If you’re a fan of Final Fantasy 7 and own a PSP you owe it to yourself to play Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 ASAP. Just stop reading and head over to your favorite retailer and pick up a copy – you won’t be disappointed. If you’ve never played a Final Fantasy game before, or are on the fence about starting with this one, then read on.
Crisis Core is the prequel to what is considered one of the greatest role-playing games of all time, Final Fantasy 7. However, unlike other titles in the series, Crisis Core does not have a turn based combat system. Rather, you control one character (Zack Fair) in an almost real-time action title. Combat almost reminded me of my time with God of War: Chains of Olympus as there is a button to roll/dodge and one to defend. Quite often I would play encounters like I did with GoW, dodging and blocking judiciously. Make no mistake, though, the game contains elements that are undeniably Final Fantasy.
You’ll be able to use staple spells such as Cure, Firaga, and Esuna by equipping various materia. Final Fantasy’s signature summon spells also make a return. Thankfully, you can skip through the longish animations for the summon attacks once you’ve seen them. Zack can also use restorative items and equip materia that give him special melee attacks or boost his statistics. You can also customize your materia further by combining them via a process called “materia fusion.” I mostly ignored this option as it was very confusing as to what kind of materia you would end up with after combining two. Most of the time it felt as if I was not getting anything of value for my troubles. The option is there, though, if you like to customize every facet of your character.
Crisis Core’s “gimmick” is the Digital Mind Wave (DMW) system that governs when Zack gains an experience level as well as special attacks and bonuses while in combat. The DMW is essentially a constantly spinning slot-machine that doles out bonuses as certain number and portrait combinations line up. It may seem random and chaotic, but the underlying game calculations ensure that Zack will level up at a relatively steady pace throughout the narrative. The short term bonuses such as “invincible” or “no MP cost” make combat a bit more interesting, albeit slightly easy. There are no negative outcomes from the DMW, so you never feel cheated by it.
I finished the game with about 18 hours of time logged. If you rush through and only complete the main storyline segments, I imagine you could finish in about 12-15. However, that’s not all there is to the game. Crisis Core includes about 300 “missions” that you can access at any save point in the game. These missions are perfectly designed for portable gaming as they usually only take 3-5 minutes to complete. All of them have the ultimate goal of killing a monster, but some may require you to traverse more territory or kill more monsters along the way. Missions are a great way of progressing Zack as in addition to the experience you gain, you also receive at least one piece of treasure that will help you out in the main game. A word of warning: the missions may feel a little repetitive if you plow through a bunch in a row. They’re designed to be played in miniature chunks of time, such as when you’re waiting in line for something.
The pre-rendered cutscenes in the game are positively breathtaking. You’ll be amazed at the level of detail and presentation of the cinematics. The game’s plot starts off kind of slowly, as there’s a lot of cheesy dialog and cartoonish posturing by the characters. However, it picks up midway through and doesn’t let up until you finish the game. And let me tell you, the ending sequence of Crisis Core is absolutely epic. It’s done very well and definitely tugged at my heartstrings. I would go as far to say that it is one of the best game endings of all time.
If you’ve never played a Final Fantasy title before, Crisis Core would be a great way to jump in. The combat is very intuitive and fast-paced, but still introduces many concepts and abilities integral to the Final Fantasy experience. You’re not going to be able to get the inside jokes and character cameos that you would have if you had played Final Fantasy 7, but the game does not require you have that knowledge. Be prepared to do a lot of text reading and cutscene watching though.
And hey – any game that breaks the fourth wall and mentions an internet meme gets bonus points in my book.
(photo credits: rpgamer.com and neogaf forums)
