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I'm still in the middle of my PSP binge, so here's another review coming your way. After braving the terrors of The 3rd Birthday, I figured I'd try the official prequel to one of the most critically acclaimed RPGs of all time, Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII. I'll let you decide of it does the name justice after reading this review.
Console: Playstation Portable
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Genre: Action role-playing game
Release Date: March 25, 2008 (US) | March 25, 2008 (EU)
ESRB Rating: Teen
Players: 1
I know what you're probably thinking, "ANOTHER Final Fantasy Spin off?!", but hear me out for a second! Crisis Core is actually well worth checking out, even if you're not a fan of Final Fantasy VII. Heck, there's enough good things here for anyone one who's a fan of video games to enjoy. You'd be hard pressed to find much wrong with this game, and the few faults it has, are more than made up for with its good points.
While he may have only been featured in a flashback during the parent game, Zack returns as the central protagonist of this prequel, which may strike some of the fans as risky, a game starring a rather minor character, but those doubts will be quickly put to rest after experiencing just a bit of his touching story. Set seven years before the events of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core follows the story of the Zack Fair, a young up and coming SOLDIER for the Shinra Electric Power Company, and the events surrounding him up until the start of the aforementioned game. Zack dreams of one day becoming a SOLDIER 1st Class, much like his mentor of the same rank, Angeal Hewley. Shortly after beginning the game, Zack and Angeal are sent on a war mission. Along the way, they discover that another SOLDIER 1st class, Genesis Rhapsodos, has betrayed Shinra, the company they work for, and disappeared.
Angeal, upset and confused about his childhood friend suddenly betraying the company, goes missing shortly after hearing the news, and the company labels both him and Genesis public enemies. Still believing in his mentor, Zack is unwilling to accept that Angeal would stray so far from his core beliefs of honor, loyalty, and friendship. He then embarks on a mission to Genesis and Angeal's hometown to try and discover the reason for their sudden change of heart. The rest of the story revolves around Zack and his journey to the truth which involves many twists and turns. Telling any more of this wonderful story would spoil the experience, as there's really so much more going on than the tiny tidbit I described. Crisis Core does an amazing job of creating not only believable characters, but likable ones as well, thanks in part to Zack's laid back, but responsible attitude and his interactions with the various characters of the cast. It's impossible not to care about the story's characters as the plot progresses, and by the time you reach the ending, I can guarantee you'll be choking back tears at the incredible storytelling.
As expected with any Square Enix game, the visuals of this game are top notch. The jaw dropping cutscenes each have a large effect on the emotion driven story. Crisis Core uses a subtle blend of prerendered and in-game graphics for the cutscenes, and no matter which one you're looking at, you can be sure they'll have your eyes glued to the PSP screen. The Hollywood level of attention to detail really shows off in the cutscenes, especially one particular iconic scene featuring Sephiroth in Nibelhiem. You might think that with so much polish that the gameplay would suffer, right? NOPE, during the most frantic of battles with multiple enemy types and flashy special abilities flying out the wazoo, the framerate stays constant and never shudders or slows down. Even the voice acting of the game's English cast is extremely well done, which is rare for a Japanese to English game. Each actor pours in just enough effort to make the lines come across as natural and not forced, from the dark and brooding Sephiroth, to the ever maturing Zack. Their quality of work never faulters, adding additional layers of emotion to each cutscene or spoken line.
Long time fans of Final Fntasy VII might be surpried if they were expecting the three party turn based combat system to be returning. Combat is where Crisis Core firmly sets itself apart, even if there are some returning features, like limit breaks, materia, and elements. Much like its predecessor, battles in Crisis Core are completely random, which means when walking around on a map, you never know when the screen will change from exploring mode to combat mode. Once the battle is underway however, you're allowed to move Zack where ever you'd like him to be, but the battlefield is limited to a certain distance. Targeting isn't an issue, since it's handled automatically. All you have to do is face an enemy for the game to target it, and to put the smack down on them, simply select an attack and hit X to go to work. All this happens in near real time, so if you see an enemy preparing an attack you can move Zack out of the way or change up attacks instantly provided you haven't entered any additional commands. Fans of the popular Kingdom Hearts series should feel right at home with these controls.
In addtion to the previously mentioned abilities, Zack is also able to block and dodge attacks, although doing either consumes action points. However, spending action points aren't exclusively tied to blocking and dodging, as there are other abilities, such as Goblin Punch, that consume them also. There's also magic attacks that consumes Zack's magic points, but to use them he has to have the materia equipped. Since Zack can only hold a limited number of materia, certain ones become almost vital to make it past some of the particularly difficult bosses.There's also the curious option to fuse materia for the adventurous types out there. Fusing materia combines two or more pieces to make new magic or abilities, such as the ever impressive Ultima.
