The best game on the PSP and a great addition to the FF7 franchise.
It has been discussed if FF7 its really the greatest final fantasy ever, and many people say, no, it isn't, but for the most of the people that played every final fantasy, VII remains the most beloved of them all.
Lately there have been some games released with the final fantasy VII tag, crisis core its a prequel to final fantasy VII, advent children (DVD video) and dirge of cerberus (3rd action shooter for the PS2 featuring vincent valentine as main character) continue the story of final fantasy VII. The final fantasy VII history its rich and this gave birth to a lot of side games based on the original story. Now... the review on crisis core:
Graphics:
The game opens with a great FMV, first impression... wow this is great, the graphics during gameplay are not the same as during the FMVs (this is something that everyone who played other final fantasy games were already expecting), BUT, the graphics during the gameplay are the best I have seen in a PSP and the framerate its impressive! no slow downs at all!, the character design its great and the game really reminds everyone of the original ff7, walking around sector 8, slums etc really gives a great flashback.
Gameplay:
I was really surprised to see that the gameplay was so good, I was thinking it would be something around Final fantasy XII (wich i don't consider to be a very good system), but not at all, we only control 1 character, zack, zack can use materia and a weapon all in real time, ramdom battles are back to final fantasy, you only occasionaly see the enemies roaming around the screen (when you do a mission for exp), a battle starts and the battle screen pops up, we can atack with the X button, evade with the square button and defend with the triangle button, we can also uso materia with O, we can select what materia to use with the R and L buttons, you get used to this system quickly and it works perfectly.
Only the DMW system can be a bit confusing at the beggining but you'll see its easy to understand (its automatic so you don't control level up or materia level up or limit breaks, limit breaks and summons are ramdom but level up or materia level up its not).
Sound:
I have seen this somewhere... yup there are lots of sounds that are exactly the same from final fantasy VII, but is this bad? no! its impressive but in crisis core even the same sounds are great, if you played FF7 you'll love to hear all that well known sounds again, and if you didn't than it will be all new and if you hear it for the first time the sound tracks and sound effects are great, the one winged angel soundtrack its back!
Value:
The game its not as long as other final fantasys like the original 7 or 8, but the game its a completely diferent one, I think they could have done the story a little longer but for this kind of game its the average, there is a mission system that has a lot of things to do, a loooottt of missions to do, you can also make a new game with the character you have finished the game and a hard mode that offers more hours of gameplay, also mastering all materia and have all the materia and items its a big challenge that requires a lot of time.
Overall:
Crisis Core its the best game I played on the PSP so far and it will take a lot to change my mind, if you played final fantasy VII you have to go purchase this game no mather what the cost, if you have never played final fantasy VII... guess what? go buy it no mather what the cost either. This is a real masterpiece.
Obs - Make sure you have something to dry your tears in the end of the game, because if you are a soft person you will definetly need it.