Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time is one of the weirdest game concepts of 2009. This action role-playing game, released in March, is available on both the portable Nintendo DS and the Wii. The versions can link up wirelessly, letting four players go adventuring together, either online or offline, no matter which console they own.It’s a clever and unique idea, and the core gameplay — which replaces RPG menus and strategy with real-time hacking and slashing — is strong. But in streamlining the gameplay to work well in multiplayer mode, Echoes of Time doesn’t quite deliver the strong solo gameplay we’ve come to expect from the Final Fantasy series.Echoes of Time’s graphics and gameplay are nearly indistinguishable from its predecessor, last year’s Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates. Aside from the online multiplayer, there is almost nothing new about this game aside from different dungeons to explore and fresh enemies to hack through.I enjoyed the last game, so I didn’t mind another go-round that felt exactly the same. Unfortunately, the single-player story isn’t as good in the sequel as it was in Ring of Fates. While that game had a charming story that revolved around four likable characters, Echoes of Time’s plot is paper-thin, predictable and mostly boring. It’s saved by some great, occasionally laugh-out-loud funny writing, but it’s a big step backward.The story’s deficits come in part because Echoes of Time has no strong central character. You choose your character’s name, race and gender, and he ends up being nothing but a mute avatar. He doesn’t appear in the cinema scenes and never speaks a line of dialogue. And he doesn’t have a party of strong characters backing him up — you can recruit three other nameless, mute characters to fight with you, but they just hang out in the background.So the story is an attempt to craft a tale in which the protagonist is unnecessary. An interesting experiment, yes, but one that falls flat.I played through