Another highly fun (or annoying depending on how you view it) aspect of combat is the unique Digital Mind Wave, or DMW. This nifty slot device sits on the top left hand corner of the screen during combat, and uses soldier points earned from defeated enemies to spin its reels. For every three matching character pictures the reels align, a powerful limit break with an accompanying cutscene is played, and for every three matching numbers that are aligned, different things happen, ranging from leveling up Zack and his materia, to temporary status immunity. While this feature may be appealing to some, the random nature of leveling up may be off putting to others, since there can be times where Zack levels up almost back to back and then goes for quite a while before getting another. But that's part of the fun of the DMW, it's a lot like gambling, and the excitement is seeing if you'll win big with the next spin.
If side quests are more your thing, then Crisis Core has more than enough to whet your appetite. With over 100 side missions to complete in addition to the main storyline, there's always something to do in the game. Admittedly, most of the missions are go here and kill that thing then collect your treasure, they serve their purpose well, and each have their own minature self contained story. But, even if you're a perfectionist that has to 100% complete every game, you'll still probably only squeeze in about 30 hours of game time, and that's including all the extra hidden goodies. However that's not exactly a bad thing, as it keeps the game fresh and avoids the fate of becoming repetitious. While Crisis Core may be shorter than other games with Final Fantasy in their title, it still ends up being exactly as long as it needs to be without becoming stale.
Crisis Core music is on par with any of the other games in the series. It has amazing, head banging rock beats and beautiful orchestra compositions. The times when the combat isn't filled with the same adrenaline pumping tunes we're used to, but instead slow eerie melodies are some of the more memorable battles. They feel more important because of how well the music intertwines with the story driven cutscenes that led to them. There's also updaed sound effects and some complete originals to make the battle experience sound how it looks, incredible. The composers even managed to sneak in a few remixes that fans of the series are sure to recognize.
This game is an absolute must buy for any PSP owner out there, regardless if they're a fan of Final Fantasy or not. From the top of the line presentation, to the heart wrenching story, to the addictive and face paced combat, there's simply not enough reasons to not pick this title up. No self respecting PSP owner should go without this game, and for that reason I give Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII a remarkable 9/10.
The Good:
Console: Playstation Portable
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Genre: Action role-playing game
Release Date: March 25, 2008 (US) | March 25, 2008 (EU)
ESRB Rating: Teen
Players: 1
I know what you're probably thinking, "ANOTHER Final Fantasy Spin off?!", but hear me out for a second! Crisis Core is actually well worth checking out, even if you're not a fan of Final Fantasy VII. Heck, there's enough good things here for anyone one who's a fan of video games to enjoy. You'd be hard pressed to find much wrong with this game, and the few faults it has, are more than made up for with its good points.
Zach running toward the iconic Shinra HQ
While he may have only been featured in a flashback during the parent game, Zack returns as the central protagonist of this prequel, which may strike some of the fans as risky, a game starring a rather minor character, but those doubts will be quickly put to rest after experiencing just a bit of his touching story. Set seven years before the events of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core follows the story of the Zack Fair, a young up and coming SOLDIER for the Shinra Electric Power Company, and the events surrounding him up until the start of the aforementioned game. Zack dreams of one day becoming a SOLDIER 1st Class, much like his mentor of the same rank, Angeal Hewley. Shortly after beginning the game, Zack and Angeal are sent on a war mission. Along the way, they discover that another SOLDIER 1st class, Genesis Rhapsodos, has betrayed Shinra, the company they work for, and disappeared.
Angeal, upset and confused about his childhood friend suddenly betraying the company, goes missing shortly after hearing the news, and the company labels both him and Genesis public enemies. Still believing in his mentor, Zack is unwilling to accept that Angeal would stray so far from his core beliefs of honor, loyalty, and friendship. He then embarks on a mission to Genesis and Angeal's hometown to try and discover the reason for their sudden change of heart. The rest of the story revolves around Zack and his journey to the truth which involves many twists and turns. Telling any more of this wonderful story would spoil the experience, as there's really so much more going on than the tiny tidbit I described. Crisis Core does an amazing job of creating not only believable characters, but likable ones as well, thanks in part to Zack's laid back, but responsible attitude and his interactions with the various characters of the cast. It's impossible not to care about the story's characters as the plot progresses, and by the time you reach the ending, I can guarantee you'll be choking back tears at the incredible storytelling.
