Published by: Square Enix
Developed by: Square Enix
Score: 85

The Final Fantasy series has seen what some might call a renaissance period of sorts since FFX. FFXI was an online game, FF returned to Nintendo, and FFXII broke just about every rule and reinvented itself. Amidst all of this, FFVII attempted to rejuvenate itself with its highly anticipated sequel movie, Advent Children, along with some spinofffs such as Dirge of Cerberus and some cell phone games. All were met with mixed reviews and in the case of Dirge of Cerberus, it was met with groans and cries for either a remake of FFVII or a proper sequel/prequel. SquareEnix’s response? Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII which takes place before the events of the original FFVII and places Zack as the protagonist.

Crisis Core (CC) is somewhat of an anomaly, it takes pieces of traditional JRPGs as well as recent action RPGs (Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls) and mashes them together. It seems like FFXII, but due to the limits of the PSP, it doesn’t ever come that close. You have random battles, but they seem to be confined to certain areas of a map, so in theory you can avoid battles simply by some careful footing. Battles are also interesting. Your primary “go to” will be the generic attack, you’ll have access to magic and special moves, but sadly most of the game’s enemies can be taken down by simply going with attack. Of course, the typical hit fire enemy with ice attacks and hit machines with thunder attacks is still there, but a lot of times it doesn’t make a huge differences and using those attacks might only shorten the battle if anything. Targeting is managed automatically with the closest enemy being targeted. However if the target constantly moves around or if you move around or face a different direction, things can get fairly messy with this set-up especially if you’re in a boss fight and trying to target the weaker enemies. It’s not to the point to which you’ll be complaining a whole lot and it gets the job done given a lack of a second analog nub or a second set of shoulder buttons. There is an option to defend or evade against attacks in real time. Managing everything is also pretty simple. The party only consists of Zack so stopping to heal the weak link or upgrade everybody’s equipment is instantly thrown out the door. In addition, there is no equipment, at all. There are accessories which like in previous FFs have served to augment stats and the same is the case in CC, but with material fusion, accessories provide invaluable stat boosts to material making them even more powerful.

Materia is the backbone of magic and some augmentations and they are tethered to these stones. There are up to 6 slots which you can fill up with any combination of materia to use during battle. You can have one slot occupied by a +10% HP materia and other slots filled up with magic or some sort of special attack that will use action points. This is the same setup we’ve seen for years, you can remove older, weaker magic and put in stronger ones as the game progresses. Eventually you’ll be allowed to fuse materia along with other materia and various items to enhance or change the resulting material. You can get some unique combinations and exclusive materia through this method.

What’s so unique about this game is how it’s streamlined and the leveling system is one aspect that some will notice is a major departure from previous FFs. The Digital Mind Wave (DMW) system acts at the primary method of leveling up. It accounts for increasing your stats such as HP and MP and is also included in leveling up your materia skills and magic. What will be quickly noted is that the system is basically a slot machine, yes that’s right, it’s a wheel that has 3 pictures running parallel to each other, along with numbers. Now before you get the pitchforks and start accusing SE of raping and murdering the FF system, keep in mind that DMW isn’t entirely random, in fact you never really get that “vibe” that your skills are based only on luck. There does seem to be some sort of experience point counter because you can only level up when you hit all three 7s and the pictures on the left and right match up. Now statistically speaking, that’s a pretty damn hard thing to do, I’ll even do the math for you:

When you do get this outcome, you level up, but there’s much more to the DMW. By hitting certain number combinations you can get temporary battle bonuses such as no MP cost or invincibility, with the better perks being harder to get. To actually get the DMW to spin, you’ll need Soldier Points, and really, it doesn’t matter much because you’ll get SPs for just about everything and have them in a pool deep enough to drown Godzilla (…sorry). Now when the L and R pictures match up with character portraits you can get limit breaks and some special attacks which can at times turn a battle around completely. The DMW is surprisingly easy to use and understand and requires little maintenance. Some may not like the lack of control over how you level up, but for the most part, everything is kept in check. Unless you actually try, there won’t be situations where you’re facing a level 50 monster and you’re only level 5.

