Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus (PlayStation 2)

Reviewed by Clifford C from Wanganui, NZ on May 1st, 2008

Different is good. Reviewers had a piss fest over this one mainly as they wanted more menu driven action and weren't ready for a different take on the franchise. RPG fans cried but this is still a great action game with plenty of replayability. Glitches and control problems have been overworked since the Japanese release and meager online offerings have been replaced by a huge assortment of minigames/bonus missions. The story is awesome and told very well in this FMV heavy FPS and gameplay is much much more enjoyable than expressed by popular reviewers. A must-buy before it becomes a Trademe/eBay only find.

Reviewed by Paula from Whangarei, NZ on January 7th, 2007

A must have for FF collectors and a must play for anyone else. not too sure how it ranks as I shooter, but the plot is great with some really cool CG scenes (though not enough - more please!) Yeah, some of it was dead easy, but it kept me going for 19 hours and I haven't done any of the extra stuff - so you get your money's worth.

With weapon mods and the ability to trade exp for gil (rather than levelling up), there's heaps of potential for varied results and there's a whole bunch of extras to unlock while playing.

AND for those of you who've played FFVII - you get to visit some of the locations from the game and explore them in a whole new way.

Reviewed by Anonymous on December 21st, 2006

This game is definetly one of the best ive ever seen. Its a good change from all those tuen based battles wich i know alot of ppl were starting to get bored of. the story is brilliant and the extra missions make the game more fun and longer lasting. The gameplay is very intense most of the time. So yeah this game is great for any final fantasy fan. i give it a 9/10.

Reviewed by Ash from Auckland on December 8th, 2006

The game is a great spin-off, but that is simply all it is..fans should play it to complete the(GREAT) FF7 story but unless your collecting FF titles this ones only worth a rent! short story.. brain dead easy game play.. crap loading time..but pretty sweet FMVs...about the only thing this game has going for it is you get to be vincent valentine..man hes cool.. 6.5/10

Reviewed by Sam from South Auckland, NZ on November 23rd, 2006

All round good game with stylish FMVs... Completes the story... yet more is to be revealed. Looking forward to FFXII on PS2 & FFXIII on PS3. Add this title to your FF collection!

Reviewed by Andy from Nelson on November 20th, 2006

This game totally blew me away. Final Fantasy returns just in time for christmas with it's signature jaw dropping visuals, masterpiece score, engaging plotlines and characters that have undoubtedly left a more than significant mark in the world of video gaming, namely 'the' Vincent Valentine.

Character development is where this game really shines. I can safely say that I didn't know squat about Vincent before I played this. The game does a hands down perfect job of portraying Vincent's discovery of himself, and this couldn't have been supported better by the gorgeous music that Final Fantasy has become so well known for. The main drawbacks are the somewhat mediocre script and acting, and the in game graphics do have a little to answer for in comparrison to the FMVs. People have also said the gameplay won't satisfy expert shooters, but even if you're a veteran FPS player, I gotta tell ya, there's nothing like roundhouse kicking someone to his knees and then hammering him with your pistol to finish off.... or vice versa. Yeah the AI aren't that smart at times but I found it hard to notice that while trying out fun combo moves like kicking somone in the face, jumping over his head and pummelling him with bullets before you hit the ground, and there's the added bonus of magic use, weapon customization and being able to turn into one of Vincent's limit break monsters from Final Fantasy VII. I guess in truth I would rather reccomend this to an Action RPG gamer rather than a shooter, but that doesn't stop it from making a worth addition to anyone's collection. The mood, the story and the addictive kicking moves had me skaking after it was all over.

Reviewed by David from Auckland, NZ on November 18th, 2006

Well the game play isn't too bad although not that great for first person shooter type of games.
The worst thing about this game is that it's way too short. I've clocked it in around 8 hours and I haven't skipped through any of the event scenes.
Story and FMVs however, are quite good as you can imagine since its final fantasy-but nothing in comparison to FF7.
I am a final fantasy fan myself and I own all the series and such but this one.. pretty disappointing.
If you intend to purchase this game and have not played other final fantasy series its likely that you might not like it.
My advice to everyone is just try it out before purchase-unless you want to add this to your ff collection. Play for about 10 minutes and if you like it than you should buy it. If not, spend your money on something else. Perhaps on upcoming final fantasy 12

Reviewed by Anonymous from Auckland, NZ on November 18th, 2006

Has great plot, which enlightens one of the mysterious Vincent Valentine's past.
Square-Enix has obviously improved their fmv graphics, as well as in-game graphics from final fantasy x-2.
Music's great, being orchestrated with lots of tense music...and don't forget Gackt, he's a very, VERY famous rock singer in Japan...and his music ain't too bad (note: if you play the game long enough, you'll actually see him star in the game).
Game play is great, although improvements could be made, for instance, the enemy AI is a bit of a vegetable at times, but the game has different modes (normal, hard, extra hard), so that compensates I guess.
Gun customization is one of the main fun factors of this game: collect the parts and remodel.
There's also Vincent's limit break which adds a totally new dimension to the gameplay.
Overall, I think this game is very good...but it ain't Square-Enix's best. Still, they've done a pretty good job for a first-time shoot'em up game.
I give it an 8/10