FFVII: Dirge of Cerberus North American Release
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Aug 16, 2006Warning: Use of undefined constant Story - assumed 'Story' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /mnt/web203/e0/91/54654191/htdocs/news/news.php on line 78 Warning: Use of undefined constant Story - assumed 'Story' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /mnt/web203/e0/91/54654191/htdocs/news/news.php on line 79 The latest entry in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus gets its North American release today. The game is set one year after Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and three years after the original game. Fans will play as Vincent Valentine, the former Turk with a mysterious past who was only an optional character in Final Fantasy VII, as he fights against the Deep Ground Organization. Playable characters from the original game, such as Yuffie and Cait Sith/Reeve, will make cameo appearances and the game promises to delve more into Vincent’s past with supporting characters such as Lucrecia and Hojo.
Combat is radically different from any other entry in the Final Fantasy franchise to date. The game is a blend a first-person shooter and action RPG elements. Players will have free range of motion on the map and can switch from third-person to first-person mode with a press of the R3 button. Pressing R1 brings up targeting crosshairs while pressing R1 again will fire. The right thumbstick can control aiming while in targeting mode. Also, Vincent will be able to equip three guns at once, which can be quickly cycled through using the L2 button. The three guns are each made up of several individual parts that are all customizable. Players will be given a wide selection of customization options that will include reducing recoil and weight and increasing magazine size, firing range, firing rate, and overall damage. Unfortunately, upgrading weapon parts to the next level is a costly affair. To mitigate this expense, players will receive bonuses at the end of each chapter based on their performance during sub-missions that can be converted into either EXP or Gil.
Dirge of Cerberus marks another first for Square-Enix as it is first game in the franchise to have undergone a number of radical gameplay alterations mid-localization. The game received a rather lukewarm reception in Japan this past January, which prompted Square-Enix to make certain those flaws and weaknesses that plagued the Japanese edition of the game were corrected before the English release. Vincent now runs 1.2 times faster than he did in the Japanese version. The drastic slow-down when switching to targeting mode has been lessened and reducing the weight of the gun through customization further reduces this lag. A double jump move has been added as well as attacks and melee combos that can be performed mid-air. The dodge-roll move has been replaced with a quick dash motion that allows players to recover back into attack position faster. Limit break attacks will no longer detract from the magic bar. Instead they are useable only through single-use limit break items that can be acquired throughout the game.
The online mode available in the Japanese version was removed from the North American version though it makes little difference since the online multiplayer service will be discontinued as of September 29th. Western gamers will, however, be able to experience these same missions originally available through the multiplayer mode as a set of forty single-player extra missions that are unlocked by beating the game. These missions will be harder than the regular game as only a limited number of moves and items will be available during these missions. Completing the missions unlocks - among other things - new modded weapons, an image gallery, a character model viewer, and a sound gallery. The Easy mode has been removed entirely from the English version and initially only Normal and Hard will be available. Finishing the game unlocks the Very Hard mode for those in search of an extra challenge.
Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus: Lost Episode
Vincent Valentine’s adventures aren’t quite over yet for he also stars in a mobile spin-off of his main title that is meant to tie up some loose threads. In this game, Vincent returns to the Shinra Mansion in search of something called the Protomateria. Gameplay seems simple enough. Vincent can be maneuvered through the 3D environments with the d-pad. Auto-targeting is available in first person mode though the camera is restricted to moving only left or right. Tapping the d-pad in a certain direction causes Vincent to lunge forward in that direction.
Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus: Lost Episode is reported to be only three hours long and will be available exclusively through Amp’d Mobile sometime this summer.
Article written by Yun for Final Fantasy: World's Apart.
Sources:
RPGamer.com
GameSpot.com