CC really pushes the PSP to its limits, and it’s fairly apparent. There is detail in many areas, such as tropical areas and the various villages and cities Zack will visit. And then there are other areas such as caverns and sterile looking facilities that are basically walls and maybe some sort of container strewn about in each room. These are fairly bland and seem to only serve as fighting areas that are pretty straightforward and are primarily seen in missions. In game cutscenes are very well done placing a lot of emphasis on the characters expressions and features. Zack shrugs and acts surprised or taken off guard with the appropriate movements and Sephiroth grins and winces when talking. It’s clear to see there was a lot of care taken to keep the characters’ physical personality true to emotions. The CG sequences, as expected, are fantastic and serve to advance the story in ways that the in game engine cannot. Sadly, none of the cutscenes can be skipped which really needed to be implemented especially before boss fights, and it’s odd because the summons cutscenes can be skipped. Obviously the PSP will not be able to do a whole lot of come close to anything that the PS2 FF games do, but CC looks fantastic and creates it’s own look and feel that is appropriate for the game.

CC isn’t perfect by any means and it in part has to do with the technical limitations as well as some odd design choices. I think the developers wanted a game that was easily accessible to the player since this is still a portable game. The missions are a prime example of this; you pick a mission, finish it, save, and go on without having to use up time to find a save point. However, it’s these missions that are somewhat bland. Most of them comedown to fighting a few battles in a fairly linear segment of an area, not the entire area, and then eventually coming face to face with a “boss” battle that may just be a variation or slightly tougher version of the enemies you had been fighting the entire time. You’ll also notice A LOT of recycling of the areas as well, so once you go through the basement once, you’re going to know it like the back of your hand with the only differences being the type of enemies. Is it a lack of space on the UMD? Or just some very generous stream-lining? I prefer to think it’s the latter because these missions only do 2 things: raise your level, and get you some goodies here and there.

On the whole, the game is fairly easy. As said earlier, hitting attack will get you through most of the game. If you can manage to get around to the backside of an enemy, which isn’t always as simple as it sounds, your attack will count as a critical hit every time. Enemies will not attack you as quickly or as often as you will, meaning that attacks can go on consecutively easily taking down enemies especially when they are critical attacks. Many of the missions which are labeled as “very hard,” are actually not hard at all and can be taken down by not much. However, there are sections of the game which will push you around and that will require further leveling and abilities in order to get through them. It’s not as if you can from level 1 start kicking around some of the more advanced summon creatures.

I think CC is a suitable addition to the FFVII universe simply because while it creates some new play mechanics, it keeps everything simple without adding in job or ability maps/boards/whatever the fuck they’re calling them now. As a PSP game it stays true to the short mission and highly portable nature that might be reduced in a regular FF game. You can play a mission or 2, save and keep moving. I know the main attraction in this game will be the story and it certainly does not disappoint. And why is important to note this coming from me? It’s because I never played the original FFVII, yes that’s right, whenever someone speaks of the FFVII revolutionizing RPGs or the Cloud and Sephiroth feud, or even worse, Aeris dying, I just nod along and avoid answering any questions and discussion:

Fan #1: Sephiroth’s love for his spiritual mother completely justifies his undying hatred of humanity and thus makes him the quintessence of the tragic hero

Fan #2: Preposterous! Sephiroth is nothing more than a wanderer who sought to cling onto anything which gave him purpose and that in this case is Jenova.

Me: err…wasn’t that really cool when Psycho Mantis fucked with your controller?

Fan #1: …

Fan #2: …I’ll get the gun.

I am, however, literate, and read up on plot summaries and such and got a fairly good idea of how things went. After finishing the game I would think that any fan would get a sense of satisfaction from seeing how everything went down with Cloud and Zack. Without giving anything away, there are some cameos here and there, but don’t expect a lot from some of the primary characters of the original, the game is still very Zack focused. The bottom line here is that CC is not like any other FF game out there, but rather takes concepts from the FF universe and incorporates them into a well polished action RPG that fits in very well at PSP manor. If you didn’t have any attachment to FFVII, then don’t worry, you’ll still be very pleased, and if you are a fan, then Crisis Core is a must.