FF: Crisis Core discussion

[mailman187666]

I didn't find any official threads about the english version of the game itself or people's thoughts on it yet so please lock if there is.

I think out of the whole FF7 compilation (including the movie), this is the next best thing to FF7 the original. I think they pulled off the battle mechanics really well, and the music to the game is great as well. I prefer other FF games over 7 (I like 10 the best) but this game is arguably one of the best games for the PSP system. What does everybody else think of it?

[consolecrusader]

Ok I have had the game since a week before launch. Now the story is good, the graphics are incredible as well as the cutscenes and CGI/FMV scenes. But I will be honest the gameplay itself is definitely lacking a certain something. The battle system is revolved around ONE button. "X". Of course you use L and R to to scroll through your materia abilities and items and attack but hell CAN I PLEASE USE MY OWN LIMIT BREAK AND LEVEL UP ON MY OWN? I know Square-Enix has come up with some nifty ideas in the past, including the awesome Sphere Grid in FFX which was personally one of my favorites. But this Slot Machine random ability thing is not my cup of tea. The game combat itself is way too much like Kingdom Hearts which isn't bad but they couldn't thought of something different. And why the voice activation when a battle ensues? What does the lady say "Conflict yada yada." No need for it at all. The battles are random but you KNOW when their coming. Anytime you enter a room a battle ensues, way too predictable.

I mean yeah SE can brand the name FF7 on anything and it will sell millions, but I think in the recent games they have been making their trying way to hard to "change" the FF style. And I always say as well as other heh if it aint broke, don't need fixing!

Pros - It's FF7
- awesome story
- incredible graphics
- materia always wins

Cons
- Combat system is too plain
- no need for the slot machine modulation system
- please god why cant i do my own limit break lol

[exit]

I picked this up on release day and it really is the best of the bunch, I only have a slight problem with the battle system. I sometimes have no idea whats going on, because all of a sudden things start spinning on the screen and I do a limit breaker, leaving me with an awkward feeling after the battle ends.

It just makes me feel cheated in a way, since this can happen in a boss battle and I have no sense of accomplishment when I defeat one, since the game had just done everything for me.

[heybtbm]

The reviewers have been gushing over this game for the past week. Gamespot's review even said Crisis Core is the best Japanese RPG in several years. Obviously, I'm skeptical of such hyperbole but then again I've only put about a 1/2 hour in so far.

[carlcarlson]

I saw the review on X-Play and they gave it a 2/5. I've never watched that show before, so I dunno how many grains to take that with. I know Gamespot rated it highly. The battles looked mighty slow in both reviews. Like "slash, reset, slash, reset, etc". There wasn't any of the fluidity of Kingdom Hearts, with long combos. Maybe they hadn't "unlocked" them yet? I dunno, it didn't look very fun to me. Not being able to level up on my own is also pretty dumb. How is it determined? Does this make grinding unnecessary/pointless?

[mailman187666]

I saw the review on X-Play and they gave it a 2/5. I've never watched that show before, so I dunno how many grains to take that with. I know Gamespot rated it highly. The battles looked mighty slow in both reviews. Like "slash, reset, slash, reset, etc". There wasn't any of the fluidity of Kingdom Hearts, with long combos. Maybe they hadn't "unlocked" them yet? I dunno, it didn't look very fun to me. Not being able to level up on my own is also pretty dumb. How is it determined? Does this make grinding unnecessary/pointless?

see that is one thing I have about this game is knowing when you are going to level up. I've found that you seem to level up just about as often as any other JRPG with experience points. Leveling up the materia, however, doesn't happen nearly as often so I'm not really sure how how often it actually does it. Other than that, I think it turned out to be a pretty good game and I'm having a lot of fun with it.

[Dragon Warrior Jasen]

I'm going to tag along for the ride on this discussion, My wife is a devote fan of the FF series so I think she will be getting this one soon.

Maybe when she gets done with it, and i get through my list of unopened games Ill give it a go.

From your opinion does it make the PSP worthwhile yet? Most games I have or played for PSP is just ok at best.

[Jimid2]

Well, I've been playing quite a bit of Crisis Core on my PSP over the last couple of days, and I have to admit that I don't think it quite lives up to a lot of the uber-high opinions of it that I have been reading on other forums... The best FFVII spin-off to date? Certainly, though that could be construed as damning with faint praise... The best game on the PSP? Hardly...

