Yesterday I beat Alundra 1(1998 PS 1 action rpg, like Zelda 3 but with extremely hard puzzles and a dark story, score of 9/10 from me) and right after that I bought Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core and the strategy guide. The game is great!

I'm just enjoying the game a lot all the way around. I think the main story by itself is 12-14 hours long. But I'm going for a 100% completion rate, which means, among other things, beating all 300 of the extra missions. I think that will take 70 hours. So I'll have to play two hours a day to beat the game by the time that Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift comes out on June 24th.

The story and characters are great and I love Zack's random funny comments and actions. The graphics are extremely high quality and I also enjoy the music. The controls and battle system are great as well, plus the game has a lot of sidequests.

I played a lot so far, I'm 5 and a half hours into the game, and I'm 1/3 done with the third of ten chapters. Also, as I go along in the game I beat all missions that are unlocked that have a Very Easy, Easy, or Normal status attached to them at the time. I don't beat the Hard or Very Hard ones until they get easier because I think that'll make the game take longer, and I want to beat the game by June 24th.

It's great to visit the Final Fantasy VII universe again! What do you guys think of the game? :)

Well regardless of what marks it might get in reviews as long as you enjoy it thats the main thing. I havent played it yet and tbh I dunno if Ill ever bother with any of these spinoffs as much as I liked the original game.

Yea try the game I recommend it~!! Yea, the spinoffs aren't the same level but they are still great I think. Did you watch Advent Children?

EDIT:
I'm starting to realize the length of all these missions. There are 300 missions and right now I think are about 2-8 minutes in length, the ones I've played so far. Basically there's a small paragraph of a story/mission for each mission. I go into the area, beat enemies, open treasure chests, and beat a boss. I get a ton of great stuff and unlock more missions. I also run next to the walls in these missions to avoid battles and speed up the completion of the mission. These missions are great but I think there's too many of them. 300 missions is a lot, there should be 100-150 missions instead I think. I'm going for a 100% completion rate of the game, so I'm going to beat all the missions, it will take maybe 70 hours I think. The game is great though! I am at the start of Chapter 5 and I'm excited. :)

EDIT:
I just got through a hard part in Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. It takes place during Chapter 5 where you have to infiltrate a facility and avoid patrolling guards while picking up treasure chests, like in Metal Gear Solid 1. Anyways I had trouble because even though I have the strategy guide, I had trouble with the camera. If you are not in the proper place, you can't move the camera properly and see where the guards are. If I make a mistake, and wanted to truly complete this little quest, I had to reload the game, so it took a while.

While I'm at it, I'll post a walkthrough for this part, for anybody who's going to play the game. There are five treasure chests to get, while avoiding the patrolling guards. Also, you have to press X to do squats sometimes so you don't freeze from the cold weather in this area...

1. When you start the quest, wait a little bit for your proper time. Do about 6-7 squats to keep your body temperature up. Then a guard will appear from the left and move to the right. After he passes by, immediately run to the left, and get the treasure chest.

2. Then immediately run back, behind the guard. Wait a moment for him to make a turn and start walking to the left. Follow the guard, not too close though. When he's walking and gets close to the wall in front of him, run a little bit to the left and get the treasure chest.

