| Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII | |
|---|---|
European boxart featuring Zack Fair. |
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| Developer(s) | Square Enix |
| Publisher(s) | Square Enix |
| Designer(s) | Hajime Tabata |
| Artist(s) | Tetsuya Nomura |
| Writer(s) | Kazushige Nojima |
| Composer(s) | Takeharu Ishimoto |
| Series | Final Fantasy Compilation of Final Fantasy VII |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation Portable |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Action role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) | CERO: B ESRB: T PEGI: 16+ OFLC: M USK: 12+ |
| Media/distribution | UMD |
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (クライシス コア -ファイナルファンタジーVII- Kuraishisu Koa -Fainaru Fantajī Sebun-) is an action role-playing game (action RPG) developed by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable. First released in 2007, the game is a prequel to the video game Final Fantasy VII and is also the sixth installment in metaseries Compilation of Final Fantasy VII which includes products related to the game. The game mainly focuses around Zack Fair, a young member from the paramilitary organization SOLDIER developed by the megacorporation Shinra Electric Power Company, who is assigned to look for the missing SOLDIER Genesis Rhapsodos. As he continues his mission, he learns of Genesis' origin, Project G, and how it is related with two other fellow SOLDIER comrades. The game's storyline takes the player from the war with the Wutai to the events at Nibelheim, and right up to the time just before the Final Fantasy VII beginning.
Hajime Tabata was the game's director and Tetsuya Nomura the game's character designer. Before starting development, the Square Enix staff thought they should make a PlayStation Portable port of the mobile phone game Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, but after a discussion it was decided to make a different game. The plot is based on a scenario Kazushige Nojima had in mind when working for Final Fantasy VII, while the gameplay was decided to be action RPG due to the fact only one character could be controlled. Ever since its release, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII has enjoyed good sales, selling over two million units worldwide. Critical reception to the game has also been positive, with reviewers praising some of its aspects.
Contents |
Crisis Core is an action role-playing game in which the player controls the main character Zack through the game's storyline. During the main story of the game, the player moves Zack through and between open areas, allowing him to talk with non-playable characters, interact with the environment, or encounter monsters in battle. At any save point in these areas, the player may opt to take one of many side missions that are available; if selected, Zack is moved to a special area to complete the mission, usually to defeat one or more monsters. If the mission is successfully completed, the player is rewarded with one or more items, and often one or more new missions become available. Whether the mission is completed successfully or if Zack falls in battle, Zack is returned to the save point at the end. If Zack should fall in battle during the main story combat, the player will be forced to restart from their last saved game.
Crisis Core uses a real-time combat system in which the player can move Zack around, initiate attacks, special abilities, spells, or item use, and have Zack block or dodge an attack.[4][4] Zack's abilities in battle are set by what materia he is equipped with.[5] Up to six materia can be equipped, and can impart special attacks, magic spells, or passive bonuses such as bonuses to Zack's health meter or the ability to display the statistics of the current foe in combat. Materia are gained throughout the game through exploration, rewards from side missions or spoils of war, or from shops. Materia can be fused together to make more powerful versions with improved bonuses; for example, fusing an attack skill materia with an elemental magic materia can create a new attack skill materia that inflicts elemental magic damage in addition to physical damage. Special items collected in the game can also be used in materia fusion to further increase the materia's power.
Crisis Core uses a slot machine-like mechanic to affect the combat system. The "Digital Mind Wave" (DMW) features two sets of three spinning wheels; one set with numbers one through seven, and another with pictures of characters that Zack befriends during the game. The DMW automatically spins as long as Zack has at least 10 Soldier Points; Soldier Points are awarded to the player by defeating foes. If the DMW stops with the same three pictures lined up, Zack will then perform an appropriate Limit Break attack or ability that can greatly harm an enemy or significantly heal Zack. Additionally, in this case, if the number slots give two or more of the same number, the materia in that slot will power up. Should the numbers line up as "777", Zack will gain an experience level, increasing his health, soldier points, and ability points in combat. Otherwise, if there is no match on the pictures, matching numbers on the slots will still grant temporary bonuses in battle such as limited invincibility or zero-cost use of skills and abilities. The chance of matching pictures is tied to the current Limit level, which is raised by taking damage in battle and reduced upon successful matches, and after certain storyline events, through heightened emotions towards a specific character. After collecting certain items in the game, the pictures on the DMW may also randomly change to summonable creatures, which have more destructive and beneficial Limit Breaks should the pictures match up.
