| Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII | |
|---|---|
Logo for Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII |
|
| Developer(s) | Square Enix |
| Publisher(s) | Square Enix |
| Director(s) | Hajime Tabata |
| Producer(s) | Yoshinori Kitase |
| Artist(s) | Tetsuya Nomura Yusuke Naora |
| Writer(s) | Kazushige Nojima |
| Composer(s) | Takeharu Ishimoto |
| Series | Final Fantasy Compilation of Final Fantasy VII |
| Platform(s) | Mobile phones |
| Release date(s) | DoCoMo:
|
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Media/distribution | Monthly subscription |
Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII (ビフォア クライシス -ファイナルファンタジーVII- Bifoa Kuraishisu -Fainaru Fantajī Sebun-) is a Japanese action role-playing game[1] developed and published by Square Enix in 2004. It was the first original (i.e. not an enhanced remake) game to be produced by Square Enix exclusively for mobile phones, and was released on NTT DoCoMo's FOMA iMode line of phones on a monthly subscription basis. Following an announcement at TGS 2006, it was released for the first of two additional Japanese mobile carriers, Softbank Yahoo! Mobile, in January 2007, and a version for EZweb was released in April 2007. In their pre-E3, 2005 press conference, Square Enix announced that an English version of the game would be released in the United States in 2006, although it never was.[2] There are currently no plans for a US release.
Before Crisis is a prequel to the 1997 PlayStation video game Final Fantasy VII, taking place during the six years prior to the events of that game. It involves the adventures of the Turks, a group of supporting characters featured in Final Fantasy VII, and was the second installment in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series.
Contents |
Before Crisis is a real-time action RPG. The game's graphics are 2D, and the player moves along in a side-scrolling manner. Gameplay is divided up between several modes of play. Episode Mode plays through the game's main storyline through the various episodes. The player must complete the objectives given to continue onward in the game. Free Mode allows the player to play extra missions to gain EXP and items, similar to Crisis Core's missions. Some items are exclusive to Free Mode. Rescue Mode is the last mode of play. If a player is defeated during the game's playthrough, they have two options. They can either restart and lose points, or allow themselves to be imprisoned. Afterwards they must wait for other players on their network to rescue them.
Characters have HP and MP, level up upon acquisition of EXP and can equip weapons and armor. Materia is present in the game, but must be acquired by the player via a unique system called the Materia Generation System. The player must take a picture with their camera phone, and the game synthesizes that picture down to its base color. Depending upon the dominant color, lighting, darkness, and other factors, the game instantly makes a Materia of certain type. A dark green picture makes a Bio Materia, a blue picture makes Cure, etc. Materia can be leveled up as in Final Fantasy VII, up to level 9.
Another new feature to Before Crisis are Rank Points (RP). RP are given during the completion of objectives in all three modes of play. After so much RP is accumulated, special bonuses such as stronger armor, weapons, and Materia slots can be given. The player is also given a rank, based upon how long they have been playing the game. The higher their rank, the better the bonuses the player gets. But it makes Training Mode more difficult, as the player must fight stronger and stronger opponents
Before Crisis's story begins shortly after the ending of the war between the Shinra Electric Power Company and the Wutai tribe, a conflict mentioned in passing during Final Fantasy VII. With Wutai defeated and the people of the world now dependent on their Mako Energy and Materia, Shinra finds itself the dominant economic, military and political power in the world. The story continues for several years until after Zack Fair escapes from the experiments at Nibelheim, all at the same time as Shinra is fighting Genesis during the events of Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, though the two storylines do not overlap.
There are those who remain dedicated to the destruction of Shinra, chief among them being the newly emerged insurgent movement known as "AVALANCHE". AVALANCHE is an eco-terrorist organization that seeks to topple Shinra, whom they know to be slowly killing the Planet with their manufacture of Mako Energy. This first AVALANCHE is far more ruthless and violent than the group headed by Barret Wallace in the beginning of Final Fantasy VII, and are the villains this time around. The game's central heroes are the player Turks. The player decides which of these Turks take place in the storyline, and gives them their names. The Turks are led by Verdot, with his lieutenant the future leader, Tseng. Non-player Turks include Reno and Rude, both veterans who have been in the organization longer than the player.
