Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core Comments by Simon Parkin

Oh Miiiguel, Miiiguel. Why do you always have to be such a argumentative sort?

I've played many RPGs on PSP and this one is among the very best, Final Fantasy tag or not. The review (as have other PSP reviews on this site) criticised the game for lacking features it in fact had and insulted it's readers. Nothing to do with "sacred cows", just sloppy journalism and bullshit vanity.

Pseronally I'd give it a 9, but that would include an extra point for nostalgia. I don't see a problem with that. Aren't games supposed to entertainment? My enjoyment is enhanced by the subject matter, is that wrong?

Can't say I agree totally with this review, but mainly cos I played it on hard for my first playthrough. It definitely is a game for the fans, and even as a fan I find many aspects of the story to be sub par or forced. But on the other hand the bits it gets right are really great. I think the biggest issue I have with the review is that it seems to neglect how satisfying the gameplay is. Playing it on hard really made me use lots of the different materia, the fusion system (though not till the 20 hour mark) and I had to come up with many different battle strategies and materia combos. That in itself makes this game very memorable for me.

In terms of the side missions, on hard they're extremely challenging and they give you some pretty fantastic items for completing them. So they feel rewarding. The review glosses over the fact that the side missions are designed specifically to be portable. I've played through lots of them on the bus over the past few months and their size, along with the fact that you access them through save points and there's no penalty for dying, makes them really handy for short journeys.

So I guess my point is, if you're a fan, then what you'll find here is a very good game, with an okay story and high nostalgia and production values. Play it on hard or you're missing out on the game itself. The reviewer played it initially on normal (as I would have if a friend hadn't warned me) and then re-played some of it on hard. That is not the same experience as playing it hard initially and it's the reason why I feel differently about the game.

I'm not judging those who fall into esoteric issues such as love for their golden years and icons. But one has to admit EG is criticised sometimes for not beeing pragmatic and others for not beeing fans of a series and therefor shouldn't be allowed to (have the privilege to) review some titles (yes, I'm talking about MGS).
The point beeing, there are sacred cows. And that's not good nor bad, it's the way it is... imo.

I mean, if it's not that what is then? When a reader says "oooh the way you talk about sixaxis is insulting"; or "OMG MGS an 8?! I'm outa here, you loosers!" or "FF 7 not that ultra good? EG reviews suck!".

While I do understand those feelings - these guys gave Blue Dragon, a game I love 5 - is kinda over-reacting. And I love this game too.

Some unpleasant use of the journalistic 'we' in those first few paragraphs. Maybe the reviewer doesn't look back at the world of FF7 with fondness, instead thinking it to be childish and embarrassing, but please don't try and put words in every fan's mouth like that.

So Final Fantasy VII holds a place in our hearts as something we did when we were younger, something magical and transformative and important but something to be remembered and not interminably revisited. We are Final Fantasy VII fans: disenfranchised are we.

You may be disenfranchised, Simon Parkin, but the rest of us? Hmmm.

One of the best RPGs on the PSP? The machine is lacking them and is STILL lacking them based on this effort. Many a tactics RPG (although they are good), but nothing that really stands up as an RPG with the solid hallmarks.... the free roaming world, party based setup, levelling up etc. Call me old fashioned, but I'd just love a proper RPG for the system.

I can't say Star Ocean 1 & 2 will hit the buttons because they tend to err on the action side of things.

Don't get me wrong, I thought the game was a great laugh, but was missing all the hallmarks and special traits of RPGS for me. Simply slapping on FF7 using emulation is enough of a masterclass to remind you what a cracking RPG is.

"Huh? A sweeping statement and one I suspect is misjudged. FFVII fans are a pretty ardent bunch, and as for having once adored? I still love it to bits, and I suspect many others do. This review comes across as patronising and ill-informed. Not one of Eurogamer's finest. "

Yeah, that part was utter bollocks. I love FFVII as much now as I did ten years ago, and have many friends who feel the same way.

i never played final fantasy VII for more than a couple of hours back in the day but i'm actually having fun with this. the battle system is ridiculous and the plot retarded but there's a nice crunchy rhythm to the whole affair.

Anybody else hoping for a PS2 port? I am a fan of the original and from the review this should be enough to keep me entertained, but I am not buying a PSP to play it.

Why has the factual error about the map system not been fixed yet, EuroGamer?

