Game Boy Advance (GBA) link cable. Both Ring of Fates and Echoes of Time revolve around dungeon exploration and loot collection, comparable to the gameplay of Diablo. My Life as a King focuses on city-building and construction, with the protagonist sending adventurers out on quests to gather materials and spread influence. My Life as a Darklord again focuses on a group, but this time within the tower defense genre and subverting narrative and stylistic tropes within the series. The Crystal Bearers broke away from many of the series' established gameplay mechanics; in addition to a focus on action-adventure and physics-based combat, there were also numerous minigames. Development The first Crystal Chronicles title originated when Final Fantasy developer Square—who had previously parted on bad terms with Nintendo when they developed Final Fantasy VII for Sony's PlayStation console—were in a poor condition following the box office failure of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. They decided to make video games for Nintendo consoles again, founding a shell company of Square's Product Development Division 2 dubbed "The Game Designers Studio" so production could go ahead without interfering with other projects for Sony platforms. The shell company was co-owned by Square and Akitoshi Kawazu, creator of the SaGa series. Due to the strong reception of Crystal Chronicles, Square Enix continued it as its own series, beginning work on Ring of Fates and The Crystal Bearers in early 2006. The two games were announced that year. Due to his commitment to the Crystal Chronicles series among other projects, Kawazu did not continue work on the SaGa franchise. From the original Crystal Chronicles to The Crystal Bearers, the series remained exclusive to Nintendo consoles. Kawazu explained this as being an act of loyalty to Nintendo, who had first requested a game for their consoles. The remastered version of Crystal Chronicles was spearheaded by later staff member Ryoma Araki, who had joined Square Enix after playing the game and wanted to revive it for a modern gaming audience. The remaster was done with Kawazu's input, and featured enough changes that half of the game had to be remade. Many of the series staff were veterans of Final Fantasy IX, and the core team remained through the series' run. Kawazu had a creative role in each entry, mainly filling the role of executive producer. Kawazu also wrote the scenario for The Crystal Bearers. Both Ring of Fates and Echoes