Is Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon worth playing in 2023?

This Final Fantasy spinoff features a courageous Chocobo and friends as its heroes. Is Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon worth playing in 2023?

Background

If this game sounds familiar, it’s because this is a remake (wiimake?) of a Wii title. The previous title was Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon, but it has been rereleased as Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon: Every Buddy!

You’re probably familiar with the Mystery Dungeon format by now: traverse randomized dungeons, often with some kind of gimmick to keep them from getting stale. Hunger is often a factor, and there are steep penalties for failure. This is a Final Fantasy take on Mystery Dungeons, starring Chocobo and yet another Cid.

What does Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon: Every Buddy! do well?

This game features three separate progression tracks: Chocobo’s overall level, Chocobo’s job level, and Buddy Points. The first two experience types aren’t too exciting, but in case the game’s title didn’t clue you in, the Buddy system is what really shines. You’ll obtain buddies through completing story content and picking up buddy points from defeating mobs. After accruing enough Buddy Points, you’ll unlock that particular enemy as a buddy, and that includes bosses.

In the screenshot above, you can see that you don’t necessarily have to unlock the buddies in order. I hadn’t run into the third type of dragon yet, but had already collected enough BP to unlock the Thunder Dragon.

Between the buddy system and the job system, you have a lot of player agency in how you want to approach the dungeons. Late game, your equipment options really open up. You’ll find collars with incredible effects like showing the map layout, disabling traps, removing the hunger mechanic, or nullifying all status effects.

What could Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon: Every Buddy! do better?

There’s a little awkwardness with controls and items. A good example is how you need to kick items at your partner to use them. You could argue that this requires good positioning, but just being able to use a potion on my teammate without them needing to be in kicking distance would be a great QoL feature.

My other issue is not being able to actually control my partner. For 99% of the game, this isn’t a huge issue, but it can be hard to make your buddy get to safety when a boss is charging up a big attack. Even just a flee option would be great.

This brings me to my last big complaint, which is that the game likes to “level check” you with bosses. Should boss fights be difficult? Sure. However, getting one-shot by bosses or duels is annoying. This is an issue with difficulty tuning. If I can clear the enemies in the dungeon and reach the boss then I should be in a good state to defeat them, rather than needing to hang back and grind.

Is Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon: Every Buddy! fun?

There are a few hiccups, but overall this is a fun dungeon crawler.

Is Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon: Every Buddy! good value?

This game is substantially meatier than the Gysahl Greens you’ll be eating. The normal MSRP is $40, but you can find it on sale occasionally. I would recommend passing on the DLC, though. The only one worth getting is the Beastmaster for its team heal.

Who is this game for?

Much like Final Bar Line, this game shines if you’re also a fan of the source material and not just the gameplay. Mystery Dungeoneers will enjoy this game.

Is Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon worth playing in 2023?

The Mystery Dungeon genre is always pretty light, so if you’re a fan of the genre conventions then this definitely needs to be on your list of dungeons to clear out.

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