Looking back at the Wii’s “RPG” catalogue, it’s hard to ignore the fact that there have been far too few true Wii adventures. Aside from this year’s quirky BonBon battler Opoona, almost every other RPG on store shelves have been shined-up ports saved up from prior generations. While March’s Baroque might have satiated a handful of masochistic dungeon crawlers out there, few were able to swallow its unrelenting difficulty that inexplicably required your demise in order to advance the storyline. Thankfully, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, is a far more welcoming and palatable experience.

It tells the tale of Final Fantasy mainstays Cid and Chocobo as they wake up in the town of Lostime; a land that time remembered, but memories forgot. For every time the bell tolls in the plaza of Lostime, all the citizen’s memories instantly disappear. From little things like the name of the local fishmonger, to the very face of their own child, the people of Lostime have become completely lost without their memories. As you explore the town and accompanying countryside, Chocobo must delve deep into the mazes of the denizen’s psyches and uncover hidden puzzle pieces that slowly uncover the truth behind this curious, curious town.

For those who haven’t experienced “mystery dungeon” games or “roguelikes” akin to Pokemon Mystery Dungeon or Shiren the Wanderer, the bulk of Chocobo’s Mysterious Dungeon occurs in randomly generated dungeons that claim all items and cash upon death (save for your equipped weapons). From floor layouts and treasure, to monsters and devilish traps, almost nothing found in the dungeons is ever the same. Because of this, every step in the dungeon could potentially be your last, depending on whether you accidentally step on a flare trap or bump into a motley crew of Coeurls bent on your demise.

Thankfully, a myriad of skills and tactics can be used to help you get a leg up on the competition, most notably the unique Job system featuring 10 famous Final Fantasy jobs (White Mage, etc.). Each job uses SP to cast special abilities like Cure and Fire, and more abilities can be unlocked as the jobs are leveled up. These abilities, along with the fact that you actually retain your equipped items and experience when you die (which is not typical of most dungeon crawlers), help to get you out of sticky situations and balance out a genre that is notoriously cruel by design.

The game is easy on the eyes. Its cutesy and colorful characters belie the dark and (impressively) abysmal story of the game, which becomes surprisingly deep as Chocobo treks deeper into the memories of the townspeople. A few plot elements force you to temporarily suspend disbelief (who IS that green-haired manbaby?), but it’s still surprisingly deep considering that the main attraction of most dungeon crawlers is rarely more than the crawl itself.