Mythril and Gil me.
I enjoy a fun bout with Mario Kart. I’m sure everyone does. It’s a fun, but sometimes a bit too punishing game that will have friends both laughing and swearing at each other for hours. Now, Square-Enix is looking to capitalize on the kart racer genre with Chocobo GP. Of course, this isn’t their very first foray into the racing genre, but this one really wears its influences on its sleeve. After a lot of time with the game, I can say it’s a great kart racer, but bogged down with some questionable practices.
Much like the Nintendo plumber’s racing games, Chocobo GP is a Final Fantasy themed kart racer where players will race against both CPU and human players as they try to make it into the pole positions. Along the way, they will be throwing special items and using special moves to both hinder the opposition as well as boost their position in the race. If you have ever played a kart racing game before, you know what you’re getting into.
MSRP: Free/$49.99 version
Price I’d pay: It’s free, go with that to start.
Platforms: Switch
The game has a story mode, a time trial, specific races, and the Chocobo GP. Which is where the majority of players will be spending their time. The Chocobo GP is an online bracket set of races where players from around the world race against each other and depending on what place they make it in a race, will advance to the next bracket. This mode will offer experience points and level up the player’s season profile.
I’m getting ahead of myself a bit. You see, Chocobo GP relies heavily on unlockables such as characters, colors, new vehicles, and the like. Many of these can be obtained through regular play or by purchasing them in the in-game store with tickets that players earn doing certain things. Now, there are also exclusive prizes that can be obtained only through the purchase of the prize pass. The prize pass and the premium prize pass must be purchased with mythril. Mythril is a currency that must be bought with real money through the Nintendo eShop. Players will also earn a very small amount through daily login bonuses. When purchasing a prize pass either the regular one or the premium one, players will earn a season exclusive character along with other prizes like extra gil, stickers, and other cosmetic items. This season’s exclusive characters are Cloud Strife and Squall Leonhart. Now, if one was to purchase the prize pass, they wouldn’t unlock Cloud immediately, they must first level up their season profile to level 60 to unlock him. The PREMIUM prize pass which costs triple the mythril will unlock Cloud instantly. To get Squall, players will have to buy him using gil. Which is earned by doing the daily and weekly challenges like “play Chocobo GP 3 times today” This doesn’t require the prize pass but getting the prize pass will let you earn more gil from the challenges.
This is the biggest kicker of all – When you purchase mythril from the Nintendo eShop, that mythril will EXPIRE IN FIVE MONTHS OF PURCHASE. Why in the world would an in-game currency I spent hard-earned money on ever expire?
Chocobo GP comes in two versions – a paid version and a “lite” free version. The free version offers the prologue story mode, the online Chocobo GP, and local multiplayer as long as some one player has the paid version of the game. So, the lite version does allow for online play and the use of the prize pass if players feel so inclined.
The reason why this review is so late is because I wanted to see how long it took to level up my profile to unlock Cloud. With me playing around three to four times a week for a few rounds of Chocobo GP, it took me around three and a half weeks to get him. That’s also because Square-Enix patched the game to make leveling easier after hearing backlash from players. Obviously, I could have played more, but you’re talking to a 36-year-old that works full time and has a family. I can’t play this game every single day for an hour.
The online play is decent enough. I did experience some lag in the races at times, but over the course of my playing it, it seemed to get better as time went on. Hopefully, all the lag issues will iron themselves out.
It’s crazy to believe that I can be down on a game that is really fun to play both offline and online. Somehow, Square-Enix has thrown so many things into the game that either you must pay for, or grind for weeks to unlock. It wouldn’t be that big of an issue if it was just cosmetic items, but characters who have different stats and special moves that could possibly throw the advantage to the player that paid money. I just can’t get on board with that. Still, there is a free version of the game for anyone to play and see how they feel about the game. If you enjoy it enough to spend some money, you can, just keep in mind, this game can be really fun, but the grind can be real.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
