Today in a new trailer Square Enix announced Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition Lite, which will be free-to-play for the first three dungeons.
Lite version will play just like the paid one except players will be locked out of the game’s remaining 10 dungeons unless they purchase the whole thing. Square Enix is calling it a “free-to-download demo version,” sort of like Nintendo’s “free to try” approach with the mobile game Super Mario Run. That sort of makes sense for Crystal Chronicles Remastered since it’s coming to iOS and Android in addition to PS4 and Switch. All four platforms will get the Lite version when the game launches on August 27.
There’s a nice catch though. Since Crystal Chronicles Remastered is cross-play between all of these platforms, Square Enix is letting anyone with the free version still play the rest of the game’s dungeons if they join up with someone who has the paid version of the game.
The company hasn’t gone into many specifics about how matchmaking will work, so it’s unclear if there will be an easy way to find people with the paid version of the game to play with or not. It’s also not totally clear if those playing the Lite version will still get access to the story content past the initial three dungeons.
Crystal Chronicles is a grindy game though where players are meant to go back through the same missions to gain levels and better gear. Being able to test that out before committing to the whole game is a nice option, even somewhat reminiscent of the hybrid free-to-play approach Bungie’s taken with Destiny 2.