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[PSP] Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7

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The_Legend77

Active Member
I have played through Final Fantasy 7 on the Playstation twice. I found the game completely boring. Everything people have praised, I never saw the big deal about. The characters never impressed, nor did I care about them. The story confused me at times, but even during my second play through, paying more attention to details, once again I was not impressed. Materia was nothing special (I found them as glorified Espers from FF6). In a nutshell, I do not like FF7 at all. It truly is one of the most over rated games in history (at least in my opinion). So why on earth would I even give Crisis Core a chance?

For starters I REALLY wanted to like this game. I honestly did, and NOT just because of my dislike for FF7. There was actually a point I was enjoying myself with this game, but it didn't last. So why did I not enjoy this one?

The story was very "meh" to me. When it comes down to it, the story was developed, characters were created, all to tell how FF7 began...or was it there just to please the die hard fans of FF7? None of the characters grew on me, and at times I was trying to figure out why we even needed a few of them to show up. I can understand wanting to tell a prequel story, but the Crisis Core story just didn't do it for me. Zack (the main character) had his moments, but most of the time I wanted to reach over and slap him myself.

The combat system was cool at first, but after a while I longed for something more. You see, you only get to play as Zack...that's it. The abilities and spells he can use are from the Materia he has equipped...and you can't equip just a whole lot of them. Attack this, ability that, use some magic here...be sure to dodge at times and guard when possible. Same ol same ol...geez would adding another character or two hurt the game play? Not really. I prefer having a party in my RPGs, giving a variety during battles. The combat system makes you THINK you're playing in "real time" when actually you still have to input your command like any normal RPG versus the hack n slash like this game wants to play as.

Then comes the DMW system during battle...it's a roulette that spins (as long as you have SP points) and you can't control. Sometimes you get something, sometimes not. The real annoyance is when it says "modulating phase", combat stops, and the DMW pops up main screen as you watch the wheels spin. This stops the flow of the combat and eventually became a great annoyance to me. Sure, you can get some awesome attacks from this bad boy, but when the combat system is being made to imitate real time and then the DMW just stops everything, it gets annoying quick. Perhaps I overlooked something, but while I could skip through the summons sequence, when it came to other abilities, I had to sit through the entire sequence, every time. Can I not turn these off? Do I really have to watch these every time?

Oh yes, let me go ahead and tell you the DMW also affects your leveling up. Your exp points are hidden, so you never know how much you have. And even if you have enough to level up, it doesn't mean you will. There's some percentage chance as to when you will level. Sometimes I could go up 2 or 3 levels within an hour...other times I went for over an hour without a level up. This also affects your Materia level ups as well.

You don't buy new weapons or armor, which I found pretty crappy. However, you can fuse Materia together to make a hopeful better Materia. Equip the right accessories and make the right Materia, and you can have 99,999 HP. This is a nice feature, I will admit.

The game itself is short, however, there are side missions you can do. Based upon your level, the missions can range from Very Easy to Very Hard. There is a "wall hug" trick you can do to avoid most battles. These missions are a great way to not only become more powerful through levels and Materia, but you can find some amazing items here as well. The biggest gripe with these missions are they re-use the same areas over and over and over and over...you get the point. Not a whole lot of variety here. Do enough of these missions and the main game will become too easy.

The main game had some "mini-games" at times which annoyed the crap out of me. They vary in what you have to do, and I felt they took away from the game. Do I REALLY have to do a stealth game? Must I hit a button at the right time just to slash something? Do these mini-games perfect, and you get a better reward. Perform poorly, and your reward won't be as great.

Is there more that could be said? Of course, however, I'm not a big review writer. You see, reviews are based on someones opinion, and it seems nowadays people HAVE to enjoy a game if a big reviewer does. If this reviewer dislikes a game, then everyone else needs to as well. I felt I just needed to get this off my chest.

Once again, I wanted to like this game so much. Not just cause of it's "sequel" (FF7), nor the fact most people have this in their "top 10 PSP" list. It was something different for me, and for just a small moment, I applauded the way the game was going. After a while, it just grew stale. The story fell apart for me, the battle system became boring...it's just not for me. It really does feel like the game was made just solely for those who love and enjoy the over rated FF7. Perhaps there are some people who never played FF7 and enjoyed this game...maybe there are those who didn't like FF7 but like this game. I don't know.

Would I suggest you play the game? Of course, go ahead and give it a try. Just because I didn't enjoy it doesn't mean that you won't...you might love it and wonder why I feel the way I do. All these things are just my opinion, so if you have a PSP, give this a try, and hopefully you will enjoy it. That's what video games are for, are to have fun and enjoy. It's just not all of us will agree on the same games. But that's okay, cause this world needs variety.
 

Silent Angel

Well-Known Member
Hey Legend, pretty nice review. I wonder... When exactly, in the story, did the game start to disappoint you? I can't recall which game I played first CC or Dirge of Cerberus but, I'll say I really enjoyed Crisis Core.

I kinda found the opposite on the dmw thing, many times during the later part of the game it'd let me take a breather or perhaps help me with whatever enemy I was facing... I did however keep getting the Turks help animation which got boring after a while.
 

The_Legend77

Active Member
I honestly don't remember the exact moment when the story just went south for me. It was around the middle of the story probably, as it just seemed weak. I wasn't impressed by Angeal or Genesis whatsoever either.

And true the DMW did help out at times I won't deny that, but there were a lot of points it came up when I didn't need it. This seemed to happen far more often than not, and it just grew too agitating. It REALLY liked showing up when I had 1 to 2 hits left on an enemy. I can't recall how many times this happened, but seemed so more than any other time. I guess I just had terrible RNG with the DMW.
 

BobbyH

Member
I thought Crisis Core was pretty good.
Things I agree with:
1) The characters aren't great. Although I think Zack is one of their best leads. He's just a less annoying version of Tidus. Angeal and Genesis? Didn't care.
2) The missions are terrible at reusing content. Mass Effect 1 style.
3) The wall hug thing is silly.

I disagree with:
1) Final Fantasy 7 sucking. It's doesn't!
2) You "think" you're playing in realtime. No, you ARE playing in realtime. Just because some moves require a delay, doesn't mean it's not realtime. Your movement, basic attack and dodge are all instant.
3) Including more characters would've been good. Not really. That doesn't work with this style of fighting. You'd end up just needing to switch between them.
4) The lack of armour and weapons. Nearly every game in the western gaming scene allows you to customise just about everything. It's refreshing to play games where that's just not the focus.
 

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