Console Heroes: Crystal Defenders Review

Console Heroes writes: "For many people, seeing the name Square Enix on a game is reason enough to buy it, play it, and love it regardless of how it actually plays. Until now the 360 has been relatively deprived of anything Square related, but the company responsible for the Final Fantasy franchise has finally brought a game to Xbox Live Arcade in the form of Crystal Defenders, a strategy game that's a little difficult to pigeonhole as such.

Veterans of earlier Final Fantasy games – we're talking pre-Final Fantasy VII, mind you – will instantly find Crystal Defenders familiar, even though the game itself bears relatively little resemblance to the roleplaying franchise. The idea behind Crystal Defenders is that you are tasked with defending twenty crystals (yes, that would be where they came up with the name) from several waves of enemies intent on stealing them. You don't actually do any fighting, however, as you have an array of characters available at your disposal that will take care of the job for you. Your task is to use your resources – you buy these characters with the equivalent of gold and earn more by defeating enemies – to hire defenders and set them up along a road or path, and as wave after wave of enemies tries to pass through the map and get to the crystals you hope your defenders will defeat them..." 8/10