Review: Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy!

Have you ever been enraptured by a single image from a video game? Just one shot, one minuscule slice of a final product that you just can't take eyes off of, that lives in your brain for days or even weeks after? I've had my fair share. The first time I saw a still image of Orchid's "No Mercy" move from the first Killer Instinctis one. The Hydra from God of War is another. Both are burned into my memory, but it's actually a more innocuous picture that is the best example of this.

More than a decade ago, back when IGN still had video game news, I stumbled onto their screenshots for the game that would become known as Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon. I was unfamiliar with the sub-series of the Final Fantasy franchise and the roguelike genre didn't do much for me at all. And yet, this one shot, just some of the rooftops of the game's central town, called out to me. Its whimsical charm beckoned and, for the next few months, that picture sat front and center in my hippocampus as I diligently waited for the game to come out.

It sold me on that game before I knew anything about it. Admittedly, that sort of internal hype machine probably clouded my perception of the final product as I had already convinced myself it was perfect even before I unwrapped the game. Truth is, I don't know if Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon is a good game or just a game I convinced myself was good, but I'm sure glad Square Enix has given me a second chance at a first impression with Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy!