The History of Crystal Chronicles Any% World Record Speedruns

The entire history of the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Any% Speedrun
Support the channel on Patreon!
/ doctorswellman
Check out my social media:
Twitter: / drswellman
Twitch: / doctorswellman​
Runners:
Ghoul02 - / ghoul02
LittleTonbi - / littletonbi
Neviutz - / neviutz
VerySydney - / verysydney
Romulo - / romulostx
Tansu-Kaguno - / @tansu_kaguno
Manaclaw - / manaclaw
trsLinitaa - / trslinitaa
Other FFCC Community Members:
Wobmiar - / @wobmiar
O.D.W. - / @therealodw
Other Footage:
GamesDoneQuick - / @gamesdonequick
Coolkid - / coolkidbigboy
Hotarubi - / yayu50
Speedrun Resources:
Leaderboard - www.speedrun.c...
Discord Server - / discord
Music (In order):
pastebin.com/4...
Some music by ‪@WhiteBatAudio‬

[@DoctorSwellman]

Happy 20th anniversary to FFCC! I loved playing this game as a kid and I'm glad to have shared this WR history with you all!!! Runners: Ghoul02 - www.twitch.tv/ghoul02 LittleTonbi - www.twitch.tv/littletonbi Neviutz - kzbin.info VerySydney - www.twitch.tv/verysydney Romulo - www.twitch.tv/romulostx Tansu-Kaguno - kzbin.info/door/9e3... Manaclaw - www.twitch.tv/Manaclaw trsLinitaa - www.twitch.tv/trslinitaa Other FFCC Community Members: Wobmiar - kzbin.info/door/OAi... O.D.W. - kzbin.info/door/S_b... Other Footage: GamesDoneQuick - kzbin.info/door/I3D... Coolkid - kzbin.info Hotarubi - kzbin.info Speedrun Resources: Leaderboard - www.speedrun.com/ffcc Discord Server - discord.gg/YRRquyF Music (In order): pastebin.com/4uaHHW1v

[@marc-andrerose8792]

Great video as usual. Thanks for all the efforts :)

[@roxaskinghearts]

god i love this game

[@mooman1017]

7:30 it's not one year but 2, technically three since the second year must end before retrying on a new cycle.

[@mooman1017]

But honestly I love that my all time favorite game is getting attention for once! I hope you have a wonderful day everyone!

[@DD151]

YO IS THAT ME? I VAGUELY REMEMBER ROUTING THIS GAME I do recall that when first starting out, I was sleuthing for those JP FFCC runs on NicoNicoDouga. Back then we barely had any idea of how the game worked and I don't think anyone in the English-speaking community even knew what the player's stats did. Eventually we figured out that every 5 points of attack and defense converted to 1 HP damage given or taken, but that was stuff that wasn't explained in any guide at the time. It's so hard to understate how different speedrunning is now compared to then. Imagine that there was a whole JP community for this game with experienced runners while we were mostly ignorant of them and trying to figure out how the game even worked, lol. Meteor Parasite phase 3 was definitely the biggest roadblock to getting a complete run. I think in 2012-2013 I was finishing up college and applying to medical school, so I stepped away from FFCC at that point. It's awesome to know how far along the community has come.

[@Sagite]

I think PonPon151 would totaly destroy this game with the information that's currently available.

[@dmas7749]

its weird hearing your name outside of mekkah or FE content weird...but cool

[@willytan12]

Unexpected dondon

[@sirrealgaming6913]

Seems to be a running theme I blame the memory eating last boss personally

[@UltaFlame]

I was at work and blurted out "what?!" When I heard Dondon151 spoken aloud in the video

[@collin2401]

I love the idea of speedrunners ambitiously rushing to Mount Vellenge never to be heard from again because it parallels the events of the game's story. The mayor of Tipa explicitly tells the player not to try ridding the world of Miasma because previous caravanners had mysteriously disappeared while attempting to do so. Great video by the way! I adore FFCC, so it's exciting to see people talking about it all these years later ❤️

[@IONATVS]

