Review for Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY!. Game for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, the video game was released on 20/03/2019
We don't hide behind a finger: Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY! it's a nice and good fan service, seasoned with that irresistible charge of characters and situations that only a ten-year saga such as Final Fantasy can convey. Yet, if you look immediately behind the previously mentioned extension of the arm, a creation peeps out which, however not reaching the heights achieved by the vast portion of the works of the series to which it is inspired, manages to entertain and snatch more than a smile.
Son of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, the latest born in Square Enix is a dungeon crawler of those ignorant but not too much, able to punish the gamer if he should lower his defenses too much, especially by selecting the highest difficulty. at a footing on the story, decidedly uninteresting, it is good to underline how the "meat" of Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY! all reside in its labyrinthine gameplay.
The randomly generated dungeons are in fact, needless to say, a cross and a delight of the title. If it is true that, generally, the topography of the mazes proposed by the game reaches qualitatively at least acceptable levels, in some cases the randomization of the map gives life to labyrinths which, although they are freely explorable, are monotonous and therefore extremely difficult to digest.
It must be said how, from time to time, explorations are varied by some particular constraints - just to name one, the impossibility of equipping a particular type of item - which, while trying in every way to refresh an otherwise really soporific formula, nevertheless they cannot root out all these limits, usually trademarks of productions of this type.
The aspect for which Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY! differs from the original title is identifiable in the presence of buddies, or very nice, very powerful dungeon companions through which to hammer the different enemies. Unlockable by accumulating special Buddy Points, the introduction of this new peculiarity opens the door to the possibility, for a second player, to take control and help the first gamer while exploring the dungeons.
If it is true that the dynamics of the game can tire in the long run, also considering the grinding necessary in some particular phases, it is equally incontrovertible that it is in the nature of this genre of productions to “force” homo ludens to playthrough sessions necessary to adequately level their digital alter ego.
Talking about technical aspects in productions like Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY! is perhaps disrespectful yet, years after the original release, the work continues to defend itself quite well, especially on Nintendo Switch portable screens.
As expected, the sound part of the game adapts in offering adequate retro substance to the earpads of the nerdy user, cheering them with honeyed lullabies taken from all these years of Final Fantasy. The porting work, in short, is perfectly successful, not making us regret the original work, available on Nintendo Wii.
What leaves a bitter taste, however, is the asking price of all those who are willing to make Square Enix's binary creature their own. The amount of eurozzi claimed to take it home turns out to be, in fact, clearly in contrast to what the title reveals, revealing itself as not exactly so friendly: to download the production, digital only, 39,99 € is required.
Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY! is a production that, although it does not bring with it particular novelties in Japanese-style dungeon crawlers, resulting in others so tedious in some situations, it still represents one of the few examples of this particular genre of reference to reach the western shores, distinguishing itself for a whole gameplay all in all quite enjoyable. A discreet work, as well as a port of good historical value, especially for fans of this genre.
► Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY! is an Action-type game developed and published by Square Enix for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, the video game was released on 20/03/2019
