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Review: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

posted by nikki at 9:09 pm.

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It took me longer than I thought it would, but I finally made it through Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. And I’m very happy to report that it managed to live up to my expectations, unlike a certain other entry in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

The game itself is a prequel to Final Fantasy VII, chronicling the events during the five years that lead up to the original story. Crisis Core follows Zack, Soldier 1st class, and Cloud’s friend and mentor. Spoilers follow, so if you’re still in the middle of the game, or haven’t started it yet and don’t want to hear them, stop reading now.

Still with me?

First of all, let me start with what I didn’t like about the game. I really only have two significant complaints (aside from the fact that it was on the PSP).

One… you can’t skip cutscenes and other animations. For crying out loud, Square-Enix, I don’t want to watch the same 8 minute dialog three times over just because I keep getting my ass handed to me by a boss. You let me skip them in Dirge of Cerberus. Why not Crisis Core?

Two… The DMW. Specifically, the limit verge screen. Honestly, this would not have even been an issue if it weren’t for the fact that it comes up so often. I lost track of how many times I was one, maybe two, attacks away from ending a battle when the DMW rolls up a limit verge and my battle gets put on hold so I can watch the slots go round and round. Most of the time, in this scenario, I ended up getting a power surge, and hitting the enemy (who was already on his last legs) with a 5000 hp limit break when one good smack from my sword would have ended things. It got a little annoying after awhile, because, going back to complaint number one, you can’t skip the freaking animation sequences *shakes fist angrily at Square-Enix* Thank god they do allow you to skip summon animations…

Now that that’s out of the way, here’s what I did like about it.

The combat. Crisis Core’s battles are, to some extent, a fusion of the original FFVII and Kingdom Hearts, and in my opinion, it works very well. Your stats are heavily effected by what you’ve got equipped, and you can directly alter and combine the materia in your collection to boost your stats even further, so customization adds a lot to the experience. I also was very happy to see that Crisis Core did not drop the materia system entirely, like Dirge of Cerberus did, especially since it’s by far my favorite magic system of the whole series. The Mission mode in the game was also entertaining, at least until it got to the point that I felt like I was doing the same mission 5 times to get to the one mission of that grouping that was interesting.

The nostalgia. I’m a huge fan of the original FFVII. Huge. So it was fun to see so that so many people and places recreated in this game remained true to how they were in FFVII. The Shinra Mansion at Nibelheim follows the same layout it did in the original (again, unlike Dirge of Cerberus, which rebuilt it largely from scratch), Tifa wears that horrible, horrible cowgirl outfit and takes her photo with Zack and Sephiroth in the same pose as in FFVII, and even much of the dialog remains intact where scenes from the two games overlap. It’s a real trip at times.

The story. You know, it’s very strange going into a game like this knowing that the hero is going to die and the villian is going to live. I was actually a little worried that knowing how things ultimately turn out might take away from the emotional impact. A lot of people say they cried when Aerith died in Final Fantasy VII. I’m not one of them. Yes it was sad, yes it was a little shocking, but it just didn’t hit me that hard. I cried through the last forty damn minutes of Crisis Core, knowing what was going to happen.

So overall, how do I rate it?

The story, I whole-heartedly give a 10 out of 10. Square-Enix is in top form on that, and they managed to tie in not just the places and events of FFVII, but also plot points from Before Crisis, Advent Children, and Dirge of Cerberus… and they did it so that it all flowed together perfectly.

Gameplay, I give a 7 out of 10. I enjoyed the battle system and the customization and even the few mini-games that were thrown in (which I normally detest with every fiber of my being), but the DMW got aggravating after awhile, the Mission mode was way too repetitive, and after the last few Square-Enix games I’ve played, random encounters have lost some of their appeal… I also wish it had been just a little longer (I really would have liked to have seen more of Cissnei, and the Turks in general).

Nikki Blight: is still trying to find that damn princess... when she's not writing fresh code for the217.com.