Following the completion of the game, the player will obtain a New Game Plus option.[6] The North American and European releases of Crisis Core have an added difficulty mode to the game which increases the power and health of the enemies in the game.
Crisis Core takes place 7 years before the events of Final Fantasy VII, and as such, many characters from the game and other related works appear in Crisis Core. However, the primary characters in the game are from either Shinra Electric Power Company's private armed forces dubbed SOLDIER, or from their covert branch of operatives called the Turks.
The main protagonist and playable character of Crisis Core is Zack Fair, a young and friendly SOLDIER. Zack's mentor and friend is Angeal Hewley, a 1st class SOLDIER.[7] Angeal is friends with fellow SOLDIER members Sephiroth and Genesis, the latter serving as the game's primary antagonist.[8][9] The SOLDIER operatives work under Director Lazard, the illegitimate son of President Shinra. Zack is also friends with the Turks, particularly their leader Tseng and one of their female operatives Cissnei. During the course of the game, Zack encounters and befriends Aerith, a young woman tending flowers from a ruined church in the Midgar slums, and also Cloud, a Shinra infantryman.[10][11] Zack also encounters Dr. Hollander, a former Shinra scientist that is performing unethical experiments in secret.
Taking a few years before Final Fantasy VII, director Hajime Tabata explained he and the staff were aware of not altering the "fans' perception of Final Fantasy VII's iconic characters." However, they operated on the concept of "younger days," so that new elements could be added without changing the characters.[12] Kitase was pleased with Sephiroth's role as he has a "much more human side".[13] Takahiro Sakurai, Cloud's Japanese voice actor, found his character to be more expressive and ordinary.[14] The addition of Genesis was discussed between producer Hideki Imaizumi and the character's Japanese voice actor, Gackt, as the former liked his inclusion in Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII and he wanted to expand him more.[13]
The game starts off with SOLDIER 2nd Class Zack Fair on an airborne vehicle with order given from Angeal to take down all the Wutai soldiers that are disguising themselves in Shinra troops uniforms. SOLDIERs Zack Fair and Angeal are dispatched to Wutai to support Shinra in their war.[15] In the outcome, Angeal disappears,[16] and Zack is appointed to find the other missing SOLDIER, Genesis, in the town of Banora.[17] Zack and Tseng find that Genesis and Angeal have betrayed Shinra, but are forced to retreat as the village is destroyed by Shinra.[18] Upon Wutai's war ending, Shinra's armies, with Zack and Sephiroth are assigned to kill Genesis and Angeal.[19] Genesis creates an army of copies of himself to attack Shinra headquarters with help from Dr. Hollander who has sworn revenge against Shinra.[20] After the forces are defeated, Zack and Sephiroth track down Hollander's secret laboratory in a Midgar mako reactor,[21] and learn that Hollander, had used both Genesis and Angeal as part of Project G, an early attempt to create soldiers infused with Jenova Cells.[22] They are found by Genesis and Hollander, with the former facing Sephiroth and the latter escaping as Zack chases him.[23] Zack is stopped by Angeal intent on keeping Hollander alive as he wants to find a way to return to be normal, and knocks him into the slums of Midgar.[24]
Zack recovers to find Aerith tending over him.[25] After both spend some time together, Zack returns to SOLDIER headquarters which is being attacked by Genesis.[26] On his way, Zack allies with Angeal who has hesitations about his actions.[27] As Angeal, Zack and Sephiroth protect the headquarters, Angeal confronts Genesis, but both go missing once again. Zack is then ordered to investigate Modeoheim where Genesis has been spotted;[28] en route, Zack meets Shinra infantry soldier Cloud, quickly becomes friends with him.[29] Near Modeoheim, Zack encounters and defeats Genesis who then appears to commit suicide by throwing himself into the depths of a facility. Zack travels to Modeoheim and finds both Angeal and Hollander. Angeal mutates when attacked by copies of himself, and Zack is forced to kill him. Before he dies, Angeal gives Zack his Buster Sword, telling him to protect his honor.[30] Zack, distraught over the death of his mentor, goes back to the Sector 5 church, where he is comforted by Aerith.