Yup! and two of the characters you meet in required cutscenes ARE a previous party that tried and failed a few years before you start out, now wandering the world with no memories and their tragic tales. . . . Specifically (1) Hurdy/Gurdy, once a scholar/bard from Tipa dedicated to ridding the world of Miasma, now a broken man with a split personality-Gurdy, a swindler who crisscrosses the roads trying to get whatever free shit he can, having the original’s wit but none of his kindness and Hurdy, an itinerant preacher you find in towns who speaks kind platitudes, but is utterly unambitious. And (2) The Black Knight, who left his wife and son on a quest of self betterment, was hired by Hurdy/Gurdy as a bodyguard, joining the glorious quest to save the world, but after losing his memories became a savage brute, fighting a light only he could see until slain by his own son-who thought him his father’s killer-in front of his wife, only remembering them as he died at their feet.

[@KopperNeoman]

"Don't worry, Mr. Mayor. I won't attempt that for another 25 years."

[@M0NSTERPRIDE]

Only 6 minutes into the video, but when you mentioned dondon151 I did a second take because I recognized the name from his Fire Emblem runs and guides that he does now. Never knew he worked on this in the past! How cool :)

[@Chrissteve1107]

Okay, I thought I was just imagining things. Glad someone else made that connection, haha.

[@xenosyke]

I'm actually playing and learning FE6 right now because of Dondon's draft race video.

[@oof5992]

The opposite of a ltc smh

[@Haimi-fv5xj]

Dondon is a legend

[@CyanYoh]

"...stirring up a user named Dondon151." Well, FE and FF are but a letter apart, I guess. Who knew?

[@autotactic]

1:14:03 As in dr. stone "You may better than me, but you cant compete with the colaborative research of the whole humanity over the years"

[@intermediateo5712]

How did you get all of the B-roll that looks like it was taken at like a first person eye level?! It looks so good. Also, Pokemon Colosseum is probably my second-favorite GameCube game after Crystal Chronicles, so I appreaciated the music.

[@gyppygirl2021]

Fun fact: I've played this game to death, but never actually beaten it. I got to Mt. Vellenge once. lol This was an absolutely fascinating watch! I'm not a speedrunner and never will be, but I'm always interested in seeing how speedrunners can break the game into tiny pieces. A shame the letter glitch doesn't work in the English version...

[@dawnbreaker2912]

Yeah, you have to grind out the artifacts from the dungeons a bit to stand a chance against the last boss. It's worth it, though, IMO, especially now with the remaster being online. Once you have every strength artifact, you're pretty much a demigod.

[@gyppygirl2021]

@@dawnbreaker2912 I think the main reason I never beat the game was because I was so laser-focused on grinding. Aside from that one attempt, I never really tried going back to Mt. Vellenge, I just spent my time raising a full village worth of characters... oops.

[@damnumonkeyballs]

Fun fact: I never made it past year 3 but dang did i love it lol. Im playing a fresh run right now though so hopefully i can beat my 12 year old self and actually beat it this time lol

[@gyppygirl2021]

@@damnumonkeyballs Best of luck!

[@damnumonkeyballs]

@@gyppygirl2021 ty it's so fun and the music is just amazing as always lol

[@ManaclawSR]

Commenting to support the youtube algorithm. Great video showcasing our community in such a great way

[@Wobmiar]

Small correction: it takes exactly 4 myrrh drops for a myrrh tree to replenish (a little bit more than 1 year, or 3 dungeons) Edit: Correction number 2: Events are not scripted in specific places in the world. They are scripted after certain myrrh drops collected/dungeons done

[@NeoMusicGamer]

Im so happy a video like this exists, let alone being so well paced and well editted on top. This game has always meant a lot to me, so much so that I maxed out all artifacts for all 8 character slots in the remaster, and while I knew the vague strats from some marathon runs recently I never knew how colorful the history of this scene was this whole time.

[@FemaleAnimeMaster]

Yo, Pokemon Colosseum music AND Duelists of the Roses music??? What a treat!

[@Eddafred]

I remember getting this in 2003 and being bummed out to find that GBAs were needed for multiplayer, since none of my friends at the time had one. Still had a hoot playing it by myself though, and I'm glad to see it's had a solid fanbase over the years :) Thanks for making such an incredible and comprehensive catalog of the game's speedrunning history, it was truly a treat to watch.

