Square Enix is a company known for its fantastic RPGs and more specifically, the Final Fantasy series. Final Fantasy Tactics was an instant classic that eventually spawned an indirect sequel on the Gameboy Advance. Crystal Defenders is Square Enix’s first attempt at a tower defense game and uses jobs and monsters from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.
The game plays like most other tower defense games. Your main goal is to defeat enemies so that they cannot cross the map and steal your crystals. You can choose from various different jobs to place on the map: soldiers, black mages, archers, white monks, time mages, and thieves are just a few. While the first 4 jobs all cost the same, a measly 8 gil, the last two both cost 50 gil to place. Power up crystals can also be placed on the map. You can level up your defenders by spending gil in increasing increments.
The graphics are virtually identical to what is seen in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. While that can be taken positively or negatively, that is what the developer was going for. All of the sprites are designed very well and are smooth. The attacks, although they are the same each time, look nice as well. The fields look great but the walkways are not extremely different from each other. The advanced levels add more paths to increase the difficulty, though.
The soundtrack on this game is not extremely expansive but it is good. Like any Square Enix title, the music is entertaining, enjoyable and, best of all, does not pummel your ears. The sound effects are not the best though; they sound nice but are very repetitive. Each character only makes one noise for their attacks. While they do not get annoying, they certainly do not add much to the game play.
Crystal Defenders is a great title for Final Fantasy fans and tower defense fans alike. The price tag is decent for the quality of game you are getting at around $7.50. This game is available on consoles for a slightly higher price but the mobile version is highly recommended. It runs very smoothly as long as you do not have too many other apps running in the background and provides hours upon hours of fun.
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Graphics |
9.0 |
The graphics are very smooth and fit the entire feel of the game perfectly. |
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Audio |
7.0 |
The music is great but the sound effects department is lacking. |
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Single Player |
8.5 |
Hours of entertainment and advanced levels to really test your skills. |
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Multiplayer |
N/A |
|
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Replay |
9.0 |
Think you can beat your high scores? This game will have you coming back time and time again to try! |
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Overall |
8.5 |
A phenomenal game for your Android device that provides an immense amount of fun for its price. |