3. The guard will not spot you, you don't need to crouch. Once the guard starts moving back in the direction he came from, torwards the main entrance, run next to where this guard was standing as you got the second treasure chest. There is a big barrel, stand behind this barrel, on the side farther away from the entrance. A new guard is going to be walking torwards you so you have to hurry! Crouch for now, the guard will walk torwards you, you will be crouching, and he will be standing next to you soon. When the guard turns around and starts walking torwards the entrance, get up. Do about 3-4 squats to get your body temperature up. Follow the guard, but not too close. You will be walking torwards the main entrance. Another guard is going to be coming your way, from the right. This guard will walk and stop in front of the main entrance. When that happens, run torwards the main entrance and when you get closer to the guard, run to right and stand behind the guard. The guard will then make a turn and start walking to the direction you just came from. At this moment you will prepare to start going torwards the second half of this facility perimeter area, but not yet. You will be standing in front of the main entrance. If you are facing the facility and away from the entrance, as if you just came in, you will see on the path to your right, a guard. This guard at this moment is not too close to you, and standing still for a moment. Directly to the right of the main entrance, but next to it, is a pile of stuff. Stand behind the pile of stuff, but on the side next to the main entrance, and crouch. The guard will start walking torwards you. After a little bit he'll be standing close to your left, at this moment run to the area where he was standing at. At this area, instead of getting the third treasure chest, or turning to the left, do something else. At the corner where you are at, there is some stuff. Stand behind this stuff, on the side closer to the main entrance, and crouch. In a few seconds a new guard will approach from around the corner. Wait until the guard completely passes you. Then get up and grab the treasure chest in the corner to your right.

4. Run to the left down the new pathway, and stay on the right side, grab the treasure chest.

5. Run to the left to the big area, there will be another treasure chest, get it. Then enter the facility.

Hehe, after typing this I realized that people probably uploaded video walkthroughs on Youtube. I found some, and they are more effective. Here they are...
YouTube - Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - Infiltration mini game (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDRc8wYm4gU)
YouTube - Infiltrate the facility Crisis Core (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flLWVaXK-KQ)

Also, I found a random Youtube person who has a lot of rpg walkthroughs...
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Krelian89

EDIT:
Please answer this question...
Right now I'm at the very start of Chapter 8 and I finished 30% of missions in maybe 21 hours. I want to complete this game with a 100% completion rate, which means doing all 300 missions. I want to finish it by June 24th when Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift comes out. How many hours will this take? I want to know if I can play this game for two hours a day and finish on time or do I need to put in three hours a day? :)

EDIT:
I just finished Chapter 8! The story is getting pretty intense now. I'm excited to continue on to the last two chapters. But I have only 30% missions or so completed! I'll have to stop and play 30 hours of missions eventually. I'm playing them as they go along, but I don't do the "Hard" ones until they get easier.

I figured I'd just bump this instead of making a new thread.

I'm enjoying the game, but the missions are a bit mundane, if not boring.

Also did anyone catch the line from a random SOLDIER 2nd class you speak to after being promoted? He says, "you're the man now, dog!" which made me el oh el.

I also believe this game was edited in a ridiculous way. FFVII had cursing out the wazoo in the first 3 hours. So much that they only edit out "fuck" iirc. But in CC they edit "bitching" into "she-dogging." WTF?!

This rules! :)

There are so many missions, 300 missions! They will take 55 hours and the main quest is only 15 hours, not my preference for the ratio of sidequests to the main quest length. I walk along the walls in the sidequests to avoid battles. I remember that line, it ruled! I didn't notice the editing but I remember about Final Fantasy VII.

Anyways, the game is great, but it's probably only on track for a 8/10 for me, a tad lower than the 9's, 9.5's, and 10's I've played recently. Although I gave Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne a 8/10 each I think.

By the way, Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift comes out tomorrow! I already have it pre-ordered and will buy it tomorrow, this is great! :)

Dragonsoul, I think you may be a bit too liberal in your ratings.

Hehe! :D

Anyways, I bought Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift today, the day it came out! It's a great game! But I'm going to focus for the next four weeks a bit more on Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, so I can beat it before Final Fantasy IV comes out on July 22nd. I don't want to be playing three games at once. I am loving my new copy of Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift! :)

Let me know if you get FFTA2 and if you like it more than FF VII: CC, I'm not sure yet.

Just beat CC.

Like most people who played this game, I knew what the inevitable ending was. But damn Square to hell for making me care about Zack! In FFVII, I thought he was a cool character and it sucked when he died. But since he had such a small part, it left my mind quickly after that secret scene in the Shinra Mansion. Yet, in CC, we see more about Zack and who he is. Well, I don't know about anyone else, but he is easily the best character in the whole compilation of FFVII.

Watching his death scene was indeed sad, but I also appreciate the way Square did it. Play the game to find out what I mean.