[@TheJadeFist]

Ya, the game was fantastic but they made some seriously dumb and limiting choices. I don't see why you can't just have 2 gamecube controllers working together, the gameboy was only there to do menus, which is completely doable on the big screen, sure it's maybe more tedious with extra people but do able. Also it could have taken advantage of extra buttons, for basic attacks and blocking, so it's not all actions are cycled through on a single list.

[@LuigiStyl]

Having watched the whole video, I would have loved a throwback at the end of the video to the true champion of the beginning of the this speedrun's history: Zm4rf on the SDAForums who indeed was correct: "The game can [indeed] be completed in less than 5 hours." Truly a champion before his time.

[@dukemagus]

Manaclaw: New rec... Community: here's a new bug, every previous record is obsolete Manaclaw: back to the grind Rinse and repeat

[@Numbnuts007]

My brother and I spent so many god forsaken hours on this game back when we were kids that it is not even funny. This game was so damn good, I didn't even know there was a speed running community for it! Thank you for making this video.

[@BJGvideos]

Maybe you and your brother could give a speed run a shot!

[@hysterian6948]

I remember beating this game a few times solo without farming. I don't remember how long it took but the last boss fight was a good 2 hours long or so. I used the class with the strong shield and could block enough damage from the final boss to survive and chip away at it. Ran through all the levels required to get to the final area as fast as possible.

[@MrGermanpiano]

Never had any contact with the game before. Now thinking about picking up the remastered version to play it myself :)

[@marcotlagg8002]

Romulo's ability to curse is impressive, even getting what he wants. a true goat.

[@markop.1994]

This games got a fricken killer soundtrack

[@Phantosification]

I wonder if "Memiroa" is a mistranslation of "Memoria", which was one of the last dungeons in Final Fantasy 9. Might not be a coincidence, considering how many art assets are re-used from 9 in Crystal Chronicles. It also would make sense since "memories" are kind of the theme.

[@IONATVS]

It is directly linked to Memoria, but isn’t a mistranslation, but rather a deliberate (and very transparent) anagram. In the game’s lore Memiroa is the fusion of Raem and Mio, two sibling gods/spirits that eat memories, the former being the game’s “co-main” villain with the Meteor Parasite, devouring memories to cause amnesia and enjoying the suffering the meteor parasite causes because it gives stronger, tastier memories, while the latter merely nibbles at them, and only causes mild forgetfulness. Basically the devs wanted it to be a bit harder to notice that Raem/Mio was an anagram of Memoria, but also didn’t want folks to miss their cleverness, so had the much more obvious anagram Memiroa follow it to let anyone who cared but didn’t notice earlier in on the secret.

[@Phantosification]

@@IONATVS That reminded me: the villain's name in a Megaman X RPG was purposely misspelled in the instruction manual, because otherwise it would have spoiled the twist that he's another character whose name is spelled backward Like if Symphony of the Night said you played as "Alukerd"

[@imperiallarch7610]

Also the "Meteor Parasite" gives me Final Fantasy 7 Jenova vibes.

[@smellslikeus]

I remember playing this game as a kid and thinking whyTF do I gotta use a gameboy as a controller LOL

[@levimogford3202]

AM I LISTENING TO LEGEND OF DRAGOON OST???

[@menaced.]

I thought this was ff my life as a king and i thought that 5hr time was ridiculously fast lol

[@SmEiF-]

i got a gamecube well 2 of them. 1 back up. the only games i got are ocarina of time master quest version, FFCC and a mario game i dont even play never played and will never play lol. FFCC and OOT gets massive play time. its why i got a back up gamecube after all. eventually ima need it.

[@Remidemmi96]

Fantastic video, its so well paced over the entire 90 minutes without feeling like its dragging on at any point, very impressive and must have taken a huge amount of work. I remember briefly watching Neviutz run this game on twitch in what must have been 2014 or 2015, crazy to see this after so long.

[@DoctorSwellman]

Hey thank you for the kind words! Slightly unrelated, but I have to also thank you for your Prime Any% tutorial. I came in a year or so before Justin made an updated one, but it really helped me get a start in the game when I didn't have much to go off of. Maybe one day I'll come back and top my 0:57 I promised myself I'd beat haha

[@triforceofpowa]

I still sometimes play it online through the switch with my friends. My lilty has all the artifacts except the meteor ring, and is just uber decked out. Game is still fun imo

[@ICountFrom0]

Because of the music you picked, parasite eve (2 I think?) I find myself wondering if there is a speedrun community for it.

