So here's the official word from Square Enix: the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers project isn't dead. This was confirmed by director Mitsuru Kamiyama in his latest post on the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles official website. You can check out the details of what he said in the full article after the jump.

For those of you who are still waiting for updates on Square Enix's long postponed Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers title for the Wii, it looks like you'll just have to wait a little bit longer. Representatives from the company refused to comment on the status of the game when questioned about it during the recent GDC 2008 event. Find out more about what they had to say in the full article.

Well, it's Friday, and we've got the new trailer for Square Enix's upcoming Wii title Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers for your viewing pleasure. The trailer has the usual collection of cutscenes and gameplay footage and yes, it does have quite an action feel to it. Check it out below.

Veering away from usual RPG convention, the hero in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers will start off strong instead of a weakling who needs to level up. Of course, let's not forget that Cecil from Final Fantasy IV started off strong too (in the game's first series of battles, anyway). Then again, the hero in this game looks like the Little Prince while Cecil was a black-armored knight, so the dualities could continue.

The Wiimote and Nunchuk controller combo will be used to execute moves in the game. It also looks like the steampunk-ish ships seen in the E3 video will also play a big part in the game (the hero's also shown wearing pilot goggles), as it has been reported that players will also be able to control them.

 

More good news (and possibly info) is to be released for Square Enix's Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers for the Wii console. Thus stated a press wire over at Japan's official FFCC site which announced that a new game trailer will be appearing this Friday, May 25.

We're not too sure about what's going to be in this latest video trailer, although the press wire hints that it will be based on an "image" (pardon the Babelfish) that was posted in the recently concluded Square Enix Party 2007. It further notes it's gameplay footage. That's all the details we have at the moment, although given that Crystal Bearers is already being described as a single-player centric game, we'll have to see what will be revealed come Friday.

If you've read our past articles, you know by now that FFCC: Crystal Chronicles will start off as the main character being strong instead of a pushover that needs to level up. This time around, we've got new info from an interview with executive producer Akitoshi Kawazu and director Toshiyuki Itahana.

Added to being initially powerful, the hero will also have various abilities and weapons right off the bat. Not much about these are revealed, but it's confirmed that the players will get to use that glowing hand thing.

Some also think that summoning could be available because the appearance of a Bahamut-like creature in the teaser video.

Gameplay will make full use of both Wiimote and nunchuck, with the controls probably adapting to different scenes . The game will focus on playability, so you can take out massive monsters and bosses with relative ease.

Unfortunately, no U.S. release date yet as of now. Don't worry though, we'll keep you informed.

Japanese magazine Shonen Jump featured upcoming title Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers in its last issue. The publication dedicated just one full page to the game.

But even so, we're talking about Final Fantasy here - one of the most successful video game franchises ever. And as such, any FF-related matter shouldn't go unnoticed.

Anyway, we learned recently that FFCC: The Crystal Bearers will somehow deviate from other games in the series as players will be controlling an already-strong character at the beginning.

Playing normal FF games, as you know, requires player to spend a lot of time on levelling up. We are however curious if The Crystal Bearers is going to be a real-time fighting game because the original used the same technique for gameplay.

In the event that Square Enix make it turn-based, fans likewise will have no problems as they've grown accustomed to that kind of gameplay with other FF games.

Given that much as been said and announced about the features that Square Enix's Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (DS) and FF CC: Crystal Bearers (Wii) will carry, we'll be taking a short break to hear some words from their corresponding directors. That's the topic of this latest interview 1Up's wrapped up with Crystal Bearers director Toshiyuki Itahana, and Ring of Fates director Mitsuru Kamiyama.

First on the itinerary was Itahana-san's view on Crystal Bearers, which he described was going to be more action-oriented compared to other Final Fantasy games. Itahana further elaborated that while the original Crystal Chronicles (GameCube) and Ring of Fates (DS) focused more on multiplayer gaming, Crystal Bearers "concentrates more on solo play and action".

As for the matter of Ring of Fates, Kamiyama-san was quizzed whether the DS game would give players the MMO-style aspect of being able to create their own custom armor and weapons sets, much like in Crystal Chronicles for the GC. The director happily replied that Ring of Fates would indeed carry armor and weapons customizability, with the plus that the game's varying equipment would each look different. And yes - you can carry the gear over during multiplayer battles.

