Crisis Core expands the backstory of Final Fantasy VII while flourishing in its own right on the PSP.
Reveals in-depth the events leading up to Final Fantasy VII
Interesting blend of RPG elements and Action style gameplay
Cons:
Gameplay can be confusing at first glance
Leveling up is "random"
"Shackled" story
"Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII" for the Playstation Portable is a retelling of the backstory for the highly famed Playstation One game, "Final Fantasy VII". Crisis Core stars the tragic hero Zack Fair in his rise and fall as a SOLDIER 1st Class with the Shinra Electric Power Company. During his adventure, Zack will encounter old characters from Final Fantasy VII such as Aerith Gainsborough and Cloud Strife, and new characters such as Angeal Hewley and Genesis Rhapsodos. Some constant themes running throughout the story is what it means to be a hero, being labeled a monster and fulfilling that role, and freedom.
Classified as an "Action RPG", Crisis Core combines elements of a role playing game (leveling up, experience points) and an action game where the player is able to move about freely during the battles (akin to Square-Enix's Kingdom Hearts). With the ability to attack with his sword and cast different magic spells, Zack is also able to guard and dodge attacks. These two commands weren't just after thoughts; if the player gets the timing right, they can dodge nearly every physical attack and even magical attacks, guarding against attacks will lessen damage taken considerably. Though there are certain attacks that cannot be dodged or guarded against.
Granted, Crisis Core isn't the first nor the last game to be action oriented with RPG elements, but the developers did a fine job of being able to balance the gameplay elements to give it a feel of an RPG and not just a hack and slash game. Zack has Hit Points, Magic Power, Action Points (allows him to dodge, guard, among other commands), Soldier Points (allows the DMW to spin, used in Materia Fusion), and he gains experience as well. For those players who are no strangers to the Final Fantasy series, they will be happy to know that Ether is readily available; however it's the Phoenix Down that will be nearly impossible to come across.
The gameplay for Crisis Core is interesting to say the least. Crisis Core employs what is called a "Digital Mind Wave" (DMW) system. As the name implies, the DMW is essentially a reflection of Zack's memories and thoughts of the important people in his life. The DMW are three reel slots that continually spin during battle; not only do numbers spin, but portraits of important people to Zack spins as well.
Like actual slots, the DMW is random; landing on a certain combination of numbers will grant Zack temporary status enhancements such as invincibility and zero MP cost, just to name a few. The DMW also controls the summons and limit breaks for Zack; if all three portraits are the same, Zack is granted a limit break; if Zack hits the trifecta with a summon, then the summon is initiated. A player who is use to controlling most aspects of gameplay might find the randomness of the DMW off putting and confusing during the first few hours of gameplay, but with the possible status buffs that can be granted by the DMW and would tip the scales of battle in favor of the player, it's understandable that there had to be some trade off.
Leveling up is also done through the DMW if the player is lucky enough to land on trips sevens. Though there is an actual experience points count kept by the game, Zack will not level up until he hits triple sevens, no matter if he has enough experience points for the next level. The same nearly applies for the material, if the reel lands on two numbers that are the same and there is a material in that particular slot, the material will level up. Because of the randomness and luck involved when it comes to leveling up Zack and the materias, this could drag out the game progression and hinder Materia Fusion if the player likes to train (grind out a few levels) before moving on with the story.
Speaking of, the other important aspect of the gameplay lies with Materia Fusion. With Materia Fusion, the player is able to create different and rare forms of materia and powerful magic attacks; some materia can only be created through Materia Fusion. At first glance Materia Fusion seems confusing and overwhelming as the player attempts to undertake the task of seeing just how the process works, and how it can be advantageous. Arguably, the most important of job of Materia Fusion is the ability to max out Zack's stats as this is the only way to do so otherwise.
In theory, the player is able to mold Zack to their liking through Materia Fusion; if the player wants Zack to be a deadly attacker, they are able to achieve that through fusing of the correct items, material and stats. If the player decides that Zack should be a powerful mage, then that's also possible through Materia Fusion. The Player could even develop Zack to be both a powerful attacker and an unstoppable mage if they put in the time to farm the items and max out all of Zack's stats.
Zack is able to go on missions anytime during the story; since the gameplay is pretty linear missions act as side quests for Crisis Core; Zack is able to discover rare items and materia during any given mission and has more freedom to level up and farm items if needed. Missions become progressively harder as Zack completes them, so Materia Fusion will be a must if one is undertaking completing the 300 missions offered by Crisis Core.
The developers didn't have too much leeway with the story since anything too complicated or in-depth would place Crisis Core outside the canon of Final Fantasy VII. Because of this, the story of Crisis Core is considerably weak and straight forward. The main plot points the developers stayed true to and elaborated on were the origin of the Buster sword, Sephiroth's betrayal, Cloud's friendship with Zack and mental breakdown, and Zack's final stand.
Though Crisis Core has its foundation built from the story of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core is able to pull its own weight on the PSP and makes for an enjoyable experience independently from the Final Fantasy VII Compilation.