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The Good * Incredible and poignant story, starring a likable and complex hero. * Every aspect of the production design, from cut-scenes to voice acting, is utterly amazing. * The DMW is a weird but fun way of leveling up. * Enjoyable and addictive combat. The Bad * Combat is on the easy side. * Player has no control over limit breaks and leveling . Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII achieves a striking balance of old and new, and juggles fan service with pure role-playing satisfaction. It's striking how these elements have been shaped into such an appealing and emotionally affecting prequel. There are some new characters and plenty of fan favorites too, such as Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith. However, the characters you're most likely to empathize with are unlikely ones, including protagonist Zack, and Sephiroth, who is complex, troubled, and even sometimes likable. The way their personal stories weave in and out of each other--and set the stage for the events in Final Fantasy VII--makes Crisis Core not just the finest role-playing experience available on the PSP, but also one of the best Japanese RPGs in years. Zack isn't new to the franchise, but he was a mere flashback in Final Fantasy VII, which may not make him seem like the best choice of leading man for a prequel to one of the best RPGs ever created. Yet he's as interesting as any Square Enix star, and transcends the usual spiky-haired heroism and teenage angst with an uncommon maturity that develops as the game continues. Revealing almost any plot point could be a spoiler; the Gaia world is rich with mythology and complex character motivation. What's important is how the characters interact, change, and grow. Scenes between Zack and Cloud are both effortless and poignant, and stem directly out of Zack's most impressive character traits: trust and loyalty. As each plot thread twists together and the game reaches its inevitable conclusion, your heart will soften and you may shed a few tears. Crisis Core tells a memorable and exciting tale, but more importantly, it makes you care about its characters, even if you are new to the lore. The game's final scenes are amazing and heartfelt, and one sequence in particular that brilliantly mingles gameplay with narrative is one of the most incredible and moving moments in role-playing history. The game's stunning cutscenes have an immeasurable effect on the emotionally resonant story. There is a harmonious mix of prerendered cinematics and in-engine cutscenes, and both were created with precision. Dramatic camera angles frame Crisis Core's greatest moments, from earth-shaking soliloquies to the quiet pauses Zack and Aerith share. There is a standout scene in which Sephiroth comes into deep focus using a cinematography technique familiar to Alfred Hitchcock fans. This kind of range is rare in cutscenes, even in RPGs, yet it's never forced or overdone here. The quality is further enhanced by incredible voice acting. Past Final Fantasies have sometimes suffered from awkward English voice-overs, but each actor here delivers the right degree of emotion at the right time, which in turn gives weight to the story. As Zack matures, you can hear the newfound confidence replace his adolescent arrogance; when Angeal tells Zack that he's just a little more important than his sword, you can hear a subtle grin in his deep, commanding baritone.Read full review
Crisis Core is the 2nd (first was Before Crisis for Japanese cellphones, go figure) prequel to Final Fantasy VII. It follows the exploits of Zack Fair, who some of us will remember as Aeris' boyfriend/ Cloud's escape partner from Final Fantasy VII. This game explores Sephiroth before his insanity, and adds a new perspective to him, without ruining the original game's concept of him. The game uses a action-RPG with with turn based random battles, limit breaks return though in a much different form. It actually like a slot machine, the reels line up, and you can summon Materia monsters or unleash devastating attacks based on Zack's memories...its actually not as weird as it sounds. I had very high hopes, but very low expectations for this game, and I was surprised at how good it really was. From its music, which is in theme with Uematsu's original score, to its vivid cutscenes, to its story, its a great addition to the Final Fantasy VII universe. Some of its cutscenes are even featured in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children COMPLETE, which made that movie watcheable finally. If you like FF7, definitely pick this one up, my only gripe is Genesis' last scene, no spoilers, but play the game and you'll see. The Limited Edition features a production run of 77,777, and differs from the regular version with its metallic foil case artwork. It was a Best Buy exclusive, and I believe a pre-order only item. If you're interested in FF7 collectibles, there was a Shin-Ra UMD case, available to those who pre-ordered the game from various stores.Read full review
