will always remember Crystal Chronicles for the GameCube as the Final Fantasy wannabe that made me carry around a stupid bucket. While that ignominious mechanic has been scrapped for this handheld follow-up, I can’t say that my experience was improved over the disappointing original. Like that title, Ring of Fates is focused on multiplayer (though single-player is at least viable this time), but enjoying the game hinges on the player’s willingness to sacrifice gameplay in order to play co-op with friends.

The critical mistake is how magic is handled. Spells are consumable items, not learned, and you can only hold a limited number. Normally this would just lead to conservative casting, except the spells also double as keys to open doors and make moving platforms appear. You can slowly replenish your stock at specific points using the gimmicky alchemy system, but the whole process mainly just encourages players to ignore magic as an offensive option.

Of course, if you ignore the magic, that means you need to focus on straight-up combat – which is another problem. Whoops. Movement and attacks are sloppy, and attempts to integrate DS-specific mechanics have gone terribly awry. The touch screen-based special abilities are useless unless you have competent teammates to run interference. In single-player, your AI companions would just as soon take constant damage by standing in fire than lift a sword to help you out.

Ring of Fates does provide the opportunity for you and three others to engage in Gauntlet-style dungeon exploration and lots of monster-killing. Even so, it’s a poor excuse to round up the gang. Presumably, the reason why your friends are your friends is because you share some common interests. Do some of those together instead.