Look. Final Fantasy 7 is one of my favorite games ever. I completely acknowledge that a lot of that might be nostalgia, but the game did really do some new and amazing things for the genre. The scope of the game for one was quite stunning. Also the Materia system is still one of the best skill/ability growth systems I've ever used in an RPG.But the truth is, the game got so much initial hype because of Square's insane skill at creating some of the most beautiful CG FMV cutscenes ever. To this day, when they have their "A game" on, they still deliver with it too. Either way, I have a place soft spot for the universe created with Final Fantasy 7. So when I heard that Square was making a prequel that would follow the story of Zack Fair prior the events of Final Fantasy 7, I was more than thrilled.
Well, I hated the game. I forced myself through the end only by sheer determination to see the end. I hated the sluggish, shallow, and easy combat (I didn't do any of the side missions and had little trouble), but the real tragedy was how the Crisis Core development team butchered my nostalgia for the game world it was based on. This game reeks of the worst parts of Kingdom Hearts. The new characters were cheesy and uninteresting, and the dialogue was so bad I wanted to pull my fucking hair out. Every fucking line in the game was some shit about dreams and dreaming. I fucking hated it. And why the fuck does everyone have wings? WINGS? What the FUCK???
But I had my motivation. All Final Fantasy 7 players knew what had to happen at the end of the game. We didn't know the details of Zack's story, but we knew his fate. Squaresoft does CG FMV better than anyone else out their, and I wanted to see this memorable moment in a modern form. Well the game delivered on that. And the purpose of this post is to show you the excellent ending to tickle your nostalgia bone so you don't have to play this pretty crappy game.
Again, you may really like what you are about to see. It contains spoilers, but honestly, if you are still reading this, you are probably a fan of Final Fantasy 7, and you probably know what is going to happen already. Just know that this ending if not representative of the full game. Enjoy this, and skip the game.
Brad
9 comments:
Crisis Core did alot of things wrong, its story was crap, the gameplay was crap and for the most part the music was crap. But the one thing it did right was it really fleshed out Zack Fair's character.
Before playing the game I always thought of Zack as "just some random member SOLDIER", but after completing the game I thought really differently of him. He went from being a somewhat immature and annoying kid at the start of the game to a true hero.
I always knew what would happen in the end, everyone who'd already played FF7 did. What I didn't expect, however, was just how sad it would make me feel. I'd warmed to Zack's character and seeing him face such a tragic end was quite powerull for me, and it will always be one of my most memorable moments in gaming.
I thought the story was pretty good. It bridged the story of FF7, or at least for me because I was fucking confused during. The combat could've done some better though.
That is a shame really, from what i'm reading here, Square didn't really try hard enough to make this a good enough game even if it is a prequel, they could have done better. I don't have a PSP so I had often wondered about this title about how it was in terms of gameplay,etc
The best of Square was during the late 90's with the PSX explosion(Xenogears, Tobal 1-2,Parasite eve,Final Fantasy Tactics,etc), its like they are getting lazy these days with half-assed crystal chronicle titles.
Honestly, I think this is one of those games that you can say, was lost in translation.
Square did bring their "A" game to this, most definitely, but Square USA didn't. I played this game through the first time imported all in Japanese and just loved it. Everything about the game was so good, it was really a joy to play. I picked it up a year later in English and to be totally honest, I see where your post is coming from. I myself couldn't bare to finish it, the voice acting alone killed this game. It went from so very fantastic in Japanese to medicore at best in English. It really did make a lot of different. It's almost like just because this was on a portable system they didn't put as much effort into giving it good voice acting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi7_VWM53YM
Check out the video and you will see the difference. The sheer emotion conveyed is worlds beyond what you see in the English version.
Now the only complaint I did ever have about this game was the difficulty. The game is much more fun playing it on Hard rather than normal. The battles actually take skill and preporation, rather than just mashing on the X button, which is what most people do on Normal mode.
In short, had the game included the Japanese soundtrack and forced you to play on Hard, you probably would have liked the game a hell of a lot better. There's a reason why in Japan the game got so many followers and good reviews, but in America it wasn't received as much.
It only makes me wish and hope that Final Fantasy 13 has Japanese voices. On a full blown console version though I doubt Square USA would do the same crappy voice actors as they did with Crisis Core, but you never know.
I would love to see Square USA try and fit the Japanese track on the 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII. LOL. But, seriously, the game wasn't bad. The voice acting was a bit off, but I only played the game for the ending, and I got Zack's story as a bonus, which wasn't bad at all.
It killed me that Aerith never saw him again, and it only kicked in that Zack and Cloud "went missing" for 4 years when I remembered the scene in Final Fantasy VII where it shows Zack and Cloud in those incubator tube thingies.
The ending was done really well. I mean when Aerith met her fate in FFVII I was in total shock and disbelief, and absolutely pissed, but when Zack spoke those last lines: "Do you think I became a hero?", I actually shed a tear. It was that great of an ending. In my opinion.
The potential release of a FFVII prequel was the main reason I bought a PSP.
While I love most of my PSP games, I really regret every minute I spent on Crisis Core.
Except for the ending, which tugged on my heartstrings the right way.
hahah, thanks for saving me the trouble! always looking out for the PSP-less.
Yikes, Cloud was like, totally being made to service Zack in that ending. And Cloud looks like a kid too. Bad touch, Zack, bad touch.
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