Story & Playability
There aren't a whole lot of things out there that really evoke that fanboy reaction in me. Those shows/games that
make me almost want to chop off the heads of those who bad mouth it. Well Final Fantasy VII is one of them. Yes, I am
one of those that's convinced it is the best game ever, so much so that I have beaten it 41 times beginning to end.
I know what items you steal from what enemies. I've beaten the game in 18 hours. I've beaten Emerald Weapon
with default equipment. I even have every character with perfect stats and mastered materia for all of them. I've
played the hell out of FFVII. Now we have a prequel in Crisis Core. Fanboy gene activate... well kinda.
Zack Fair is a character that had only minimal parts in Final Fantasy VII. He only appeared in Cloud's flashbacks
and/or his mistaken memories. Now we go back seven years before FFVII happened to see what kind of man Zack was and why
he played a bigger part in the overall FFVII story.
Zack is a member of SOLDIER, the elite unit of Shinra. They accomplish various missions to keep peace or just
strengthen Midgar. Along with Zack is is mentor Angeal, his friend Genesis and the hero of all heroes, Sephiroth.
While Zack is simply trying to achieve his dream of being a hero and rise in the ranks of SOLDIER, he is also faced with
betrayal by Genesis, the confusion of his mentor and the slow change to the Sephiroth we all know and
love/hate.
Square has been known to milk all Final Fantasy games for everything their worth. It's pretty common they make
mediocre to horrible games (FF X-2 and Dirge of Cerberus I'm looking at you), but Crisis Core is actually really
damn good. The story is solid from beginning to end, and many of the famous scenes from FFVII's flashbacks are now
recreated in gorgeous graphics. The thing that really makes it great is that you finally get a feel for the character
Zack and why Cloud had such an admiration for him. Not only that, but you get to see a different side of Sephiroth and
see his change into the evil villain of FFVII. You also get the origins of the Jenova Project, the early doings of
Hojo, an in depth relationship with Aerith and much more that really tightens the whole FFVII plot.
This being said, if you are playing Crisis Core without having never played FFVII, you are really going to miss out on a
lot of the story arcs that make this game great. The story is good on it's own, but let's be blunt, this is
fanboy candy. If you loved the FFVII story, then this is going to make you squeal with joy.
Reviewer's Note: This review section says "Story and Playability" but I'm going to save all
gameplay elements for the final section. This section will only be for plot.
Rating: 9
Graphics
SquareEnix continues it's contractual agreement with the devil and again proves they can make any game system look
better than it should. If you aren't yet convinced the PSP is just a miniature version of the PS2, this game might
change your thoughts. The first thing you are greeted with is a cutscene involving Zack running on top of a train
chasing down some Wutai soldiers. It's an homage to the opening scene of the original FFVII and shows exactly how
long it has been since then. There are many cutscenes throughout the game, from summons, to redone scenes from the
original to brand new ones... all of which are simply stunning. Yes, even summons are cutscenes and they all look
wonderful. You'll probably only watch each one once as they simply take too damn long, but still great
looking.
In game graphics are equally impressive. Characters you remember are redone and much more detailed that before. From
Cloud, to Tifa and Aerith to Zack, they are given an update for the 10 year anniversary. The game takes place over a 4
year period and with that comes subtle changes in character appearances, which is also paid attention to. Graphically
it rivals if not exceeds FFX.
My only minor gripe is the occasional slowdown during battle. It doesn't happen very often, but in the harder
missions, when things are hectic, you may find you are hitting X in tune with a slideshow.
Rating: 9
Sound
The most notable thing lacking from Crisis Core is original composer Nobuo Uematsu. Thankfully, the soul of his
original score remains strong along with some new and equally impressive music. Takeharu Ishimoto takes the reigns of
this soundtrack and really makes it an immersive one. The newer songs are usually rock/metal music that accompanies
battles and certain cutscenes. But it's the newly tweaked originals that really make the make the soundtrack what
it is. From the epic boss battle, to Sephiroth and Aerith themes, we get reworked songs that'll make you have
flashbacks. It may only be minor tweaks like adding stronger guitar to the boss music, but nonetheless, that emotion
you felt when playing FFVII will come running to the surface.
Voice acting is sadly only playable in English... wait I'm not going to complain about that this time. The voice
acting is fantastic from top to bottom. For those who enjoy English dubbed anime, there are well known voice actors
throughout, IE Crispin Freeman and Carrie Savage. The main role of Zack is played by Rick Gomez. Zack is all about
being that bleeding heart hero with a heart of gold. He's caring and motivated to be the best. Rick makes you
understand Zack and makes you appreciate what he is doing through spot-on voice work.