Why care?

"I also try to do that sometimes: "IT'S THE BEST EVA! lalalalal! can't hear you! can't hear you!" :) "

Sadly you don't try to shut up nearly as often.


"Disenfranchised: no word better describes Final Fantasy VII's once-upon-a-time lovers. Where fans of the seminal RPG would once announce their devotion to the game with boldness, nowadays - outside of the dew-eyed cosplayers and fanfic writers - few would be so ready to admit this is a world and clutch of characters they once adored.

Huh? A sweeping statement and one I suspect is misjudged. FFVII fans are a pretty ardent bunch, and as for having once adored? I still love it to bits, and I suspect many others do. This review comes across as patronising and ill-informed. Not one of Eurogamer's finest."

Well put.

Oh come on. Have you played FF7 recently? You don't notice the childish writing, cliche filled situations like the aforementioned Sephiroth scene, the feeling that it is stuck in "90s cool"? You really need to grow up.

A review that starts with a universal statement at how the fans dont like FFVII anymore because they have grown up and all the FFVII universe is now some obscure and unliked 90s weird japanese thing ............such review and reviewer deserves simply being ignored and ridiculized in his next reviews.His arrogance is really unbelievable.

Still playing the game ......definitely a 9 out of 10 for me.Point me to a traditional RPG or action-RPG on a handheld better that this one.

And as for MGS4 ......I hope EG screwing up with the review SO BAD wont pass so easily.EG can say all the shit they want ,but the people buy the game nevertheless and when they see its one of the better games ever created they just mock this mag and its reviewers and wont trust it anymore.THis is what has happened to me.And with FFVII CC something alike happens.It may not be perfect but its 1000 times better that some casual fare of the DS that EG awards with the same puntuation.

Simon Parkin:the disenfranchised buffoon that wanted.

FFVII is one of my most favourite games ever created. And for that, I will never go back to it.

It looks complete tripe now. And I'm not graphics whoring, but I really can't play a game that looks that bad. Nostalgia is a big + for this game, but to say it is amazing is wrong. It is nice, though, and nicely wraps up the story prior to FFVII.

The simple fact is, this game is too easy. The combat is a bit pants. The levelling up method is poo. The DMW, while a nice feature, is relied on WAY too much (like I keep saying, you can force it to throw bonuses simply by dodging)

It's a good game. Mr Parkin gave a subjective review, simple as that. Leave FFVII in the past and remember it fondly.

@chaosinthesnow - good post, its a well forumulated defense of the game and should be commended as such, and it gets to the heart of the matter, that Crisis Core is a conflicted game, with some really bad game design but worth persisting withas these faults are offset by those special moments (even if the nostalgia is contrived and cynical in nature) and indeed some well crafted game design aspects in the combat system, and I do like the materia fusion, also that you can see before you mix what you'll get, there's a logic to it that you as a gamer aren't being denied acess to unfairly, prefer that over Dragon Quest 8 guesswork.

I personally disagree on your emphasis on the difficulty in why people dislike it, for me the great thing about rpgs is that you don't need a harder difficulty level which simply ups the numbers against you (I could be wrong about what Hard Mode changes of course) to make it more of a challenge, but rather you can make it harder or easier depending on your choices, and how much time you put into it.

The default level, what they designed it for, doesn't work, but for me difficulty can only mask or reveal flaws or merits of the core design, it doesn't in itself change whether or not a gamer enjoys the combat, and wants to experiment with combos or such like, though perhaps I'm being a little naive here about how gamers are playing Crisis Core. Will ask in the forum, tell us your best materia creations. I just made curaga level 1 with hp 80%, wonder if I can level it up with something else to make it even higher...

Ranting again, one thing, maybe cause I've recently been playing MGS: Portable Ops but why are devs making PSP games with 3rd person when it doesn't suit the machine? Has 3rd person become received wisdom that can never be questions, why MGS: PO isn't top down I don't know, would've made for better level design too...and Crisis Core camera is awful, badly coded mess, and the only time you even need it, during battles, the shoulder buttons are used for selecting your next action instead.

Silly, besides they would've been better of going for the pre-scripted camera moves of Final Fantasy X, it would also enable them to ramp up the visuals even more, you know with smokes and mirrors, not rendering bits you don't see in a particular scene. Odd they didn't consider it, especially as Square Enix are (overly) concerned with presentation at the expense of good game design.