[@SummonerShiina]

(Here's trsLinitaa) Awesome job, thank you for this video! Finally took some time to watch it and it was so entertaining, I didn't know all the history of this speedrun since I came late, it's great! Makes me want to get back into it and improve my time to at least get in Any% top 3 but who knows if I'll actually get time and energy to do it. Being armorless as Selkie -unlike Lilty who can keep at least one armor- asks for some specific practice that I haven't done seriously yet, and I want to keep running with Selkie :'( Future will tell. In any case I'm pretty sure the current WR is set in stone now, but I'd be glad to see new speedrunners have fun with this game!

[@hagger5758]

Thanks for the effort you've put into breaking open this game even more! Even if you came late, not many can say they've held the record. And I appreciate your dedication to the Selkies - best of luck to you if you do practice again!

[@SummonerShiina]

Oh and just adding that I actually was more active in Any% Glitchless than All Dungeons Glitchless :) Any% Glitchless was the category I learned the run with and I grinded it a lot for months when I started speedrunning the game. It's more RNG dependent than Any% but it's fun!

[@SummonerShiina]

@@hagger5758 Thank you very much!

[@samuelmillar9918]

This was my favourite Gamecube game and remains the best couch co-op experience I've ever had. (Provided you can afford the equipment.)

[@staceykimbell9324]

It's so weird for me to see that many love this game - my brothers and I were frustrated with the forced cooperation & having to stay next to each other - we never played it much despite having the gba hookups

[@SuperJellysickle]

Great vid. But why are you not using the music from this game in the background? It's god tier.

[@DoctorSwellman]

I think I used the OST 4 different times during the video, including during the intro lol

[@raserucort]

You're getting a lot better at making these videos!

[@VinsCool]

Hot damn this was a much longer video than I expected, but it was really good! I love this game, and I had absolutely no idea about the speedrunning community around it, so learning all of that stuff really has blown my mind!

[@kanor13]

DonDon151!!! I love his Fire Emblem speedruns and it's fun to see him pop up here!

[@doragreyguitar]

love the use of LIFEFORCED music and of course FFMQ~~

[@SteleraKStudios]

Thanks! FFCC is my all-time favorite game and I had no idea there was such a vibrant and modern speed running community. This video kept me sane at work while grappling with the terrible SCOTUS decision today. For real this has been completely invaluable to me.

[@TheRoguay]

Where can I get the typeface first shown at 4:00? Been looking for it for years

[@UltaFlame]

Dondon?!

[@blazera]

Came for the clickbait thumbnail. What is 1637 days?

[@SexyPants]

5 years.

[@blazera]

@@SexyPants which means what to this video?

[@WannabeMarysue]

Crystal Chronicles had such good graphics, its so pretty. Cool video.

[@gyppygirl2021]

It's really amazing how well this game has held up graphically, considering the fact that it's nearly 20 years old.

[@MatthewManney]

This game is really close to me and I always imagined what it would take to run it as fast as possible and the rng alone made it a no go for me. Cool to see how far people have taken it and glad its been for fun 😊 I tend to do limited gear runs over speed as it eliminates rng and replaces it with just skill. This speedrun definitely takes a lot though to compete. Impressive and ngl, kind of tempting but the setup seems like the worst part second only to rng 😅

[@aaroncalloway2898]

Duelist of the roses ost at the end. SSS tier

[@ek8507]

holy crap i think i was following ghoul02 when he started running this. haven't heard that name in almost a decade and i'd stopped following speedruns as closely. thanks so much for this blast to the past, and well documented history. glad to see crystal chronicles got more traction and love.

[@765craven4]

I played this game so much as a kid despite never getting past Year 2. Me and my brother would take turns playing since we didn't have a GBA connection and constantly make new characters and experiment with spell combinations and stuff.

[@ButWhyWasTaken]

I played without a gba as well and it was total cancer cause you couldn't see your goal so 9/10 times you were working against it and got very few points. And with few points you not only get a poor artifact selection, you frequently get the same in many dungeons but as you can only have 1 of each it meant many dungeons dropped absolutely nothing as reward. I liked the gameplay but cause of this I only finished it due to having bought it full price and never looked back.

