CitizenSnips
03-30-2008, 01:10 AM
Alright, so I just finished Final Fantasy Vll: Crisis Core on the psp. If you want my short review, the game is stellar in every way. For those interested in the longer version, here it goes:
First off, the story.
Crisis core follows Zack Fair, the man whose role in FFVll was relatively small, yet his impact behind the scenes was tremendous. The storyline is really well written. In fact, it's almost as epic as the original FFVll was. The game has a surprisingly large amount of characters, something I really did not see coming. The game begins with Zack as a 2nd Class Soldier working under three 1st Class soldiers by the names Angeal (Zacks mentor), Genesis, and Sephiroth. The latter three are best friends, and are the most respected soldiers in the world. The games storyline revolves around their inevitable fallout, Zacks rise to power, and sheds light on Zacks relationships with Cloud and Aerith...(For those of you who were big into FFVll and remember the scenes with Zack...you already know how this game ends, but for those who don't, I'm withholding the ending)
The Graphics
Generally the graphics are above average all around, but specific cut scenes like the summons push the PSP hardware as far as it can possibly go. These cut scenes are gorgeous, think Advent Child and you get the idea.
The Gameplay
Here's where the game may turn people off. The fighting system is NOT turn based, rather, its more like Kingdom Hearts. If you're not a fan of Kingdom Hearts fighting system, you may not be a fan of this game. Simple as that. To be honest, you are tapping the X button about 75% of the time. Yes other attacks like Thunderaga and the like are stronger, but outside of bosses, there's no reason to use anything other than the basic attack. And then theres the "Digital Mind Wheel" thing. This is a little dial at the top left of the screen that spins and lands on numbers and pictures at random. Everytime it lands on 7-7-7, you level up. Everytime it lands on Sephiroths picture 3 times, you do your limit. Everytime it lands on a picture of Ifrit 3 times, you do a summon. Yes, you have absolutely no control over when you do your limits, or summons. This will piss off major RPG fans, and maybe rightfully so. However, I have beaten the game, and I assure you that you level up just as much as you normally would, and your limits actually seem to come up almost all the time.
The Music
The FFVll soundtrack was beautiful, and so is this. Featuring some of the original scores, crisis core has an awesome soundtrack.
Conclusion
Im a huge FFVll fan. I consider it the greatest game I've ever played, and I probably always will. Crisis Core captures everything I loved about the original, and the storyline is as epic as ever. If anything, Crisis Core makes FFVll that much better in my eyes. Revisiting some of the characters, seeing how the events in FFVll began, it was a fantastic walk down memory lane. If you own a psp, this is the game to get for sure.
(and for those interested, the ending does possibly suggest a remake for FFVll...sort of. It's basically the tech demo they showed for the PS3 with a subtle change)
First off, the story.
Crisis core follows Zack Fair, the man whose role in FFVll was relatively small, yet his impact behind the scenes was tremendous. The storyline is really well written. In fact, it's almost as epic as the original FFVll was. The game has a surprisingly large amount of characters, something I really did not see coming. The game begins with Zack as a 2nd Class Soldier working under three 1st Class soldiers by the names Angeal (Zacks mentor), Genesis, and Sephiroth. The latter three are best friends, and are the most respected soldiers in the world. The games storyline revolves around their inevitable fallout, Zacks rise to power, and sheds light on Zacks relationships with Cloud and Aerith...(For those of you who were big into FFVll and remember the scenes with Zack...you already know how this game ends, but for those who don't, I'm withholding the ending)
The Graphics
Generally the graphics are above average all around, but specific cut scenes like the summons push the PSP hardware as far as it can possibly go. These cut scenes are gorgeous, think Advent Child and you get the idea.
The Gameplay
Here's where the game may turn people off. The fighting system is NOT turn based, rather, its more like Kingdom Hearts. If you're not a fan of Kingdom Hearts fighting system, you may not be a fan of this game. Simple as that. To be honest, you are tapping the X button about 75% of the time. Yes other attacks like Thunderaga and the like are stronger, but outside of bosses, there's no reason to use anything other than the basic attack. And then theres the "Digital Mind Wheel" thing. This is a little dial at the top left of the screen that spins and lands on numbers and pictures at random. Everytime it lands on 7-7-7, you level up. Everytime it lands on Sephiroths picture 3 times, you do your limit. Everytime it lands on a picture of Ifrit 3 times, you do a summon. Yes, you have absolutely no control over when you do your limits, or summons. This will piss off major RPG fans, and maybe rightfully so. However, I have beaten the game, and I assure you that you level up just as much as you normally would, and your limits actually seem to come up almost all the time.
The Music
The FFVll soundtrack was beautiful, and so is this. Featuring some of the original scores, crisis core has an awesome soundtrack.
Conclusion
Im a huge FFVll fan. I consider it the greatest game I've ever played, and I probably always will. Crisis Core captures everything I loved about the original, and the storyline is as epic as ever. If anything, Crisis Core makes FFVll that much better in my eyes. Revisiting some of the characters, seeing how the events in FFVll began, it was a fantastic walk down memory lane. If you own a psp, this is the game to get for sure.
(and for those interested, the ending does possibly suggest a remake for FFVll...sort of. It's basically the tech demo they showed for the PS3 with a subtle change)