3-25-2008		9-13-2007
	6-20-2008		6-20-2008

Shinra is at war with the province of Wutai. Their enemies are becoming more and more of a threat as they become the dominating power on the planet. SOLDIER their elite military group has begun to disappear. With little hesitation, Lazard sends 1st Class Angeal, and 2nd Class Zach to investigate the disappearances, and end the war. While on his journey, Angeal also goes missing, and leaves Zach wondering what is going on. In time, he will find that there was more to the disappearances than thought.
In the following time, Zack will meet and fall in love with a beautiful girl selling flowers in Midgar, and befriend a SOLDIER guard with dreams of becoming the best.
Soon he will find that not is all that it would seem. He realizes many things are going on beneath the surface of everything, even those he is closest to. The mystery of the Project G, and the Jenova Project will come to light, as well as Shinra's true nature in the world. He will ultimately give his own life, trying to stop those who would destroy the planet, and take his freedom away.

If Final Fantasy VII is Cloud's story, then Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is definitely Zack's story.

The game begins at the ending of the Shinra-Wutai war, where Sephiroth was elevated to hero status. From there it will follow the events of the story up to the point of Cloud riding on top of the train in Midgar in Final fantasy VII.

First the graphics of the game are beautiful. This game surely uses the power of the PSP with style. The FMV's as well as the in-game graphics are a marvel for such a small device. It is far beyond a step up in detail from the other three Final Fantasy titles currently available on this system.
The story, wow the story. The story is the best of the entire compilation thus far. The new characters were treated as such, that you believe right from the beginning that they were a part of the universe of VII. The new parts of the story, as well as the additions to the known areas are impressively done. As for the parts from the original game itself...I do not want to disclose any spoilers, but you will not be disappointed at all. In Last Order, it was shown that Sephiroth stabbed Cloud more times than in the original, and then leaped from the walkway himself. This was something that even I hated, because it was not right. In Crisis Core, it has been changed back to where Cloud is the one to stop Sephiroth, and destroy him. When this happened, I bet I was not the only person to go OH YEA!!!


There was little need to further develop the known characters, but the new characters were given the same care in developing engaging, realistic characters as before. Also the developing relationships between Zack and Cloud, Aerith, and Sephiroth (which are only mentioned in the game) were done beautifully. Square has it to where you are completely convinced of Sephiroth once being a good man, and Zack and Aerith falling in love. You get to see how these people's fates are pulled together, and ultimately ripped apart. Nothing as I can see is too over done.
The The gameplay is very simple to get the hang of quickly. The battles take place in real-time, and you have a list of up to 6 Materia commands, as well as Attack and Item. As you are fighting, there is a wheel spinning in the Left corner. This is the DMW exclusively made for Crisis Core. When the two end images match, you go into a Power Surge. If you can get teh three images to match, you will perform a Limit Break, Summon, or misc. attack. This actually made the game more fun for myself personally. The additions of 300 missions, Materia Fusion, and e-mails from opther players made even more fun for the game.
Overall, this game looks to be beyond hot. Famitsu Magazine gave it a 35/40 rating, which is only two spots below Final Fantasy VII's rating in 1997. On its release date in Japan , it sold 350,000 copies, as well as selling 77,777 copies of the PSP bundle. (yea, with the Lucky 7 there, the PSP grew really big, and stomped over the other consoles!). If there is anything to look forward to in 2008, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII may just be the one!