Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus

THE GOOD:
When playing a game, one always sees the graphics first and good to say that this game showcases the best graphics in a game so far. The characters are very well defined and the movements are really refined and very realistic. The characters were really great in the game and Square added several new characters who were just as kick-ass as well. The Background music was really good and fit the scenes perfectly and it really engages you to play more and watch more. However, the strong point of this game is the storyline where Square added new information without having to contradict anything said in the original installment and the locations were captured perfectly into 3D from the original VII in the PSX console.

THE BAD:
The gameplay was the biggest and perhaps only let-down for this game. It featured somewhat like a Resident Evil type of guns and strafing. Still, almost all FPS are like that. But this game could have been better if you could pull...

THE GOOD:
I had mixed feelings when I first heard about this game. Sequels to Final Fantasy aren't generally a good idea (see FFX-2). That said I've always loved Vincent Valentine, who happens to be my favourite character from the franchise. A game documenting his past seemed like a good idea; moreover, the alternate genre of shooter felt like a natural fit for Valentine even if it isn't my genre of choice. However, limited finances and even more limitations on my schedule meant that I never got around to this game until just now. By the time I was ready to play all of the professional reviews had made one thing abundantly clear – this game is a 5 out of 10. That worried me a little bit but I'm happy to say that those reviews are all wrong. I don't play shooters, so maybe that's why I feel differently about this game than most. I have no frame of reference to measure the controls or the enemy AI. I can only assess the game as a stand alone. And I thought it was great....

THE GOOD:
The game was certainly true to the characters and the film Advent Children. Watching as the characters Vincent, Lucrecia and Hojo grew with their personalities and backgrounds.

The battle system was good, quite like Devil May Cry, the range of equipment for your gun along with upgrades of Cerberus gave it great variety. Adding materia to the weapon itself gave great effect on your enemies including the ones you couldn't harm with normal bullets. Controlling Caith Sith was a nice little feature, though their wasn't much of it which was a tad disappointing, although I realise the story is around Vincent mostly. lol

The graphics were crisp, clear and wonderful especially in the videos. I was amazed to see the same graphics as the film, brilliant graphical effects both characters and scenery around them. The voices suited the characters well and I was incredibly pleased with them, I was mostly pleased with Cait Sith, and Hojo. The voices...

THE GOOD:
- Amazing graphics: some of the best we've seen so far on this console. FMV sequences akin to that of Advent Children. Yes, THAT good.

- Length and Time Value. With replay value of about 1 extra game (unless you get bored easily) to complete it on Extra Hard and finish with every item, as well as about 50 extra level-based missions and a lot of interesting unlocks, there's quite a lot to see and do.

- Elaboration on the storyline of FF7 and the mystery that is Vincent Valentine. It answers a lot of our questions, especially about him, his father, Lucrecia, and the mysterious Chaos he harbours, but...

- More than one playable character. If you live in Japan, there's a multiplayer, too.

THE BAD:
- Square's milking of the series has come to a point, as irrelevant and unnecessary re-appearences of popular FF7 characters like Cloud, Tifa and Barret make no impact on the game or Storyline. It just feels like they're...

THE GOOD:
- First playable sequel to arguably the best Final Fantasy game.
- Stunning ingame graphics.
- Plenty of extras to unlock after the end of the game.

THE BAD:
- Lack of difficulty or too easy.
- Not being able to replay previous missions with already gained stats/items.

SUMMARY:
Some of the pro reviews such as IGN and gamespot teared this game appart with their comments leaving the readers with an impression that this game is nothing but mediocre, at its best. Truth be told, that is far from the truth when it comes to it. Dirge of Cerberus is not nearly given the credit it deserves.

The story revolves around Vincent Valentine, one of the most misterious and proclaimed badass secret character in most games today. The story picks up with amazing graphics, Advent Children quality FMV explaining events that went down 3 years ago in Final Fantasy 7 but not included in the game itself. From that point on Vincent's...