WraithMaster
31-03-2008, 02:47 AM
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
This week (in America anyway) saw the release of the final iteration in the Final Fantasy VII collection, Crisis Core. The series of spinoffs were made due to the massive popularity of the original Final Fantasy VII, especially in markets outside of Japan. Since then the game has had several iterations spanning from gaming consoles to mobile phones and even the film industry. Crisis Core was created for the Sony's handheld PSP console and tells the missing pieces of the story to the audience.
Crisis Core focuses the story on Zack Fair, a SOLDIER operative whose story was touched on by Cloud Strife in Final Fantasy VII. All that was originally known about Zack *FFVII SPOILERS* was that he and Cloud were friends and that at some point in the past, Zack had been killed and Cloud, in a fit of amnesia, started calling himself a SOLDIER and thinking that Zack's past had been his.*END SPOILERS* Crisis Core is the story of Zack spanning the events of seven years before FFVII began.
Zack's supporting cast contains quite a few familiar faces as well as some new ones. Cloud, Yuffie, Aerith, Tifa, Reno, Rude, and of course Sephiroth join the lineup of faces you'll recognize as well as some others I won't mention here. The newer characters are, however the ones you'll interact with the most. Angeal, Zack's mentor and SOLDIER First Class, and the original owner of the Buster Sword (interesting fact: you'll learn quite a bit about the Buster Sword's lineage in this game) joins the cast alongside Genesis, a character we only know from another game in the series, Dirge of Cerberus. Genesis is also a SOLDIER First Class and his fighting skills are a match for even Sephiroth's, as of the beginning of the game though, Genesis has gone "Missing in Action". This is where Zack comes in. On your way to find Genesis and why he disappeared, you'll come across many other new faces as well, all of which contribute greatly to the final story.
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4539/finalfantasyviicrisiscocs2.jpg
Fangirls rejoice! Sephiroth is back and still compensating for something!
First let's talk about the musical score and overall sound. The voice-acting in Crisis Core is top-notch. In fact many of the familiar characters in the game reprise their voice-over roles from Advent Children (Steve Burton as Cloud, George Newburn as Sephiroth, Quinten Flynn as Reno, etc). Typically, there are a few groan-inducing moments in the voice acting, but this is Square-Enix we're talking about, no game would be complete without it. The musical score contains many hard rock tracks, especially during battle sequences. While they're not bad, it gets a bit tedious to have the same deep guitar riff start every time you go into battle. Also, it wouldn't be a Final Fantasy VII game without remakes of the original music. The composer, Takeharu Ishimoto, did a wonderful job of bringing those classic FFVII tracks to life once again with his hard rock renditions of the original battle and boss themes, as well as some soft remakes of other tracks, including Aerith's theme and of course, Sephiroth's "One-Winged Angel" theme. The sound effects in the game vary in their level of detail. While actually in game you get some rather generic sound effects, the FMVs in the game though are where sound effects really shine. For instance I could feel the raw power of Bahamut's Megaflare through the sound in his summon-FMV (note: I call it a summon-FMV because every time you call a summon creature, the game seamlessly transitions to an FMV to show the attack)
Graphics-wise well, let me reiterate this first, this game was made for the PSP. Yes, the PSP. The graphics don't show it though. The game looks more like it belongs on the PS2 with the amount of detail they put into every little thing. From facial expressions to the small movements of each character's hair, the artists didn't skimp on anything for this game. Even the level design just looks amazing! This is just the in-game graphics as well. If you get to one of the game's numerous FMVs you'll be treated to visuals so beautiful you'll think you're watching a sequel to Advent Children. Best of all, with all of the detail they've put into the game, not once as I played did I encounter any slowdown when there's a lot happening on-screen, and trust me there are always a lot of things happening on-screen, especially in battles.
