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 of Time were directed by Mitsuru Kamiyama and designed by Hiroyuki Saegusa.
Crystal Chronicles and
Ring of Fates had character designs by Toshiyuki Itahana, who had previously worked on
Final Fantasy IX; he would go on to direct
The Crystal Bearers. For
Echoes of Time,
My Life as a King and
My Life as a Darklord, the characters were designed by Yasuhisa Izumisawa.
Music The majority of series music has been composed by
Kumi Tanioka, who had previously worked on the music of
Final Fantasy XI. She returned to work on
Ring of Fates,
My Life as a King, then simultaneously on
Echoes of Time and
My Life as a Darklord. Because of the latter commitment, Tanioka was not greatly involved in the music of
The Crystal Bearers, which was instead composed by Hidenori Iwasaki and Ryo Yamazaki. Tanioka returned for the
Crystal Chronicles remaster alongside Iwasaki to both remix the original music and compose new tracks. The music of the series is distinct from other
Final Fantasy entries, making extensive use of
medieval and
Renaissance musical instruments. Those used for the first game include the
recorder, the
crumhorn and the
lute. Her work on
Echoes of Time was described by her as the most challenging project she had worked on at the time. Iwasaki and Yamazaki originally wanted to emulate Tanioka's style with their work on
The Crystal Bearers, but Kawazu and Itahana persuaded them to change into an acoustic style inspired by American music. ==Reception==