Nintendo Switch code provided by Square Enix
Going into this month, one game I was excited to see was the newest entry in the karting sub-genre, Chocobo GP. Set in the fictional world of Final Fantasy, this title offered a cute spin on the franchise with colorful chibi-style versions of the characters we know and love as well as offered what looked like a fun karting experience.
While this world is definitely colorful and its characters adorable, unfortunately, Chocobo GP is yet another forgettable karting game. Only this time, it falls on its own sword by implementing some of the most ridiculous microtransactions I’ve ever seen in a single game.
Gameplay
Chocobo GP’s gameplay, while offering its own spin on some things, is a copy and paste of the leading karting games currently available. If you purchased the “full experience” you get access to the game’s Story Mode, Time Attack, Series Races, Custom Races, and Multiplayer. I’ve got to say, for the $50 price tag, this game severely underdelivers on all fronts.
Story Mode has you race through the game’s “campaign” as you unlock new racers, tracks, and themes for your home screen. I found it to be extremely repetitive as the story is broken into 9 chapters where you basically race the same track twice over before moving to the next one, rinse, and repeat. There is very slight variation here or there but the majority of it is just, meh.
The other modes to play don’t really warrant purchasing the game at all as they’re just filler to make your $50 feel slightly justified. You’re mostly paying for the racers here. Then there’s the Multiplayer mode which, good luck finding a match as no one even plays it online.
The only place where this game shines is in its Chocobo GP exhibitions which are set up as a karting battle royale of sorts. Each one is a bracket of 64 racers where the number dwindles down from one race to the next. Now, you aren’t all racing on the same track at the same time but it is pretty fun to try to get as far as you can without being eliminated in your bracket.
Races themselves are pretty bog-standard with semi-dynamic tracks where hazards may or may not lurk around certain corners. You also have the various pick-ups, called Magic Eggs. These eggs grant racers a power-up in the form of things such as shields, speed boosts, or even a jump ahead into a black hole. These are pretty interesting as the more eggs you pick up, the better the strength of the power-up.
I found races to be pretty entertaining, but nothing that really warranted switching from my go-to karting game to this one. I guess the game just feels uneven in some areas. The controls didn’t feel that intuitive to me and while the power-up ideas are cool, it never really did much for me to keep me interested in playing for more than a few minutes at a time.
Audio and Visual
The game is pretty great in both its sound and visual presentation. Tracks and racers have a fair bit of depth to them and even though you do get a bit of jankiness with outlines and such, it still looked great overall. The audio design is pretty good as it manages to keep up with the hectic aesthetic that makes the game feel like it’s moving faster than it actually is.
Replayability
As far as replayability goes, it’s really dependent on your enjoyment from it. This isn’t a great karting game and with there being so many other choices to choose from, this one just failed to keep my attention, personally.
What It Could Have Done Better
This title has a lot of issues but most of them stem from the value of the full version and the realization of just how horrendous this title is even from a free-to-play perspective. Firstly, this game has three different kinds of in-game currency. There are Tickets that are earned by playing the story mode, Gil which is earned by leveling up in the season/season pass, and Mythril which I purchased with real-world money.
All three forms of payment unlock the same type of stuff though, with only a minor difference or two. There are skins for racers, color schemes, themes for the home page, and so on. There are also occasional characters as well. The problem with this is, not only is it confusing as to why there are three forms of payment but it’s also confusing when it comes time to redeem them for items. Each form of currency has its own pages in the shop and getting around them is just ridiculous.
Verdict
Chocobo GP is the most uninspired cash grab that Square Enix has put out thus far. At least with Marvel’s Avengers, the costumes look insanely cool. Here, all you get are slight variations of a few characters, none of which are worth the price of admission to the full event. This game feels like going to an arcade. You play a few games, have a few laughs, and then turn in your hard-earned tickets and money for some cheap gimmicks. If you’re looking for a good karting game, this ain’t it but if you’re a Final Fantasy fan, maybe you’ll get a kick out of it. I just would heavily advise not purchasing the full version until you play the Lite version of the game for a fair bit to see if this is for you.
