more flexible and fusions can offer some great gameplay to beat boss easily. Also, with this race, I skip having to buy equipment, instead I focus on getting good artifacts to gain magic power. Since it's a TAS, I dont have to worry that much about my defense either since I can manipulate rngs all I want.
You choose, after each dungeon, an artifact that will give you permanent bonuses. In my case, I obviously choose the ones helpful for my magician. There is 2 ways to get artifacts: with points, or by dropping them inside the dungeon. The game works on a global timer, so each frame dungeons get a different seed wich affects bonus points conditions and ennemy drops (in the first room). The best way to manipulate what you want is to wait frames before entering a dungeon or a zone. It's also the same strategy I do after beating bosses to get the good set of artifacts I want. You also gain bonus points by killing ennemies and picking up things. It is important to know that my magical power only grow each multiple of 5. So most of the time I try to get to the higher one, with fruits and droppable artifacts. We start with 15, and we will be at the last boss with 65.
Money is also something important in this game, to pay the boat's fee. It costs me a total of 1200 gils, 2200 if I want to do a dialogue skip of 1 second. I got just over 1200 with all the money I dropped, and the items I sold to my merchant dad. I also take so detours here and there to change the element of my cristal, to be able to pass miasma streams.
Stage by stage comments
River Belle Path
First dungeon, pretty linear. I take a fire magicite and finish with picking the Moogle Pocket artifact after the boss. This artifact gives you another command slot, which is necessary for spell fusions of 3 magicites later on.
Mushroom Forest
I take the artifact Mage Masher (magic+1) in the chest, then beat the boss with a fire magicite as fast as possible. Like on many bosses, we use Mog (the creature carrying the chalice) to procs a Firaga spell, which burns the boss. Burning ennemies are more vulnerable to damage for a short period of time.
Cathuriges Mine
Again, I drop a fire magicite to deal damage. I also drop the artifact Cat's Bell (magic+1) from the ogre who needs to be killed anyway because he holds the key to the next room. Damage is taken on the boss to procs Mog's help sooner.
Goblin Wall
Some optimised movements, I take a thunder magicite to be able to stun goblins. I kill the Goblin Chieftain that holds the key to the boss as close a possible frome the door. I choose the artifact Winged Cap (magic+1) after the boss.
Tida
I take the bomb's key because it's faster than killing the worm. Also, as long as you have no fire magicite in you inventory, you can manipulate fire mgicite to drop from the containers in the second part of the dungeon. I can then get Firaga, which is really useful against the boss. I take the Dragon's Wisker artifact (magic+1).
Moschet Manor
I need 84 points at least to be able to manipulate the needed artifact, Red Slippers (magic+3). In the dungeon, I manipulate the switch to always have the Yuke tribe logo when needed, and I take an artifact in a chest to deal more damage against the ennemies. Fire magicite is used.
River Belle Path
In cycle 2, every ennemy is way more powerful than before. The Mushroom Forest is almost as fast as this one, but we have a faster boss here if we can manipulate him well enough. There is a new technique wich involves creating gravity with Mog early on, wich destroys 10% of current hp of the boss. It's only worth because the Giant Crab has so much health. The artifact Kris (magic+3) is taken.
Selepation Cave
I take the fast thunder magicite here, and go take the artifact Book of Light (magic+1) in the chest. The boss has a lot of hp, but not enough to make gravity worth. Instead, we just do bonus damage with a fire attack from Mog.
Daemon's Court
We need to manipulate the content of the chest to get a blizzard magicite (1/4), then manipulate the position of the 2 golden lizards (1/12), and finally manipulate a mythril from the nearest mace lizardman (1/2). And also manipulate the bonus points to get at least 103 for the artifact Wonder Wand (magic+3). Mythril is our main source of money, giving 875 gils when sold to you father.
Kilanda
A blizzard magicite is manipulated on the first chest. I the proceed to kill 3 monsters at the same time, dropping another blizzard magicite, to fusion them, a fruit, to make the boss faster, and the artifact Noah's Lute (magic+5).
Conall Curach
This is a long and linear dungeon. We need to get fire and life magicite to get holy, the only thing making the boss vulnerable, and nothing else. The main goal here is to manipulate the monsters, particularly bombs and those annoying sludge monsters, to let me pass fast when they are blocking the route. We finish with the artifact Sage's Staff (magic+3).
Rebena Te Ra
I need all elements magicites in this dungeon to unlock doors, including life for holy. I kill the bat with simple attacks because it's faster, since he is flying. I make a really hard detour to take the Rune Bell artifact (magic+3). Against the Lich, we only need to destroy one switch to destroy her shield.
Lynari Desert
I do all the complex steps of getting the unknown element as fast as possible, including skipping a menuing by making gravity with Mog. The artifact Silver Bracer (magic+1) is taken from the chest, and we go at the boss with 3 blizzard magicites for a triple fusion. I kill every monsters in 1 cycle, and use normal combos to kill the stone scorpions. I can also hit the boss before it even starts, with some precise timing.
Veo Lu Sluice
Heal a flower, pick a key, run away. Repeat 3 times. I can get 2 fire magicites wich are super effective against the boss. The Blizzard Ring artifact (magic+1) gives you the equivalent of a free magicite of blizzard, wich is useful at the last dungeon.
Mount Vellenge
65 total magic power is needed here. 70 doesn't change anything worthful, and 60 is too low. So I drop +9, +9 and +5. I also get 2 other ice magicites, because the wide fusion is very important against the last boss. You have to wait for meteor parasite to get vulnerable, so I make some shenanigans in between cycles. Also, there is a 1 frame trick that makes it possible to not have to dodge one of the attackes of the seconde and third phases, by abusing the invincibility of the Yuke tribe. Raem and Memiroa are manipulated to be as fast as possible.
Other comments
You will all be happy to know I really improved since my last runs. This game use TAS imputs to double the number of directions. It gives a new smoother movement, and a better feel when it's watched. This run uses optimised strategies, and each and every dungeon is faster than before, including the boss fights. I put every tricks I know and discovered to make it a pleasant watch.
Unless new tricks and routes are found, it's pretty much the best I can do. With better rng and maybe better movement some places, I could shave some little seconds. I'm proud and happy of this result.
Special thanks
- Leossier, my best friend, this run is dedicated to him
- The speedrunning community of FFCC. This game is for their enjoyment after all
- The TAS community, wich is the reason this beautiful video can be made and published for others to see in the first place
- Octalion Cription, who motivated me to restart this run to get better
ThunderAxe31: Judging.
ThunderAxe31: Accepting as improvement over the published run.
Fog: Processing.