@Vertical Stand - You make a fair point about more or less setting your own difficulty in an RPG, and I agree with it. But this game is very much an action RPG and your success is determined nearly as much by your reflexes as your strategy. I think the hard difficulty system almost demands that you be good at both, while I've been told that the default more or less lets you button mash (now I may be wrong about that but a few people have said it to me). I guess I felt that playing it on hard forces the player to be creative and move outside their comfort zone. You know yourself that many players will play through the game just hammering away at the attack button, throwing in the odd bit of offensive magic and healing. Some people will love it for that anyway, but many will get tired and pass it off as a boring, repetitive battle system. On hard the only way to win is to be constantly spatially aware, rolling and guarding at the right times, learning attack patterns, ranges, weaknesses etc. It really is good and is one of the few FF games since FF7 that seems to strike the right balance in terms of mp cost and offensive magic power. For a lot of the games since FF7 I've felt that offensive magic is merely a glorified alternative to a physical attack for weak characters.

Maybe forcing people to experience the game like that by playing it on hard isn't right, but it's better than them overlooking the depth of the system. Then again, maybe hard would just frustrate them too much and they'd give up, so I suppose in a way that's worse. I'm tempted to compare the situation to God of War. GOW gets it right on both levels. On normal the game is a little easy, but for the average gamer the battle system is still engaging and they don't get bored. On God difficulty the game really shines and you realise just how well designed the system is. If they had found that balance here then I think it'd be better received.

As for my favourite materia, I sadly haven't played the game for a couple of months and have forgotten, but I'm pretty sure I had a Hell Firaga with +15 Mag that kicked a fair amount of ass. Of course if you put the time in +15 MAG is nothing. I had HP boosting on my curaga and mp boosting and status wards via the accessories. My favourite general use combo was something like curaga, regen, wall, hell firaga, darkness, gravity.

"Why care?"

Because the map is incredibly useful in this game and the fact that the reviewer never knew it was there is astonishing given you only have to press [] to bring it up.

I would have thought a site of this size wouldn't leave blatantly incorrect information in a review.

Feanor: The game was reviewed from a preview copy of the game which didn't come with any instructions. I played the game for many many hours and didn't notice there was a map function, at least half of which is the fault of the developer rather than my own. Had I noticed there was a map, I would have complained that it's not always on-screen like the map system used in FFXII. It's hardly like having a map always on screen would have cramped the GUI.

Everyone else: it's not nice being called, variously, a ’stupid fool’, a ‘drunk monkey’, ‘not worth reading’ ‘patronising’ and ‘ill-informed’ (actually it's kinda nice being called a 'drunk monkey'). I think the text speaks for itself so this isn't really necessary but, as I put some thoughts down on my blog on the subject today, I thought I'd put them here too, FWIW.

I love Final Fantasy VII. I really do and I hope that comes across in the introduction. But I also understand that I fell in love with it at 18-years-old and that things you love when you’re a teenager hold a different sort of appeal when you’re an adult.

I’m super-informed about the game and its universe having interviewed on separate occasions both Yoshinori Kitase, Tetsuya Nomura and Nobuo Uematsu about this specific game and mythology. The point of the introduction was not to speak for everyone but to speak for that large group of gamers for whom the memory of Final Fantasy VII had been sullied by the recent spin-offs. This in turn sets up the case that Crisis Core is, in very real terms, the company’s last ditch attempt at bringing the disenfranchised back into the fold, a target which, from my perspective, the game mostly missed.

I’d stand by the review to the hilt. I’d say to many of you really-very-cross commentators: return to the piece in six months time, when you’ve nothing to lose, when you no longer need your purchase validated and I’m certain you’ll find lots of what it says to be true.

And I'm sorry you were offended by the conclusion. But do you really want every review saying 'you'll like this if you like this sort of thing?'. I know I don't, even if I disagree with what's being said.

"I’d stand by the review to the hilt. I’d say to many of you really-very-cross commentators: return to the piece in six months time, when you’ve nothing to lose, when you no longer need your purchase validated and I’m certain you’ll find lots of what it says to be true."

Oh, you may be right about Crisis Core, at times. However, games rarely do what you expect(ed) of CC.