[@ocircles738]

Oh wow, I actually started a casual playthrough of this just last week specifically to take on the any% since I saw how how short (relatively) it was on SRC, so I was surprised when I saw this pop up in my feed. Game blew my mind as a kid since it was the first time I saw a legit RPG combined with action combat so I always wanted to come back to it. But no runs for me though, turns out that I have developed a deep hatred of cutscenes, menues and textboxes over the years lol

[@FlamingZelda3]

yo i would love to play this game in first person vr. I feel like the world, music and graphics + simple gameplay are really what sell this game.

[@lucaslennan3356]

1:03:50 They found Bottle Adventure!?

[@PaintyMainy]

No way FF CC video. Gonna enjoy this one for sure

[@PliptaEredar]

Amazing video thank you!

[@endersblade]

I absolutely loved this game, and would LOVE to fire it up again with some friends.

[@damnumonkeyballs]

Lol it made me play it again too. Such a great game

[@kartoffelhexe]

"ffcc had a wall" 10-year-old-me would agree lol

[@DavidDM59]

great document !

[@GrandDuchessTaco]

This is super fascinating! I remember bottoming out on Crystal Chronicles on a multiplayer casual playthrough, so seeing how it breaks is always good! I'm curious about a run that was shown in the background on a runner's speedrun list, would you be interested in sharing anything about Final Fantasy Fables - Chocobo's Dungeon?

[@Deku-yg1vz]

It always amazes me how active some seemingly dead games are. Jak and Daxter, CC, hell even Rayman 2 Great Escape, they all have runners who are playing to this day and even if the runners think it's done there's always some random guy who comes in with a new insane strat.

[@gravel7614]

This was great to sleep to, the volume didn't jump at any point. And now I want to play ff crystal

[@xnamkcor]

I want a category called "Any% Have Fun".

[@AnySPIDERPIG]

Manaclaw is my favorite speedrunner

[@oreocereal2]

You are awesome

[@PattyKake1029]

Ik this a lil late to the party with this video being a year old, but at 47 minutes im positive i hear tge dinocrisis 2 save room theme. Such a trip down memory lane.

[@joshadamson6874]

Its crazy when i hear dondon and i already watched his videos with mekkah on fire emblem

[@Gota0014]

Whenever I played this game I always had to do 1 run of every cycle of every level before going to Mt. Vellenge

[@medalkingslime4844]

Wait, dondon?

[@PatK.]

lol the forbidden memories music around the 38:xx mark got me. thanks for the amazing video doc!

[@amaeo5170]

Man, when I was a kid I was able to make it to meteor parasite since I had the Strategy Guide, but never could get past it til years later. I wouldn't mind playing the game again using a different race since I played as the Cavat when I was a kid.

[@NateAndersenmonologistics]

this game needs to allow new game plus so i can single player build out my whole town

[@MyogaSama]

I loved this game back in the day. Played with actual GBA and gamecube lol

[@benmoran4]

The ds crystal chronicles games are GOATED maybe I’ll have to go play this version now

[@blakena4907]

I love this game. It's a big part of my childhood. That being said, 1:16:20. I felt that 😐

[@chrispysaid]

Uuuuuuuuuuuugh I have such wonderful memories of CC

[@itsLalm]

big f to the yuke, never got much use.

[@locktock9]

"we'll be looking at the people who made this game the wonder it is today" so you mean the developers yes? the people who actually literally made the game? XD

[@Big_Dai]

Ugh...

[@ZumiHD_]

Good Video

[@danieltilleru3528]

This is one of the best final fantasy games made. To bad it was on the game cube

[@xenxander]

What I do not like about this entire thing is it relies on the unpatched Japanese version of the game.

[@ais4185]

Hey, I grew up with this game!

[@vj7248]

The massive generational history of this game is wild, it almost works as a mirror to speedrunning in general. From VHS to streaming. From using one or two glitches to finding massive gamebreaking exploits of the code. I 'speedran' this game as a kid, basically just continuously replaying it cus I could never beat it. So that gave a context to how wild the problems are in this game to overcome with it's RNG. Now that gear RNG isnt a worry anymore.... I wonder if discovering some way of skipping the cutscene encounters for real will be found.

