- Sephiroth Fights Genesis and Angeal - Square Enix
Just because a gamer becomes a mother doesn't mean she has to give up her beloved video games. She just needs to find games that are moderately easy to pick up and play and comprehend the story, even if it means she needs to take week long stints in between gaming times.
This is especially difficult to find among role-playing games, as they often have complex gameplay and stories that require gamers to play them several days in a row for several hours at a time to fully appreciate them.
Square Enix has a RPG perfect for the gaming mom trying to fit games into her family life. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII has many nuances that help players pick up where they left off, even if the game has been collecting dust for a few weeks.
Add the fact that it is a Sony PSP exclusive, and these moms can enjoy the bonus of being able to play the game anywhere as well as anytime.
Quick Review of Crisis Core Gameplay
Crisis Core has a very unique combat system for any game, much less a role-playing game. The game features Zack Fair senza a party of combatants in a seemingly typical hack n' slash format. Like any other Final Fantasy game, Zack can perform different attack styles, spells, and Limit Breaks. However, Zack does not earn experience in a typical fashion.
While fighting, a slot machine-like device called the Digital Mind Wave (DMW) spins images and numbers in the upper left corner of the screen. If the left and right images of the DMW match, Zack enters the Modulating Phase and the combat is paused momentarily to allow the middle image to stop spinning. The outcome of the final spin in the DMW determines Zack's execution of Limit Breaks, his leveling up, and the leveling up of his materia.
It all sounds confusing at first, but it makes one hundred percent sense while playing the game.
Crisis Core Teaches and Reteaches Controls
At the start of the game, Zack receives around eight pages of tutorial e-mails explaining how the game works. This is overwhelming at first -- and not recommended to read at this point -- but is a perfect refresher course for practically any gameplay question. In addition, when Zack learns other complex abilities such as Materia Fusion, he receives and stores another e-mail explaining this concept as well. Practically any question can be answered by just flipping through Zack's extensive e-mail inbox.
In addition to the e-mails, the Shinra Menu screen can also refresh a player's memory about any items, abilities and how to activate them, and materia.
The Shinra Missions are Perfect for Short Game Times
Shinra assigns missions for Zack to complete throughout the game outside of the main storyline. These missions help Zack level up and obtain new items and materia. It takes roughly fifteen to thirty minutes to complete a mission.
For the gamer who has just a few minutes of alone time to game -- such as during naptimes for the munchkins -- these missions are perfect. When a mission is completed, Zack returns to the save point he accessed it from, so saving and ending the game is a breeze. Zack can also abort a mission at any point, so any sudden interruptions won't entirely ruin a mission.
The best part about the missions? If Zack dies, he keeps all of the items he has found and any levels he has earned. The player doesn't even have to restart from the last time he or she saved the game. Zack just reappears at the save point used to access the mission and life continues on as if nothing happened.
Also, if a gaming mom has let Crisis Core collect some dust, the missions are a great way to refamiliarize herself with how to play.
Short Final Fantasy VII Backstory
Crisis Core is the story of everything that happened right up to the starting point of Final Fantasy VII. Those who have played the original game will have no problems following along with the story, but it does not cater to these gamers.
The storyline of the game is rather short for a typical RPG (only ten chapters), and it is meant to have long periods of time in between chapters, since Zack has a considerable amount of missions to complete. Therefore, it is not that difficult to quickly comprehend and recall what is going on in the story, no matter how many weeks separate game times.
Crisis Core Made for Gamer Moms
Gaming moms, especially those with a PSP system, should add this title to their libraries. With the easy game controls, tutorials at the ready, and short story, these moms will have no problems fitting Crisis Core into their busy lives.
Keri Honea - Keri Honea is all over the place. She's involved with video games, animation, strategy guides, and fantasy books, and not just on Suite ...
