Customer Reviews

Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(27)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The unfortunate thing about Dirge of Cerberus is that it has the curse of being in the universe of one of the greatest and most beloved video games of all time: Final Fantasy VII. There's no way Dirge of Cerberus could possibly stack up to Final Fantasy VII. To expect any spinoff to stack up to the original Final Fantasy VII name and legacy is unrealistic. Dirge of Cerberus is pretty different... for Final Fantasy, that is. For your basic shooter, though, it's really not that different from any other shooter.

A group of underground soldiers known as Deepground have plans to revive the dreaded Omega Weapon. In order to do that, however, they need Vincent Valentine. Throughout the game you'll play as Vincent Valentine, getting to the bottom of this mystery. The gold of the story is that it provides quite an interesting look into Vincent's past. There are moments when the story feels a little complicated, but it's still a good experience nonetheless.

Dirge of Cerberus isn't really an RPG. Square refers to it as an "RPG Shooter," but in reality, it's really just a shooter. The game has a rather simple formula for its missions. You'll view a cutscene that introduces you to the level. The cutscene is usually long, and you'll have to wait for it to load first, and then you'll have to wait for it to load after its over. Then you'll go into said level and blast everything and anything that moves. Then at the end of each level you'll fight a boss. Rinse and repeat. Every stage in the game is pretty straightforward. All you need to do is keep shooting at virtually anything that moves. In some missions there are other things you can do, but really, you don't have to do these optional events. They're just there so you can improve your score. The basic goal of just about every mission is to kill stuff.

A lot of these levels feel a little uninspired. Most of them are bland looking with not much of anything for you there. You can't tear apart the environment or anything like that. It's also sad that a lot of areas in some levels look the same. These stages don't really show you a lot of variety in the environment. You'll also find yourself visiting some pretty familiar areas like Midgar. When you visit most of these familiar areas, however, you don't really feel like you're revisiting anything in Final Fantasy VII. Also, you'll mostly find yourself in the sewers or something. It's also really sad that you can't explore more of the world. The game is set in such a linear path that you can't explore your surroundings.

Going through most of these levels isn't always bad. Most of the action isn't all it's cracked up to be. You simply aim and shoot. The game provides a nice targetting system that makes missing most enemies nearly impossible. Even worse for the gameplay, there aren't a whole lot of variety with the enemies themselves. You'll mostly battle soldiers. Though from time to time you'll battle other things such as mechs and dogs. Once you've seen one soldier, though, you've seen them all. They're downed within a couple of shots, and their attack patterns aren't really all that varied. Before long, the enemies will do the same predictable things they always do. The game becomes incredibly easy before it even gets a chance to get hard. When you're near the end of the game, the enemies will still have their same old attack patterns. They never ever change. Bosses can be tough, but the only thing that actually makes the bosses tougher than your normal enemy is that they have more health.

In addition, most levels have little in-game cutscenes of their own. Again, though, you have to wait for the cutscene to load and then wait for it to load when it's over. These moments wouldn't be so bad if they didn't constantly come in the middle of the action. One minute you're shooting up your enemies, the next the game is loading a cutscene that might only last for a minute, and then the next your back in the middle of the action. It isn't that these moments are bad, it's just that they're inserted at inappropriate times.

Using magic also has its own hits and misses. You can equip materia to your weapon and fire off a magic shot. This adds some variety to the stale gameplay, but you'll end up depleting your MP really fast. There's not enough of the magic to go around. Likewise, you'll find items called Limit breakers which will allow you to use Vincent's limit break for a limited amount of time. Using Vincent's limit break provides some more fun to the game. You'll get to rip most of your enemies to shreds, but unfortunately, it only adds more ease to the game. Even bosses become a cakewalk with the limit break. Even though it only lasts for a limited amount of time, you'll still be able to take down a boss using the limit break.

Weapon customizing is a nice addition, however. After each level you have a chance to use the gil you've earned from enemies to upgrade Vincent's weapons. Throughout most of the game you'll be using the Cerberus, though. It's by far the most potent weapon in the game. It's nice to be able to explore and customize a vareity of weapons at least.

Dirge of Cerberus isn't a long game. It may take you less than ten hours to complete it. Upon completing it, though, you unlock an abundance of extra missions and such. The standard game is nothing special, but the extra missions can really keep you busy for a while. They're a lot more fun than the standard missions, and ask a lot more of your skills.

