Review: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP)

Prequels are always a risky business; with established plot-lines already in place, it can be difficult to make an interesting story out of the 'blanks' leftover, and when that story is one of the most revered amongst the target audience, you've also got to be really careful not to mess it up. Crisis Core tells the story of Zack Fair, his history with the Shinra company's 'Soldier' unit, before and during the key flashback events portrayed in Final Fantasy VII.

For the most part, it is interesting and nostalgic, playing on iconic imagery and scenes to get fans in the mood. Known history is adhered to with an exceptional eye for detail and all the right references in place. But it also introduces completely new events, new characters, and some slight twists on things we thought we knew before. Sadly, Square-Enix's ability to weave a good story seems spectacularly lacking of late; the new plot-line is a confused garbled mess, crossing flimsy science with magic and dressing it up with poetry. Much like the sequel movie Advent Children, it comes across as an unnecessary addition to the (relatively) simple but powerful plot of the original game.

Despite this, the new and old characters come across really well. The legendary Sephiroth is seen in a new light, and his comrades (new characters Angeal and Genesis) are similarly interesting with different agendas and ideals. It is Zack himself who is most endearing as a character (surprising given his arrogant attitude). Over the course of the (short) narrative, he grows and matures and becomes extremely likable. Crisis Core covers a lot of history, from the end of the war with Wutai, through Zack's promotion to first class, his first meetings with certain key FFVII characters, the rise and fall of Sephiroth and the Jenova experiments. As a result, much of the plot seems 'squashed in' to fit, and the final chapter in particular does a poor job of conveying the passage of time.

Unlike FFVII, Crisis Core is not your standard RPG; in fact, even that classification is a bit of a stretch. You only control one character (Zack) and battles employ realtime elements, such as being able to run around the battle area freely and dodge and block attacks. Attack, magic and item commands are selected by scrolling left and right with the shoulder buttons and using X to select them, or stack up the next one. This is fairly awkward, although it does keep things moving swiftly. When you're dodging, rolling and making quick swipes with your sword, it looks pretty stylish.

Sadly, anything more complicated is handled automatically by a system called the 'DMW'. These slot-machine styled wheels constantly roll during fights and dish out bonuses. When the same symbols align, you unleash limit breaks and summons. The DMW also takes care of leveling up yourself and your materia (more on that in a moment). While this is all very convenient, having so much taken out of your hands is unsatisfying, particularly when you waste a perfectly good summon at the end of a fight you'd already won.

Player interaction goes more into customisation and experimentation of equipment and materia, which is more 'disposable' than its FFVII equivalent. It levels up to 'master' very quickly, but each piece only has one use or spell. This means you'll not only switch materia around a lot more often, but you'll 'fuse' them together more. Fusion is a new feature that lets you join materia together, to make new pieces that inherit their qualities. In practise, a lot of combinations don't yield anything useful, but sometimes you can get something interesting. At the very least, stat improvements (magic, vitality, HP, etc., are stored in your materia) can be combined for some seriously impressive boosts. The familiar colour types return and tinkering with and levelling up all this materia can quickly become an obsession.

As a member of Soldier, you have missions to take on. Outside of the main storyline, you can select these from any save point, and they get progressively more difficult as stronger enemies stand in your way. They yield some excellent rewards, new items, equipment and materia, but they are the very definition of repetitive. It doesn't help that combat mostly involves pressing the X button over and over again, but when missions are literally just an exercise in going from A to B and killing all the monsters in between, over and over again (there are at least 300 missions), it will definitely begin to drag, and you'll come crawling back to the main storyline to keep your interest going.

The story structure is incredibly linear. This may sound like a catch-all criticism for any game that doesn't offer an open-world approach, but even by the most lenient standards, Crisis Core practically has tunnel-vision. There is no world map; your missions whisk you from one location to the next, never able to return. It is quite a sight-seeing tour, though; as you run through 3D approximations of recognisable locations (Midgar, Junon, Nibelheim amongst some new places), it's hard not to let nostalgia get the better of you. Yet, despite the 3D makeover, you're still bound by invisible walls blocking your path, which is disappointing. Crisis Core cannot help but feel like 'FFVII-lite', probably because that's about all it amounts to. Everything from the freedom you have to the level of customisation in and out of battle are notably inferior to that ten-year-old game. The fact that this is now a totally different 'action' game barely makes up for that (particularly when this action features some tedious fetch quests and the worst stealth section known to man). This is pure fan service with little substance in its own right.

But so what? By all accounts, Crisis Core has set itself up for a fall, yet, somehow, it doesn't. Quite what makes the game so compelling isn't exactly clear. Perhaps it's just short enough for repetition to not matter; perhaps there's just enough tinkering/collecting appeal to make the battles interesting; or perhaps the allure of being in the FFVII universe again is just so strong that it doesn't matter how restrictive it is. Certainly the atmosphere of the original game is preserved and it's as wonderful as ever. The towering plate of upper Midgar looks incredible from the slums below. So very 'cyberpunk', so very underused these days. And then there's music; when those recognisable tunes re-emerge, it puts most other game music to shame. It's easy enough to ignore the blander tunes, not to mention the less colourful palette of the more realistic style employed pretty much throughout, because audibly and visually, Crisis Core is a treat - and that makes the journey a worthwhile one regardless.

It's also one of the most impressive-looking games on the PSP. Many of the cutscenes are handled with the game's own engine, and the facial detail is fantastic, with mouths even lip-synced to the English dub. The voices are not at all bad by videogame standards, and when dialogue switches to text-only (as it frequently does for mission-specific information) the voices are even missed. More important events are pre-rendered, and as usual, Square-Enix's prowess at full motion video sees some absolutely stunning sequences crop up frequently throughout the game. So impressive are they that the omission of a cinema/replay mode seems bizarre.

"One for the fans" might be a lazy summary of any game, but it's quite an apt one here. Without the emotional connection of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core is a somewhat half-hearted game lacking in substance, for all its polish and production. Yet those of us who have been waiting for another chance to revisit this fantastic world and story in any way we can will find it hard not to enjoy something about it.

Rating: 6 / 10

Words by Daniel James