Final Fantasy VII, despite being 10 years old, continues to resonate among audiences, due in large part because of its unique faces, from Final Fantasy VII Snowboarding to Dirge of Cerberus. Now comes Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII for the PSP, the prequel that sets the original game's events into motion. Square Enix did its part to push the hardware, presenting the types of quality cut scenes and music that is the publisher's pedigree. As a game, however, Crisis Core falls somewhat flat, no thanks to monotonous combat.

On the positive side, this is one of the few video games that tells an excellent story that stars characters you'll enjoy listening to, most importantly Zack, the young, combat happy member of SOLDIER that desperately wants some action. But there's also his mentor, Angeal, the famous Aerith, the nefarious Sephiroth and other faces, all of them playing a unique role in this charming, well-written narrative. And being that this is a Square Enix game, Crisis Core comes loaded with jaw dropping cut scenes with the type of full motion video that'd make Pixar blush. The intro alone is worth the price of admission, and makes us wonder what happened with Square Enix's box office flop, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.

In addition, the game sports a beautiful soundtrack, a mix of new music and songs yanked from Final Fantasy VII. It and the solid voice acting perfectly compliment those cut scenes, creating a great cinematic achievement.

So that's enough butt kissing. Bottom line, Crisis Core isn't that great a video game. It revolves around a one-button system in which you position Zack near an enemy and repeatedly mash the X button, occasionally pausing to press the L or R triggers to "slide" to another command, such as spell casting or accessing your item inventory. The problem is that it requires excellent positioning and quick wit to execute, as you're unable to attack while running through your health potions. As such, it's easy to (in a panic) lose track of what slide you're on and waste all your elixirs when you assumed you were attacking. And when you do get back to fighting, you're stuck pressing X until your enemy dies. The combat isn't completely real time, but we wish there were at least some combos we could bust out. Those Square, Triangle and Circle buttons seem lonely. Watching Zack perform special moves without our help doesn't cut it.

In addition, the narrator makes us angry. Every time you enter a battle, she says "Activating Combat Mode," and when you finish "Combat Resolved." It's cool for the first few times. After 30 or more times, we wanted to kill the audio.

Yet, despite our complaints, we continued to play, partly because we needed to see the next glorious computer generated movie, and because the combat, while dry, isn't terrible. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII isn't nearly as good as the game it's based upon, but it's still a fun ride that's exponentially better if you care about the original.

Related Links

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Game Guide