I just started the final chapter of the game. The game is going great right now, I'm happy with it. I'm 41% done with the missions, I'm annoyed because I'll have to stop and finish nearly 200 missions, so I can get a 100% completion rate, but I'll have forgotten some of the story after this. I'll review it online and in the strategy guide though. I think this game is better than Final Fantasy Tactics A2.

I'm 29-30 hours into the game. Please reply to this thread.

Zack is a great character! I haven't beaten the game yet, so I'd prefer not to know the ending of it Noskillbassist, thanks. Anyways, how many missions are you completing? I was thinking of just skipping the final half of them, but I think I'll probably just work through the final missions, all of them. How many missions did you beat? Did you beat the optional stuff that takes place in the final dungeon? :)

Are you kidding?

How do you not know what happens. That's like watching Titanic and being surprised when it hits the fucking iceberg.

Yeah, didn't Square already confirm decades ago that he's dead prior to the beginning of FFVII?

I don't remember, and didn't know the ending, I wasn't sure if Zack died between games or at the end of FF VII: CC or what. No worries :D

I'm 31 hours into the game, 44% through the missions, and at the start of the final chapter. The game is on track for a 8/10 score. I played through about 10 missions tonight. They felt in a way kinda repetitive, boring, unnecessary, and didn't have great enough story and rewards for all of them. I think this mission system would have worked better of there were 100-150 missions instead of 300. I don't know if I can take another 20+ hours of just beating missions to get them completed. I think what I'll do is just play the missions until I get to a 50% completion rate. Then I'll finish the game, although I will do the other optional stuff in the final chapter. This way I can finish the game next week. I'll be able to move on with my gaming life and not have to spend 3-4 weeks of beating repetitive missions that aren't interesting enough to me. I'll then be able to focus more on Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift.

Now there's a similar situation with Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift. That game has over 300 missions, and they last much longer than the Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core missions. There's no way I'm doing all of those. And the game isn't as good as Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core for me, it's on track for a 7 or 8 out of 10 score from me. I may end up skipping all the missions that I can and most of the side quests, and finishing up the game in 30 hours or however long it takes. Then I can move on with some other rpg's.

I think after I finish these two games I'll play FF I(PSP), FF II(PSP), FF III(DS), and FF IV(DS). I really want to get started on those games! As far as side quests go, there are a few different things I consider when considering how many I will beat and how many the game should have. The length in hours of side quests vary in direct proportion to the length in hours of the main quest. I don't feel right having a 15 hour game with 55 hours of side quests. The more important the game, the lower ratio it can have for main quest vs side quests. For example Final Fantasy XII has more side quests time than the main quest, and that is not too bad since it's a main Final Fantasy game, I'm willing to devote time to something like this. Also, I'll consider how great the game is when I decide how many side quests to do. For a 7/10 rpg, I may beat this rpg but I may beat little or no side quests. And for a 9.5 or 10/10 game I may get a 100% completion rate for the game. I got a 100% completion rate for Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, and would have done that also for Final Fantasy XII if I was able to finish it in time before FF XII: RW came out. I felt like posting some information about these types of topics. Eh, I played enough FF VII: CC for tonight, I'll start up FF Tactics A2 now! :)

Is this game worth getting? Im tempted to buy the PSP + FFVII CC Bundle for $319.

Not if you just have a passing interest in it. The main story and game itself is decent, but the monotony of the missions bring the enjoyablility down, for me at least.

I'd recommend only if you were into FFVII and wish to delve into more of the lore.

Just beat CC.

Like most people who played this game, I knew what the inevitable ending was. But damn Square to hell for making me care about Zack! In FFVII, I thought he was a cool character and it sucked when he died. But since he had such a small part, it left my mind quickly after that secret scene in the Shinra Mansion. Yet, in CC, we see more about Zack and who he is. Well, I don't know about anyone else, but he is easily the best character in the whole compilation of FFVII.

Watching his death scene was indeed sad, but I also appreciate the way Square did it. Play the game to find out what I mean.