Sometime later, Shinra continues chasing Hollander who is protected by new Genesis' copies as the original is still alive. Zack returns to Midgar to protect Aerith after learning they also appeared there,[31] and leaves her with an Angeal copy that seems to be protecting her. Zack travels with Sephiroth and Cloud to investigate a mako reactor near Nibelheim.[32] While checking the reactor Sephiroth discovers from Genesis that he was an experiment, implanted with cells of the extraterrestrial Jenova.[33] Genesis explains his body is degrading and needs Sephiroth's cells which avoid his body to degrade, but he refuses.[34] A week later, Sephiroth sets Nibelheim's town ablaze and goes to the Mako reactor to take Jenova's body. While Zack fails to stop Sephiroth, Cloud throws Sephiroth into Mako, causing his body to disappear. Zack awakes to find that he and Cloud have become part of Dr. Hojo's experiments on Jenova cells and Mako exposure; while Zack is unaffected by the Jenova cells, Cloud is unable to move on his own.[35] Zack helps Cloud to escape and they quickly become high priority targets for the Shinra forces. While fleeing, Zack learns that Genesis and Hollander, the latter has become a Genesis copy, are still trying to stabilize his mutation.[36] As Cloud is the only one carrying Sephiroth's pure cells due to the experiments, they plan to use him.[37]
Hollander tries to reach Cloud, but is killed by Zack. Zack then finds Director Lazard who, now inflicted as an Angeal clone, tried to ally with Hollander to exact his revenge on Shinra.[38] Lazard directs Zack to the remains of Banora to find Genesis, while Zack leaves Cloud with him. Zack enters into a cavern exposed to the Lifestream where he encounters Genesis who heals his body absorbing it and tries to kill Zack. Zack manages to defeat Genesis and returns to the surface with him. There, Zack finds that Shinra attacked Lazard and Cloud but the former was able to hold them back at the cost of his life. The Angeal copy that guarded Aerith had come to fight for Zack and was killed.[39] Zack discovers a note he had carried from Aerith, and learns he had been used as an experiment for more than four years. Zack takes Cloud to Midgar before Genesis is collected by two soldiers.[40]
Shinra discovers Zack and Cloud on the barren terrain outside Midgar. Leaving Cloud hidden away, Zack fights off against an enormous number of Shinra troops, and is ultimately fatally wounded. Cloud manages to crawl to Zack's body after Shinra has left, and Zack, in his dying breath, bequeaths the Buster Sword to Cloud as Angeal had done to him.[41] Cloud begins to walk back to Midgar, while Zack's body is taken to the Lifestream by Angeal. The epilogue recreates the opening scenes of Final Fantasy VII.[42]
The idea of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was conceived when Hajime Tabata was chosen as a director for an upcoming Final Fantasy title for the PlayStation Portable. After a discussion with Tetsuya Nomura and Yoshinori Kitase, Tabata decided it would be a game from Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, feeling that the pressure of producing a game from a popular series would motivate the staff and him.[12] The original idea was to make PlayStation Portable port of Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII as it was released for mobile-phones and the staff wanted to expand its gamers. However, after deciding Zack was going to be the protagonist, the idea of a Before Crisis port was cancelled. The original idea of naming it "Before Crisis Core" was changed to "Crisis Core" without realizing it matched with the titles from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series (Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII was "BC", Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was "AC", Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII was "DC", and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was "CC").[43] Kitase jokingly stated that the discussion to start Crisis Core took only two days.[44] Regarding the pressure of developing a Final Fantasy VII prequel, Kitase wanted it to exceed the fans' expectations so he made sure that rather than making it as a "tribute" to Final Fantasy VII, it shared links with the other titles from Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.[45] After Crisis Core's release, Kitase was surprised by the quality of its cut-scenes to the point it could be released for the PlayStation 2. He also enjoyed the game's ending, surprised by how Zack's story was like.[43] The game's logo represents various of the main characters; The blue sky symbolizes Zack; The white feather is a symbol of Angeal; and the water represents Aerith.[46]
One of the primary reasons Zack was chosen as its protagonist was that his fate was predetermined.[12] Kitase stated that Zack's story had "been cooking for 10 years" as, despite being a minor character in Final Fantasy VII, Nomura and Kazushige Nojima had already developed a conceptual artwork and a story, respectively, for him. One of the main background events from Final Fantasy VII, Nibelheim's destruction, was revised for the original video animation (OVA) Last Order: Final Fantasy VII. Due to negative response by fans, the staff decided not to make the decisions they did in the OVA as the same event is despicted in Crisis Core.[45] The game was meant to have more scenes about Zack and Cloud fleeing to Midgar to expand their connection, but it was removed due to UMD limitations, and the staff focused in Zack's work as a warrior.[47]