Graphically, it's hard to judge Dirge of Cerberus. Most of the environments are pretty run of the mill for the genre. There's not a lot of vareity or interaction with anything in these levels. Most levels really aren't that impressive looking. On the other hand, the pre-rendered cutscenes are beautiful to look at. These cutscenes themselves look just as good as the movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Outside of that, however, Dirge of Cerberus doesn't take the PS2 to its full capacity. Most of the music is alright. Nothing great, but good enough nonetheless. The voice acting is pretty standard. Not a lot of emotion, but at some points it goes along with the dark mood of the game rather well. Sometimes the characters not having emotion is what makes the voice acting good at some parts of the game. On the whole, though, it's not fantastic voice acting.

Dirge of Cerberus isn't really a bad game, but outside of it having the Final Fantasy name on it, there's really nothing in this game that sets it apart from other shooters and action/adventure titles. The Final Fantasy name is the only real reason to get this game. It's interesting to learn about Vincent, and to expand upon the Final Fantasy VII universe, but perhaps Final Fantasy should stick strictly to the RPG genre.

The Good
+You get to play as Vincent Valentine
+Vincent's past and story is explained rather well; the overall storyline of the game is pretty well done
+Beautiful pre-rendered cutscenes
+Neat weapons customization
+You get to use Vincent's Limit Break
+Tons of extra missions after the game is completed

The Bad
-Little innovation
-In game graphics are not up to standard for the PS2 or Square-Enix for that matter
-Poor voice acting in many spots
-Environments are bland
-There isn't enough vareity to the enemies, they do the same thing over and over until the end of the game
-The gameplay gets stale... fast
-The stages lack variety and exploration; they're all linear paths
-There's little challenge to the game

In an odd twist, the Final Fantasy series has "gone backwards" to expand on Final Fantasy VII. Latching onto a minor character - Vincent Valentine - we now find out what happened 3 years later.

Vincent is older than the typical Final Fantasy Teen character - more along the lines of Auron from FFX. He loves to dramatically swirl his cape as he moves. He is dark, brooding, and ruthlessly efficient in his attacks. I like all of this.

The cut scenes are simply *gorgeous* at times. The movements of characters is just amazing. The small motions, the emotions shone, this is a work of art.

Unfortunately, given these great achievements, the actual gameplay really doesn't hold up well for me. I understand that this is not a RPG - it is a combat game. You go around attacking enemies, little numbers of damage bounce over their heads, and you reduce them to zero. The "world" is a Final Fantasy world, but it's not really a Final Fantasy game. It's about building up gun components, shooting, and then shooting some more. Puzzles involve getting cards to get through doors, and figuring out how to kill enemies.

The in game graphics are much less impressive than the cut scenes. Your character is reduced to jumping and walking. There's no diving, rolling, or other special moves. Even worse, there are incredibly numerous long pauses as you go between gameplay and cut scene. There must have been a better way to integrate those quickly, especially as many of the cut scenes are just brief little "thank you"s.

Also, while I know Vincent is a dark, brooding type - a type that appeals to me a lot, by the way - I find him a bit too uncaring about the people around him. He seems often to get involved reluctantly. He almost seems to dismiss some people as being beneath his notice. This isn't a kind of hero I appreciate.

In general, as much as I tried to get into this new style of game, it just didn't work very well. There are many other combat style games that involve characters that can creep, roll, dive and use great combat moves. With Vincent doing these things in cut scenes, he should be able to do them in actual gameplay as well.

Ah.. What have they done to you Vincent? Final Fantasy VII for the Playstation was an instant classic. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children also received fine reviews. How then, could Dirge of Cerberus be bad? Well.. if it was done like this I guess.

This game is unique to the Final Fantasy world because it is an action game, not the usual RPG. Also, it stars a side character from an earlier game which hasn't been done yet either. However, in this case change isn't good. For starters many of the guns are basically the same thing. Of course there are a few differences, but none really too noticeable. Also, the action just becomes stale after awhile. Sure, the enemies change but it's never anything special. All you really have to do is click the R1 button a few times and they all die. Not to mention, the game designers seemed to try and make it as annoying as possible. There are constant loading and saving in the middle of the game that really bogs down the action. But, even after all these saves mid-mission death takes it's toll. You can run through three parts of a four part mission, waste a bunch of time doing boring gun fighting, and then die. And sometimes when you die, they send you all the way back to the start. ...That sucks.