For sure. At first I thought Zack was too childish, but by the end I really liked him. As for being the best character... well, he's definitely better than most of the playable characters in FFVII. The death was well done, and I enjoyed the final two battles as well. I don't know if they were what you were alluding to?



Are you kidding?

How do you not know what happens. That's like watching Titanic and being surprised when it hits the fucking iceberg.

You are definitely right there. If you don't know the ending, your missing out on loads of details in the game. Bits are more poignant, such as the last meeting with Aerith and so forth.

My complaints with it were that it was too short, and that the villains were a bit weak in character. Genesis wasn't as captivating as (here comes the Firaga lol) Sephiroth. THO HE DID L00K BADAZZ MAN, DID U C HIZ GACKT RED LEAVA SO COOOOOOL MAN!!!!

Ahem.

The missions didn't really interest me at all, so I did a few to get some materia, but have left them all for when I get round to doing new game + in hard mode.

Anyway, I'm surprised that I agree with a lot of what you were saying. Apologies for presuming you were just a generic FFVII hater!

Meh, I don't hate FFVII but I don't love it.

As for the death scene, yes I was alluding to the final 2 battles. The DMW fading away had more of an effect than I would have thought. It gave more of a realisation that Zack was dying

Zack is pretty much the best character, imo. He actually has personality. Genesis though, was annoying as hell. Goddamn that bastard for quoting LOVELESS every fucking chance he got. Every time I see him it's "gift of the goddess" or "when the morrow comes" etc. etc. etc.!

Also, am I the only one who thought Zack and Aerith together were cute as hell? Poor Zack, when he got that letter and just realised he'd been in stasis for 4 years :(

Meh, I don't hate FFVII but I don't love it.

As for the death scene, yes I was alluding to the final 2 battles. The DMW fading away had more of an effect than I would have thought. It gave more of a realisation that Zack was dying

Also, am I the only one who thought Zack and Aerith together were cute as hell? Poor Zack, when he got that letter and just realised he'd been in stasis for 4 years :(


I felt that the whole DMW thing was very effective in general, it really went far in reducing the gap between player/character, and anything that does that gets my thumbs up.

RE Aerith, definitely. I think I've said elsewher that on a replay after that, she seems like a bit of a bitch! But still... it had been all that time and she couldn't be expected to wait around forever.

I was pleased with it because I had such low expectations. Dirge of Cerberus, oh dear.

You though Aerith a bitch? She seemed more ditzy to me.

All in all, though, I place CC above FFVII.

Dirge of Cerberus on the other hand... well, I like to pretend it doesn't exist.

You though Aerith a bitch? She seemed more ditzy to me.

No no, not a bitch as such but not as nice as she's meant to be. And only in FFVII, not CC.

Although she's a typical demanding girlfriend in CC!

Dirge of Cerberus on the other hand... well, I like to pretend it doesn't exist.

I actually enjoyed DoC....although I must admit, after passing it, I haven't played it since.

I finished maybe 10 missions today, and are 47% done with them now. I'll finish 10 more tomorrow to get 50% of them done. I'm feeling a bit annoyed though about the frequencey of the Limit Breaks. I keep getting a limit break every 5-10 seconds, it is slowing down my battles, I wish to speed them up somehow. Angeal and Tseng have the best limit breaks!

Angeal: "Prove your honor to me!"
Zack: "I got it!"
...this is ultimate! :)!!!

Tseng: "This is the end"
Zack: "I'm trying! I'm trying!"
...that's great! :)!!!

Actually Tseng says, "Is this the end?"

I didn't really understand what he meant by that...

He's taunting Zack, asking if it's the end for him.

Okay I bought the game yesterday and I am really enjoying it. Only up to Hollander (Zack is around level 12) but it is good good fun. A LOT of cut scenes which is kind of annoying but they are beautifully animated.

