Good to read. Must look into it. With gusto.

I imported and also loved this game, didn't know about the hidden summons though, may have to go back and check that out.

I don't play games that have spiked haired dudes.

I just received my copy and man am I loving the first few hours, and this coming from a guy who thought FF VII was decent not amazing. Zack seems to be a genuinely likeable character.

there should have been an option to map the D-pad to skills/magic. AI-controlled battle partners would have been cool too, if only temporary à la FF12 guests. otherwise, spot on review, fantastic game for great justice.

Have it and love it. Thanks for your thoughts Fahey.

Again, one of the best parts of the new review system is telling us how much of the game was played before the review. Very helpful.

Sounds awesome; now if I could just find a PSOne memory card that doesn't cost as much as or more than a new PS2 game so I can play the original D:

im loving this game so far...but i agree with the lack of skiping cut scenes...but other then that this is the best psp game to date(well...possible tie with GoW:CoO)

I have not fully played through the game yet, but i must say this review is spot on. The DMW is weird since its entirely random it seems, (i even leveled up two spins in a row), but it still works great, the limit breaks are not really something you must rely on to beat an enemy, its more of a bonus.

The mission mode, god, its very solid but they sure could have spiced it up abit more.

sweet! thnx mike!

This game reminds me of Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology. I dislike the side missions but I can't stop doing them.

I agree totally with the review,amazing and wonderful game,the "final-fan service" that everyone that loves the franchise could dream,maybe it's time to think in the remake-continuation of FF VII? Remember that the secret end of Dirge of Cerberus points that,SE needs to close this loved franchise with a masterpiece.

The not being able to skip the cutscene was pretty annoying, but it was all worth it because the ending to this game is one of the most epic I have seen.

Ty for your review, definitely more insightful than other reviews out there.

I never could bring myself to beat the original FF7, though I know most of what happens in it. Would a person be fine just playing Crisis Core without having played through all of 7? CC looks real good

Sounds good! I'll pick it up while I'm in the US this summer. 'Cause it'll be half as expensive as buying it in Norway when it does get out here.

I was a big fan of Zack and his whole storyline from the original game and I thought that the Last Order ova was awesome (except for sephiroth jumping into the lifestream and the gravity rape).

So I am really happy to hear such universally positive reviews on this game. I don't have a PSP so deep down I hope this gets a PS2 port, but if I ever do get a PSP this will be my first purchase.

So far I'm enjoying the game but I can't tell what the difficulties for the missions mean, normal and hard are about the same to me and zack is level 9.

Love that you describe the extent of your play at the end. More reviews should do that, stellar idea.

I'm playing this on hard right now. Unskippable cut scenes may be a reason to NOT challenge yourself with this one. I've just been in a habit lately of feeling patronized by default difficulties and continued when leaping into this title.

Like I said before, the stages are repetitive as hell but the storyline what makes this game good.

Yay for the handful of PSP owners out there, I guess. Why SE would choose to release this game for a handheld with such a small user base is beyond me. I'm sure if they released it for the PS2 it would have been successful.

Here's hoping for a PS2 port, à la GTA:LCS.

I beat it already, and I'm playing it a second time. Didn't get to beat all of the side missions I wanted, and I wanna fight the supposed hardcore secret boss.

The game is beautiful. Soundtrack is excellent, and the graphics are pretty. Gameplay also works well and it's really fluid for being on a portable.

Also, yes, I cried at the end. I mean, cried. That's right, I'm a big emotional baby. I just get too into storylines of both movies and games, it seems.

Now I need a hug. -_-

I really love the new review system it's really making it easier for me to tell what worth my hard earned dollars and what's worth the price of a rental. That said if I can borrow a PSP I'll have to track down this game and give it a shot.

This is a lovely game. Beautifully made, acted, written, and presented, with kickass gameplay to boot.

It's turning me into a Zack fan, which is a big feat for a Cloud fanboy like myself. You just can't dislike the guy.

i really couldnt stand the game. I hate the randomness of the DMW. It did look amazing though, so crisp and clear.

I would definitely buy this if I had a PSP...oh well...I'm still on the first disk in FFVII :oP

@mashuren: 25 million isn't a handful. That is seven million more than the 360.

@mashuren: What are you talking about? PSP has been doing extremely well in sales. Theres alot more PSP's out there than you obviously know about.

This has been a great purchase for me so far. Nice to be back in the FFVII universe, and a great overall game to boot.

@Magic Emperor Anima: *Hugs*....There, there. It's ok....*steals wallet from back pocket*

this is why i bought a PSP just for this game..and it truly delivers. now i need to go grab a tissue.

@mashuren:

You must have really big hands if 25 million is a handful. I've little doubt that this title will sell in the millions and will be considered a success by anyone of the non-fanboy variety.

On a less troll-driven note, a question: would someone who's never played FFVII be able to follow and enjoy the game?

Good review, Mike. I definitely agree that unskippable cutscenes are creations of the devil!!! Especially when playing on hard mode. And when FFCC says "hard," it means... HARD!

I got Crisis Core for my bf for his birthday last week. He better like it, lol. :-p

Me hate unskippable Cutscenes too. Me hate watching movie 2 times in a row because Me unequipped. Me want Start/+ button to skip.

