Artwork from Square Enix's TGS media pack.
Final Fantasy isn't the only Square franchise celebrating an anniversary this year (it's 20th). Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon was released on the PlayStation ten years ago, and every gamer's favorite super-deformed bird thing is returning on the Wii for some more dungeon crawling. We began unraveling the mystery at Square Enix's booth today.
A trailer running in the Closed Mega Theater opened with our Chocobo riding in the passenger seat of a dune buggy crossing a desert. The vehicle was being driven by a very Indiana Jones-looking fellow -- and now that we notice, the game's handlers here at TGS are all wearing fedoras, just like the guy in the game. Anyway, this guy and the Chocobo are somehow dropped into a town in trouble. A boy is sick, or cursed, and the only way to save the day is for the Chocobo to head into a mysterious dungeon that has opened nearby.
The demo we played started off in town where we could stroll around and talk with the locals, both human and animal. We had no idea what anyone was saying, though, so we headed straight for this mysterious dungeon we've heard so much about. The game can be controlled with the Wiimote either held horizontally or like a remote, although there don't appear to be any motion controls. The D-pad moves the yellow guy around, although movement feels restricted as you step one full square at a time, so there isn't any room for nuance. Chocobo's Dungeon doesn't use the nunchuck controller, but it would make sense to use it for analog control.
Mysterious Dungeon lacks a jump button and camera control, but luckily it wasn't much of an issue. The paths in the dungeon seem to float in the air, and there aren't any walls to get in the way of the camera. The A button is used for attacks, which end up being a flurry of button mashing when you encounter an enemy. Fortunately, there are many, many items to be found along the dungeon floor, including spells that can be used for new attacks. Also to be encountered along the dungeon paths are hidden devices like bear traps and ink spurts that impede your progress.
Once you find the stairwell in each level of the dungeon you can either descend or keep searching the current floor for more items. If your Chocobo bites the dust you'll have to start at the beginning of the current dungeon, although the game smartly randomizes the order in which the floors progress and where items and enemies are located. Your health regenerates as long as you are moving.
Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon on the Wii looks to be a pleasant, laid back dungeon-crawling experience. One unfortunate detail we noticed was that load times are quite long. The game isn't shipping in Japan until December 13, though, so hopefully those can be shortened because otherwise what we played was pretty charming.