The game unfolds through a series of "episodes." Because of the subscription-based nature of the game, the game's story unfolded over a period of time. Thus the game's storyline is highly disjointed and episodic, with episodes rarely having much to do with each other. It isn't until the very end of the game that episodes flow together in a single coalescing story arc. Over the course of the story, much of the backstory of Final Fantasy VII is included as Episodes, including the Nibelheim Incident, the destruction of Corel, and other events. The entire playable cast of Final Fantasy VII make cameo appearances.
The player Turk first encounters the AVALANCHE organization during his or her routine patrol of Midgar Sector 8, as per Turk tradition for new recruits. Using the PHS to contact Tseng, the player reports the insurgents attacking Shinra's capital. The player, with help of Reno, fights the AVALANCHE forces and forces them to retreat. The enemy commander, Sears proves to be a formidable opponent, with skills in martial arts and dangerously well-formed intelligence.
But the attack on Midgar is a rouse for a greater strike at Junon, where President Shinra himself is located to give a speech. Fuhito, the cold scientist for AVALANCHE out to destroy all life and return it to the Planet, leads this attack. Though the Turks try to protect the President, a secret AVALANCHE fifth column inside Shinra forces allows them to get close enough to Shinra to shoot him. The President survives, and calls in his trump card, the legendary SOLDIER, Sephiroth. After all that has happened, it is revealed that even AVALANCHE's plot against Shinra was another ruse. Their true goal was the Mako Cannon, which they planned to fire upon Midgar and destroy the city. This force is led by AVALANCHE's leader herself, Elfé, a frighteningly powerful warrior with a mysterious Materia embedded in the back of her hand. Sephiroth arrives and fights Elfé, but even with all his power he can only end the fight in a draw. AVALANCHE retreats to create havoc across the Planet.
During one of these attacks, at Midgar, AVALANCHE targeted Professor Rayleigh, who was carrying data on the SOLDIER members and their creation. The player Turk is sent to protect her, along with several Shinra guards, one of whom is Cloud Strife, the future hero of Final Fantasy VII but for now is a mere grunt. Using a new creation by Fuhito, the monstrous Black Warriors known as the Ravens, the data is captured. The Turk decides to follow morals over duty by saving Rayleigh rather than the data, a sign of future differences between Shinra and the Turks.
Using the SOLDIER data, Fuhito continues to perfect his Ravens. He uses them to capture two SOLDIER members, Essai and Sebastian up north in Icicle Inn. The Turks are sent to rescue them, and succeed despite the heavy enemy resistance from Fuhito and Sears fighting together. Afterwards, the Turks, Essai, Sebastian, and a SOLDIER 1st Class, Zack Fair are sent in to destroy the AVALANCHE forces in the area. Essai and Sebastian are captured once again, and are turned into Ravens. Zack must kill his fellow SOLDIERs, much to his emotional bereavement. (In Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, there is a scene in which Zack and Tseng visit their makeshift graves.)
President Shinra now becomes suspicious of the men beneath him, knowing that somebody must be leaking information. There could be no other way that AVALANCHE could be working this effectively. He wrongly suspect Verdot, and removes him from command of the Turks. In Verdot's place, the President puts Heidegger in charge, the arrogant and incompetent head of the Shinra military. Heidegger only leads a single operation, and comes close to completely destroying Junon. Verdot blackmails the President to return his job. With Verdot in command, the Turks defeat AVALANCHE.
An assault at Corel's Mako Reactor proves to be a key battle. Rufus Shinra is captured by the Turks, but they are ordered to merely put him under house arrest, rather than use stronger methods for the traitor. Sears, a good man who is worried about Elfé's condition, defects from AVALANCHE to join with the Turks to save her. Verdot discovers that Elfé is in fact his long lost daughter Felicia, and he leaves Shinra. With Elfé continuing to weaken, Fuhito takes completely control of AVALANCHE. During the fighting, a strange Materia is found. It turns out that Elfé's Materia is in fact Zirconiade an ancient Summon with immense power. But the Zirconiade Materia is broken, and is slowly sucking away at Elfé as a power source. To save her, the four Support Materia must be found. Fuhito holds one, and now the Turks working with Sears hold another.
Though Shinra orders the Turks to take Verdot in, they continue to follow his orders and work for him. They also hold Rufus as leverage against the President. Not wishing that his son's betrayal become known, the President orders Scarlet to target the Turks and kill them. Now the Turks are enemies of both AVALANCHE and Shinra. Despite the threats, they find two more Support Materia, one in Gongaga with help from Cait Sith, another in Corel Prison. Verdot is captured by Scarlet, and has to be rescued.