The only problem I see with the game so far is their encounter system.
"Random" encounters aren't random at all. They're area encounters. If you step into a certain area, you will fight an enemy. If you step out and step back into this threshold, you will immediately fight an enemy again.
Then, to top it off, the collision detection is really bad. The edge of the wall is often several inches away from where the texture is.
Then to top it all off, the encounter hotspots are often easily avoidable by just hugging the wall all the way to the boss. You can run through an entire mission only fighting one battle, the one you're required to fight to pass the mission (which is easily visible due to it being the only encounter on the map that is visible prior to engaging).
Since mission levels repeat themselves so often, you quickly become familiar with the encounter hotspots.

Yeah. I'm really digging the fact it's quite challenging on hard, but i pretty much abhor unskippeable cutscenes and the level design is pretty meh.

@Menolly: He'll love it. (or else!)

@ Chaoticevl: The enemy pop ups are harder (slightly) and deal loads of damage

@The Wreckard: You could, but the fan service won't have much effect. Still a good story by itself, though it'll have more effect if you know the characters and are familiar with the locations and familiar music.

@Foggynotion: Probably nothing in there but dried up tears. -_-

Dirge of Cerebus CG Movie was alright... hated the game though.

@mashuren: Handful? You greatly underestimate just how many people own PSPs.

I have the game, and I love it. I guess it's not saying much as I loved the original and even Advent Children, but it really is a great game. It looks gorgeous, and one can only hope that Square would remake VII in this graphic style. (the hyper realism of AC was bit much imo.

@Magic Emperor Anima:

Yes, this game was great. They may have made it PSP for the want of putting a great game out on PSP and also, the mission modes fit well for portability.
Hard mode is great for players wanting to challenge themselves.

The ending likely won't fit what most fans will expect and its so emotional, it rivals FFX's ending.
I cried as well... ;-;

@mashuren: Seeing as psps were sold out in a lot of stores last December I don't think the userbase is as small as you might think. Sucks you don't have one.

Let's make it easy -- if you love FFVII you should probably play this.

Playing this game has made me want more games from this universe, but not spin offs. At least one. They need to publish LOVELESS, I'd read it

even though im not a final fantasy fan [spoony put that dream to rest] i will pick this up because i need a RPG for my psp...thanks for the right to business review

Since I never played FF VII (never owned a PS2; since the 80gb BC seems pretty good with it, I'll probably pick it up sometime soon), will I be missing out on too much backstory to make sense of Crisis Core?

I'm currently playing Crisis Core along with God of War 2. For the most part, I genuinely like the game. It has a few aspects of what I'd expect from a Final Fantasy game, just portable. It's actually more fun than I expected (Dirge left a VERY bitter aftertaste).

The battle system is alright. I like the fact that you can use the top buttons to cycle through your command list, but hate how restrictive the amount of your in-battle actions are. I like the DMW system, but good lord, sometimes you just want a move to come out without basically being forced into using a special you don't want.

I despise the repetitiveness of the missions. They seldom change in diversity; they're very bland looking and have nothing special about them other than being a necessary evil in the hunt for better items. Oh, and the fact that the difficulty description for missions being extremely vague doesn't help matters (honestly didn't know I was beating down enemies 20 levels higher than me, until I checked an outside source).

This game may seem like a mediocre experience, but it's no Dirge of Cerberus. Every time it seems like an average game, it does something to make itself shine. This, and God of War 2, are some of the best games for the PSP hands down.

Now excuse me while I go back to my sad Lv.44 Zack with a 36% mission completion rating.

damn my copy is still selaed in my drawer! (gasp) i been so hooked on wipeout pulse. i think its time to cry again. thx Fahey

Note: if you are planning on playing this, with out ever playing the greatest rpg of all time....FF7 where have you been? yes greatest is a big stretch, but i have it close to chrono trigger

Let's say that I've never played FF7, but I'm going to (as soon as I can find a copy for the PS for less than $30). Would it be better to play FF7 or FF7: Crisis Core first?

Unskippable Cutscenes

I kind of wanted to play this game until I found about that. What the hell is wrong with game developers?

@Amuro1X:

A remake seems likely, judging by the ending's FMV and a few minor facts don't make sense in FF7's story after playing CC.

It's just a question of how they'll make the Remake, I hear some people are hoping for PS3 with 4~5 active party members at once.

@jjpember: It actually doesn't matter which you play first, but you may enjoy the references to 7 from CC by playing FF7 first, but when you go from CC to FF7, some of the story elements in FF7 are blown off.

I'd actually recommend FF7 before Crisis Core, but it's a matter of preference, as only some things don't add up if you go from CC to FF7.

Just flip a coin in my opinion.

Currently playing this game as well. I loved seeing the subtle change when Zack got a little older. Longer hair, scar, and a slightly deeper voice. Very well done. I also like how they've fixed Aerith's name in the Compliation of FFVII series. I just wonder now why they didn't fix Zack's name, which should be something more like Zax (if I'm not mistaken).

IMO, the DMW is one of the most annoying aspects of Crisis Core. It makes battles feel way too random and out of the player's control. Since it spins on its own, you can even stand still and it will unleash special attacks and level-ups by itself. It gets a bit obnoxious to have it constantly interrupt battles with bells and whistles.

I do think it's neat to go back to the beloved FF7 world remade with new graphics. That being said, I'm getting tired of the current Square style, where EVERYBODY is designed to be a beautiful man, often with blue or green eyes. I liked it better when Sephiroth was the only one like that.

i am playing "mission first" so basically i clear all the missions up to "very hard" and then play the story which makes the main story a breeze - 1 hit kill normal enemies and bosses goes down after couple of spells.