Speaking of battles, the gameplay might be the weakest part of the game, unfortunately. From the get go you're thrown into numerous battles, so let's start with those. The battle system itself is done pretty well with a more Action-RPG style of fighting going on. You're free to roam about the battlefield as you wish while you select your next course of action. To do this you're given a small list in the bottom-right-hand corner of the screen which is scrolled through with the L/R buttons and contains your basic attack action (which has no cost and you can use as much as you like), any Materia spells (which expend Magic Points) or skills (which expend the newly added Action Points) you have equipped, and finally items which when clicked brings up a separate list of all your items. In addition, you may press Square at any time to dodge attacks or Triangle at any time to block attacks to reduce damage to a minimum. Both of these actions however expend Action Points which are new to the game. This is all well and good, but I found that I could get through many battles by mashing the X button repeatedly to physically attack the rather dumb enemies. However, this strategy didn't work so well against most bosses so they required a bit more planning. It's unfortunate that the boss battles are the only rather exciting ones in the game but it can't be helped when the enemy AI is as dumb as rocks.
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/6858/crisiscorefinalfantasyvau2.jpg
Despite all that may be going on during battle, no slowdown occurs whatsoever, so enjoy every moment of your epileptic-seizure inducing attacks!
Another new addition to the battle system is "Digital Mind Wave". This is essentially a slot machine reel that sits in the upper-left corner of the screen during battles and randomly stops with no user input whatsoever. In the reel are portraits of characters you've met (or Summons you currently have) and numbers alongside them. When 3 portraits match up on the reel, Zack will automatically perform a limit break which varies in power based on what Materia you have equipped and Zack's emotions (which is represented by a gauge on the reel that ranges from "Normal" to "Heavenly" and is effected by changes in the story and certain other things). The numbers will have a different effect based on how they line up when stopped. For example, if three 7s are stopped on the reel, Zack will temporarily be invincible. Also, when two or three character portraits match as well as certain numbers, either Zack or his Materia will level up. While this is admittedly an innovative way of leveling up, it's also a bit of a hassle as the numbers stop randomly and the traditional EXP system, while still present, is only there this time around to serve as grounds for how high you can potentially level up at the current time.
While battle varies on the fun scale, running around towns normally is downright boring. There are sometimes fun little tidbits you can explore which hearken back to previous games in the series but other than that, talking to townspeople is your only real option in a town. What's worse, the story is so linear that you can't even backtrack to places you've already been to by conventional means. When you reach a save point though, you have the option of selecting one of literally hundreds of side-missions to play through for special items and Materia. This is a big draw as some items/Materia cannot be obtained by any other means. The missions also allow you to return to certain places you've visited to collect items you may have missed. One last draw to the game is the Materia Fusion system. It is essentially just as it sounds, you combine two or more Materia to create a new one. This system allows you to obtain some of the more powerful Materia in the game such as the "Hell" level spells (Hell Firaga, Hell Blizzaga, etc).
The missions alone add some replay value to the game, as many players might just breeze through at first for the story alone, which really worth the face value of the game, in all honesty. There are also a New Game+ option and two different difficulty levels to choose from thus adding more levels to the replay value. Just playing through for the story could take somewhere around 8-12 hours based on how good you are with RPGs, but if you factor in all of the missions and New Game+, you'll be playing this game for quite some time to come. A real achievement for the PSP.
Story: 5/5, it really is all you'd expect from a Final Fantasy game, and a good close to the Final Fantasy VII series.
Control: 4.5/5, though the controls are pretty good and easy to get down, Zack moves a bit clunky regardless of whether you're using the thumb-stick or the D-Pad.
Sound: 4/5, A good musical score with some pretty good remakes of original FFVII tracks along with terrific voice-overs give this section a good grade, though some generic in-game sounds and repetitive original hard rock tracks may not be for everyone.
Graphics: 5/5, some of the best I've ever seen on the PSP.
Gameplay: 3/5, this game is marred by unfortunate things such as the dumb-as-rocks AI, a rather random way of leveling up, and a linear story with no way of back-tracking normally, though it's saved by it's high replay value and number of side-quests.
