if you unite the dirge of cerberus story to every other ff 7 sequel you can understand the story completely .Vincents story is full detailed in the game so any question just ask away.

Go through it chronologically. X3 *is confused over many things such as how old Vincent and Hojo actually are... who did what to do... is Lucrecia even dead, etc, etc*

Thats a good point. Lucrecia isn't dead in FFVII and mentions that she can't kill herself or die easily because of the Jenova inside of her, thefore has herself incased in a crystal like cacoon. Yet in DoC her spirit is inside Omega hinting that she somehow died since the events of FFVII, but we see Vincent in DoC visit her preserved body! That tis strange.

Also, what was Grimore Valetines role in the story really? As far as I could tell he was just there and had no real involvment in anything.

That makes me want to ask this: did Advent Children occur between them? In it they at least damage Jenova as a whole do they not?

yeah Advent children took place two years after FFVII and Direge of Cerbrues is suppose to take place one year after Advent children, also that explains the clothing that the other characters wear in the game from FFVII AC wouldn't it?

I think Lucrecia is dead soley because of the fact that in the world of FF7 when people die they go to the lifestream and apparently OMEGA was absorbing it. So she was probably talking to Vincent through OMEGA because she was in the life stream.

But as for her body who knows. Maybe that's like mako that just preserves the body from decaying.

Grimoire is ESSENTIAL to the story because how Lucrecia reacts to Vicent is based on her love/admiration of him.

When Grimoire died, Lucrecia felt responsible, it is wrong for her to feel that, as Vincent says, but she did.

I think she loved Grimoire, and that explaines a part of her pain because she also sees Grimoire in Vincent.

Lucrecia is probably the most pained character in FFVII.