But that is not what bothers me. It is your opinion of FF7. Although not as such. It is what you base it on and how you claim that most fans of FF7 now think like you. Check the boards, check the sales numbers - you don't seem to be right. Have you heard of the technical demo and the reactions it has caused and causes to this day -- among all those "dew-eyed cosplayers and fanfic writers", naturally.

You are right about the 'coolness' of FF7, though. In my opinion, that is. But hey, personally I never found spikey hair, huge swords and guns for arms cool. The point is, though, that there is more to FF7. The complexity of its world is perhaps 2nd to none. The idea of the life stream and the topics it embraces are rather impressive - terrorism, economy, ecology, politics, religion, social aspects (a two class society illustrated by the city's constructions itself)... you name it. Its locations and characters are unique and classic. Hojo, the Turks, the Shinra officials, Vincent, Yuffie, Sephiroth, Aerith... they all add something different to the game. The bosses are great, the music - still - is very well done and it just works. Sure, it's not perfect. There are and always have been slow downs.

Ultimately you may be right. People who still like it for its actual strengths must be "dew-eyed cosplayers and fanfic writers". "The reasons for this are myriad and complex but almost all relate to the fact that people and culture move on. Where once players were bowled over by Final Fantasy VII's record-breaking stats (3.28 million sales in Japan, 2.92m in North America and 1.77mi in Europe; two years' development time, 100+ team members; three PlayStation discs stuffed with 330 CG maps and 40 minutes of full-motion video to create the largest JRPG ever conceived) today these headlines are neither unique nor necessarily positive."

On a sidenote, "nowadays - outside of the dew-eyed cosplayers and fanfic writers - few would" write reviews of the low quality yours has. Even fewer aren't ’stupid fools’, ‘drunk monkeys’, ‘patronising’ or ‘ill-informed’. After all, less than 1,77 million people read it. Which, today, is neither unique nor necessarily positive. And the name "Simon Parking" was cool in the 90s. Perhaps. It sure isn't nowadays. Therefore everything else linked to that persona must suck, too. Parallels, huh.

@goz

I'd be careful about using ignorance as a defence. Claiming your lack of a manual prevented you from discovering a big game feature that's mapped to one of the face buttons is pretty feeble. It's also make you sound very stupid.

Also claiming you are "super informed" because you did a few interviews, as opposed to those who read them or the millions who played the games elevates your arrogance into the top notch wanker category.

Finally, your whole premise that if we love this game we MUST be FF 7 doters with some unique form of arrested development is so monumentally erroneous it invalidates every you have said and (no doubt) will say. This is a very good action RPG. The location graphics are not "bland" (cheap shot) - They're on a par with many of the 3D environments in FF X on PS2 and are technically an achievement in texture and memory management. The sound effects are not "cut and paste" from FF7 (another cheap shot) - They're the same sfx used in ALL final fantasy games, including Tactics.

Even without the FF 7 attachment this would still be a very good action RPG. If you can't see that then maybe it's you who has the problem.

Grr you put me off what I was gonna type in response to chaosinthesnow, was about mny experiences on a enjoyable side mission boss with three drone machines that have stop abilities, enemy formations and tactics being areas the designers could've explored more fully (though I should probably play hard mode first before I respond, oh and I had design issues with GOW: Chain of Olympus as well but thats a whole another story) - taking such an aggressive stance toward an EG staff reviewer hardly endears them to participate in debate with readers, which would be a real shame.

Besides if we're talking about not all agreeing about one reading of a game, why do you then state as if it were fact that this is a good game and a good FF7 game, as if there was no other way of seeing it? Besides I actually wonder if the need to meet the demands of the FF7 world is baggage on this game, that there are ideas in here which the more I play, the more I feel that despite the Zack narrative suiting the mission based system maybe they could work better if explored more fully in an original work, more focus on the mechanics and such like.

Anyways I think we've all drifted a little, regardless of whether or not we 'get' or don't 'get' it, that Square Enix put some effort and money into a PSP game is commendable, and should be tried by those curious as to what they've come up with...gamers on the fence, buy it already!

'Also claiming you are "super informed" because you did a few interviews, as opposed to those who read them or the millions who played the games elevates your arrogance into the top notch wanker category. '

No. I've read interviews with the FF7 team and I've played the game/s and watched the films/ anime. I was just pointing out that I've also had the privilege of interviewing members of the team myself, often in person. I think this helps counter the claim i'm 'ill-informed' so that's why I mentioned it. I didn't mean to sound like a dick - sorry.