Gorgeous lighting effects
As expected with any Square Enix game, the visuals of this game are top notch. The jaw dropping cutscenes each have a large effect on the emotion driven story. Crisis Core uses a subtle blend of prerendered and in-game graphics for the cutscenes, and no matter which one you're looking at, you can be sure they'll have your eyes glued to the PSP screen. The Hollywood level of attention to detail really shows off in the cutscenes, especially one particular iconic scene featuring Sephiroth in Nibelhiem. You might think that with so much polish that the gameplay would suffer, right? NOPE, during the most frantic of battles with multiple enemy types and flashy special abilities flying out the wazoo, the framerate stays constant and never shudders or slows down. Even the voice acting of the game's English cast is extremely well done, which is rare for a Japanese to English game. Each actor pours in just enough effort to make the lines come across as natural and not forced, from the dark and brooding Sephiroth, to the ever maturing Zack. Their quality of work never faulters, adding additional layers of emotion to each cutscene or spoken line.
Combat is fun and fast paced
Long time fans of Final Fntasy VII might be surpried if they were expecting the three party turn based combat system to be returning. Combat is where Crisis Core firmly sets itself apart, even if there are some returning features, like limit breaks, materia, and elements. Much like its predecessor, battles in Crisis Core are completely random, which means when walking around on a map, you never know when the screen will change from exploring mode to combat mode. Once the battle is underway however, you're allowed to move Zack where ever you'd like him to be, but the battlefield is limited to a certain distance. Targeting isn't an issue, since it's handled automatically. All you have to do is face an enemy for the game to target it, and to put the smack down on them, simply select an attack and hit X to go to work. All this happens in near real time, so if you see an enemy preparing an attack you can move Zack out of the way or change up attacks instantly provided you haven't entered any additional commands. Fans of the popular Kingdom Hearts series should feel right at home with these controls.
In addtion to the previously mentioned abilities, Zack is also able to block and dodge attacks, although doing either consumes action points. However, spending action points aren't exclusively tied to blocking and dodging, as there are other abilities, such as Goblin Punch, that consume them also. There's also magic attacks that consumes Zack's magic points, but to use them he has to have the materia equipped. Since Zack can only hold a limited number of materia, certain ones become almost vital to make it past some of the particularly difficult bosses.There's also the curious option to fuse materia for the adventurous types out there. Fusing materia combines two or more pieces to make new magic or abilities, such as the ever impressive Ultima.
Another highly fun (or annoying depending on how you view it) aspect of combat is the unique Digital Mind Wave, or DMW. This nifty slot device sits on the top left hand corner of the screen during combat, and uses soldier points earned from defeated enemies to spin its reels. For every three matching character pictures the reels align, a powerful limit break with an accompanying cutscene is played, and for every three matching numbers that are aligned, different things happen, ranging from leveling up Zack and his materia, to temporary status immunity. While this feature may be appealing to some, the random nature of leveling up may be off putting to others, since there can be times where Zack levels up almost back to back and then goes for quite a while before getting another. But that's part of the fun of the DMW, it's a lot like gambling, and the excitement is seeing if you'll win big with the next spin.
The WMW landing on a limit break
If side quests are more your thing, then Crisis Core has more than enough to whet your appetite. With over 100 side missions to complete in addition to the main storyline, there's always something to do in the game. Admittedly, most of the missions are go here and kill that thing then collect your treasure, they serve their purpose well, and each have their own minature self contained story. But, even if you're a perfectionist that has to 100% complete every game, you'll still probably only squeeze in about 30 hours of game time, and that's including all the extra hidden goodies. However that's not exactly a bad thing, as it keeps the game fresh and avoids the fate of becoming repetitious. While Crisis Core may be shorter than other games with Final Fantasy in their title, it still ends up being exactly as long as it needs to be without becoming stale.
Crisis Core music is on par with any of the other games in the series. It has amazing, head banging rock beats and beautiful orchestra compositions. The times when the combat isn't filled with the same adrenaline pumping tunes we're used to, but instead slow eerie melodies are some of the more memorable battles. They feel more important because of how well the music intertwines with the story driven cutscenes that led to them. There's also updaed sound effects and some complete originals to make the battle experience sound how it looks, incredible. The composers even managed to sneak in a few remixes that fans of the series are sure to recognize.
This game is an absolute must buy for any PSP owner out there, regardless if they're a fan of Final Fantasy or not. From the top of the line presentation, to the heart wrenching story, to the addictive and face paced combat, there's simply not enough reasons to not pick this title up. No self respecting PSP owner should go without this game, and for that reason I give Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII a remarkable 9/10.
The Good:
- amazing visuals
- well written story
- fun combat
- the random level up and limit break system
- it can be a bit on the easy side
- Genesis Rhapsodos
Last edited:
Thanks for the complete and honest review 
