Game Review | Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

Hey Everyone,

Our first games review is for Crisis Core on the PSP. Our reviews are not out of the bag articles written about frame rates, bullshots or how much goodies the publisher has given us. We do this more for the fun of it than anything else so take what we say with a pinch of salt.

As I’m sure you already know Crisis Core in a prequel to legendary RPG FF:VII so a lot is riding on this little UMD.

Plot

Crisis Core is the prequel to legendary Squaresoft (now Square-Enix) RPG Final Fantasy VII. If you never played, or don’t know what FFVII was this review, and probably this site won’t be very interesting to you.

It follows the story of a minor appearance but major significance character from the original game named Zack. He was the real SOLDIER 1^st Class who Cloud wanted to be and in Crisis Core we find out how Zack became the SOLDIER he is and what happened to all the other 1^st classes that were supposed to be running around.

There are plenty of twists and turns and of course the return of many old favourites including Sephiroth, Cloud, Yuffie and Hojo. I’m pretty sure any FF fan will enjoy it, I know I did.

Gameplay

Loading the game up will throw you straight into a cutscene. The graphics are good and cut scenes are Advent Children quality and it’s nice to see Zack hacking away at a train full of baddies in glorious HD FMV.

We soon get put into a battle scenario, a very brief tutorial and few seconds with the PSP and you will have pretty much mastered all the controls, it’s one of those simple to use but difficult to master things and there will be many time throughout the game when you thank Square-Enix for putting block and dodge options in.

Out of combat control is typical RPG stuff, walk, talk and the like. Nothing particularly new but if it ain’t broke etc.

The magic system remains absed around material but is slightly different from FF:VII. You still equip material and level it up to make it better, and it still affects your stats in both positive and negative ways. We now have Materia Fusion which allows Zack to mix Materia and items into new or more powerful Materia. The system is complex but kind of fun and it’s always good gaining new kinds of spells such as magic that attacks and adds statuses.

The level/limit system is the real deal breaker. I can see this one going Marmite on a lot of people, you will either love it or hate it. Essential it is a vamped up version of Cait Sith’s old limit break, a slot machine style reel which has different outcomes depending on the values it spins.

It’s called DMW and it is constantly spinning and activating while ever you are in battle. The slots have numbers and picture and once all three have stopped something will happen. If you get a 7 or combo of 7’s on the numbers you will get a cool status effect ranging from invulnerability to no MP cost for spells. Any other numbers at this point mean nothing.

Every now and again the pictures (usually game characters) on the 1^st and 3^rd reels will match, this will trigger the limit. You will now have the battle paused and the reels will fill the screen. They will spin again and give you three pictures and numbers. If all three pictures match you will use a limit break relating to the character (Tsang calls in an airstrike, Aerith heals you etc.) and gain boosts to your MP and HP equal to the numbers shown on the reels. The numbers also determine the power of the limit attack.

If the pictures don’t match you don’t get a boost and the limit basically fails.

Additional effects can be applied by the numbers matching. If you get three 7’s Zack will level. This is basically the only way to level but gaining large amounts of SP (instead of EXP) will eventually cause the 7s to roll round. Any other matching numbers will level your material. If you roll two 4’s you will level the material in slot 4 (of your equipment) up once. Three 4’s will level it up twice.

As the game progresses you also gain the ability to summon the old FF monsters through these reels (at random) and support characters who give some really good effects such as Chocobos and Moogles.

I really like the system but the complete loss of control will really annoy some people and sometime it seems like the DMW is trying to screw you by not activating on bosses and firing a max level Bahuamut at two little guys you get next fight.

A really nice touch is emotions effect the DMW so intense battles or a kiss from Aerith will mean you are more likely to trigger a limit.

Progression

The game progress’ quickly for an RPG, you can do mission pretty much whenever you are at a save point to gain SP, new material and equipment. The main story vain usually requires you to do a bit of levelling but nothing a casual gamer couldn’t handle.

The lifespan, as with any RPG, is pretty big and completely based on how much you care. I would say there is a minimum of about 30 hours but it can easily be stretched to 200+ with the addition of new game+

Conclusion

Crisis Core is a great game, I enjoy the battle system and plot but it can be occasionally frustrating due to difficulty spikes and the DMW not levelling you or limiting when you need it most. The graphics are great, especially cut scenes and the FFVII-ness alone will (and has) motivated good sales.

If you have a PSP and are bored of the mediocre RPGs then get Crisis Core. If you think the level and limit system is gonna bug you it probably will so don’t bother.

Please feel free to add you “contructive” comments about the game, whether positive or negative.