Playstation 2 - Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII Recommended

Format
Playstation 2
Publisher
Square-Enix
Developer
Square-Enix
Country of origin
Japan
Release date
US August 2006
Genre
3rd person action

Dirge of Cerbreus : Final Fantasy VII

By David Rasmussen
1st Oct 06

When we sunk our teeth into Final Fantasy VII way back when on the classic PSOne console we probably thought we’d never see another game as good as it again in the Final Fantasy franchise.
Then years later people started to buzz about Final Fantasy X, the next franchise game of the series that got people talking. Final Fantasy X-2... Err… not so much buzz, but it should have buzzed abit because it was the first sequel in the franchise and the latest attempt to take the franchise in a new direction, alibt not a very big direction… until now.

Post Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children the first truly innovative new direction for the franchise has come. No, first off when I say new direction I don’t mean the direction taken by the first MMORPG of the franchise Final Fantasy XI Online. Yes, this is an innovation in that it takes the franchise in a new never before seen direction, yes, but after four years or so and a few expansion packs the franchise title is on it’s way to a shallow grave as members continue to leave for the greener pastures of Guild Wars and World of Warcraft. No, the new direction I’m talking about is the newest Final Fantasy VII game that introduces the world of 1st slash 3rd Person Shooters into the Final Fantasy franchise with Dirge of Cerbreus : FFVII.

Set three years after Final Fantasy VII, one year after Advent Children, it seems a brooding Vincent Valentine (who is continuously hung up on this woman he’s been fixated on for the longest time, you remember her… what’s her name…) cannot sit out a celebration in a brooding fit because a strange force (one of the final legacies of the overthrown Shinra Corporation) has come to kidnap and slaughter innocent civilians. Thrust into battle you find yourself facing a brand new world where instead of fighting it out RPG style you must shoot your way out in your first shooter game for the FF franchise!
Don’t worry, with a tutorial set before Vincent became the bad dude he is now, you’ll get the hang of the system of gameplay ASAP, and once your done with this the game will even recommend which mode of gameplay you should play… not much though since this only has NORMAL and HARD.

Back to the gameplay, you have your trusty gun (Cerbreus) which is nice and all… but you need more. Thankfully you can adjust this one gun with a batch of barrels, stocks, bodies and so forth so that you can crank out a small arsenal of weapons at your disposal including a small handgun, a machine gun and a sniper rifle for long distance reaching out and touching bad guys. Oh, and don’t forget a mostly useable melee attack that works (except if your using jump and attack at the same time which kind of doesn’t work so well as you may have wanted it to unless your right on top of the opponent).
As for your other form, the form of Chaos? Simply by locating a Limit Break item you’ll be able to trigger it (you can hold a few so you can save it until you need it for a fierce mid-boss battle or something). You will only be transformed for a time, so basically let loose on your full abilities right away (which is mostly fireball shooting though if your using auto locking then you are given seeker shots which track enemies as you fire wildly). Now add to this your standard third person shooting mechanics (shoot people, collect the stuff they drop to keep your ammo up or stock up the gil needed to buy new weapons upgrades, new parts for upgraded attacks or new weapons, materia for spell attachments or other upgrades) and a fine camera system plus a solid lock on (which can be set to auto or manual) and you got a fine bit of gameplay here.

Of course you’ll need it as you find yourself drawn into a war against these Khan Noonian Singhs of Final Fantasy as these powerful genetically superior types (victims of human genetics experimentation by Shinra which made them into the heartless beings your faced with except for one who I’ll mention later) are working to revive this gigantic power known as The Omega (which will bring an end to all life and light on the world) unless you (who wields the power of Chaos, capable of countering Omega) can stop them… which is not going to be an easy task, to say the least. From there on out it’s a race to save the world which you first do solo, but later you run into the ever lovely (ever quirky and goddess wouldn’t it be fun if we got her and Rikku from FFX in the same game together) Yuffie (who doesn’t suffer from personality drain here unlike her appearances in Kingdom Hearts I and II) and… that’s it. Yes, the rest of the cast does appear but for the most part the only one you really spend any quality time with is Yuffie (I don’t mind). After that there’s also this mysterious former member of the bad guys, a young woman who is reunited with her older sister who ends up on the bench after she’s manhandled by the enemy. She’s a total bad(bleep) with a nice fighting style and… wait, that’s not important because of one of the game’s flaws… at least in the start.

The game promises you can play as other characters but with the exception of Cait Sith (the strange cat thing) who has a total Metal Gear Solid rip-off level (right down to the parody title of the level) you can’t play as any other character until you finish the principal gameplay! There is a huge selection of bonus gameplay in this giant “mission” but whether or not you can play as other characters here is unclear. This is a shame since this game packs two of the most interesting female characters in a shooter game yet (everyone’s favorite Yuffie and that other female) and yet you have ZERO chance to use them! Damn!

