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Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core

Published: Mon 1 Sep, 2008 | On:

The true prequel to FF7, Crisis Core to me was like opening up the first present of christmas and loving it. Crisis Core was just what I was after in many respects and now I will explain why.

The Graphics and CG sequences are the best available to date on the PSP, the above is a statement of fact, there is no arguing the pure beauty of the entire game (in story mode). The opening CG is action packed and will leave you drewling for more.

The ingame character models are very realistic and very much in proportion, I felt like I was playing a game designed for adults as the character renders were full and complete, unlike some rpgs which go down the road of having a character which looks like the head is bigger than the entire body.

The gameplay is very user friendly on the lowest difficulty setting, and the pal release of this game has seen the overall experience become easier than its Japanese counterpart. An clear example of this is in mission mode you can not die, however in the Japanese version you could.

Gameplay revolves around attacking, defending, rolling and materia useage. I have read some reviews or opinion pieces which thought the system was shallow, however after completing Crisis Core twice and acheiving one hundred percent completion I believe the gameplay and controls are user friendly but also deep.

An example of this is damage multipliers, by positioning your character behind an enemy you can acheive easier critical hits and damage. Materia and items in the main menu and utilised in battle. The materia system is nice and easy to use on the go, As this game is an action rpg you need to heal and attack with materia on the go and this brings a new level of depth into the battle mix. You will be wondering at times do I attack, or do I defend, do I have enough time to hit the enemy with a spell, will this spell work. It is a fast paced game but strategy is involved through out the experience.

The music in Crisis Core is a tribute to the fans who have played the original game, I found it extremely helpful to be considered in that list.
The voice acting was good as well which made for a complete package.

The game itself is huge, Apart from the good 10 hours you will get in story mode, there is a good 300 single missions to complete and most of the valuable rewards can be earned through these side quests. The side quests are all on smallish maps and involve searching an area, defeating enemies and collecting treasure, which sounds bland but for the collectors out there you will be in heaven.

The other main battle feature that needs mentioning is the slot reels indicated at the top left of the battle screen. These slots affect limit breaks and add other positive stat modifiers in battle. I had read that leveling was random, but this is not the case, when you level is determined by your experience points ie. enemies defeated. The slots also house any summons you may have collected and are supposed to represent Zacks mind set.

I really like this game, It can be picked up and played by anyone and enjoyed but I felt it was a nice backstory to a game (FF7) I first played and fell in love with.