Once it was decided Zack would be the protagonist, the story's nature avoided the staff to use a party of playable characters and instead use only Zack.[12] Crisis Core was first envisioned as an action game, but due to the staff was more experienced in RPGs, they decided to modify it, making battles similar to the ones from RPGs.[47] In order to make the gameplay entertaining with only one character, Final Fantasy VII's battle system was added with action elements, resulting in the fact the game became an action RPG. The Materia system was designed so that players could choose between "RPG-oriented enhancements" and "action-oriented enhancements," as well as to expand the game's balance. Additionally, the Digital Mind Wave system (DMW) was added to give the gameplay an element of luck as well as to avoid the combats feel repetitive.[12] Nomura and Kitase were mainly inspired by the pachinko in making it and although some fans complained about it, the element of luck was intentional in order to lead to different results in a battle.[45] The staff initially found the gameplay to be hard to make due to its departure from traditional Final Fantasy style of multiple characters and fact it could not be "a pure action game." However, after receiving positive response by Japanese gamers, the staff thought they were doing a good work.[12] By the time the game ended development, the staff realized they omitted the option of skipping cutscenes which they regretted.[47]
The game was announced at E3 2004 before the release of the PlayStation Portable. Its first trailer consisted of clips from Last Order.[48] In an interview for Famitsu, Nomura had stated that a playable demo of the game would be ready by the end of 2006. However, there was no mention of whether the demo would be openly available to PSP owners.[49] By May 2005, Nomura announced that he already made the concept art of the game, while the gameplay was planned to be "interesting" and "previously unseen", expecting that its genre may not be an action RPG as first announced.[50] In May 2007, both Nomura and Tabata revealed that the game was 90% complete, and that completing its story mode and all side quests would take about 100 hours to gamers.[51] A playable demo was available at Jump Festa '06.[51]
On September 13, 2007 Square Enix released a special edition bundle for Crisis Core. A special silver colored PlayStation Portable Slim and Lite with Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary insignia on the back, on one side, designed by Nomura. As with many limited edition Final Fantasy VII-related releases by Square Enix, the bundle was limited to 77,777 units.[52]
On December 17, 2007 it was announced that Crisis Core would be coming to the United States on March 25, 2008. If pre-ordered from certain retailers such as Gamestop, the buyer may receive a Shinra UMD case, depending on how long supplies last at each retailer and if pre-ordered from Best Buy, the buyer may receive Crisis Core with a metallic foil cover. Two versions of the game were released in Europe: a limited edition version only available online, and then only when pre-ordered. This limited edition version includes special slipcase packaging and a book of promotional CG artwork entitled The Art of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.[53] In Australia and Europe, a bundle with the game and limited edition Crisis Core engraved silver PlayStation Portable was released on June 20.[54][55] As with several games from the company, Square released on October 18, 2007, an Ultimania guidebook of the title in Japan.[56]
The game's soundtrack was released on October 10, 2007, covering fifty-five songs across two discs. The music was composed by Takeharu Ishimoto, with a few tracks orchestrated by Kazuhiko Toyama. The soundtrack also includes remixes of various music from Final Fantasy VII composed by Nobuo Uematsu and Last Order: Final Fantasy VII, which was also composed by Ishimoto. The game's ending theme, "Why", is performed by Ayaka.[57] The addition of "Why" was revealed by Square Enix in May 2007 while Ayaka stated she was fascinated by Crisis Core's story and she felt she "would like to deliver "Why" alongside Zack's fate to the hearts of many people."[58] The single "Why" was released in Japan on September 5, 2007.[59]
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 82.50%[60] |
| Metacritic | 83/100[61] |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| 1UP.com | B+[62] |
| Computer and Video Games | 9.0/10[63] |
| Eurogamer | 7/10[64] |
| Famitsu | 35/40[65] |
| GamePro | 4.5/5[66] |
| GameSpot | 9.0/10[67] |
| GameSpy | [68] |
| GamesRadar | 9/10[69] |
| GameTrailers | 8.4/10[70] |
| IGN | 8.5/10[71] |
| PALGN | 8.5/10[72] |
| VideoGamer.com | 9/10[73] |
| X-Play | 2/5[74] |
