Soldier 2nd Class Zack is on the Job! (Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core (PSP))

Member Name: heekeer

Product:	Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core (PSP)
Date:	23/08/09 (25 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great story, excellent music, brilliant for fans of FF7, fun combat, loads of extras

Disadvantages: DMW can be annoying when you want to do a particular move.

Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core is a role playing game for the Sony PSP developed by Square Enix.

The games story is a prequel to the Final Fantasy 7 game and features a new main character called Zack Fair a Soldier operative for the Shinra company. You journey through Midgar meeting all different characters and finding out loads of really cool details about Final Fantasy 7, you find out how Cloud got his Buster sword, how Aerith came to sell flowers in a flower wagon, why Sephiroth went down a path of darkness. Zacks own story is an interesting tale too and involves him discovering why Shinra wanted to use him and Cloud and why his mentor Angeal turned against him. It is a really touching tale and is very emotional especially at the end of the game.

The story is one of the best parts of this game giving fans the answers they long for yet telling a compelling new story that you don't need to be a fan of the Final Fantasy 7 game to enjoy.

The gameplay is not turn based like Final Fantasy 7 but goes for a real time system where you can control Zack completely, you can equip Materia to him to govern his abilities like Thunder, Cure and so on. You can slash with your sword and dodge enemies, you use your abilities by selecting with the shoulder buttons and then pressing the attack button.

Limit Breaks and special moves are performed differently from other Final Fantasy titles, you have a DMW meter which is basically a slot machine and when three characters in the slot machine line up you will perform a special move, it is totally random though which is frustrating when you want to perform a particular move. The DMW also controls how you level up though it makes sure you level after a while otherwise it wouldn't be very fair!

Aside from the main quest there are hundreds of optional missions that you can take on, these are usually menial tasks such as fighting a bunch of enemies or retrieving an item but you are well rewarded with new Materia and items which makes them worth your while.

Graphics are some of the best I have seen on the PSP console, music is wonderful featuring remixed versions of the classic FF7 tunes as well as original pieces for the game.

Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core is an excellent game, if you enjoyed FF7 you owe it to yourself to play this game.

Summary: A superb role playing game.