This week (in America anyway) saw the release of the final iteration in the Final Fantasy VII collection, Crisis Core. The series of spinoffs were made due to the massive popularity of the original Final Fantasy VII, especially in markets outside of Japan. Since then the game has had several iterations spanning from gaming consoles to mobile phones and even the film industry. Crisis Core was created for the Sony's handheld PSP console and tells the missing pieces of the story to the audience.
Crisis Core focuses the story on Zack Fair, a SOLDIER operative whose story was touched on by Cloud Strife in Final Fantasy VII. All that was originally known about Zack *FFVII SPOILERS* was that he and Cloud were friends and that at some point in the past, Zack had been killed and Cloud, in a fit of amnesia, started calling himself a SOLDIER and thinking that Zack's past had been his.*END SPOILERS* Crisis Core is the story of Zack spanning the events of seven years before FFVII began.
Zack's supporting cast contains quite a few familiar faces as well as some new ones. Cloud, Yuffie, Aerith, Tifa, Reno, Rude, and of course Sephiroth join the lineup of faces you'll recognize as well as some others I won't mention here. The newer characters are, however the ones you'll interact with the most. Angeal, Zack's mentor and SOLDIER First Class, and the original owner of the Buster Sword (interesting fact: you'll learn quite a bit about the Buster Sword's lineage in this game) joins the cast alongside Genesis, a character we only know from another game in the series, Dirge of Cerberus. Genesis is also a SOLDIER First Class and his fighting skills are a match for even Sephiroth's, as of the beginning of the game though, Genesis has gone "Missing in Action". This is where Zack comes in. On your way to find Genesis and why he disappeared, you'll come across many other new faces as well, all of which contribute greatly to the final story.
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4539/finalfantasyviicrisiscocs2.jpg
Fangirls rejoice! Sephiroth is back and still compensating for something!
First let's talk about the musical score and overall sound. The voice-acting in Crisis Core is top-notch. In fact many of the familiar characters in the game reprise their voice-over roles from Advent Children (Steve Burton as Cloud, George Newburn as Sephiroth, Quinten Flynn as Reno, etc). Typically, there are a few groan-inducing moments in the voice acting, but this is Square-Enix we're talking about, no game would be complete without it. The musical score contains many hard rock tracks, especially during battle sequences. While they're not bad, it gets a bit tedious to have the same deep guitar riff start every time you go into battle. Also, it wouldn't be a Final Fantasy VII game without remakes of the original music. The composer, Takeharu Ishimoto, did a wonderful job of bringing those classic FFVII tracks to life once again with his hard rock renditions of the original battle and boss themes, as well as some soft remakes of other tracks, including Aerith's theme and of course, Sephiroth's "One-Winged Angel" theme. The sound effects in the game vary in their level of detail. While actually in game you get some rather generic sound effects, the FMVs in the game though are where sound effects really shine. For instance I could feel the raw power of Bahamut's Megaflare through the sound in his summon-FMV (note: I call it a summon-FMV because every time you call a summon creature, the game seamlessly transitions to an FMV to show the attack)
Graphics-wise well, let me reiterate this first, this game was made for the PSP. Yes, the PSP. The graphics don't show it though. The game looks more like it belongs on the PS2 with the amount of detail they put into every little thing. From facial expressions to the small movements of each character's hair, the artists didn't skimp on anything for this game. Even the level design just looks amazing! This is just the in-game graphics as well. If you get to one of the game's numerous FMVs you'll be treated to visuals so beautiful you'll think you're watching a sequel to Advent Children. Best of all, with all of the detail they've put into the game, not once as I played did I encounter any slowdown when there's a lot happening on-screen, and trust me there are always a lot of things happening on-screen, especially in battles.
