Remember feeling bummed out after seeing the Final Fantasy 7 graphic demo for PS3? Did you go out hunting in HMV for the Advent Children dvd? Spied on You Tube for the prequel cartoon, FFVII: Last Order? Square Enix totally have us wrapped around their fingers when it comes to this particular RPG series. As one of many devoted fans, I fell head over heels and forked out especially for Final Fantasy: Crisis Core. If you have played the compelling, masterpiece that was FF7 on PS1 or PC, you’d understand why I had to buy it!
Our leading character is a guy named, “Zack”. Your average high spirited, young, cocky yet likeable character, a 2nd class soldier (hired skilled combat operative) working for a powerful, mega-corporation known as, “Shinra”. Zack aspires to promote to the top ranks in Soldier but in the meantime he is mentored by a 1st class during his mission assignments. There was once an operation in Wutai, (a country refusing to be taken over by Shinra) and a large number of Soldier units led by a 1st class soldier, “Genesis” went missing. Shinra sent out Zack, his mentor Angeal and a 1st class hero Sephiroth to see what happened. However Angeal also goes missing and Sephiroth believes it is betrayal. Our main protagonist is lead further to investigate, starting with the hometown of Angeal and Genesis and striving to get to the bottom of it all.
The story of Zack leads up to the events just before FF7 begins. Along the way we find ourselves bumping into familiar faces and it’s interesting to see how they cross paths. For the fans it’s another portion to uncovering the deeper roots of the FF7 story. However the overall plot in this game won’t bewilder newcomers either. I can surely say that both crowds will be captured in Crisis Core’s marvellous world and tear’s shall be shed. Especially how it all draws together at the end. We may find ourselves hungry to replay the good old FF7, if only Square Enix would remake it for the next gen!
As usual the developers never cease to amaze in their FMV’s. Just half an hour into the game and it’s been incredibly mind blowing. Drooling at the beautifully rendered characters and enviroment, adding it all together with the action packed movie clips, the game has totally turned the PSP into an amazing cinematic experience. The voice acting is the best it’s been for the FF series, the dialogue runs surprisingly smooth as to the choppy nature found in FFX. Crisis Core doesn’t forget nostalgia and there’s smiles all around upon hearing the memorable sound effects, slightly touched up FF7 music, victory fanfare and the return of squat exercises!
Alongside the return of final fantasy magic there’s also a few changes. It’s bye bye to turn based and welcome free hack and slash… well almost. The combat style is similar to Kingdom Hearts with the basic controls of dodge, block and action. The L & R shoulder buttons switch commands between attack, spells, special moves and item use. In all honesty even as I prefer RPG’s to move on to the newer freedom forms of “Kingdom Hearts” and “Eternal Sonata”, I would forgive any FF7 relative game for turn based. Some folks might not like the change of play but I’m finding the new combat action is a bonus. No longer do I find myself stuck to the ground, waiting opposite an opponent just to take turns giving each other a bash on the head. Finally I can now dodge incoming attacks/spells/summons ’cause nobody.. and I mean NOBODY is going to scratch me now!
The new major element to notice is the DMW (digital mind wave). A 6 slot picture and number that spins every time you’ve attacked the enemy. DMW determines status effects, limit breaks, summons and levelling up. Quite confusing when you first play but overtime you’ll come to learn of it’s benefits. Although it’s course of random outcomes may sound like a stupid mess of programming, it actually does add excitement to the game play.
After a battle was over, I often found myself standing still for a few seconds waiting for some kind of victory screen, it came to me that I could actually get back onto the main game straight after the fight. An impressive quick transition from combat to main play, certainly appreciated! Another thing, when you find yourself really focused in the fights sometimes you don’t really keep an good eye on your health, you’ll get a flash of yellow to red (depending on the danger) hanging on the side of your screen as a way to raise awareness. Thumbs up on this extra bit of detail!
Crisis Core has got a slick menu screen appearance, a tidy layout showing stats at the right and configuration on the left. There’s an archive file of tutorial guides which is handy to nip into when you want to run over the way the game works. Messages received, be it a news shout from Shinra, mission briefs or a holla from your friends are all automatically filed in relevant folders. (If only our modern handsets could do that!) The best feature of all is the online shop which now enables us to stock up on potions, ethers, elixirs, etc pretty much anytime, anywhere!
The game also has side missions for when you want to grind for some extra items, perhaps level up or just take a break from the main story. So it’s possible to pick up a Final Fantasy title for just a quick 10 minute go without getting stuck on a run for the next save point.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.