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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2022
I never owned a PSP growing up so when I heard this game was being released for PS5 I was so excited. I’d heard a lot of good things about this game and I think I set the bar a little too high… I loved FF7. I loved Remake. So I thought I’d love this game.
The player is introduced to three SOLDIER 1st class characters: Angeal, Sephiroth, and Genesis. Angeal is a loving, but stern, father figure. Sephiroth is professionally calm, cool, and aloof. Genesis… maybe this is my age showing, but Genesis was highly annoying. He’s that melodramatic emo kid whose dialogue is 90% quotes from Loveless and has not much else to say, but just churns quotes after quotes at you. Maybe I would’ve liked him in my teens, idk. But since he’s so much in the game, his dialogue took away some enjoyment from the experience.
Genesis being the first sore point, the next one is the random encounter rate. I realize this game is from a time when jrpgs had stupid high random encounter rates forcing you to grind, but this is just ridiculous. Every 2-3 steps, fight. Another 2-3 steps, fight. Seriously, can I just get to the save point already? The fights themselves however are decent and kinda fun. I was initially a bit out off by the random limit/level up wheel but it wasn’t too bad once I got used to it. The fighting inputs could be frustrating from time to time due to lag between pressing a button and the action, but that may have been more on my end or something that can be fixed in controller settings on the system.
The last two things that made this game ok instead of great are the English voice acting and missions. Most of the English voice acting wasn’t bad but I really wasn’t a fan of Zack’s voice. Do yourself a favor and switch to Japanese voices. As for the missions, I felt they were incredibly boring. They really didn’t add too much to the main story and most of the rewards weren’t that great. Unfortunately it’s the only way to get some decent equipment pieces and materia - not as a reward, but as treasures you find in the mission itself. The only mission I mildly enjoyed was Treasure Princess. Between the random encounter rate and the missions, there was a LOT of fluff to pad this game. Otherwise the game would be considerably shorter than what it is.
Now for the good - The graphics look great and the music is solid, staying true to the FF7 universe. I love how they depicted Nibelheim, Midgar (keeping in mind this was how it was prior to Remake) and the Shinra building. Music is what you heard in FF7 with a twist or some new pieces. My favorite piece is the violin music in the church.
Overall, Crisis Core has a good story with some emotional punches. I’d say the game is worth picking up at $30 or lower, keeping in mind it’s not a long game at all (maybe about 15 hours, more or less) if you take out all the fluff.
The player is introduced to three SOLDIER 1st class characters: Angeal, Sephiroth, and Genesis. Angeal is a loving, but stern, father figure. Sephiroth is professionally calm, cool, and aloof. Genesis… maybe this is my age showing, but Genesis was highly annoying. He’s that melodramatic emo kid whose dialogue is 90% quotes from Loveless and has not much else to say, but just churns quotes after quotes at you. Maybe I would’ve liked him in my teens, idk. But since he’s so much in the game, his dialogue took away some enjoyment from the experience.
Genesis being the first sore point, the next one is the random encounter rate. I realize this game is from a time when jrpgs had stupid high random encounter rates forcing you to grind, but this is just ridiculous. Every 2-3 steps, fight. Another 2-3 steps, fight. Seriously, can I just get to the save point already? The fights themselves however are decent and kinda fun. I was initially a bit out off by the random limit/level up wheel but it wasn’t too bad once I got used to it. The fighting inputs could be frustrating from time to time due to lag between pressing a button and the action, but that may have been more on my end or something that can be fixed in controller settings on the system.
The last two things that made this game ok instead of great are the English voice acting and missions. Most of the English voice acting wasn’t bad but I really wasn’t a fan of Zack’s voice. Do yourself a favor and switch to Japanese voices. As for the missions, I felt they were incredibly boring. They really didn’t add too much to the main story and most of the rewards weren’t that great. Unfortunately it’s the only way to get some decent equipment pieces and materia - not as a reward, but as treasures you find in the mission itself. The only mission I mildly enjoyed was Treasure Princess. Between the random encounter rate and the missions, there was a LOT of fluff to pad this game. Otherwise the game would be considerably shorter than what it is.
Now for the good - The graphics look great and the music is solid, staying true to the FF7 universe. I love how they depicted Nibelheim, Midgar (keeping in mind this was how it was prior to Remake) and the Shinra building. Music is what you heard in FF7 with a twist or some new pieces. My favorite piece is the violin music in the church.
Overall, Crisis Core has a good story with some emotional punches. I’d say the game is worth picking up at $30 or lower, keeping in mind it’s not a long game at all (maybe about 15 hours, more or less) if you take out all the fluff.