I honestly believe that I would have been far more impressed by Crisis Core if they'd managed get it out in North America before God of War: Chains of Olympus had been released, but after experiencing the GoW prequel, it's hard not to fault some of the more obvious issues with CC:FFVII. For instance, the graphics in Crisis Core aren't up to the standard set by GoW - to be expected I suppose, since God of War used the PSPs full-clock speed of 333Mhz to manage those impressive visuals while Crisis Core is running at the standard 222Mhz afaik. And, of course, Crisis Core was developed earlier than GoW, but the comparison will be made and there it is: Crisis Core is pretty, but not as pretty as God of War.

Also, after the smooth playing experiences that were GoW and GUN (an early PSP title I only recently got around to playing through) I was a little irritated by the noticable load times in CC:FFVII. These are not super-long loads here - maybe 20 or 30 seconds - but I did notice them, where I did not in GoW. Another issue is that there seem to be a lot of expository video sequences in the game, even for a Final Fantasy... Yes, the FMV sequences in Crisis Core are very pretty, but there sure are a lot of them, and if I wanted to watch FFVII-based movie, I'd pull out Advent Children. The story is compelling, though, especially if you're a Final Fantasy VII fan (guilty!)...

Anyway, the biggest problem I have with CC:FFVII so far is the DMW system, which basically completely removes player control over special combat moves and bonuses, and that bugs me; where in GoW you at least have to pull off prompted button mashing to invoke certain combat animations and kills, with Crisis Core you basically watch the slots spin without user interference, and then whatever is dialed up in terms of an action or bonus happens, and you don't do a damned thing but watch the process the whole while... This, of course, includes special attacks (limit breaks, basically), and while the sit-back-and-watch-the-fireworks approach to these worked in the turn-based, RPG combat style of the original FFVII, I find it interupts the flow of the real-time 3D combat system here...

One other thing - Normal mode seems awfully Easy to me; I'm thinking I might restart the game in Hard mode, as there hasn't been much challenge so far.

Over all, I think I'd give the game a B+ rating; well above average, but not the Triple-A title people keep declaring it to be... my 2¢

[PDorr3]

Only like 45 minutes in but so far the graphics are the best on PSP yet, the cut scenes rival stuff seen on 360 and PS3 easily. The music is phenominal, the remixes of FF7 songs are amazing. Gameplay...seems like it will take some getting used to, primarily the jackpot type leveling up system. However so far I am very impressed.

[exit]

After playing it for a few hours today, I think I've gotten a better understanding on how the battle system works, so it doesn't seem as random anymore. I just completed one of the mission sets (Shinra Soldier challenge) and found most of them to be extremely easy, I got my ass handed to me in the last one tho.

I may just take my PSP with me to work tomorrow so I can play during my break, something I haven't done since I first got my PSP.

[consolecrusader]

Anyway, the biggest problem I have with CC:FFVII so far is the DMW system, which basically completely removes player control over special combat moves and bonuses


This is exactly how I feel. Why play the game if the game is going to be played for me and all I can use are Materia attacks and normal attacks?

Crisis Core for the loss...

[G-Boobie]

To all the posts above me complaining about the utter mystery that is the DMW system... Amen, and what the fuck, Square-Enix?

Most of the fun in JRPG's is figuring out the system that the game uses and taking advantage of it. When the system is completely random, or so completely hidden that it may as well be, then there's no point in playing it for me. It's no longer a game: it's a crappy Sci-Fi movie of the week that occasionally makes you hit 'X' and watch fucking slot machine wheels turn. Who the hell at Square Enix thought that watching slot machine wheels would be fun?

And the story sucks, people. Read a book.

The scary part is that Final Fantasy XIII is supposed to be using a very similar system. Let's hope that it isn't true.

[PDorr3]

after playing more Istill dont really like this DMW like everyone else....randomlyleveling up and pulling off limit breaks is not that un, also leveling up spells randomly is silly IMO. Luckily I still fel like playing it for the good visuals and music, and hoping it MIGHT get better or I may better enjoy the DMW....

[consolecrusader]

I don't wanna say it but...Lost Odyssey is taking up more of my time then a FF game by SE! AHHHH lol anyway yeah sooo disappointed I finish that game up somehow its officially on back burner behind

Lost Odyssey
GOW for PSP
Drakes Fortune (chapter 19)