Final Fantasy Crisis Core - Quick Review

First Impression:

After years of complaints from passionate fans, Square Enix has finally released another adventure in the world of Final Fantasy 7. Rather then continuing the story with Cloud, you play his prequel clone Zack. Now I never really liked any of the Final Fantasy games but I did play through FF7 and of course you'll get your character building drama in this title, with the add on of lovely Advent Children CG cut scenes. Now on to the important part -- Gameplay. This prequel ditched the old turn based fighting (which I actually enjoyed) for a more fast paced action RPG style and it works just perfectly for the psp's game on the go style. Leveling up and Limit breaks occur through an odd slot machine randomness that usually leaves me confused on what I just gained from it but most of the time you get what's needed at the moment (like a level up that only occurs when you get 777.) Besides that every mission seems to involve the same idea of go here, beat up these guys, mission accomplished, which makes the game a bit tedious at times but it's a Final Fantasy..so you knew that already. =D

Update Review:

So after actually finishing the main story I was given a drama filled ending that eventually leads to the start of Final Fantasy 7 -- and you get the idea. After a while the slot machine gameplay becomes more natural and the story unfolds like any other role playing game with that little mix of nostalgia from the sequel's story. My only problem involved the actual difficulty of the game. I often found myself fearing normal enemies then the great bosses like Sephiroth or Genisis. Instant death is a pain in the ass when it comes out of nowhere. =/ Also, if you end up doing most or even half of the side missions, you'll level up far enough to do 9999 damage with most basic attacks; leaving most of the boss battles as a few minute ordeals in between the cutscenes. Those beautiful, beautiful cutscenes...

Rating: 4.5/5
Reason: Must own psp game. =D
Pros: Quick battles, Unique specials, Fantastic cut scenes, Great Story.
Cons: Missions feel a bit tedious at times, lack of secondary characters made me lonely. :/