At the risk of coming across like an old curmudgeon, I must take a moment to express disappointment with the handling of the Final Fantasy brand. I'm biased, and not just because I play and write about lots of games. Final Fantasy was one of the reasons I fell in love with console gaming as an adult, specifically the VII entry that most RPG fans will list in their Top 10, if not Top 5, of all time. If it were an isolated incident, I'd get off my soap box, but Final Fantasy VII was part of a continuum of great games pumped out under the Final Fantasy flag. Many of them never made it to US shores, outside of hard-to-find imports, until many years later. Now we can look at the shelves over the past year where there's been a glut of Final Fantasy games released, including ports of the original games that led up to my first true console love. Yes, love. Everything before that was just a fling... The question I keep asking myself now is when and if the Final Fantasy brand will reach that level of excitement that always accompanied a new release.

If you haven't guessed, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time is not the moment-of-glory I'm looking for... It's not that this is a terrible game, far from it. Most everything here is executed well, but without that sense of magic that Square possessed in the past with its Final Fantasy series. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles has demonstrated its ability to provide a good offshoot, a sandbox for more casual gamers or younger players that weren't up for the steeper difficulty curve that followed Final Fantasy moving to larger consoles. Unfortunately, the presentation has been dumbed down as much as the gameplay. The Pollux Crossplatform engine, used to make this game portable in real time between Wii and DS, forces Wii gamers to manage side-by-side screens that show data split between the DS's two screens. It makes sense that a truly cross-platform title would have a cloned interface, but the Wii carries an unfair burden as a result. Strapped with two screens sharing space may work on a 50+ inch television, but those with less than 40" of screen real estate will need to pull their chairs up closer, which is annoying.

On the plus side, the characters and locations are endearing throughout Echoes of Time, if not very memorable beyond the final credits. There's no denying that even the worst graphics here are a far sight better than what we enjoyed in the olden days, and there are still epic adventures and a sprawling world to be explored. The ease with which you can slip into multiplayer and have four players on-screen adventuring together is impressive, and there are some great musical pieces that set the mood. If it were placed in the context of any other RPG franchise out there, people would be impressed. The problem is that Final Fantasy doesn't do things significantly better than its competitors these days.

Adventuring on the premise that you're the only person in your forest tribe able to get beyond the town's confines is a strange rationale. Beyond the crisis that starts the game moving, forcing you to get outside and explore, there are some fairly minor nudges that keep you motivated to push on and develop your character. The RPG purist will feel like everything is right with the world upon cracking open Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time. Every element of a good RPG is contained here, combined with some puzzles and multiplayer action that hearkens back to the fun of games like Gauntlet from the old-skoole days. If it sounds like a bit of a stew, you're not far off. The burning question is whether it will make you happy and all touchy-feely, RPG-y...

The key element of good RPG gameplay is character development, and Echoes of Time has that in spades. You'll be given options to select from several classes, which will determine your abilities and equippables. Replay potential immediately goes up when the field of possibilities is broad from the outset. Solo adventuring gets a bit stale, so you'll be run through a quick tutorial section and directed toward town, where you can recruit a full party of adventurers. The tutorial helps to present the basic controls and teach you the interface. Once you travel to town, you'll have deeper challenges to face in the form of puzzles and industrial strength monsters, not to mention a host of NPC interactions. The fun beyond this point lies in repeating the basic explore/town/equip/converse/quest cycle ad inifinitum. You'll have chances to complete quests and embark on special quests that feel more like mini-games. The dungeon exploring helps to move the story along and provides your characters with needed raw materials and loot.

The loot and materials become part of your character's development, and aide your party in becoming a lean, mean, fighting machine. Before the fighting, you'll need to become a lean, mean, crafting machine, visiting merchants throughout town to purchase items, combine materials, and special-order goods. There isn't a full-blown job system in evidence, which is a shame because of how dependent on towns you become. The interactions in town will uncover new plotlines and help advance the story. Breaking away from the main story, you can launch a multiplayer session at almost any time, and the neatest thing about Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time is that it allows Wii gamers to interact wirelessly with a DS player, as long as both have copies of the game. This is like a dog/fox hybrid or something, the first time we've seen a game that is cross-platform in a way that allows both players to enter the gameworld together on different systems. After the novelty wears off, the foibles of Echoes of Time are still there, but true real-time party gaming hasn't been a big feature on Wii yet, so this is breaking new ground. Multiplayer questing and mini-game action is cool, but the real reward for most is the solo campaign.

Tamed down in every way, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time packs very little punch until you're quite far along in the game. The initial presentation leaves much room for error with enemies and bosses, especially if you load your party with A.I. compatriots. Balancing the party through A.I. commands is a nice feature, and helps to avoid situations like characters with critical magic skills burning through their magic. You can preset the actions that your A.I. comrades will take during battle, to ensure things run smoothly. You can also, in solo play, switch over control to any of the other party members, giving you opportunities to practice special attacks and party defense actions you wouldn't otherwise see unless you started over and chose a new tribal affiliation. There are some puzzles within the dungeons and levels that require some basic platforming skill, a fine idea until you find the camera and controls conspiring to make the entire experience pretty unsavory. Controls are especially cumbersome as you try to navigate the two screens during a pitched battle. Like everything in life, repeated practice works wonders.

The big "gotcha" in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time is the failed attempt to emulate the DS screen format on the Wii. Sure, it's cross-platform, but at what price? The (+) and (-) buttons change the size of each screen, left or right, and you can reverse the screens if you prefer the character-status/magic screen on the left instead of its default right position. I just wanted that screen gone, and for the other screen with all the action, monsters, and scenery to fill my television. The use of the Nunchuk is questionable, but works as a means for directing magic and prompting some commands. The magic casting mechanic is a neat one. You initiate a magic spell after choosing which character will cast the spell, assuming you control that character. You'll grab one of the spells using the D-pad, and then launch the spell with the analog stick controlling its placement. Put that spell into a holding pattern and stack several more on top, not necessarily from the same spell family. This allows you to combine spells for greater power or even different effects, depending on what you stack. The idea behind this mechanic is brilliant, but in practice it takes some getting used to.

Most other elements in the game's interface feel about the same. Play for five hours, and everything feel comfy and friendly. The first two hours are grueling, and will put more than a few gamers off Echoes of Time completely. RPGs are supposed to be about scaling back controls and making it easy for players to experience the story and the characters. Action/RPGs like this are not at the opposite end of the spectrum, but you'll be required to have a lot of interaction during battles. Your A.I. team fights or defends or uses magic according to the assignments you give each member, but you'll have to master the spell-casting and item-using dynamic quickly in order to survive tougher battles. Apart from fighting, you'll have to use your brain to master the inventive puzzles embedded in each dungeon. Many require you to use magic in creative ways, so don't expect to get by just swinging an axe or sword.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time fails to live up to the expectations set by previous games in the Final Fantasy universe, and even a simple title like Chocobo's Dungeon packed a more reliable set of RPG conventions into a very kid-friendly package. Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time can't decide if it wants to be scaled-down, simple fun, or large scale RPG adventure. In the wake of all this waffling is a game that is trying to be too many things to too many people. The basic RPG gameplay is solid, but is buried under a weak interface, generic presentation, and controls that require at least tweenaged proficiency. Rent before you buy, and really just save your money for the next Final Fantasy installment, which won't be released on any Nintendo platforms, from the look of things. Sometimes, it's best to leave people wanting more, instead of being seen as a once-great brand that now panders to the lowest common denominator. Echoes of Time isn't that bad, but it falls far short of the quality bar set by its cousins, brothers, and parents.