Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII review (PSP)

I can remember my first session of play with Final Fantasy VII, even to this day. I’d pre-ordered it through the strength of reviews alone, having never been that interested in Final Fantasy games beforehand, and hoped that it would bring my buyer’s remorse from a less than stellar line up for my first console purchase in check. I’ve been looking for that T-Shirt that I got free for pre-ordering, and it pains me to consider that it’s probably been lost or thrown out (possibly from overuse), because it is yet another reminder of what I would consider one of my top five games ever.

I started playing the game, and seven hours later I took a break to eat some food. I was addicted. That still remains my longest gaming session without a break. So we saw the inevitable sequels (and are still waiting for FFXIII) and finally, Square Enix decided they would revisit the much loved world of FFVII as a continuation of the franchise with a straight to DVD movie, Advent Children, a sequel following Vincent Valentine, Dirge of Cerberus and finally, this PSP Action RPG prequel following the first game’s mysterious character, Zack.

A fan-game

There is no doubt in my mind that Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII is a game made for the fans. There are plenty of in jokes, locations, characters, music tracks(thankfully) and storyline concepts that borrow heavily from the original game; so much so that the sudden introduction of so many characters and ideas may overwhelm someone coming to the series for the first time. Certain subjects that are glossed over (lifestream, mako energy) have already been developed and explained in FFVII so are mentioned in passing as if you have a full knowledge of the science and spirituality of the world.

You’ll come across Yuffie, a young playful thief from Wutai whose story is never explained because you’ve gone through all that in the sequel, and yet with this foreknowledge of the events of the game, it becomes a little strange to be working for Shinra, the evil mega-corporation sucking the life out of the planet, alongside grey haired long sword wielding legend, Sephiroth, knowing what you know from FFVII. At least at the start of the game.

Adding characters to your party?

Designed as an action based RPG more in the vein of Kingdom Hearts, you have direct control over Zack, and never get a ‘party’ of characters as such to take around. There is always some excuse for splitting up from your friends that allows you to do all of the work, while they wait for you by the exit door. That said, meeting characters adds abilities that you can perform in battle, and of course we all know how important a decent battle system is in an RPG.

It all seems rather simplistic from a player’s point of view. Essentially, you’ll be running round the (often familiar) 3D environments when a group of enemies will randomly appear, generally at the large open areas, and you’ll be thrust straight into the action. You can still run around, dodging or blocking enemy attacks and magic manually. To attack, you select ‘attack’ from a menu on the bottom right of the screen and Zack will automatically run towards the closest enemy, or just the enemy you’re facing, and take a swipe. The shoulder buttons choose different options in the menu depending on what skills and magic (called materia) you have equipped, and a simple X will choose it as your next action. The majority of the time, however, I’ve found hammering X works pretty well.

Dull combat?

Far from being that simplistic however, Square Enix have added a new concept; the DMW, or Digital Mind Wave. By defeating enemies you will earn SP (Soldier Points), which show your general skill (though aren’t strictly experience points) and are used up if you want to fuse materia together to form more powerful items or spin the DMW. In the top left of the screen throughout the battle the DMW will be automatically spinning. Indeed you have no control over exactly what happens, and it may seem rather random to begin with, but it adds some different elements to the battle system. Depending on what is spun, you will be blessed with various status effects such as not having to spend your MP when casting magic for a short while or AP for your skills, invulnerability, or if you’re lucky, you might spin a limit break.

Depending on your mental status which alters throughout the game as the plot plays out, you’ll spin more or less limit breaks, but these are limited to the characters that you have met. If you’ve run into Cloud (the first game’s protagonist, and a fantastic moment in Crisis Core) you may spin one of his limit breaks by (automatically) lining up his faces on the wheel. Gained a summon materia? Maybe you’ll luck out and spin Bahamut’s face three times, causing his powerful attack and a beautiful skippable FMV to go with it. Finally, if you spin three 7s, Zack will level up, and while it may appear to be random, there is obviously some hidden statistic that tell the game when to give you the upgrade, which can happen mid boss battle sometimes, much to your delight. This element of randomness has a major downside in that you have no control over whether your powerful attack will take place on the final weedy little monster before the boss or the boss itself.

On a mission

With the enormous background at their disposal, it feels a little disappointing to have the story really hold your hand at every step of the way, teleporting you between story events so that the areas really feel like separate levels rather than one big discoverable world, but considering the game is on the PSP, the RPG format has been successfully transposed to a quick pick up and play style experience. There are plenty of save points to allow you to stop and start, and there is a separate mission system that allows for quick few minute excursions for completionists or just levelling up to help with a current boss.

At any save point you can go to your menu, choose missions and select from hundreds (eventually) of assignments that you, as a member of SOLDIER have been tasked with. These generally take a few minutes and are rated on their difficulty relating to your current level. I have found them a welcome distraction from the normal plot, earning some nice little rewards and when stuck on a challenging foe I have often retreated into my available missions to grind my levels until I can breeze past the next enemy. Plenty of content, albeit rather simple and repetitive (it’s all just ‘defeat the final monster’ in a limited number of environments) is available should you wish to complete them all.

Who dies in this one? (The end boss, I hope)

Crisis Core begins in Midgar, much like its predecessor, and really shows off the technology development and storytelling prowess of the developer. The game has many truly stunning FMV sequences, generally well acted voice work, and some in-game cinematics that are directed beautifully and well lip synched (my own pet peeve). Being a prequel, you kind of already know where the game is leading towards, but the journey itself is pretty satisfying, though nowhere near as deep as a standard Final Fantasy game.

Again, it’s nice to see the duality of the FFVII games, (it is Zack that falls into Aerith’s church this time), and a genuine attempt to develop the universe so many of us love, but simplifying the battle system, story and general style of discovery and transport leaves Crisis Core being a welcome spin off, but no replacement for a real sequel. There are extras such as an email system to give you further plot points, a good amount of secrets to discover and a decent length of game, if you want to complete everything (don’t forget the New Game + mode once you’ve completed the story), and fans will still enjoy it. I can strongly recommend the game, and it especially shines on the PSP system, but don’t expect ‘the next Final Fantasy VII’, rather a spin off revisit of the universe you already love (much like Dirge of Cerberus) and you’ll have a great time with Crisis Core. N.B. if you haven’t already played Final Fantasy VII, do it now. Perhaps they’ll release it onto the PlayStation Store; I know I’d play it through again, especially on my PSP.