Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII

"Advent Children was so good. Why was Dirge of Cerberus such a let down?"

Advent Children was so good. Why was Dirge of Cerberus such a let down?

The honest truth in all this is Square Enix has let us, the Final Fantasy VII fans down with this poor creation that explains Vincent Valentine. Now I am no where near as in love with the Final Fantasy series as a whole, like some people. However I did very much enjoy Final Fantasy VII. However I've reviewed that game elsewhere and given a honest review for it (no it wasn't even close to the words “Perfect RPG” As FFVII wasn't the perfect RPG.) and I shall do the same here for Dirge of Cerberus.

Graphics – 6/10

Lets face it. The in game graphics are surprisingly weak for where the PS2 is at now. Final Fantasy X, Devil May Cry, Onimusha and various other titles all have much better graphics and a more enjoyable backdrop then Dirge of Cerberus creates. The background and areas in Dirge of Cerberus are all very dark. Now this would be perfect for this type of game if it wasn't for the fact that everything is just… so boring. None of the levels were really all that interesting as you could barely venture about but still, Square really could have given us more in this area. The actual character design falls short here as well. Most characters just seem less detailed or the game has their body moving through parts of a wall. After seeing the graphics of the games I mentioned above. I know the PS2 can be pushed better then this.

I also know why these in-game graphics were dulled down. Why? Simply because of the cinema scene throughout the game, which I must say are absolutely fantastic. It looks as if they ripped the graphics right out of Advent Children for their cinema scenes and I was rather impressed here. This is why I gave this a seven instead of a five. These scenes, for the PS2 are just that great. Too bad there isn't as many as there should be. Sadly this cut down on the in-game graphics and while the cinema scenes were awesome. It wasn't worth the trade off. Also something that bothered me a lot was very frequent cut-scenes. These aren't those sharp cinema scenes I was just going on about. These are in-game graphic cut-scenes and bloody hell is there a ton. Often times it is just some villager you helped saying “Thank you” or a little girl you saved saying “T-t-thank Mr. Stranger sir” Do I really care if I little kid or some old man thanked me or not? Does anyone? Nope yet you'll feel like you're being attacked by these damn cut-scenes. The first level has about ten and the second has five or something and so on. It is just really redundant and not necessary

Sound/Voice Overs – 8

The sound in Dirge of Cerberus is not that bad actually. It keeps the dark feeling but doesn't get boring and repetitive like so many other games. I enjoyed a lot of the music and really not much needs to be said on this subject. For voice overs, I was happy that they reused most of the Advent Children voices. Vincent's voice in English is just plain awesome. Funny though, I could have sworn Yuffie had someone else playing her. Personally I didn't like that voice much. Yuffie seemed too grown up and that just isn't her character. There were a few other voices I found dull (Anul) but not that many. So I stand firm with an eight here

Gameplay/Controls – 2-10

I want to backhand the jerk that created the horrible aiming system in this game. Here let me spell that out for you. The aiming in Dirge of Cerberus is h-o-r-r-i-b-l-e horrible!!!! I cannot stress that enough. Yes it is that bad that I have to rant about it. You have very limited control of the aimer once you go into battle and actually aiming is nearly impossible because after the enemy dies. You lose focus for a split second and then that cursed aimer that seemingly wants to annoy you has to refine your enemy. Even when it is looking directly at him; often times it will just over look that person and go onto another one or do nothing. Oh and think you won't be shot and can dodge every bullet. I don't care if you won first place in a Halo 2 tournament and are the world's best FPS player. You will get hit and you will get hit a lot. There is no sure way to dodge in this game and that bloody aimer doesn't help when it targets someone when you're trying to dodge someone else. I figured “screw it” and turned off my aimer. Aww too bad you can't shoot unless you use that accursed piece of garbage. Yep this is a shooter game but no shooting unless you use your aimer; can't free hand around here. Okay I've ranted enough. (lies but I'll shut up about the aiming for now. Sorry about that.)

As I talked about earlier; the dodging system in DoC is bad. It was a nice plus in the game to be able to move around freely and actually have what one would think is a good dodging system but it is quite difficult to use it to avoid anything. Now I'm a pretty good gamer but even I found this quite annoying. It was a nice idea but because the enemy can still almost always hit you. The system falls apart. Now on to the actual main focus of the game, shooting those baddies; this is fun but the problem here is the game is quite easy. I tried normal and honestly I could sleep through it and still kill things and with my experience with games. The higher level difficulties are just a stage up from the lower ones. I was right in this case. The game just lacks are sort of grand challenge and you'll spend more times wanting to stab the aimer (I know and again I'm sorry) then shoot the baddies. Really the overall gameplay was a really big let down for me. I was hoping for some great action packed battles but instead I got a very poor version of Devil May Cry. Please readers do not judge Devil May Cry based on Dirge of Cerberus. DMC is so much better it isn't even funny.

Story – 9/10

By the gods! Is it possible!? A part of this game that doesn't really suck besides the music? No way. Yes way people. There is a redeeming hope to Dirge of Cerberus. The storyline is really interesting and even though I hated the gameplay. I wanted to see what happened next. Of course I didn't make it all the way though. That gameplay gets to you but I must say. The story is at least quite interesting and possibly worth a playthrough to see. Vincent's past and future is really just that kick ass.

Side Notes

Well I think I've covered quite a bit of the game. Well there are a couple things left. DoC lacks multiplayer. So no sitting down with your friend, pretending you suck at the game. Just to later kick his ass like no tomorrow. There is also no online play in this game so far. I doubt that'll change any time soon but really. Think Square would make it any good? Dirge of Cerberus is nothing more then a sad attempted to sucker us Final Fantasy VII fans out of our hard earned money (or in many cases. Our parent's hard earned money. Yes, I didn't forget you types, lol) Anyways people just because it has that nice little title underneath saying Final Fantasy VII. This game has about as much to do with FFVII has the following FFVIII did. Okay Cloud and the gang are in the game but not all that often and you can't control them, nor do they join you.

Overall this was a major let down and will forever make me have to rent anything Square Enix releases. Just in case they try to pull something like this again. The story is good but the problem is unless you're a hardcore Final Fantasy VII fan. Really, the gameplay is just so bad that the storyline isn't worth it. For you casual fans; don't waste your time with this game and finally for you FPS fans out there. Please don't even rent this game. You will really feel like you were cheated. Same goes to you RPG lovers. To close, people if you must known the story about Vincent. Do yourself a huge favor and just rent this dull game. It's only ten to twelve hours (story wise) and you'll have it finished in a weekend or less. Plus you get to save your money, well most of it.

Oh and no replay value score this time. Why? Because no one should go and replay this game. You have the story now. Go and pawn it, throw it out the window or if you listened to me and rented it. Go take it back and to glad you weren't suckered. Your PS2 doesn't need to go through reading this game twice. Be glad your PS2 didn't smack you with your controller for placing this garbage in the disc tray the first.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 08/30/06