Crisis Core is Hands Down One Of The Best JRPG's Ever Created.
When Final Fantasy VII was released is was praised as being the greatest RPG ever. Now more than ten years latter Square Enix have brought us Crisis Core. A prequel to FF7 which is beautiful to look at, listen to and be a part of. In Short Crisis core is the greatest PSP game to date. And one that shouldn't be missed.
In Crisis Core you play as Zack. A young Solider 1st Class working for Shinra who is trying to become a hero. However when Zack is sent in to investigate why Shinra troops are deserting the company he finds out more than he bargains for. If you haven't noticed yet I am trying not to spoil the story for anyone. Mainly because Crisis Core's greatest appeal is its story and it is one that should be experienced first hand. Crisis Core's story is one of Square Enix's finest.
Now for all you FF7 fans this is probably the time to warn you that Crisis Core's gameplay is nothing like the original turn based strategy. Instead you fight your foes in real time. Using the X button to attack with your weapon, The Square button to dodge and the Triangle button to block. This can feel repetitive at first. mainly because you can win most battles by button-mashing. But once you get better abilities and magical attacks it all seems to become more smooth and it no longer feels so tedious. But the best part about the gameplay is the DMW. The DMW is like a spinning slot machine which can be seen in the top left hand corner of the screen. Each slot contains a picture of a main character or boss. When three of the same image appears you are able to pull of a limit breaker attack. These attacks all look good and fit perfectly with such a character driven story and game. Also assigned to the characters portraits is a number. If you spin a double of a number you will level up an ability or magic. if you spin triple 7's than Zack will level up. Some may see this as a stupid way to level up. But it always seems kinda fun and hectic. Especially when you are about to dye and you need a limit breaker to bring you back with a fighting chance.
The graphics and animations in Crisis Core are also brilliant. But thats not surprising since this is a Square Enix game.
The sound design is just as good. You will constantly hear the famous FF7 theme song or the new Crisis Core theme song. Surprisingly the new Crisis Core song is better than the original which I found personally odd mainly because the FF7 theme is one of the greatest gaming theme songs of all time.
If you are a fan of any sort of Japanese Role Playing Game than you have to try Crisis Core. Though the gameplay can seem odd at times it will eventually grow on you. And even if you end up hating the gameplay itself than the fantastic story, graphics and music will keep you playing until the very end. Just make sure you have a box of tissues ready. Because its more than likely you will shed a tear or two once all is said and done.
