Let me share with you guys about this great Final Fantasy game that has been brought to the PlayStation Portable - Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. I'll cover some background information on the game, as well as provide some valuable information that will help all you non-Japanese speaking players to enjoy this game well before the English release.
First announced in 2004, Crisis Core was slated for an early 2006 release. However, it was finally released only on 13 September 2007, and that was only the Japanese version. Fans of the Final Fantasy series who can't understand Japanese will have to wait until the English version is released, which may be as late as March 2008.
Crisis Core, part of the "Compilation of Final Fantasy VII" project, is an action RPG, featuring real-time combat with enemies instead of the traditional turn-based combat often associated with the Final Fantasy series. From a third-person perspective, players control Zack Fair, the main character, as he goes on an epic adventure which reveals his background story, as well as providing a better understanding of the events and characters in Final Fantasy VII. Along the way, many other characters are interwoven into the story, including some familiar names like Cloud, Sephiroth and Aerith.
The whole game plays out in third-person perspective, with the L and R shoulder buttons allowing you some limited movement of the camera to the left and right. Not to worry, if at any point in time you lose your bearings, just hit Square to open up a map of the current area.
What really makes this game unique is the action element in this game. While previous Final Fantasy games used a turn-based system, which slowed down the tempo of the game, Crisis Core features a battle system in real-time, where each press of the button corresponds to an attack by Zack. Using the analog stick you can move Zack all around the field to position yourself for a sneaky back attack (which by the way, gives you a confirmed critical hit), or run far away from enemies to use an item or cast healing magic. The Square button will allow Zack to do a roll to evade attacks and spells, while the Triangle button will let him block incoming attacks. All these add together to give Crisis Core lots of action and a fast tempo. Of course, there's one thing you can't dodge/block, and that's limit breaks, else you would be invincible!
True to its name as an action RPG, the random encounter battles take place as you explore with no transition or loading times. Remember how the screen used to blur out when you encountered enemies in the older Final Fantasy games? Not anymore. In Crisis Core, a small banner pops up in the middle of the screen to warn you that it is "Activating Combat Mode" (with a digital English voice that says that out loud). With that, enemies fade into view and Zack draws his sword and readies for battle. On defeating all the enemies, a catchy "Conflict Resolved" (with the FF victory sound playing) appears on the screen, Zack twirls his sword around, keeps it away, and you're back into exploring mode.
During combat, you might get the chance to enter Modulation Phase. This occurs at random times, and when it does, the whole game pauses as 3 slots fill up the entire screen, cycling through character portraits until they come to a stop. This new battle system is known as Digital Mind Wave (DMW). Not much is known about this system, except that it allows you to perform limit breaks or level up your materia/character on matching the portraits or numbers. Of course, due to this innovative combat system, you'll quickly be able to tell where you will encounter enemies and where you're safe. Generally as a rule of thumb, if you're walking down a corridor and it opens up to a small room, there's bound to be enemies in that area. Let me share with you one sneaky way of avoiding the enemies: try walking around the edge of the area. In most places this lets you get past without triggering the combat mode, saving you some time but possibly slowing down your leveling progress. In this game, leveling is only possible when you get 3 "7s" during Modulation Phase, so the more battles you engage in, the higher your chances of leveling up.
The graphics for this game are pretty good, with objects rendered in 3D. What really makes the visual effects stand out is the slick transition from gameplay to the CG scenes. The first time players will notice this is right at the beginning, when Sephiroth is about to bring his sword down on Zack. This transition is one cool trick that really makes the visuals in this game stand out from other similar 3D-graphics games. The CGs are also very well done and you can even see the character's hair moving fluidly in the wind.
To sum it up, Crisis Core is a very well done game, showcasing the real graphic powers available on the PSP system. The fresh take on the gameplay will interest even die-hard Final Fantasy fans who swear by the tried-and-tested turn-based system. If you're still reading this, maybe it's time to go out there and get yourself a copy of this fabulous game!
