So today was the day I've been waiting for since I read on here that CRISIS CORE was slated for the US, and it was that very moment I decided I wanted a PSP. Never even considered one.
Load it up, be blown away by the intro, and select NORMAL or HARD. . . Um... That's new...
Yet soon to find out the meaning of it!
First impressions...
The game opens up in a very familiar way, it reminds you of the original FINAL FANTASY VII so much, you even for a second question if you're playing a remake. Then Zack (our main character of the game) takes over the show, and you're forced into reality. The reality that you're living in the past... Literally! The game if you don't know takes place before Final Fantasy VII. If you've never seen Final Fantasy: Advent Children and the short movie, LAST ORDER. Both will explain alot about the events before Final Fantasy VII, and after Crisis Core. The story seems yet to really take form, but we already know what it leads to, right?
The game comes with no audio options, you are bound to the ENGLISH version. SquareEnix has never been very good about their English voice actors, and they maintain that reputation in Crisis Core. Oh what I wouldn't do for a Japanese audio option! The game is not completely audio like Mass Effect, but it's got a good share of audio!
The music is decent, some of it edited and tweaked versions of original Final Fantasy VII music. Mind you, the music in this is NOT done by Uematsu though. So any reworked versions of music from Final Fantasy VII is if you ask me, stolen work. The music does tend to get repetitive though, I'm hoping this changes as the game goes on.
The gameplay somewhat familiar. You can move around using the D-Pad or analog hockey puck. Like in FFXII, when you're in an area, you see the borders into another area, it displays the name of the area you're about to enter. There's very little loading time between these, which is good. The rest at this point is different. How can I explain it... You're at Shinra HQ and have been given an assignment. Once you're ready to accept it, you're moved to that area. If there's a world map at some point, I don't know.
The battle system is unique. For one, it's a real time battle system, although the battles are sort of random. You simply get a message letting you know you're entering battle mode, and your enemies appear. Now it makes sense why I had to select NORMAL or HARD mode. You run around as your enemies attack you. You select your action type (
ATTACK, MAGIC, ITEM) by using the L and R buttons, then press X to use it. You can press ▲ to
BLOCK, and ■ to
DODGE. By this standard,
aside from no jumping, the best way I can describe this is... Devil May Cry and Final Fantasy had a love child. It's difficult for me to get used to as I definately prefer turn based RPGs. Granted, I play Final Fantasy XI all the time which is real time based, but actions like BLOCK and DODGE are just automatically done. Now it's something you actually have to do.
Like before, there are limit breaks, but these seems to happen automatically on their own. There is a whole new system with the battle system called DMW, which to this point I still have no real understanding of. I feel like the game is playing SLOTS all the time! Some of this translates of some good things! For example, if you get 7-7-7, you become invincible for a short time. How these numbers get picked, or whatnot, I have no clue. I'm just king of button mashing at this point! The materia also fits into this somehow, as well as leveling up.
The graphics are pretty good! To be expected, SquareEnix likes to do a good job, and they do. There's a little bit of blur in the movement, slightly jagged edges here and there, but this is only the PSP! Infact, I'm very pleased with the graphics. Could they have done better? I don't know, but I'm not going to complain! The environments are also very well done for what this is. The limit breaks and summons special moves are loaded with visual eye candy that'll be sure to please you with lots of color!
The cinematics are... Well, if you've seen Advent Children, expect the same quality! I'm amazed SquareEnix is making this kind of effort for even their PSP games now. Obviously they're trying to prove a point in their animation abilities.
Overall, while I can slap SquareEnix for making a game that doesn't feel very much like an RPG, I have to hold back because historically, each game is always fairly unique. I suppose people are more interested in real time button mashers, and SE might just gain a whole new crowd with CRISIS CORE. Fortunately, I beat the life out of Devil May Cry 4 shortly after it was released, and took some of the rust of my button mashing skills, and got a little current experience with action games. I don't feel overwhelmed, but it's a big change in the way Final Fantasy feels. I'm now starting to question the battle system of Final Fantasy XIII.
OPENING RATING...
Gameplay: 7
Graphics: 9
Music: 7
Acting: 6
Story: 7
OVERALL: 7.2
Closing comments
I'm being harsh on Crisis Core, and with good reason. For one, SquareEnix has always been the premier name for RPG games, but this game feels more like an Action-Adventure game than an RPG. It's more of a button masher now. The ingame music is repetitive, and by the time it changes or stops, you're happy about it. It almost appears to me that SquareEnix is feeding off the name now and their strong animation talents. However, since Final Fantasy VII and Tactics, honestly, I've yet to finish any of their games. It almost seems like they're getting sloppy now.
On the positive side, despite all of my criticism, I am actually enjoying the game. The fact it's Final Fantasy VII related is holding my interest for the time being, but it could quickly come to a halt once the magical moment ends. We'll see. The voice acting for Zack is amusing. The game is tossing the history of the FFVII world at me and the younger Yuffie and Tseng so far.
Let's remember that Final Fantasy VII redefined the way we looked at RPGs 10 years ago. A decade later, we have Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, which in it's own way, redefines Final Fantasy. If this however is the game style SquareEnix is to follow in XIII and future games, my 20 years of following the company will likely come to an end.