'But that is not what bothers me. It is your opinion of FF7. Although not as such. It is what you base it on and how you claim that most fans of FF7 now think like you. Check the boards, check the sales numbers - you don't seem to be right.'

The introductory point about disenfranchied fans is not hearsay or anecdotal. Squre-Enix has talked about how they wanted to use this game to get fans of the original back into the series having lost them in recent years (as well as to attract new players who have never heard of FF7 before).

That was their words which I then spun out into an introduction from my own POV. Sure there are elements of subjectivity but the wider point is one that's irrefutably true. There's no doubting that there are still an awful lot of people who love the first game. There's also no doubting that there are an awful lot less people who have bothered to buy the recent spin-offs as you can tell just buy looking at the sales figures. They're gone and this is, in my opinion, why.

Could it not be ill-conceived and disparaging reviews based on the regurgitated musing of the developer putting people off?

Could it not also be that the spin-offs up to this point were a bit poo?

Also, as you admitted, it's not your opinion, it's theirs. All you did was suck it down and then vomit it forth. Next time, try bringing a little less baggage.

I can't help it, but I've read the review twice and don't agree, FF7CC is a great game worthy of an 8-9 in my opinion, and sod the negativity laced throughout the review. So far every FF7 spinoff ( Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus etc ) have been quality and class and made the FF7 tapestry that much richer......

"The introductory point about disenfranchied fans is not hearsay or anecdotal. Squre-Enix has talked about how they wanted to use this game to get fans of the original back into the series having lost them in recent years (as well as to attract new players who have never heard of FF7 before).

That was their words which I then spun out into an introduction from my own POV. Sure there are elements of subjectivity but the wider point is one that's irrefutably true. There's no doubting that there are still an awful lot of people who love the first game. There's also no doubting that there are an awful lot less people who have bothered to buy the recent spin-offs as you can tell just buy looking at the sales figures. They're gone and this is, in my opinion, why."

That's somewhat better than what you originally wrote:

"Where fans of the seminal RPG would once announce their devotion to the game with boldness, nowadays - outside of the dew-eyed cosplayers and fanfic writers - few would be so ready to admit this is a world and clutch of characters they once adored." - also from SE?

You have gone from a few to a lot. Also, I think SE were referring to projects of the compilation, not FF7 itself.

Personally I am interested in your point of view. Unless what you've written marks all that is to it. A game that you (and allegedly most of the other people) don't like anymore because some of its (superficial) elements, that used to be cool in the 90s, aren't cool anymore. Despite that you haven't adressed any of its other - deeper - aspects. And what its sales numbers and details of its production have to do with its lack of lasting qualities as a game is beyond me. You don't even put it in perspective. I can't help but think that the market has grown in the last decade.

At this point I don't think that you are a bad reviewer. We all make mistakes.

Listen, go back and read the first few paragraphs again now you've cooled off a bit. I don't say that I and most other people 'don't like FF7 any more'. I say that people (and realise that I'm talking about those people who played and loved FF7 at release in 1997 - not those who came to it later) are are more likely to be reticent in proclaiming their love for it these days for numerous, clearly-defined reasons.

JRPGs are no longer as popular as they once were - in fact, they are often viewed with scorn and derison (watch yahtzee at all?) in a way they never were a decade ago when they were new, interesting and possibly the future of videogames (especially for those who thought videogames were going to move closer to films). Similarly, long FMV sequences are now bemoaned by gaming's mainstream and multidisc titles, while new and amazing in 1997, are now an annoyance that bespeaks overlong cutscenes.

Additonally, (para 4) a lot of the things that 18-year-olds got from the game in 1997 - a sense of community and identity - are found in different places nowadays. Those aspects of the game are no longer relevant. Add to all of that the fact that the recent spin-offs have emphasised the childish, immature elements to the FF7 universe (e.g. AC is a horrific monument to vacant, overblown anime cliche) , rather than the good and true aspects of the game (the characters, themes of big business, agriculture and environmentalism) and its clear the world hasn't grown up with us in the way we maybe wish it had.

Anyway, your irritation clearly has nothing to do with the review of Crisis Core and everything to do with the fact your love of an old, beloved game was slighted. I assure you I still share your love of that old game (here's a piece I wrote largely defending it for Eurogamer a couple of years ago). But, y'know, it's important to be honest with things you love and, even if you disagree with all of the above points, if you can't see that other people might see things that way (especially when the spin-off sales figures back that up in cold, hard data) then you're absolutely not being honest.

