User Review: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

Intro & Story:
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On september 3rd 1997 north america was introduced to what would now be called by many people *The Greatest Final Fantasy Ever* As of December 2005, the game had sold 9.8 million copies worldwide, and it is currently the best-selling Final Fantasy title. yes Final VII turned many heads. could of been its in dept story. great soundtrack or maybe its unique characters. maybe every thing + the fact that it was a 1st in many ways for the Final Fantasy series. like how it was the 1st one in a 3D world with 3D environments & battle system. also the 1st one that would have sequel's in the future.

It would also have prequel's, 2 to be exact and on march 24th 2008 Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was released in north america. one of the 2 prequel's that takes place some years before the events of Final Fantasy VII.

The game mainly focuses around Zack Fair, a 2nd Class SOLDIER, and the events leading up to his destined demise. The game's storyline takes the player from the war with the Wutai to the infamous events at Nibelheim, going right up to the time just before the plot of Final Fantasy VII began.
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Game play & Graphics:
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CG*10/10* This game has some beautiful CG. which is probably the best thing about the game unfortunately. crisis core was the best looking RPG for its time on the PSP.

Basic Controls*10/10* The controls to this game are pretty solid. move zack with the D-Pad or -LS (@)- you can open your digital map with -Square ([ ])- open the main menu with -Triangle (^)- interact with people with -Ex (X)- cancel any options chosen with -Circle (O)-

During combat you dodge with -Square ([ ])- and block with -Triangle (^)- confirm the selected commands with -Ex (X)- selecting commands is done with the L & R buttons, for those of you who are familiar to Kingdom Hearts. where you select commands with the D-Pad. its pretty similar. you obviously move zack with the D-Pad or -LS (@)- *Yes this is an action RPG if you were wondering* finally any actions can be canceled with -Circle (O)-

Battle System*6/10* This is where the game kinda went downhill. for an action RPG the combat is kinda stiff. there isn't really alot you can do. to the point where combat just gets old real fast aka repetitive. add that with this fact. half the battle revolves around luck =/ why square thought this was a good idea is something i still question. also encounters aren't random but you can't see the enemies on the Map...? so is it considered random encounters or not? @_@ at 1st i thought my copy was glitched till i researched it. here i'll explain. you can only encounter enemies if you walk in certain spots on the map. if you walk into a room you will ONLY & ALWAYS encounter an enemy if you walk into the center. if you walk along the edges of the room you can pretty much go through the whole game without any combat except the important encounters. like bosses. event battles etc.

Before i said half the battle revolves around luck. why? well in crisis core their are these wheels called the Digital Mind Wave [D.M.W]. i haven't played this game in awhile so please excuse me if im incorrect on how the DMW works. but if i remember correctly the wheels spin during battle and each 1 stops at random times whenever they all stop it consumes Soldier Points [SP] depending on the 3 combinations you get when all 3 wheels stop you'll be rewarded different benefits. temporary infinite MP. temporary damage cap break. temporary invincibility. etc. the DMW plays a big part in the games growth system as well unfortunately.

Other then the DMW the other key element of combat is materia. these different color orbs hold the power of the life stream. and give you the power to do many things. from jumping to casting flashy magicks & summoning powerful creatures. like Odin & Bahahmut. materia also plays an important part of growth.

Difficulty*Varies* uncommon to the Final Fantasy series is the option to change the difficulty setting. fortunately Square Enix gave us the power to do so in crisis core. starting a new game you can either chose Normal or Hard. Normal is default difficulty & Hard is a little something for the Final Fantasy veterans. this difficulty favors the enemies much more. on my 1st playthrough i played it on hard. though i never did a full playthrough on normal which is unfortunate for the sake of this review. for Hard on average it will take 20 hours to beat the main story. for Normal im ASSUMING about 10 hours. which is good for an action RPG. add that with all the side quest this game has to offer (which is alot) and your looking at about 60 hours of game play.
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Characters & Growth:
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DMW is the key to leveling up?*5/10* yeah pretty much. have you ever played a game where leveling up is random? i have its called Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII. as stated above you get temporary benefits from the DMW but you also get permanent benefits... if the wheels stop spinning on triple 1. 2. 3. 4. 5 or 6 the materia in that slot will level up. if you get triple 7 Zack himself levels up. though to be fair leveling up Zack isn't completely random. however i can't say the same for the materia. here i'll explain. by killing your foes you get [SP] an invisible experience meter does exist in crisis core. the [SP] acts as your experience. getting the required amount of [SP] will increase the chances of Zack leveling up. nonetheless its still random.
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Music & Sound:---The music was composed by Takeharu Ishimoto, with a few tracks orchestrated by Kazuhiko Toyama. The soundtrack also includes remixes of various music from Final Fantasy VIIcomposed by Nobuo Uematsu. sound effects & voice acting are top of the line as well. expected from a Final Fantasy game of course ^_-
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Conclusion & pro's / Con's:
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In closing. crisis core was enjoyable. i think if your a fan of Final Fantasy VII you should respect this game alot. if not then you should enjoy it at least. crisis core is 1 of PSP's best but to be fair PSP doesn't have alot of great titles. that being said go buy this if you HAVE a PSP.

Pro's - Beautiful CG* Alot of optional stuff to do*
Con's - Combat gets repetitive quick* Leveling up is random. as if hoping your foe drops the items your trying to obtain wasn't bad enough now we gotta hope we level up?