Ender’s Games

For starters, I don’t finish many games. I’ll readily admit that, when it comes to games, I have a short attention span. If a game gets a little boring or too difficult for my taste, I’ll drop it in a heartbeat. So when I actually do complete a game, I get a huge sense of accomplishment out of it. That being said, I recently beat Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core for the PSP, and it felt great. All told, I sank 40 or so hours into it, and I loved almost every minute of it.

FF7:CC is a prequel to the immensely popular Final Fantasy 7, which was released for the original Playstation in 1997. FF7 was huge for a number of reasons, most notably of which is the fact that this was the first game in the series to be realized in fully-3D polygonal glory. It also featured an (arguably) amazing story and characters, and is responsible for many gamers’ introduction to role-playing games. It was my first RPG, and I was hooked from the beginning. I actually rented it from Blockbuster because I thought the cover looked cool. Being new to RPGs, I was confused initially as to how the game actually operated. After a few screw-ups, I got the hang of it, and I re-rented it 4-5 times so I could finish it. Awesome game.

The story of the FF7 universe is a convoluted one, and even after playing the prequel, I am still a little thrown-off by it. Nonetheless, FF7:CC does answer a number of questions most gamers had about FF7, and in that respect, it accomplishes what it set out to do. It’s also cool to see characters from the original FF7 in Crisis Core, such as Sephiroth, Aerith, Tifa, the Turks, and Cait Sith. There’s even an ode to Vincent Valentine, star of the abysmal Dirge of Cerberus. Traveling around Midgar, Nibelheim, Gongaga, and the Slums is great fun, and it will evoke sweet nostalgic memories from the original game in many gamers’ minds.

The game itself is not a straight-up RPG; it blends action-based combat with RPG elements to make an interesting formula, which provides complexity if you desire it, but can be simple if you want that instead. True Final Fantasy fans will probably spend some time with the Materia Fusion system, blending materia until they get some of the bigger and better spells available in the game. (I know I did; I wouldn’t feel complete if I didn’t get Ultima in a FF game!) Less experienced, or perhaps more apathetic, players will do just fine without delving into the Materia Fusion system, as weaker materia is readily available througout the main storyline. The really good stuff though, the stuff that us true Final Fantasy fans will want to see, is only found in the Missions section.

Crisis Core offers a total of 300 side missions, accessible through the menu whenever you are on a save point. Most last anywhere from 1-5 minutes long, and consist of simple dungeon crawls. This may sound a little boring, but it really is fun, not to mention the fact that these missions are perfect for a portable game! They kept me company on many a dump. In these missions, you can acquire all the summons and high-level materia that aren’t available during the course of the regular game. Of the 300 missions, I believe I completed around 180 or so. At some point, you just start wanting to progress the storyline, you know? (Completing all those missions did make me incredibly powerful though, so the main story ended up being a complete breeze for me. The final boss fight lasted about 40 seconds. Boo. ) 

As for the story, it’s pretty good, I guess. Non-FF7 fans certaonly won’t appreciate it like fanboys will, but it’s still a decent premise. The big downside: LOVELESS. I won’t bore you with details, but if you decide to play this game (you should), bring some patience for poorly written poetry.

The action is a great deal of fun, probably the best part of the game. The sword hits feel like hits, magic is powerful but not overly so, and when you do finally get the DMW to land on the summons you want, you want to pump your fist in the air. Menus are somewhat cumbersome, but not prohibitively so. All in all, Crisis Core is one rock-solid addition to the PSP library.

Now I just have to find someone who will trade God of War: Chains of Olympus to me for Crisis Core. (I don’t keep games after I beat them!)