I went from zero interest in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life As a King (wow, long title) last week to buying it last night and having to tear myself away from the game to go to bed.

When I first read about the game, I thought, “Ho hum, Wii-Ware. It’s going to be a low budget Final Fantasy game.” And then when I heard that it was a simulation game and you didn’t actually get to control the adventurers who were out fighting, I thought, “This sounds really boring. Even compared to FFXII.”

But as I read more and more about it on the forums after it came out, I knew I had to get it. I’ve played my fair share of Sim City and even The Sims, but this simulation game is even more addictive than those games.

I like that My Life As a King gives you a different perspective on the Final Fantasy universe. Instead of setting off with a band of adventurers on an epic journey to save the world, you stay in your kingdom and take care of the economic side of things as well as facilitate your adventurers by researching better weapons and items.

It’s hard not to get attached to the adventurers and worry about then when I send them out to fight a boss several evels higher than they are. I try to be a good king and meet them at the kingdom gates before they depart on their daily adventures just so I can talk to them and boost their morale. I feel bad when one of them slips through while I’m not looking and I couldn’t give them any words of encouragement. Sometimes I feel guilty when I read about them getting KOed in the morning reports.

I was surprised at how detailed the adventure log in the morning reports are. You can read about every monster encounter each adventurer has, how many hp they have left, and what skills they used.

The best part about the game is that it only costs $15. The production factors alone (especially the graphics) make it well worth the gil.