Seven years prior to the events of FINAL FANTASY VII — The Shinra Company is rapidly increasing its influence through its monopoly on mako energy and military might. With the burgeoning city of Midgar as its base and symbol of prosperity, Shinra is on the verge of establishing absolute dominance over the world. SOLDIER is a group of skilled combat operatives within Shinra. The elite within the group — those strong enough to be deemed SOLDIER 1st Class — are respected and idolized by the citizenry. Zack is a young SOLDIER 2nd Class who aspires to become a 1st. He spends his days carrying out assignments under the guidance of his 1st Class mentor, Angeal. During an operation in Wutai, a large number of SOLDIER members, led by 1st Class operative Genesis, go missing. The severity of the situation prompts Shinra executives to deploy even more SOLDIER operatives in hopes of bringing an end to the war with Wutai—and conducting an investigation into the mass desertion. The ones assigned to the mission are Zack, Angeal, and the 1st Class hero who is known the world over as Sephiroth... What truths lie behind Genesis's disappearance? What secrets bind the three SOLDIER 1st Class operatives? For Zack, a cruel and fateful struggle awaits...

User Reviews about Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

I enjoyed playing Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, especially as a fan of the original Final Fantasy VII. I mostly played for the storyline and to see how things played out, which made the game quite interesting to me. I enjoyed the gameplay and the way in which combat is designed. There are a few things, however, the led me to give the game four out of 5 stars:

1. Missions

Way too many of these (300 in all). I've never understood why the Final Fantasy series has to give the side quests more priority than the main story line. If you go and take on the side quests in their entirety before beating the game, then you will be so ultra-powerful that with one or two hits you can finish off any main storyline enemy or boss. I personally would like to see the game be the most difficult part, with the side quests leading up to the ability to defeat the game, but not dominate it. Also, the missions aren't presented in order of difficulty as the game progresses. You end up having to fight through easy missions that are quite boring for the level of character you have developed.

2. Costly Punch

Costly Punch makes the game too easy. For those who don't know, it's a punch that causes 99999 damage. Sure, I don't have to use it, but why not? There's no other way to get past the missions if you don't.

3. Materia Fusion

What a confusing mess. I spent a lot of time collecting "Chocobo Feathers" so I could give a couple of materia 999% HP. Luckily, there is a lot of online help regarding what to fuse together to get what you really need, otherwise, I would have been lost. I didn't enjoy this part of the game.

4. More questions than answers

I was left with more questions after completion of the storyline. If this game is supposed to fill me in on what happened, then why leave a gap of 4 years that we know nothing about? I'll leave it at that.

Besides all these things, I really did enjoy the game! I realize no game is perfect, and the above issues are no reason not to buy and enjoy this game. It certainly will entertain and is worth playing. -- Great game overall with minor issues

Crisis Core: FF7 is simply fun. The gameplay gives you 90% of time on story + combat. You will work on side missions (huge amount) and story to gain items instead of spending day and night searching. The side missions aren't long individually, but it will take you more than maybe 30 hours (my friend spend 70~80 hours) to complete everything! The control is simple but fun. The game is not too hard so you won't stuck at the middle of somewhere... unable to complete the game or enjoy the story. Cut scenes are amazing... It's about same quality as "Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children". Movements are lively and detailed. Sometimes I didn't play games for days but I'm able to catch up immediately any time I turn on the device due to the tie control of the game. However, if you're looking for a challenging fighting/action games, this will disappoint you. -- Amazing game for anyone

I'll start off by saying that I am not a Final Fantasy fan. In fact, I used to make fun of people that played any game in the FF series. I thought that the only people that play these games were single men and women that couldn't get a date in real life and so they would play these games and to live out their fantasies. Boy was I wrong.

I decided to buy this game after reading reviews on Amazon and Gamespot. The moment that I saw the first image pop up on my PSP screen, I was memorized.

Graphics 9/10: The graphics are the best that I have seen for the PSP so far. The cutscenes look like they were pulled straight out of an XBOX game. The in game graphics are equally impressive with their stunning visual effects and incredible color-filled environments.

Gameplay 9/10: The controls are very simplistic, and believe me when I tell you that this is a good thing. The Right and Left triggers are used to move the camera from right to left and the x button is the primary fight button. In fact, there are only three buttons that you will have to push during a fight. X to use an item, the triangle to defend, and the square button to evade. You will also have to push the D pad right and left to select your items, but that's it. The control scheme might be simple, but it's still a lot of fun.

Replay value 8/10: There are enough unlockables and side missions to keep you busy for quite some time. I would say that you will probably spend 40-60 hours playing this game.

Sound 8/10: The musical score is fine, but I found some of the classical music during the in game cutscenes to be a little strange. There are times when you are watching a sad scene unfold before your eyes while listening to...happy, go lucky tunes that sound as if they were pulled from a top 40 classical album. A little odd, but for the most part, the musical score is uniqly impressive.

All of this is great, but I can't tell you about this game without mentioning its biggest flaw. Every time you die, it takes you back to the main menu. This is so infuriating that I wanted to throw my PSP through the window on more than one occasion. However, though this might be undeniably aggravating, you will find yourself loading the game again and again because you just can't get enough.

Overall, this is an excellent game that will impress FF fans and non fans alike. Take it from someone who hated the series at one point; if you own a PSP, you must play this game.


-- The best game that I've played for the PSP