Speaking of battles, the gameplay might be the weakest part of the game, unfortunately. From the get go you're thrown into numerous battles, so let's start with those. The battle system itself is done pretty well with a more Action-RPG style of fighting going on. You're free to roam about the battlefield as you wish while you select your next course of action. To do this you're given a small list in the bottom-right-hand corner of the screen which is scrolled through with the L/R buttons and contains your basic attack action (which has no cost and you can use as much as you like), any Materia spells (which expend Magic Points) or skills (which expend the newly added Action Points) you have equipped, and finally items which when clicked brings up a separate list of all your items. In addition, you may press Square at any time to dodge attacks or Triangle at any time to block attacks to reduce damage to a minimum. Both of these actions however expend Action Points which are new to the game. This is all well and good, but I found that I could get through many battles by mashing the X button repeatedly to physically attack the rather dumb enemies. However, this strategy didn't work so well against most bosses so they required a bit more planning. It's unfortunate that the boss battles are the only rather exciting ones in the game but it can't be helped when the enemy AI is as dumb as rocks.
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/6858/crisiscorefinalfantasyvau2.jpg
Despite all that may be going on during battle, no slowdown occurs whatsoever, so enjoy every moment of your epileptic-seizure inducing attacks!
Another new addition to the battle system is "Digital Mind Wave". This is essentially a slot machine reel that sits in the upper-left corner of the screen during battles and randomly stops with no user input whatsoever. In the reel are portraits of characters you've met (or Summons you currently have) and numbers alongside them. When 3 portraits match up on the reel, Zack will automatically perform a limit break which varies in power based on what Materia you have equipped and Zack's emotions (which is represented by a gauge on the reel that ranges from "Normal" to "Heavenly" and is effected by changes in the story and certain other things). The numbers will have a different effect based on how they line up when stopped. For example, if three 7s are stopped on the reel, Zack will temporarily be invincible. Also, when two or three character portraits match as well as certain numbers, either Zack or his Materia will level up. While this is admittedly an innovative way of leveling up, it's also a bit of a hassle as the numbers stop randomly and the traditional EXP system, while still present, is only there this time around to serve as grounds for how high you can potentially level up at the current time.
While battle varies on the fun scale, running around towns normally is downright boring. There are sometimes fun little tidbits you can explore which hearken back to previous games in the series but other than that, talking to townspeople is your only real option in a town. What's worse, the story is so linear that you can't even backtrack to places you've already been to by conventional means. When you reach a save point though, you have the option of selecting one of literally hundreds of side-missions to play through for special items and Materia. This is a big draw as some items/Materia cannot be obtained by any other means. The missions also allow you to return to certain places you've visited to collect items you may have missed. One last draw to the game is the Materia Fusion system. It is essentially just as it sounds, you combine two or more Materia to create a new one. This system allows you to obtain some of the more powerful Materia in the game such as the "Hell" level spells (Hell Firaga, Hell Blizzaga, etc).
The missions alone add some replay value to the game, as many players might just breeze through at first for the story alone, which really worth the face value of the game, in all honesty. There are also a New Game+ option and two different difficulty levels to choose from thus adding more levels to the replay value. Just playing through for the story could take somewhere around 8-12 hours based on how good you are with RPGs, but if you factor in all of the missions and New Game+, you'll be playing this game for quite some time to come. A real achievement for the PSP.
Story: 5/5, it really is all you'd expect from a Final Fantasy game, and a good close to the Final Fantasy VII series.
Control: 4.5/5, though the controls are pretty good and easy to get down, Zack moves a bit clunky regardless of whether you're using the thumb-stick or the D-Pad.
Sound: 4/5, A good musical score with some pretty good remakes of original FFVII tracks along with terrific voice-overs give this section a good grade, though some generic in-game sounds and repetitive original hard rock tracks may not be for everyone.
Graphics: 5/5, some of the best I've ever seen on the PSP.
Gameplay: 3/5, this game is marred by unfortunate things such as the dumb-as-rocks AI, a rather random way of leveling up, and a linear story with no way of back-tracking normally, though it's saved by it's high replay value and number of side-quests.