The basic battle system may sound too simple to keep your interest for long, but as you unlock different memories, you'll also unlock the ability to change jobs at the start of each dungeon, which does a lot to keep the gameplay fresh. Like Final Fantasy Tactics A2, you can unlock quite an extensive list of jobs, and you'll have to level up each job separately to unlock its special abilities. Depending on the dungeon, the job you select can have a crucial effect on your success, since some special abilities are infinitely more valuable in certain situations, which adds a welcome layer of strategy to the hack 'n' slash gameplay. 

The main dungeons generally aren't too difficult, but some of the most frustrating moments come from special rules dungeons, where Chocobo is stripped of his equipment and items, and has to submit to the whims of a dungeon's special set of parameters. In particular, the special rule dungeon where you only have one point of HP can be incredibly frustrating. Imagine somehow making your way through six dungeon floors avoiding enemies, only to spring an invisible summon trap, surrounding you with enemies and leaving you no choice but to start over. Then imagine that was your 10th attempt at getting through that dungeon (blood... pressure... rising). Still, it's definitely on the easy side, and aside from a few frustrating dungeons, even younger kids should have few problems getting through it.

If traipsing through multi-tiered dungeons for hours, leveling up a multitude of job classes and equipment, and keeping track of health, hunger and magic levels sets your heart aflutter, it doesn't get much better than Chocobo's Dungeon. But if your eyes just glazed over and you suddenly feel like giving up on life, there's no magic here that's going to make you enjoy this game. Still, if you're curious about the genre, Chocobo's Dungeon is a great introduction - if this doesn't hold your interest for long, no dungeon crawler will.

Jul 15, 2008