Nintendo Europe has dated Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles for the region, slating the game for a December 2003 release, thus ending speculation that the hotly-anticipated action RPG may slip into the 2004 release schedules.

This will see the game hit retail in time for Christmas, though this is more than a year after the firm somewhat cynically marketed it as coming soon back in November 2002.

This will also mark the quickest European conversion of a modern Final Fantasy game, with the usual wait of a year being halved, making good Square Enix’s recent commitment to better organise its European operations.

Time will tell if this promise holds good for European PlayStation 2 gamers, who to date have had no word on Final Fantasy XI.

Everything Final Fantasy as it breaks, right here.