It is no secret that I hate final fantasy 7 I've made it well known every where I go. its no secret that I hated the movie, and Dirge of Cerberus and well I don't hate crisis core I pity it its an incomplete game that seems like it took them a few months to make.
Graphics: probably the best on the psp so far sadly at the sacrifice of lame, muddy textured environments and next to no population in most places if you like eye candy and cgi cinemas then this is your game.
Sound:The usual fare not much of any thing new nearly every sound is recycled from past games, and the songs? are just rebranded versions of those found in the ps1 game and dirge of Cerberus.
Game play: basic kingdom hearts engine when it comes to game play but its repetitive as hell, I played throughout the entire game and used one sequence of commands...atk atk, dodge atk atk dodge you don't need spells at any point or the DMW menu you can play the game all the way through without any variation on how you play.
The DMW system or what I like to say...CRAP, it has thus been revealed leveling up materia, leveling up zack, and all around the entire system is not random at all but is based upon hard numbers, the DMW system is unyielding and should never have been implemented its not needed and is just a pretty way to say you don't get this limit attack when you could use it but you don't need it cause like I said even bosses fall to the repetitive atk atk dodge sequence.
There are way to many CGI cut scenes even during limit breaks taking up valuable space that could have been used to make the game bigger and its not big at all, I was able to get through the game in under 10 hours and I am currently on a newgame+ without doing all the side mission all of which are not needed any ways but simply allow you to master every thing and rushing through you could easily beat this game in under 6 hours.
Missions are now the replacement or meant to be the replacement of lvl grinding it is a quick disguise to make you think you are doing something important when you are actually not the missions exist only to get new items and lvl up stuff they add nothing to the story and are repetitive as hell there are a total of about 7 unique maps and with something like 60 missions are reused over and over and over it isn't surprising to find your self on the exact same map as last mission but with new do not cross borders limiting you from going where you want, and they are all the same go here fight this monster you can clearly see on the map.
Mini games: I am playing an rpg why are there so many mini games that add nothing to the story they are meant as a simple way to make you think the game is longer then it really is.
Story/plot: All problems aside with the series this game does not answer a single plot hole that was created by the original game and dirge of Cerberus it infact opens up new ones that need not be opened enemies, and powers that oddly never appeared in the original game yet rivaled the powers in that game, Zack in this case without even mastering every thing is more powerful then Sephiroth, cloud, tifa, angeal, genesis infact the cast from all the game combined which is the problem with prequels it does answer and close one inane plot hole from the original game. Aerith and the fact she has a billion flowers outside her house.
Summary: Its an eye candy game it was meant to show the power of the psp, and is another bad spin off of the original bad game, it could have been great if they had closed all the plot holes opened by the original and sequel game and thus making those games better but they did not, the game play is repetitive, if you really wanna experience the final fantasy 7 story go play the first game because this is pretty much what crisis core is, its the first 2 hours or so of ff7 when you start till you get to the end of kalm and you tell the story of your time in nibelheim.