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Chronicles

Cy4n has 13 chronicles

  1. Cy4n ABT: Final Refletions

    Player Chronicle -- Posted on Sep 05 2008

    There have been WAY too many "Final" Fantasies, let me say outright. While Square (not SE, before the Enix merger) was in danger of floundering belly-up, they let one designer have enough power to create what could very well have been their swan song: a role-playing game that had the player control a small party of heroes setting out to save the world, based around the pen-and-paper games Gary Gygax and friends helped to create.

    The game was Final Fantasy. And after 20+ adventures with the title, Square-Enix has found themselves a little place in gaming history, and probably most notably with characters like Cloud and Tifa in the seventh major incarnation of the Final Fantasy franchise.

    Which I HATED. FFVII, I believe, is over-praised, over-rated, and doesn't hold up well enough (sadly, like many fun original Playstation games) against the test of time. No, I don't hate it because it's so well-beloved, I don't hate it because it just won't go away... but that particular Chronicle is for another blog, another time.

    What I'd like to actually address is the PSP prequel to it, Crisis Core.

    Crisis Core, for the uninitiated, is the backstory behind the events in Final Fantasy VII: Zach, one of the last major SOLDIER operatives, commences setting off a chain of events that lead the player to the very beginnings in the characterizing of Cloud, the main character in FFVII. The story introduces many characters that show up later in the fight against the "evil" Shinra Corporation, and since I don't want to ruin any of the story elements I won't ruin who those characters are; if you've played FFVII before, you'll get a kick out of who shows up. And at what age.

    I think I have a fairly unique view of this game, being that I'm one of the "few" that really had trouble getting anything from the source material. Crisis Core, for being an extension of the original characters and settings, really steps away from FFVII and creates its own identity with a re-vamped control scheme (a more PSP-conformed adaptation of the Kingdom Hearts battle system), more quickly-fleshed characters (Zach and Angeal are easy to grasp in their entirety early on, and grow as the story continues), clearer dialogue and an overall feel that makes it clear this game can stand on its own instead of being some sort of "rehash."

    Let me say that I really enjoyed this game. I spent many hours playing Kingdom Hearts, and I've wanted to try to find a way to enter into the story arc, but while playing on my PS1 I found myself wondering why I was trying to slog through, why should I bother with these characters I don't know about, I don't feel a level of care for... and maybe I just didn't "get it" the first time in playing it. But after finishing the PSP story, seeing how it finishes up (and the emotion I was genuinely starting to feel from the way the ending was presented), I'm tempted to give Final Fantasy VII another chance. It's still sitting in my closet, right now... and it's calling me to play.

    When I play it more, and see what I think in comparison, I'll be sure to post more... and please, if you think this article was too thin since I avoided specifics in the stories (I really want you to experience this cross-section of the story for yourself), let me know, and at a future date I can elaborate and give more thorough examples. Smile

    But until then, just as a gaming experience on the PSP, you can do significantly worse than adding this title to your collection. Hey, gotta appreciate a game that actually utilizes the analog stick... and makes it WORK, right?



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Chronicle Comments

Cy4n has 2 comment s on this chronicle.

  1. Dynafire Dynafire
    Posted On Sep 08 2008

    Agreed. Nice review - I would really like to give Crisis Core a shot, but I don't own a PSP, and can't justify buying one when there are only a handful of games I'm interested in.

    In regards to FFVII: I agree that it is regarded much too highly. I personally enjoyed it, because all the little things never got to me. The gameplay was enjoyable, and at the time, FFVII was one of the first games to incorporate CG scenes. (Which look god-like compared to the normal field screen, with sprites that look like a child's nightmare.) Nowadays, CG doesn't make that much of a difference. The graphics on this generation of consoles are very good, but back then, it was mind blowing.

    It all comes down to personal opinion, though. It's not wrong for anyone to dislike any particular game just because a million more people like it. (take Gears of War for example - I just didn't "get it", and playing through the later missions just started to feel like a chore, and were not much fun. The multiplayer doesn't really hold my interest either.) I honestly like FFVIII the best out of all the games in the series, with FF Tactics coming in at a close second. Hmm...a chronicle may be in store for explaining this... Smile

  2. BEN BEN
    Posted On Sep 06 2008

    Nice video game review here. You're a true handheld gaming master!