Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Review - PSP

I must preface this review with the statement that I'm a huge fan of Final Fantasy VII. I started playing Final Fantasy with the first game on the good ol' NES. When Final Fantasy VII came out it was essentially the reason I bought a Playstation. I remember seeing a commercial for VII and just being blown away (both by the content of the commercial and the fact that it was a commercial for a video game, you just didn't see that back in the ancient age of 1997). Although the game might be a bit dated now, at the time I was totally sucked in and became a fan for life. I lay this out there because, in essence, Crisis Core is aimed specifically at me. It is the hands-down best part of the "Compilation of Final Fantasy VII" it is aimed squarely (no pun intended) at fans of the series and oh boy, does it ever deliver.

Crisis Core is the story of Zack Fair. Zack is a member of SOLDIER, the elite paramilitary force belonging to the mega-corporation Shinra Electric Power Company. The game begins with Zack simply wanting to rise to the top of the ranks and become a hero. Of course, things never stay that simple in a Final Fantasy game and Zack end up faced with some ethically questionable situations and having to stand up for what is right in defense of the innocent. The universe of FF VII is quite in depth and at times rather confusing but overall Crisis Core does a good job of explaining everything and not delving too far into total bewilderment. Crisis Core is a prequel to the events of FF VII so fans of the series will get to meet up with many recognizable faces throughout the course of the game. You also get a lot of additional backstory on some of the most prominent characters from VII. One of the downsides to this, though, is while the story is great up to a point it ends up waxing on too long towards the end. The emotional climax of the whole game comes during an extremely memorable event which was seen as a flashback in FF VII. It is such a powerful scene but afterward there are still two more chapters where the story (almost literally) limps along until the actual conclusion. This ultimately left the overall experience lacking some of the really strong emotional impact it could have had.

One thing that simply cannot be denied about Crisis Core is the game is absolutely beautiful. It shows that the PSP truly can pull off an experience that you would find on a PS2 while on the go. Everything from the menus, to the animations, to the character and enemy models are all top notch. I was also stunned by the FMV movies included. They look absolutely beautiful and there are a surprising number and length to be seen. In addition, I cannot give enough recognition to the sound work in the game. Voiceovers are well done as are the the sound effects (many of which are a perfect homage to FF VII). To top it all off the music is simply incredible. You get not only a great assortment of updated FF VII themes but also many new original tunes, a couple of which I found myself humming in between play sessions. This is the only portable game I have ever played where I felt compelled to play only with headphones so I could truly experience it all. The entire presentation of this game leaves nothing lacking and everything speaks of an extremely high standard.

As far as gameplay goes I'm not normally much of a fan of action RPGs but I found myself really getting into Crisis Core. You cannot see enemies as you run around the areas but instead battles occur randomly at predetermined points where there is enough room to fight. There is a seamless transition into combat as the enemies materialize and attack (along with a lovely voice announcing you are entering combat mode). It works quite while still being a cool nod once more to VII and its random encounters.

One disappointment I found is that while there is a very wide array of equipment to be found, most of it not really worth equipping. A lot of what you find will be easily outclassed by something better. For example, once I found an item that gave me +10 Attack, +10 Magic, and immunity against silence the three other items I had with just a single one of those abilities were imediately obsolete. To make it worse, with only two equipment slots to fill your two best pieces are going to be worn throughout while everything else you find just piles up.

To provide Zack's spells and combat abilities there is an interesting materia system in place which ties nicely into the FF VII vibe. While it gets the job done, its not nearly as fun as its inspiration. Whereas VII allowed practically limitless combination of skills and spells through a linking system there is none of that to be found here. Instead it's replaced with a materia fusion system where you can combine two materia to create (hopefully) new kind of materia. Unfortunately, this process breaks down to simply hit or miss as there is no clear method to the system. While you can see what the result will be before actually making your combination you still must go through the trial and error of checking all your various combination to see what the possibilities are. This becomes a very tedious process as you end up with several inventory screens worth of materia during the course of the game. I personally gave up on it after I got the essential abilities I felt I needed - healing, long range magic, and an area attack sword swipe.

That ties into one of my minor complaints with the combat. You really only need those few combat abilities to get through the game: your basic attack, a magic spell for long range, an area attack for when you get mobbed, and healing for the purpose of, well, not dying. That said, your basic sword attack will be what you 75% of the time because it has the best balance of power and speed. Every other specialized attack ability comes with varying lengths of delay to use it, normally meaning you get pummeled before you can actually get it off. Don't get me wrong, combat is still quite fun using just those four things, but it would have been nice to have a few more useful toys to play with.

One of the most innovative and interesting elements to Crisis Core is a thing called the Digital Mind Wave. It's essentially this game's version of a Limit Break system. The DMW is a slot reel of character portraits and numbers that constantly spins in the corner of the screen while in combat. If the numbers match in certain combination you are granted a minor buff for a short time. When the party really gets started though is when two of the portraits match. This then switches the reel to full screen to see if you get a third matching portrait. If you do, Zack performs a "limit break" relating to that character. In addition, you also are sometimes treated to a small cutscene relating to Zack's relationship with that person. I find this to be a very cool idea and ties into the game in the sense of reflecting what Zack's thinking of while fighting. Also, while you cannot directly control the system it's not wholly random either. While playing, it is clear that the game does influence the probability of the reels depending on the situation, i.e. when you're in a big fight, you're going to get a lot more limit breaks than you would otherwise.

The final feature of the game I wanted to mention is the mission system. Anytime you are at a save point you have the chance to take part in a huge set of side missions to build up items and experience. While they are interesting to start with and are the source of the best items in the game, they are also quite tedious. For starters, the same few areas are recycled over and over throughout the hundreds of missions available. While this is only practical when facing 300 missions it gets boring real quick. In addition, the goal of all the missions is pretty much the same: find the boss monster and kill it. And finally, the missions do not even tie into the main story of the game. Really, I could have done without these altogether and would have like to see the time added to the main story instead. As they are though, they do add many hours of additional gameplay for anyone willing to slog through them all.

In Summary:
+ Beautiful graphics and top-notch presentation all around
+ The best music I have ever found in a handheld game
+ Tons of fan service for any FF VII buff
+ Smooth and enjoyable combat
- Anti-climactic story that misses some emotional impact
- Low level of practical customization with equipment and abilities
- Trial and error materia fusion system
- Highly repetitive side missions

Overall, Crisis Core is a very good game, just not without its faults. There is enough fan service here that any FF VII aficionado should pick it up without question. Several times I even experienced a very strange sense of deja vu as I explored in 3D the same areas I had only seen as pre-rendered backgrounds in FF VII (yes, it's that spot-on). For the average gamer, though, I still recommend Crisis Core as it is a fun game with a good story that shows off the power and style that is possible on the PSP.