LogFAQs > #899628427

38. Crisis Core (Final Fantasy VII)
Original Release: 2007
Developer: Square Enix
Platform: PSP
Favorite Character: Zack Fair

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The Compilation of FFVII was a sham...a cash grab that sprung into existence shortly after Squaresoft became Square Enix. They knew that FFVII was the game everyone loved, and like FFX-2 they needed to do something about it. Advent Children was a piece of shit movie designed for people who like nothing but a bunch of people flying around and fighting giant dragons and Sephiroths. Dirge of Cerberus was their attempt at making a shooter hybrid with Vincent because apparently he had a fanbase in Japan. Crisis Core was actually...good? Wait, what's happening here?

If it weren't for the story then this game would be down in a much lower tier. Crisis Core attempts to fill in the missing pieces that occurred around Zack Fair (a dead NPC from the first game) and his employment with Shinra and SOLDIER. It does so with some success. The story is actually okay but becomes extremely good after a certain point. It's just the getting there part that can be a problem.

Crisis Core does a great job fleshing out the events happening around Nibelheim and Cloud's relationship with Zack. The events in Cloud's flashback and repressed memory in FFVII were sometimes vague and Crisis Core leaves nothing for the imagination. It tells it like it is. And the entire sequence starting from the Nibelheim mission up to the end of the game is the tragic answer we receive, and oh boy was it good. The storyline tightened up and took the kid gloves off at this point. I actually felt like a fugitive myself, just like Zack, trying to survive in a world owned by Shinra, all the while trying to save his friend, Cloud. You know what's going to happen. The guy had it all - a great job and a new girlfriend, and connections, and he was set up to fail at that very point. It's depressing just to think about it. What sucks even more was that he was a well written character, never dipping down into typical JRPG dumbass that was commonplace during that era.

I understand the game's earlier bits where you work for Shinra and do missions for them -- it's to build the world and its current state and get you comfortable with Mr. Fair and all the interesting NPCs he meets. I just found it tedious. Angeal and Genesis were terrible characters that feel out of place in the world of FFVII and probably belong in a Kingdom Hearts game... Genesis especially, who's a loon and had to fill in for some big final boss because they needed some big boss battle. Aeris was also shown to be an innocent Mary Sue rather than the tomboy she was in the original game. It's offputting, but these early moments allow for a big payoff that's totally worth it. This game has one of the best endings I've ever seen.

I wasn't a big fan of the slot machine battle system as it felt experimental and simply wasn't fun. It doesn't help that there are so, so many random encounters. Side missions suck even more, throwing you into a maze with random encounters every three seconds. What doesn't help even more is that none of these really matter after deciding to go to Nibelheim, as you're locked out of the hub and the rest of the sidestories/missions until the very end.

The soundtrack is masterful, although I didn't like the remasters of the original game's music. Takeharu Ishimoto also did The World Ends With You's excellent soundtrack. I would've loved to hear more from him but he recently left Square Enix. Bless his soul.

Anyway, yeah, I think this game was helmed by Tabata, who went on to shit out The Third Birthday and FFXV. It's still his best game to date, fortunately. I haven't played Type 0 but from what I hear I probably wouldn't like it. Crisis Core managed to outdo itself and impressed me more than it probably should have. Would've been higher if it wasn't for the slog leading up to the Nibelheim sequence.