I thought Tseng was saying that this is the end of Zack's time he gave him to rescue Angeal's Mom from the village before Shinra bombed the town. Zack is saying he's working hard to rescue her really quick I think. The game is great yes, are you playing the missions? I like the Odin summon movie. :)

Well can't really say much that hasn't already been said.
I also enjoyed DoC and have played it over again only to get the little hidden things. CC I would say is masterfully done. I'm still trying to open the safe in the mansion,(new game+) any suggestions?

The safe was tough! I recommend checking out the area where the pumpkin monsters are floating, and check closely to see if there's any you missed, because that's tough. Write down in notepad all possible combinations, go through them one by one. Or do you need a tip in general and dont' know what I mean? Each number in the combination corresponds to a number of items you see in the doors where you peek in.

I will beat the game tonight! It's great! I finished 50% of the missions and I'm finishing up the last chapter. I'm preparing to fight the Behemoth King. I hope I can finish in two hours, because I may want to buy Final Fantasy I(PSP) at EB Games before the store closes in two hours! Or maybe I should delay FF I and focus on FF Tactics A2? :)

Okay I bought the game yesterday and I am really enjoying it. Only up to Hollander (Zack is around level 12) but it is good good fun. A LOT of cut scenes which is kind of annoying but they are beautifully animated.

A lot? What the fuck? No there aren't.

I thought Tseng was saying that this is the end of Zack's time he gave him to rescue Angeal's Mom from the village before Shinra bombed the town. Zack is saying he's working hard to rescue her really quick I think. The game is great yes, are you playing the missions? I like the Odin summon movie. :)
A) Worst theory ever.
B) I sold the game
C) You change topics faster than a kid with ADHD on a sugar rush.

I beat the game tonight! :)!!! The final level and the final boss were great! The ending was incredible, one of the very best endings of any game I've ever played! It ranks right up there with the endings of Final Fantasy VI, VII, X, and XII: Revenant Wings! The ending was 40 minutes long, I loved it. I'll beat the final battle again soon so that I can watch the ending again.

Here's my review of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core!! ...
Graphics - 10
Music - 8
Story - 8
Characters - 8
Controls - 10
Battle System - 8
Length/Side Quests - 10
Overall: 8/10

The ending I'd give a 10/10 to but I don't really rank endings, maybe I should though. I finished 50%(150 exactly) of the missions, and all three of the Chapter 10 side quests, plus any other non-mission side quests during the game. The game took 36 hours and 12 minutes roughly, it was a great game! What does everybody else think of this game after beating it? :)!!!

What Level were you when you were at Nibelheim? I'm only Level 31 and I'm there already.

Also Swami, now that Im further into the game, I retract that comment earlier....it's mainly just the start.

Ngrplz, levels don't really matter, tbh.

Most of your stats should and will come from materia fusion. Learn how to do it correctly and you'll be unstoppable. Literally.

Sounds good, will read a few guides on it when I get home.

Beat the crap outta Sephiroth last night and am up the final showdown.

Level 39 atm

Okay....I beat the game on the weekend, and adored every minute of the game (I'm upset that I passed it so quickly)

I was Level 48 when I completed it.

The ending is unbelievable and this is easily my most favourite game of the year.

I'm a little lost though as to hoe you can break the HP, MP and Atk 9999 limit. Does anybody know how to do this.

Apologies for double post.

It's all in Materia fusion.

There's an ultimate guide about it on GameFAQs. So ultimate, I didn't give a shit and just beat the game anyway.

So far i'm at at the part where you have to chase Hollander through Junon and it's a great game. Zack is a far better protagonist than Cloud. It's good to see Sephiroth while he was a good guy and an ally to Zack. This will probably be about an 8/10

Have you passed it yet Harkus?

It was a little disappointing at how easy the game is (takes about a week to get through, and maybe another week on missions)

A week? Took me a weekEND.

Fuck the missions. Too damned repetitive.

Yeah, I only did the missions I could do (Got a little hard with those little grass mobs that kill you in one hit when you have 9999 HP)

I need an RPG just as awesome, only supplies endless gameplay (Maybe 100 hours) ....Really want FFT: War of the lions, but it is impossible to get around here. >:

Import, duh.