Square Enix has managed to make a game with no demographic. The minigame and card battle game dynamic may play well to teens but the kiddy graphics will drive them away. Likewise, the pastel colors may bring in the kids but the gameplay and emphasis on reading will send them back to “Pokémon.” Even “Final Fantasy” fans will be driven away by the fact that it harkens back to numerous annoying minigames from “FF” games past.

If you can get past all of this, the game can be fun. The stylus- and microphone-only gameplay harkens back to “WarioWare” and “Rub Rabbits,” but the cute touches with cameos from every corner of the “Final Fantasy” bestiary help blur the fact that we've seen many of these games before. The card game also takes a very novel approach that is both interesting and simple.

But, this game suffers from too much variety. Minigames range from unfortunately easy to frustratingly difficult to just plain random luck. Even the card game suffers, mostly because the AI follows a battle pattern that observant gamers can figure out fairly quickly.

“Chocobo Tales” may be appropriate for everyone, but it won't win over anyone.

Grade: C-