This, mind you, isn’t the only flaw of the game. I don’t think these are enough to dissuade you from giving this game a chance, but they are to be considered all the same.
First off this game’s principal main storyline is short. About a dozen hours and it’s done. You do have a whole lot of unlockable content that you need to dig up through the principal gameplay (either by shooting certain hidden targets or some other means) and the whole bonus set of levels to play through, but the main game itself is still short (unlike Final Fantasy VII which didn’t have lots of bells and whistles but did have long gameplay value).

Second problem is that the game is a straightforward shooter. There isn’t enough puzzles or blockades to keep you troubled for long, though at times you do get a few here and there that’ll intrigue you. However for the most part the game is a simple proposition of going from point A to point B, fight a sub-boss battle or a boss battle, and move on. The only real challenge is fulfilling the requirements for unlocking the extras (though the best extras, the bonus missions and the cinematic cutscenes done by the people who did Advent Children, unlock once you finish the game).

Third problem I already talked about, the promise of playing other characters that don’t seem to pan out unless you play over a dozen hours at least though I haven’t played the bonus levels yet so I can’t say if you finally get to take either Yuffie or the new Sith like twin “lightsaber” wielding girl for a spin or not.
(Oh, yeah, look! Speaking of that new bad(bleep) female character just look at her! A Final Fantasy female character with all the character development of a Vulcan! I was almost tempted to look for pointed ears and wait for her to say “Live long and prosper”… though eventually she shows her emotions when it counts).

Otherwise except for the fact that this game is short, and replay value is in the eye of the beholder (I.e. is this game solid enough that you’ll replay it even if it is like God of War in that it’ll play the same way for the most part each time you play it), the big sell of this game is that you can take it as a “sequel” of Advent Children. With about a fifth of the game done by the Advent Children people (meaning beautifully rendered theatrical quality cutscenes) you have a feel at times that this is a playable “sequel” to Advent Children as you focus on the life (through present gameplay and past flashbacks) of Vincent Valentine, and his connection to Chaos, which in turns connects to these new people who arise in this game and their connection in turn to the woman Vincent is always thinking of, and… wow… lots of interconnectivity here. And no, the story won’t (bleep) out at the end as everything is tied up nice and tight, with an ending that should suit you well enough without any hanging plot points or so forth to plague you.
Doesn’t encourage a sequel game though, but at least the story starts and ends solidly all the same.
Breakdown time.

Dirge of Breakdown
What’s Hot?
If you can forgive some of this game’s quirks and failings you’ll enjoy the walk down memory lane, visiting new places and revisiting places of old as you walk about the world you remember from way back when and see it in a brand new visual light. Also, for a shooter set in the Final Fantasy universe, it is a solid enough game. It doesn’t have a lengthy gameplay life in the primary storyarc, yes, and you can’t mix and match usage of characters by taking the other main characters for a spin but the game is solid for the most part. And as for those other characters (you know who I’m thinking of) at least you might have that chance (maybe) once you unlock the bonus levels. Maybe. I never found out if it was possible.

Also the soundtrack works for me, and I liked the music. While I’m at it I also liked the long long cutscenes… for once a game with Xenosaga length cutscenes that I DIDN’T MIND WATCHING! Yah!

What’s Not?
I already mentioned the few quirks, but there are a few more that I think I forgot. These, by the way, are not all that important and the game is still a worthy addition if only for the lovely theatrical cutscenes that you can add to your collection as a “sequel” to Advent Children. Either way this is worth considering.

Moments to Remember?
Every moment with Yuffie is a moment worth remembering. That and the beautiful theatrical quality cutscenes which look oh-so pretty… oh, and the game is fun too with the multitasker that your gun is and all the lovely shooting.

What to Ignore?
How again did the people of Final Fantasy X-2 totally forget about Final Fantasy VII to the point of naming one of the Gullwing support characters after the evil organization from FFVII?!? That’s sorta like short term let’s get away from Classic G.I. Joe spinoff G.I. Joe Extreme naming one of their new members COBRA or DESTRO.

Otherwise I guess I can ignore me comparing that new female character (forgot her name) to a Vulcan… though she does seem so logically vulcan at times when you see her (and she joins the side of good)… I mean, really… maybe she’s Evil goatee wearing Spock like-like when she’s evil at the start of the game.

Overall?
It’s not the breakthrough game Final Fantasy VII was, but in the end it is a nice slice of different and if you can forgive several of the game’s failings you’ll find a nice solid shooter set in the Final Fantasy universe that you’ll have fun playing… and watching, as this game sports some of the nicest cutscenes I’ve ever seen in a video game to date (short of the cutscenes from Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy X or the upcoming release of Final Fantasy XII).
Long story short rent this out if you question it’s worth, but give it a try. Nice game worth considering for your collection for one reason or another, recommended.

-- David Rasmussen 1st Oct 06

Playstation 2 Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII Images