The last segment of the interview delved into other game details. First up was Crystal Bearer's feel, which 1UP has described as a "Skies of Arcadia (Dreamcast) meets the Little Prince (novel)" motif, given the combination of airships, and the main protagonists now-famous boyish appearance and golden, curly locks. Here were Itahana's thoughts on the matter:

In terms of the hair, what we discussed before in how I want to portray the hero, I wanted more of a world-weary weather-beaten image, my image was not to design a hero with curly hair, but to make it appear a little disheveled because it's supposed to be a little messy so that it appears that he's been through a lot of stuff and wanted to convey a rugged look for the hero.

As for Kamiyama, and whether the GC game's "moogle painting" feature would be carried over:

Here's an insider story for you. First of all, yes, moogle painting is in the game. But in the original GameCube game, that feature was put in just two weeks before we finalized the data was 'set,' and it was kind of an afterthought at first. So I went to Itahana, and I said "Do something with this," and he drew out the idea on a chopstick wrapper, and gave it to me, and I showed it to Mr. Kawazu (Akitoshi Kawazu, executive producer), who looked at it, and then left without saying anything.

That's all for the moment. Just stick around in case the game's dev team has more to say, or if we pick up any details on either game's inter-connectivity. According to IGN, Crystal Bearers for the Wii is currently on TBA status for the US, is expected to launch in Japan this December 31, and in Europe this July 26. Ring of Fates for the DS is currently on TBA status for Europe, is expected to launch in Japan this August 23, and in the US this December 31.

Gaming site Jeux-France managed to get hold of new Famitsu scans concerning upcoming Square Enix video game title Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers. The scan doesn't show much in terms of graphics but it did reveal exciting new details about the game.

If you remember, the official teaser video that was shown during the last E3 featured steam punk-style airships emitting green smoke suggesting that these are powered by magical elements. The scan mentioned that it would be possible for players to direct and control these ships.

It's already a given that FFCC: The Crystal Bearers will make good use of the Wiimote-Nunchuk combo. What's interesting is that instead of players controlling characters who must level up during the course of the game, the characters will already be powerful right from the get go.

There was still no mention, however, if the new game is going to be a real-time fighting game much like the original FFCC title. It is also feasible that The Crystal Bearers will be a turn-based RPG just like most typical Final Fantasy titles.

Likewise, there was also no mention about how Square Enix will implement connectivity between DS and Wii players.

Gaming news website GamesRadar recently had the chance to pump Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers Executive Producer Akitoshi Kawazu and Director Toshiyuki Itahana as well as Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates Director Mitsuru Kamiyama for some info on their upcoming games. Here are a few snippets of what they learned.

DS and Wii connectivity for both games is a no go at this point, unlike the original which had GBA and GameCube connectivity. According to Kawazu, though, once the Wii gets into more and more households, then the team behind the games would definitely "start contemplating these concepts."

As for controls, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers will use the Wiimote for movement and attacking. The game will also utilize the nunchuck for "different purposes in different scenes," although Itahana notes that as a team, they made sure that the gameplay will not be "taken over by a feature in the hardware".

For the full interview, click on the "read" link below.

During Square Enix's pre-Square Enix Party 2007 Conference Meeting, a few bits of info regarding the upcoming Wii title Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers were revealed. And when we say few, we definitely mean few.

According to reports from IGN, a progress report on Crystal Bearers was given by Ring of Fates character designer Toshiyuki Itahana immediately following the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates release date announcement (it's August 23, by the way). A trailer featuring snippets of real-time in-game footage was shown featuring the game's lead character, "a blond haired bloke in glasses".

Squeenix reps asked the attendees not to show any photos or videos of Crystal Bearers, but IGN reports that the game looks like it will be in widescreen on the Nintendo Wii. Gaming news site 1UP also notes that the game looks quite similar to the Sega title Skies of Arcadia, looking less like the other Crystal Chronicles games and more like a true adventure game.

A demo could also hopefully surface at the Square Enix Party event later this week, as Crystal Bearers was supposed to be demoed at the meeting but had to be pulled since it "wasn't quite ready yet".