I'm gonna say like the old time FF fans and say that FFVII wasn't the best of the FF series, but sure gathered one hell of a following. I'm going to be honest; I was excited for this bad boy to come out. FF:CC would relive the excitement I had when first playing FFVII... battling ShinRa, fighting Sephiroth, traveling Gaia and Cloud's mind... none of that, sadly, was relived in FFCC. FF:CC follows Zack, a second-class SOLDIER making his way to become first-class and eventually acheive his goal of becoming a hero. In the first game, Zack is Cloud's "alter-ego" if you will; the man Cloud mistakes himself for for the better part of the game. FFCC revisits parts of FFVII not seen and just briefly eluded to. Sadly, FFCC had to have its own story meddled in there. Although I find Angeal and Genesis to be rather developed characters, it seemed like their struggles took second place to Sephiroth's eventual emotional anguish in Nibelheim, Zack's dreams and Cloud's ironic medocracy. The dialogue seems forced at times but the voice acting makes up for it. The graphics are surprisingly well done. The music revisits Nobuo's originals. And the combat is fairly easy to get into. Unfortunately, as for the combat, the "random" battles break up the game's speed. And the leveling system seems just thrown in. For a system that relies on "luck" it does little of that and works pretty much to it's own content; much like regular RPG leveling, just much more elusive. The controls are reponsive and you also have the choice of skipping through long summons (Knights of the Round anyone?). Story: 8.5/10 Gameplay: 8.0/10 Music: 9.0/10 Learning curve: approx. 1 hour Overall: 8.5/10Read full review
Alright so here we have it, yet another addition to the Final Fantasy VII saga. Just so you don't think I'm giving a biased opinion, I've been a fan of Final Fantasy since I was 8 years old and I'm now 26. I've played and/or beaten them all, like it or hate it, I've done it. I can give a truly honest opinion of which Final Fantasy's I love, hate, love to hate and hate to love. Plot/Holes/Character Development (7/10) The only real qualm I have with the story is that it's more confusing than the original Final Fantasy VII plot, which is saying quite a lot. So basically we're going to have to wait for the next installment to fill those new holes in...or we could just leave it a mess and move on to character development, which is truly what this game is about. The character development of our main hero is spot on. It sets up Clouds personality for Final Fantasy VII which makes us understand his character's origins even more so. Zack isn't actually some after thought as we are lead to believe in Final Fantasy VII, in fact, it's quite the opposite. The story develops his growth as a hero and how he creates a significant impact on the Final Fantasy VII universe. It's quite astonishing how much this man effected certain things. Zack is much more than just some nobody who happened to rescue our hero of Final Fantasy VII. That being said, fantastic character development. In summation, characters good, plot bad. Visuals/FMV's ON PSP (9/10) WITH TVOUT (7/10) I'm not going to say much on this because I've played Final Fantasy games that look amazingly ridiculous and others that look ridiculously amazing, this one falls in between those categories. I'm also going to give two ratings, one for playing on the PSP screen and one for using the tvout component cables. It's not quite the low resolution garbage we've seen with Final Fantasy VIII but it also doesn't have the crisp smooth textures of Final Fantasy X. It kind of looks like Final Fantasy XI except with much smoother animations and a lot more detail on the environments and enemies. The FMV's are astonishing, pure eye candy, basically on par with FFVII: Advent Children except in a lower resolution. If you play it on your PSP they look a lot more crisp. FMV's in this game are always fun to watch, just like in the original Final Fantasy VII, they blew me away. Gameplay(7/10) If you're playing this game for the new stylization of game play, you're playing this game for the wrong reasons. You may come to terms with the new system but a lot of people I know are having trouble with it. Basically it all comes down to luck, do you think you have some? If not, then this is going to be a very bumpy ride. The new DMW (Digital Mind Wave) system bases all your level ups and limit attacks on a rolling dial like slot machine. You could theoretically level up twice in the same battle or twice across the span of hundreds, it's all up to the game and how much it likes you. Most people say that Normal Mode is too easy but most of them don't give the game a chance to get Hard. If you're looking for a complete file then do yourself a favor and play Normal Mode first. New Game+ anyone? The Materia Fusion system is a tad complex if you actually research it but it can be simplified. If you test out different combinations before you actually fuse the Materia together you'll yield your desired results without wasting any resources. Final Thought Get the game if you want to find out what happens before FF7.Read full review
A worthy Prequel. this game is technically how FFVII Truly began in terms of telling the grand scale story that made Final Fantasy the "Gold Standard" in RPG gaming. Needless to say this game touches more on Zack Fair, the man who played a small but relatively important role in the original FFVII. To make it quick is simple, the game is Good, however it would have seen much greater sales and success if it would have launched on either the PS3 or newly released Very Powerful Sony HD Handheld the PSVita. Still it's an' installment of the "7th Epic" FF franchise, and for that alone makes it worth it as a true FF fan. one of the few games Square got right in recent years of gaming.
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