Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. The reason I got a PSP. It was finally released last week, and I just couldn't wait for an English version to be released (which even hasn't been announced yet). And I don't regret any penny I spent on this game.

For those who don't know, this game is a prequel for the original Final Fantasy VII (PS1). The game tells the story of Zack Fair, a member of SOLDIER - a military division of ShiRa Electric Power Company, who progresses through the rankings of the military and eventually becomes a SOLDIER 1st C lass. However, this is not only what it is about. It is about the experiments that ShinRa Company does to their soliders and its secrets, projects involving Jenova, an alien life form like which crashed at the Planet about 2000 years ago on the FFVII's storyline. We get to see again what prompted the legendary 1st C lass SOLDIER Sephiroth into the major villain of FFVII and the most memorable in all Final Fantasy history.

Although I don't have that much knowledge of Japanese to actually have a deep understanding of all the events that occured in the game, the CGI's and voiced scenes help a lot, and you can have a decent guess of what is going on, especially when you are already familiar with the storyline before hand. Personally, I loved how it was put together. From the nostalgic intro of him jumping off the train like Cloud does in FFVII, to the eternal scenes of madness of Sephiroth at the Nibel Mako Reactor; the game actually feels like it is a part of the FFVII, like it should. It is actually weird (in a good sense) to see Sephiroth before he became the insane villain. Weird and really cool seeing him a good guy and even treating some people as friends.

What really makes this game special for Final Fantasy VII players and fans, is how much of the little details they kept from the original game. Scenes including the Shinra Mansion, when Sephiroth reads about the truth about himself and the Jenova Project, and stares at the ceiling with disgust - it is like playing FFVII over again - but with great graphics and superb sound. You have that nostalgia feeling that you've played that before, and only now you can clearly see their expressions and gestures full with details. That being said, if you ever watched the anime Last Order (which tell about this Nibel incident), you can rest assured - this time they kept everything in its FFVII original events! I also have to say that I'm amazed at how good looking this PSP game is. I can't say it is the best looking since I don't play many PSP games, but I definitely have the feeling that this is one of the best - something that Square Enix always knows how to achieve somehow.

About the gameplay - turning away from those turn-based battles to an action packed battle system that still keeps that FFVII essence. I really enjoyed it; at first it may feel like a button masher, but as you learn more about the system and play through the missions (there are 300 of them), you not only get a hold of dodging the opponent's attacks, but learns when to attack using your materias like Thundaga from afar and slicing and dicing them with the yellow materias. The Digital Mind Wave system is also something that adds randomness and funny moments to the battles - sometimes you will get hillarious limit breaks like the Chocobo and Moogle ones, or a fancier one imitating Sephiroth's or Genesis' attacks. And of course, the cute ones like when you get the three Aeris faces on the slots - he prays and gets healed!

The score of this game gathers new compositions but, in another act of pure nostalgia, brings back well known themes from the original Final Fantasy VII. I just loved One Winged Angel's new arrangement, and also others like FFVII's Boss Battle Theme, Aeris' Theme, and so on. The new themes are mostly rocky based, and we even have something from the anime Last Oder. Another great addition to the FF music repertoir.

To sum up, this game, at least to me, felt like a mini-remake of Final Fantasy VII, and is was a wonderful experience revisiting those main events and seeing the new content. I'll definitely wait now for the English version, with no regret of spending twice for this game! I guess that, in the end, even I became a FFVII fangirl...