[@bullpupluver]

Dark cloud moon drops was heard

[@olga1231]

i never finished it, tried many times but i was young it felt so hard haha

[@ciaprisoner]

Very odd choice of American flag at the start of the video

[@VillainViran]

Who is that in the bikini at 3:26?

[@Kyoslilmonster]

Another certified Swelly banger!

[@AJ-ny5nz]

I'm probably not the only person who's asked or is curious about this (I hope), but what font are you using in most of this video? I'd like to be able to find it one day!

[@DoctorSwellman]

DF Fuun W7 is the font used! SquareEnix used variations of this throughout their games in the early 2000s

[@ManUFan7910]

Good lord this video is good

[@michaelhowe3274]

nice parasite eve music

[@BluntStop]

i wonder if you can speed run it on mobile.

[@DraNchan]

I love this game, I listen to the OST to this day. Thank you for introducing the speedrunning community.

[@SpectreMeX]

i wonder if is possible to play the FFCC game with 3mulators, i mean ngc and gba emulator on phone

[@FlamingZelda3]

you can emulate multiplayer FFCC on desktop, but i don't think you can do that on a phone.

[@SpectreMeX]

@@FlamingZelda3 I mean emulate the FFC on the PC and emulate GBA on phone then connect phone to PC

[@FlamingZelda3]

@@SpectreMeX that would depend on program compatibility/features. I can't imagine dolphin (gcn emulator) has compatibility with smartphones but it would take someone with more knowledge to give a real answer.

[@ButWhyWasTaken]

1:02:45 do people really consider games solved when sometimes people find new strats and glitches after 20+ years?

[@DoctorSwellman]

Yep! It’s less of a thing now, but prior to 2016 or so there were less tools to find these glitches. Combine that with the speedrunning community still emerging from its underground scene, it becomes more understandable that the ceiling for these games appeared to be much lower than what’s possible now

[@galgramax6713]

Oh man, I completely forgot about this game. I used to play it and loved it to bits, but being the dumb kid I was I just brute forced my way through the whole thing, and eventually stopped because I never figured out the desert puzzle/the puzzle for Rebena Te Ra.

[@nintendoloverin9567]

Man this video is so nicely visualized! I appreciate the effort, must have taken a lot of time to make all of that!

[@4nyNoob]

Brazil mentioned LEEEEEEET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@aquaglow1]

Great video, very interesting documentary

[@BoxSox82]

Amazing video. Ty!

[@gtothee5723]

1:11:09 this little edit had me laughing

[@xoxoxovaivaivai]

loled at the "filho da puta mano"

[@Professor-Badger]

God that letter glitch tho, it looks so sick too and the swing animation makes it look natural wtf

[@UltimaKeyMaster]

I'm not gonna lie, I *never* understood how to play FFCC back in the day. But knowing I can finagle all the family trades as a solo player and how stats in this game are just divide-by-5 thresholds, I'm confident enough to just buy the Remaster and play it from there. ...Yeah, I can emulate it but voice acting and infinite inventory space is a plus. I know multiplayer is a mess on the remaster, but I'm purely solo with it anyway, it doesn't affect me. Basically: You made me wanna get into FFCC for real.

[@xnamkcor]

Was Crystal Chronicles the one that required multiple players? How does that work out for speedrunning?

[@RoseFielden]

Not required. You could choose to play single player or Multiplayer. Multiplayer had to be place with a GBA

[@xnamkcor]

@@RoseFielden Are the Speedruns with multiple players unique?

[@NeoMusicGamer]

Its 6 years old now, but if you search ESA Crystal Chronicles here on youtube theres a 4 player co-op speedrun thats close to just under 3 hours long. EDIT I responded before watching the whole video but the run in question was actually brought up in this video, silly me

[@xnamkcor]

@@NeoMusicGamer If it was, I didn't remember it being mentioned anyway. Thanks.

[@Tacomuch]

21:58 u avin a giggle m8?

[@bigolethicknick5103]

loved this game as a kid but was too impatient to figure out the year system. Incredible seeing it come so far!