- Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
- Available on: PSP
- More information: wikipedia
- Cover scans: mobygames
- FAQ's/cheats: gamefaqs
- Press reviews: ign - gamespot - gamespy - gametrailers
Content review for this game:
Pertaining to content listed in the upper left corner of this site.
Blood: There is no blood in gameplay or cutscenes, just sparks/firework or particle effects, if you will, when you hit an enemy. Very mild stuff. In fact, if I were the ESRB, I would create a new rating for games like this that says something like, "Animated particle effects."
One of the villains, the main character's former best friend, uses his powers to turn into a monster, and then grazes the main character's face with his trident. The scratch is visible on the main character's cheek. You then have no choice but to fight and kill him. After you defeat him, there are also a couple of visible scratches on his face.
In a later scene, the main villain removes his mother's head (not what it sounds like; read about her further down for clarification) and takes it with him for further experiment. You can also see what resembles a brain at the top of her head, but as mentioned lower in this review, she is a monster and not human.
Mild language: There are 13 uses of d**n and 2 uses of h**l.
Mild suggestive themes: One of the female characters wears a slightly revealing two-piece bathing suit in a short scene at the beach.
In one scene, a side character asks the main character what the name of his bar should be. The main character responds with a name, and then the side character says something close to, "Ya, and I should have a young girl work behind the bar, with a big bosom and long legs!" The main character then says something along the lines of, "Now you're talking!"
Later in the game, one of the female characters is seen wearing a cowboy outfit that covers about as much as the two-piece bathing suit mentioned above. There is also very light flirting between the main male and female character.
The main villain's mother is a 2000 year-old, preserved humanoid monster in suspended animation. She appears to be naked, but it's offset by the fact that, though she does have the overall female form, she is scaly and deformed, and looks more like a fossilized pile of mud, seaweed and fish scales shaped into the female form than anything else.
Violence: If you've seen Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children or played the Kingdom Hearts series, you pretty much get the style of violence in this game. If you haven't played or seen these, here is an explanation: the violence is a mix of over-the-top sci-fi/fantasy; nothing is really bloody or gory, and the physics (especially in the CG cutscenes) almost don't exist--that is, think Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon wire work and ramp it up x10. In other words, everything is very flashy, showy and overall cool, and never gets very offensive violence-wise.
One story element throughout the game's narrative that could be found as slightly disturbing is that of human cloning. There are several journals and papers readable throughout the game that explain the process: Some enemies are part human/monster clones, and you are responsible for taking out a cloning facility, where you see the process taking place, as well as the clones in vats and oversized test tubes. The main villains are also genetically engineered soldiers bred for fighting. This theme is what the villains struggle with throughout, as they try to find their true purpose. Overall the story is about degradation and how splitting yourself into so many pieces takes its toll.
Early in the game, the two main villains kill their parents for unknown reasons. You see one of the villains' mother lying dead on the floor. There is no blood, and it's not graphic. She is just lying there (you later find out that she killed herself in shame because of how her son turned out).
In a later scene, one of the main characters stabs the main villain through with a sword. The villain then returns the favor and stabs the main character through. After this, the main character grabs the villain's sword while it's still through him, and throws the villain with it, resulting in the villain hitting a far wall and falling to his "supposed" death. This scene has no blood or gore.