Rating: 9
Fun
Reviewer's note: Beings that I consider myself a Final Fantasy master, and I know that Square loves to give out
extras when you play higher difficulty, I decided to play this game on hard during my first try. My review will be
based on that experience. Please keep your comments of "I played hard and it was easy" to yourself. You are
a liar! Also, this section will be rather lengthy. There is a lot to cover that all has a large part to do with the
overall score. Bear with me.
The DMW: The Digital Mind Wave, or DMW, is your friend and your enemy. You live and die by this slot machine of death.
During any combat there will be a slot machine spinning in the top-left corner. There are pictures and numbers on it
that determine many things like stat boosts during battles or reducing MP cost to 0, so on and so forth. If the left
and right sides match the characters picture, then you go into a limit verge screen where you watch to see what happens
next. If all three characters match, you execute a limit break. If two numbers match, a materia levels up. If
there's three 7's, you level up. It's not that complicated... BUT IT SUCKS! Everything in this game is
random. Let's say you get destroyed by a boss. You know that if you level up a few times or maybe level your HP
materia up, you should be fine. Normal RPG's you'd find a place to grind out a few levels and go on your
merry way. Crisis Core makes you get down on your knees and pray to the video game gods to grant you a level up. So
you'll find yourself going into a battle and running around in circles hoping the slot machine will show you some
kind of mercy. When you finally have a level or two, you'll go back to the boss and once again be in dire
straights praying for a limit break to save you. But again, it's random... so you'll probably die.
Don't get me wrong, the DMW can be cool. But when EVERYTHING about your character depends on it, it really starts
to suck.
Materia Fusion: Unlike the original FFVII, your materia don't level up into better things. Instead of the Fire
materia becoming Fire2 and Fire3, it instead just levels up all the way to 5. After you have a level 5 Fire, you may be
able to fuse it into a level 1 Fira. Problem is, there are so many materia in this game, getting exactly what you want
is damn near impossible without a PhD in materia fusion or a strategy guide in front of your face. Just looking to see
what it takes to make an Ultima materia, I found myself confused beyond belief. It takes so many steps and so many
equations come into play. And beings that you have to again pray the DMW grants your materia a level up, you end up
having crap materia for a long... long time. You'll feel awesome have a Blizzaga early in the game, but then find
yourself in a corner when you need better materia.
Battle/Side Quests: Battle is almost like a dumbed down version of Kingdom Hearts. You run around and hit your X
button to attack, and use your R & L triggers to cycle through spells and weapons. The majority of battle will
consist of hitting X a whole lot and following with square to roll out of the way of attacks. It's simple and it
works, if not a bit monotonous. Side quests consist of missions that you are given via your menu screen. EVERY mission
is essentially the same. They place you somewhere in a cave, a desert or a building and you have to go from there and
find the enemy. Kill everything within the random battles and kill the enemy at the end, claim your prize... the end.
Prepare to see the same locales over and over again.
Difficulty: Most online reviews speak of how easy this game is. I've seen one that said "just hit X and
watch TV". While that may be true on Normal... THERE IS NO TRUTH IN THAT IN HARD! This game becomes, dare I say,
the hardest game in creation. Let's put it this way, there's an accessory you need to allow your HP to go
over 9999. To get that accessory, you have to beat 5 enemies. Each of those enemies can hit you for around 14000.
Meaning, 1 hit and you are dead. Death spells never miss, random battle enemies can one hit kill you and bosses will
come out of nowhere and destroy you BEFORE YOU GET A CHANCE TO SAVE. Point is, this game is so damn hard (on hard) it
really ceases to become fun. We're it not for the extreme difficulty, this section would likely score 2 pts
higher. So feel free to call this section a '7'.
Battle Frequency: Battles in this game are far too frequent. If you just try running from point A to point B, you will
fight constantly. There are spots where battles will always kick off, so eventually you'll find yourself hugging
the walls trying to stay in battle dead zones. There will be times when you will finish a battle and take 1 step and be
greeted by another.
Conclusion: Most of what you have read above is complaints. Don't get me wrong, the game is fun with everything
added up. But at the same time it's like that abusive husband who says he loves you, and then punches you in the
mouth for interrupting his football game. You'll be laughing and having a good time, enjoying the fantastic story
and then find yourself demoralized and angry because lady luck has abandoned you. Play it for the story, the great
graphics and just the nostalgia of enjoying the prequel to one of the greatest games of all time. Just don't
expect it to be fun all the time...
But DO expect one hell of an ending.
Rating: 5
Final Verdict
7.6667 (good)
Reviewed by shoujoboy, Apr 14, 2008