Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord is out on WiiWare today. Yes, it has a lot of microtransactions, but Square Enix is using a slightly different pricing model for the West.
The add-on content page in the instruction manual details pay for play updates like the Darklord Armory pack which contains Shockwave, Blast Arrow, Firaga, Quake, and Curaga. The five item pack costs 400 Wii Points ($4) in North America and Europe. In Japan you have to buy each item separately so you end up spending an extra 500 Wii Points ($5) if you want everything.
Square Enix gave Western Darklords a similar price break on monsters. The Darklord Special forces bundle contains six monsters — Lamia, Ogre, Ahriman, Sahagin, Coeurl, and Chimera for 500 Wii Points ($5). These are sold separately for 100 Wii Points ($1) each in Japan. It’s almost like getting the Lamia for free, if you planned on buying all of the basic monsters.
It looks like the West could be getting an even better deal on the four unit Darklord Elite Bundle. The pack contains four monsters: the Death Knight, Little Pirate, Tentacle, Gigas, and Abaddon for 500 Wii Points. In Japan the Death Knight costs 200 Wii Points ($2) alone.
