~S-Rogue

(Posted from my LJ account... about a week after I made this post. XP)

Oh, boy. Do people even remember me? I'm Rogue, the bitchiest, biased, most-brattiest wanker on the planet... Or am I talking about someone else? O_o

Anyway, so life has been a major angst fest lately, and I just never got the want to update journals, and blah. To be frank, just not interested anymore. Fanfiction has gotten old, and well, I still look at some, but overall, fandom is boring.

But what's been going on in my life? Well, I've finally decided to give a Final Fantasy game a chance. *hears collective gasps, and people having heart failure all around* Yes, I, who has been an avid, anti-Final Fantasy person for years, sat down and had given a FF game a chance. After playing FFX, and experincing the wanker that is Tidus, I swore to myself "Never again!!". However, a friend of mine was a heavy-duty FFVII fan, and told me about a certain character known as "Zack Fair"... I turned a blind's eye at first, but seeing his official picture drew me in... And I suddenly found myself researching him, FFVII, and the characters in general, and started anticipating Crisis Core.

However, since I didn't have a way of getting FFVII before CC came to America, I had to settle for watching an entire playthrough on youtube. I must say, the game is pretty well-done from your average RPG plot stories, but I still fail to see why it's so overhyped the way it is nowadays, but I did like what I saw overall.

Eventually, Crisis Core came here, (WARNING, SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD!) and I was in complete awe of Zack. He's amazing! A good breath of fresh air from the typical emo, dark past, uniterested main character found in RPGs. He's actually upbeat, perky, inspiring, and generally, a friendly guy. I really enjoyed him, and when his inevitable ending came, I actually cried. He's actually the first fictional character I've ever cried for in anything. In the past, I could relate, and felt bad for characters who died, suffered, ect., but I never actually bawled the way I did. What can I say? I was really attached to him. But, please, don't mistake me for a silly fangirl that's madly in love with a ficitonal guy, I just think he was a very pleasant, and well-done character.

But enough about that, now, about the game. The game is rather short, and the gameplay can be very irritating to get used to, especially if you're trying to get a perfect game, because you have to be LUCKY. The whole DMW system can be a real pain in the ass when it seems to just love working against you when you need it the most. I don't think they should've made level-ups a lucky chance deal.

The story is interesting, but pretty rushed. I would've liked to get to know Angeal a little more before his whole betrayal deal. It just appeared to me like he was a weak-willed chracter despite all his talk of honor and dreams. Maybe he was just trying to help Genesis, but it really felt he was just there to be an angst-factor for Zack. Also, Genesis... or should I say, Gackt? I'm sorry, but after learning ole Genny is a direct model (not to mention, Jp voice-actor) for Genesis, he lost credibility with me. His overall character just came off as a huge Gary-Stu and an excuse to put Gackt himself in the game. He's alright, but... he just wasn't that impressive with me, including his damned Loveless quotes. I swear, I started laughing at him when he'd recite them at the most awkward times.

I wasn't too fond of the constant time-skips either. According to info, this game takes place seven years before FFVII, yet... most of it makes you feel like this is all happening within a few days or so, that you may need to look up official sources to find out what happened where and what time.

Now, we come to Cloud. I was really looking forward to him, as I was aware of his current situation around this time. I really liked how he appeared to be mostly a pushover here, as that's really what he was before FFVII. Sadly, though... he wasn't developed enough here. No, what I actually mean is... his and Zack's relationship wasn't developed enough. I've seen Last Order, I've seen AC, and the like... and I was believing I'd get to see just how Zack became Cloud's source of inspiration. We, unfortunately, don't get to see this. They have a few scenes together, and some DMW flashbacks, and one would think we're gonna get to see some promising things between them, but we really don't see much. It more or less felt like they just happened to have bumped into each other a few times and that was it, instead of looking like big-time best friends. It appeared Kunsel had more potential to be that with Zack than Cloud did in this game. (Also, apparently Last Order is no longer considered canon. So... Oh, boy.)

I mean, I would've liked a scene where Cloud finds out he can't be in SOLDIER, and Zack comforting him, then promise him to help him get stronger, or something to that effect. It certainly would've strengthened their supposed friendship. And no, I'm not saying this because I'm some Zack/Cloud fan. I really just see them as friends more than potential lovers. I would've just liked more development between them.

Next, is Aerith... Ah, Aerith. The resident Mary-Sue of FFVII, and I use that term with care. I actually like the girl a bit, but I'm sorta iffy about how Mary-Sueish she can come-off at times. I can't say I was real fond of her in this game. I liked her more sophisticated self in FFVII better. Granted, she is 15/17 in the game, and probably more naive, but still... Afraid of the sky?? Not sure how I felt about that... and I really can't say I see her relationship with Zack. They came off as just platonic friends to me. I heard there was some kind of kiss shared between them, but... nothing really happened with them for me to really see it. There was certainly potential, but... failed to deliver. By the way, I liked Mena Suvari better than her new voice actress. At least, in AC.

To be honest, I thought Cissnei had more chemestry with Zack than Aerith did. It's fairly obvious she had some kind of attraction to him, and it's kinda cute how he flirts with her at times. I really liked Cissnei a lot, and I'll say, I'm somewhat a Zack/Cissnei person, but it's more a consolation prize for my very private Zack pairing... (No, it's not Zack/Me.) Still, I liked them together, and I felt real bad when she told Tseng she wanted to find Zack and tell him her real name because I knew she wouldn't make it... Also, boy, was I surprised to find out the girl who does her voice in the English version is Carrie Savage, the same girl who voiced Lyon in SuikoV. ^__^

And Tifa... Thank GOD she was only there for like five minutes. The way her cowgirl outfit was remodeled is a HUGE disgrace and a big disappointment to me. Seriously, is SE TRYING to fuel my fire in heavily disliking her more than I already do?

Overall, I give the game a 6/10. It's good, but nothing to get too excited over. I can see at least the majority who liked it being FFVII fans, but I'm sure it would impress non-fans as well if they go in with an open-mind.

Oh, and Rick Gomez was a PERFECT Zack. He did a GREAT job. He is my Zack. I tried to like his Japanese voice, as I have heard him before in other works, and loved him, (Sensitive Pornograph, for example) but... there was just no beating how well Rick did with Zack. Same goes for Steve Burton on Cloud. EXCELLENT. The voice acting in this game, for the most part, was pretty well-done, that's for sure, at least in my humble opinion. Some lines seemed a little awkward, though, but pulled off fairly well nonetheless.

Well, that's about all I have to say for now. I'm sure I'll update again later with more boring crap sometime. Later!

-Rogue