Crisis Core sold 350,000 copies in Japan on its release date, including the 77,777 Limited Edition PSP/Crisis Core bundles.[75] Square Enix recently announced that Crisis Core was its best-selling game across all regions from April through September with 710,000 copies sold in Japan.[76] Selling 790,705 units as of August 2008, it became the third best-selling game for the PSP in Japan.[77] In March 2008, Crisis Core sold 301,600 copies upon its first month of release in the United States,[78] behind the sales of God of War: Chains of Olympus, which sold 340,500 copies, making Crisis Core the second best-selling game for the PSP during the month of March and the sixth best-selling game overall.[78] As of March 31, 2009, Square Enix announced that Crisis Core had sold 2.1 million units worldwide, with 830,000 of those sales coming from Japan.[79] About 840,000 units of the game, including 550,000 in Europe, were sold during Square Enix's 2009 fiscal year.[80] In response to the game's sales, Square Enix called Crisis Core their best PSP game from the year,[81] calling it "an incredible success" with Doug Bone, Square Enix's UK sales director, labelling it as "the must-have PSP game of 2008."[82]
Crisis Core has received generally positive reviews. At Game Rankings, the combined reviews for the game are currently 82%,[60] while the score in Metacritic is of 83 out of 100.[61] With individual scores of 9/9/8/9, the game received an overall rating of 35/40 points from Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu.[65] GameSpot credited it as an "Editor's Choice", praising its storyline, the combat system and its presentation, also stating that "Crisis Core is an exciting and poignant journey that every fan of role-playing games should take."[67] IGN's Ryan Clements praised its differences with other RPGs due to its focus on Zack's growth and his relationship with the SOLDIERs. He stated "Crisis Core is a great game and, barring a few minor issues here and there, will not disappoint." It also received a place amongst the "Editor's Choice" gallery of recommended games for the PSP platform.[71] Despite being labelled as a "handy tool" by PALGN, the DMW system was also called the game's weakest point by due to the fact players cannot choose when to execute the Limit Breaks, increasing the game's difficulty in battles.[72] On the other hand, GamesRadar's AJ Glasser stated that with the DMW system, the gameplay could be easy causing the "rare gamer" to try to play it in the Hard Mode. Glasser also found the game likeable enough so that gamers who dislike the Final Fantasy VII series would try to play it.[69] It also received good response by GameSpy who stated it "is equal parts tribute and original, marrying classic design choices with refreshingly new techniques, harmoniously bringing together something old with something new." The reviewer also commented on Zack's character that although some players may dislike him, "you'll have to be pretty jaded for the character not to grow on you as you progress through the adventure."[68] An overall score of 9 was given Videogamer.com who found its fighting system "addictive" and considered its CGI scenes to have a similar quality to the ones from the film Final Fantasy VII Advent Children.[73] Similarly, GamePro gave it a positive review, calling it the "Best looking PSP title" and with praise on how it incorporates elements from the series and at the same time giving new aspects.[66]
Notes have also been made on the game's relation with Final Fantasy VII, with 1UP.com calling it one of best prequels and mentioning it "does a better job of putting players in FFVII's world than even the original game did."[62] While Game Trailers stated that Crisis Core "doesn’t take the easy way out and photocopy the source", they found it, unlike Dirge of Cerberus, appealing.[70] Computer and Video Games mentioned that despite the game's main story can be seen in 12 hours, the side-quests make help to expand the time playing it. They further praised the battle system as "[it] never becomes tiresome" and the fact some of the weak points from Final Fantasy VII, labelled as "lengthy wandering, and an overlong centre", were not added to the game.[63] Despite calling it the best Final Fantasy VII spin-off, Eurogamer criticized that "for the twenty-six, twenty-eight, thirty-year-olds who it's aimed at, the game has little to offer beyond polished sentimentality."[64] On the other hand, X-Play gave it a 2/5 with complaints about the unskippable cutscenes, dialogue, gameplay, and plot.[74] On April Fools' Day, in response to criticism over their original review, they "decided to give the game a second look and give it a re-review, this time with a clear unbiased perspective", sarcastically dubbing over the original and giving it an impossibly high 6/5.[83]
Crisis Core has also received awards by different publications. It was nominated by GameSpot for the "Best of 2008" awards, in "Best Story", "Best RPG Game" and "Best PSP Game" categories; it won "Best PSP Game of 2008". Crisis Core was also listed as the tenth best PSP game of all the time by IGN.[84] Four IGN articles of the game were in "The Top 10 PSP Stories of 2008", with the review article being first.[85] In IGN's Best of 2008, Crisis Core won in the categories Best RPG and Best Story for the PSP.[86][87] Videogamer.com placed it fifteenth and fourth in their articles "Best Games of 2008" and "Top 10 PlayStation exclusives of 2008", respectively.[88][89] GamePro featured it as one of the five games PSP gamers should play, one of the 31 best PSP titles in 2009, and as the seventh best video game prequel.[90][91][92] Play's Samuel Roberts came to dub Crisis Core the best game of 2008.[93]
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