With Fuhito's control, AVALANCHE breaks down into an army of zombies and Ravens. It can barely even hold together as a fighting force towards the end. In the final battle, Fuhito summons Zirconiade to destroy all life on the Planet, fusing the monster with his own body. Sears sacrifices himself to save Elfé, and is killed. He transforms into an insane monster. But his plans fall apart when Zirconiade itself is defeated by the player Turks, thus saving the world. Fuhito is killed during the fighting. Tseng saves Verdot and Elfé by reporting them assassinated, and is allowed to return to Shinra as the Turk leader, though they all now work under Heidegger. The player Turks escape into obscurity, but appear again to defeat Jade WEAPON and later help save Midgar from Meteor. The first AVALANCHE collapses, but a second, much smaller version is created just afterwards in the Sector 7 Slums of Midgar. This group takes up plans left behind by Fuhito to attack the Sector 1 Reactor, and so set the stage for the beginning of Final Fantasy VII.
The Turks perform covert operations on behalf of the Shinra company, including espionage, kidnappings and assassinations. They also scout for potential candidates for Shinra's elite military unit, SOLDIER, and serve as bodyguards for the Shinra executives. With Before Crisis, several members of the Turks not seen in Final Fantasy VII were introduced to continuity, and are included in this list. Note that all of the game's playable Turks' official names are composed of their weapon and gender, and have not been officially given any other proper names.
The following Turks are playable characters in Before Crisis (and therefore named by the player) and have no particular names, and are thus referred to here by their weapon of choice. The Softbank and AU versions of the game each originally contained an original character only available in those versions, however, all three versions share the same mobile network, meaning that they can interact via the Rescue Missions and other multiplayer aspects.
AVALANCHE is an eco-terrorist organization that seeks to topple Shinra, whom they believe to be slowly killing the Planet with their manufacturing of Mako Energy. In Final Fantasy VII's continuity, there are two incarnations of AVALANCHE, the second of which is featured in Final Fantasy VII and its sequels; the original group, which was far more militant and ruthless, appears in Before Crisis.
Numerous characters from Final Fantasy VII reappear in Before Crisis, mostly in cameo appearances. These include the nine playable characters as well as Sephiroth, Zack Fair, the Shinra executives, and Elena. Azul from Dirge of Cerberus also makes an appearance in Episode 21. "Special Episode of Reno", a crossover with Crisis Core, also features the Dr. Hollander and Genesis Copies.
Original minor characters include Shalua Rui, who would have a more important role in Dirge of Cerberus. Rayleigh is a scientist who is employed at Shinra. Due to the knowledge she carries, AVALANCHE targets her. Sebastian and Essai are two SOLDIERs who have an acquaintance with Zack. They are captured and experimented on by Fuhito, leading Zack and the player's Turk to team up and attempt to free them. However, they become soulless due to the experiments, and Zack is forced to kill them. In Crisis Core, Zack visits their grave in a DMW sequence. Deneh is of the same species as Red XIII and was chosen to perform a ceremony with him. When Shinra is sent to collect one of them for testing, Red XIII defends Deneh and is taken instead of her.
Before Crisis has garnered generally positive feedback from Western critics. AnimeFringe commented that the visuals seemed "remarkable [sic] good" and praised that the game chose to "reverse the good and bad guy roles" by making the Turks protagonists, rather than enemies.[4] Cara Lee Haslam of RPGamer previewed the game at the Electronic Entertainment Expo ("E3"). Haslam stated that "graphics are really great, especially for a cell phone game", though noted that the animation "isn't the best".[5] GameSpot's Bethany Massimilla also previewed the game at E3. Massimilla called the game "perfectly digestible in delivery" with its use of storytelling and narrative that come in "small bursts in between action periods".[6] The reviewer continued on to say that Before Crisis ", with well-defined and detailed character portraits and lean, lanky character models running around the city and mako reactor, which had a simple layout but still looked nice." Massimilla praised the animation as "smooth" and felt that "the controls were easy to learn and were responsive." Additionally, she thought the demo phone's vibrating function, set off when the player receives a call from Tseng, "was a really nice touch".[6] Over 1 million people have played this game in Japan.
| Book: Final Fantasy series | |
| Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print. | |
|
|||||||||||