Crisis Core is a technical achievement in terms of graphics, sound, and gameplay and also has one great storyline!
The storyline of Final Fantasy VII was one of the main selling points of the game with its immersive world and characters so does Crisis Core provide the same immersive world and characters or does it just slap on some annoying characters like some other Japanese RPG's. Once again Crisis Core delivers with really delivers all the backstory on Final Fantasy VII and provides its own complex and amazing tale of its own. You play as Zack Fair, Cloud's mentor and friend from the original game. You play in the beginning of Zack's SOLDIER life as you meet new characters such as Angeal and Genesis and meet many familiar ones such as Cloud and Sephiroth. Crisis Core story fills in some of the holes of the original that has always bugged you when you finished the game. Crisis Core story in some ways is even better then the original and you really will get immersed in the story and it will lead you up to the very beginning of the original. Near the end of the game the true potential of Crisis Core story shines and the ending might leave you shedding a tear or two.
The characters of Crisis Core provides a fan service to all those Final Fantasy VII fans and also brings many new ones that will soon become fan favorites also. You will see familiar faces such as Zack, Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie, the Turks, and of course Sephiroth. All these characters are represented beautifully in terms of the graphics and of course the voice actors and won't ruin your love of these characters. You also got some new ones including Angeal the mentor of Zack and Genesis the childhood friend of both Angeal and Sephiroth. These new characters are just as loveable as the ones in the original game and you will likely grow quite fond of them.
The gameplay of Crisis Core is completely different then the original game. Instead of being turn based combat it is now an action RPG and it is a very unique one. The battle system works basically like any other action RPG. You get into random battle and I must say the encounter rate is extremely high in this game which might come as a turnoff for some people but because the battle system is so fun it won't really bother you. When you get into the battle you have a bar on the lower right side of the screen you use the shoulder buttons to select a command such as a attack command, your material, a special attack, or even a item. The way you switch from each command is incorporated so smoothly and will never seem clunky at all. You can also do the simple commands of blocking and evading enemy attacks. You must be asking "The battle system seems so ordinary and simple what sets Crisis Core apart from other RPG's?" The answer is its unique DMW (Digital Mind Wave) system; no other RPG has this distinctive system. The DMW system is basically like a slot machine with faces of characters in the game and numbers. Having three of the same faces will activate a limit break which you use in battle while the numbers have a wide variety of uses. If you have a certain combination of numbers you will receive a special effect such as "No MP Cost" or "Invincible".
The DMW also controls the way you level up such as have three sevens on the DMW will raise your level or having two of the same number will raise your materia's level. This mainly requires luck and may be a turn off to some gamers but trust me it will take some time to get use to the DMW system but one you do, you will be having a blast. The material in Crisis Core can be equipped on to the character to make Zack use powerful magic attacks and special moves they can be leveled up and also you can fuse material together to make a very powerful material through the material fusion option. You also have a wide variety of accessories to outfit on Zack to add special effects to him and increase his stats. You have a mother load of side missions to do besides the main quest but most of these missions consist of getting from Point A to Point B and then battle a few enemies and the mission is over. Despite the simple concept of the side missions they are quite fun thanks once again to the entertaining battle system.
The graphics of Crisis Core is a spectacle to watch it simply is a technical achievement on Square Enix's part for making such a beautiful game on the PSP. The normal graphics rivals that of some PS2 games and the cutscenes are simply beautiful and really looks like some PS3 graphics. The level design is quite simple not overly complicated just simple but it really won't bother you much. The graphics of Crisis Core most likely uses the full power of the PSP and really delivers you such a sight you will not forget anytime soon.
The sound of Crisis Core once again delivers a great tune to your ears. You will have most of Final Fantasy VII memorable tunes and some great new ones too. It will really make you hum to some of the songs in there and who knows you might add them to your MP3 player after you play this game. The voice actors for the characters in Crisis Core are amazing, usually Japanese RPG's have horrible voice actors that are just plain annoying sometimes but Square Enix pick them right this time. Every character is represented perfectly in Crisis Core because of there A-list voice actors.
The value of Crisis Core is also amazing. The main story of Crisis Core will take about 20-25 hours to beat and an extra 10-15 hours if you want to beat every side mission and unlock every single secret in the game. Although the length is short compared to other RPG's it is good enough so the battle system wont get wore down and become repetitive so it's the perfect length for the game.
Crisis Core is simply a adventure that everyone should try even if your not a fan of RPG's or never experienced the original that is Final Fantasy VII so if you have a PSP and don't own Crisis Core yet go out and buy your own very copy so you can experience this epic tale from start to finish. I give Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII a 9 out of 10.