Anyway, at least you don't think I'm a bad reviewer anymore, eh? Phew! ;)

"Where fans of the seminal RPG would once announce their devotion to the game with boldness, nowadays - outside of the dew-eyed cosplayers and fanfic writers - few would be so ready to admit this is a world and clutch of characters they once adored."

A lot of people still 'love' Final Fantasy 7 and they do express it - not just in countless top 5's. Such as when the technical demo was released. So many in fact, that it is very unlikely for all of them to be cosplayers and/or fanfic writers. As I have stated, they still express that they love the game - in the present. Even more should be willing to admit that they once did. And then there's the average price of used copies.


"Add to all of that the fact that the recent spin-offs have emphasised the childish, immature elements to the FF7 universe (e.g. AC is a horrific monument to vacant, overblown anime cliche) , rather than the good and true aspects of the game (the characters, themes of big business, agriculture and environmentalism) and its clear the world hasn't grown up with us in the way we maybe wish it had."

The problems you have mentioned are almost exclusively those of the titles of the compilation, not of FF7 itself. The fact that AC and DoC are bad products - I agree - doesn't change FF7. And fans reacted to that. However not like you. They were apparently willing to differentiate:

"Fans have long cried for a re-release on more able hardware and at the 2005 E3 show a tech demo showing the opening FMV rendered fully in a PS3 engine made fan's jaws hang loose."

"The reason for the flood of appraisal and interminable revisiting the game enjoys (unprecedented for a videogame not yet 10-years-old) is easily quantifiable by its record-breaking statistics (...)."

"From the opening movie's zoom out from a flower-selling girl's melancholy eyes up to a phoenix-eye view of the puffing cityscape of Midgar unfurling below, through to the first playable scenes in which the player becomes complicit in a terrorist attack to bring down the corporation Shinra, its ambition is still apparent today."

"But the strength of the narrative maintained the series' advancing curve of maturity and revolved around various juicy ethical and ecological dilemmas. Crucially for the success of the game, this plot topography was filled by what were undoubtedly some of the most iconic videogame characters yet seen." -- http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?art...

Things have changed a lot in the last 20 months, huh.


"JRPGs are no longer as popular as they once were - in fact, they are often viewed with scorn and derison (watch yahtzee at all?) in a way they never were a decade ago when they were new, interesting and possibly the future of videogames (especially for those who thought videogames were going to move closer to films). Similarly, long FMV sequences are now bemoaned by gaming's mainstream and multidisc titles, while new and amazing in 1997, are now an annoyance that bespeaks overlong cutscenes."

What about Final Fantasy XIII and Metal Gear Solid 4?


"Anyway, at least you don't think I'm a bad reviewer anymore, eh? Phew! ;)"

I never did. Purpose of illustration. I was, and am, rather surprised, though - and I would've responded in a more calm way had you chosen different words and differentiated.
As for Crisis Core, I have played the US version a while ago (Hard mode - could be selected right away), upon release. I won't comment on your review since I haven't made up my mind about the game yet. Nonetheless, I am sure about a couple of things. The last dungeon is rather good, in my opinion. Well planned, it and the opponents in it have style, the music is good and it is embedded well into the flow of the story before and directly after it. Its boss fight was anticlimactic. and the ending not nearly as emotional as some apparently consider it to be but nevertheless memorable. I very much prefer the 'normal' Zack over Buster Sword and new hair style Zack but the voice actor did a good job in developing him. Voice acting was well done overall - music, too (with one exception, the cut boss battle theme (> Bahamut)) - and I must say the scenes with Cissnei worked very well for me. The relationship of Zack and the Turks adds weight to the emotional side of things. I am not sure about the whole Loveless background yet. Could be good, could be a lot of
On the disappointing side, the side missions - I stopped close to Minerva - are pretty dull. The developers are aware of that, too. They didn't have enough time. Unfortunately the truly interesting materia and equipment can only be gained here. I also would've liked to see the relation of Hojo and Zack to be actually/more developed. The texts to the side missions did show quite some potential. Generally speaking there weren't enough optional 'things' to discover. Providing and rewarding the eager player with additional cutscenes and insights would've been very nice.