PSN Review – Crystal Defenders
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Crystal Defenders is a simple game that has been ported from the iPhone to the PlayStation 3. The game merges tower defense style gameplay with elements from the Final Fantasy Tactics series. The game has no story, and instead has 12 maps that are split between 3 different worlds.
The gameplay consists of positioning units along the sides of a trail that leads from the beginning of the map, where the enemies spawn, to the end of the map. If the monsters reach the end of the trail, they steal 1 or more of the 20 crystals that you begin with. The goal is to kill the monsters before they reach the end of the trail, and as each of the 30 waves of monsters progresses, the monsters become tougher, and the strategies required to keep the enemies at bay become more rigorous.
The strategy involved is fun, but dries up very quickly. Thankfully, each of the three worlds incorporate different elements, which helps give the game a small level of variety, but not enough to make it fully enjoyable by any means. The variety of classes adds to the strategy of the game, and each class excels at specific taks. However, most strategy comes down to proper unit placement and proper level allocation. Figuring out the correct sequence for each wave is fun for the first few levels, but becomes overly challenging and repetitive as time goes on. The lack of additional features and gameplay modes makes Crystal Defenders a very one-dimensional experience that’s devoid of enjoyability or replayability.
The game is played on a 2-dimensional plane, and due to being a port from the iPhone, has very simple controls. In fact, the only things the player has control over are opening up the class window and speeding up the pace of the game. The controls are a clear reminder of how far games have come, and while they are simple, the game is years behind its due time.
Crystal Defenders closely resembles a handheld game. Although the game is available on the PlayStation 3, it’s clearly just a straight port from its iPhone counterpart. The game is still 2D, and there aren’t any clear visual improvements over the iPhone version of the game. The menus are reminiscent of the original Final Fantasy Tactics back in 1997, and the visuals aren’t much better than what the Gameboy Advance can pump out. This is definitely not a game you want to show your friends to prove how powerful the Cell processor is.
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10 Responses to “PSN Review – Crystal Defenders”
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August 13th, 2009 at 12:45 PM
i would have bought this if it were a 6 or 5 dollar game, just not worth 10 bucks.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:59 PM
I played the demo and I thought I was playing a PSP game with smoother graphics. Is this game even HD?
August 13th, 2009 at 1:02 PM
Definitely not worth it, first Squeenix game on PS3 tho.
August 13th, 2009 at 1:27 PM
“makes Crystal Defenders a very one-dimensional experience that’s devoid of enjoyability or replayability” – yowza, definitely passing this one, ty for the review.
August 13th, 2009 at 1:30 PM
But it has trophies if that is something you care about.
August 13th, 2009 at 2:08 PM
@DGR8Mc187
Every game since late last year has been required to add trophies, so adding that as a plus would be improper. I managed to 100% of the trophies on Crystal Defenders before reviewing it, but only because I’m a Final Fantasy Tactics fan.
August 13th, 2009 at 5:08 PM
This doesn’t look good (for a PS3 game that is).
August 14th, 2009 at 6:38 AM
I bought it, I don’t care about graphics I’m usually not watching when I have a glass on one side of the controller putting enough pressure on it so that the glass on the other side presses the R2 trigger allowing it to speed through.
I enjoy it, and 10 dollars I’m getting my monies worth.
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:42 PM
The game is horrible.. im glad it got 2. what saved it from a 1 was the decent tactic game play
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:33 PM
why is SE releasing handheld games on the PS3?