Still, for fans of Final Fantasy the game does have some redeeming qualities. The CG cutscenes are beautiful and the story of Vincent Valentine is rather interesting. Still, when those cutscenes are just popping up two or three times every mission it can get a little tedious. Not to mention, there are load times between the cut scenes and the action. So, you have to wait through that as well.

It is also good to note, that it is cool to hear voices of the characters from a game from 1997. The music isn't too bad either. But, compared to Final Fantasy games from the past it really isn't anything to write home about. Overall, this game doesn't really last too long if you go through it quickly, like I did. But, after you beat the game there are a bunch of extra missons that you can take on for fun. I would have added more value for that, but Square decided to scratch the online portion of this game. That makes the additional missions mute.

A Final Fantasy fan will probably buy this game regardless of what I say. But, as a fan of the series I'd reccommend just renting it. You can easily play through the game in 5 days, and with no online or anything to make it worth keeping, the replay value isn't great. Dirge of Cerberus delivers on telling a story of a very popular side character, but fails at actually creating a decent shooter.

I read poor reviews for this game in PSM magazine yet failed to believe them seeing I am a hardcore Final Fantasy fan. I ran to the store and picked this up, popped it in my PS2, and awaited to review it myself. I seem to speak for myself when saying this...but I just think simple games that are easy are just...fun. This game was amazingly fun, just not worth 50$. I highly suggest renting this game, unless you're a FF collecter (like myself). The length is also dissapointing, seeing I beat it in one sitting (only about a 4-6 hour game).

Ok...now for the more "technical" review: There are only three guns, the majority of the entire game is spent watching cut-scenes rather than playing (I'm not exagerrating), Dungeon design is poor and predictable (pretty much just walk forward), the action consists of repeatedly pressing one single button (no fancy combos, even though they tease you by showing Vincent pull them off in cut-scenes), there is a "jump" command by pressing X in yet only few things can actually be jumped over or upon, lacks story, etc...however, the music is pretty good (even without Uematsu), the CG is great (Advent Children quality), and the characterization of Vincent is a plus...If you're looking for a good game, don't play this...if you're looking for a 'fun' (meaning easy, and simple) game, or a variation on the Final Fantasy we all know and love...then I suggest RENTING this. Unless of course, as I've said before, you simply want to buy it for its title, or to add to your FF collection.

I'm not really sure why I bought this in the first place, besides having played Final Fantasy VII for the PS1 numerous times. The reviews of the overseas version were bad, citing terrible aiming and control of Vincent. Also reviewers said it was too linear, and there wasn't enough to do. I read that some of these problems would be addressed in the American version, so I picked it up to give it a try. Here's what I think so far:

Vincent moves very well, and is fairly easy to control. I haven't had any trouble with the targeting or anything like that. Gun customization changes things up a little bit and makes it where you can use different types of guns just by changing the gun barrel, adding a scope, etc. At first I had a ball playing the game. The gameplay sort of reminded me of controlling Dante in Devil May Cry, but not quite as good. The cut scenes are amazing, and help set up the story well.

Here's the problem: The game is very repetitive. Other than just running around shooting the same types of enemies, there's not much else to do, except when a civilian calls for help or something like that, and when they do, you're only running over to shoot whoever is around them. No exploration is needed, or is really allowed, because the areas are pretty much closed off. It's not exactly linear (you can move around the area you are in, climb on things, etc), but you are usually confined to the screen you are on between cutscenes.

I wanted to like this game, and I will still probably finish it because the story and cut scenes are great, it just lacks playability. The gameplay is not that great, and was overly easy for me.

OK, I've read all the reviews of the game saying things like "too much story", "clunky engine", or "not exciting enough". Well, I've played this game and all those reviews are wrong.

The game is incredibly fast-paced with a riveting storyline, on-par with games like "Half-Life". The fluidity of character motions are astonishing, with very realistically detailed 3D graphics. It was ECSTASY to take charge as the Galian Beast, use Materia shots, or sit in gun turrets for unlimited ammo. The switch from third-person to first-person perspective on the fly was nicely done, and I felt amazed at the secret ending shown after the credits.

In all, this game really has EVERYTHING that FPS fans want and EVERYTHING Final Fantasy fans want, so I don't understand why people are complaining.

Dirge of Cerberus is a good adition to the Final Fantasy series, but it lacks alot of polish. To start this out as methodically as possible, let's talk about the story... The truth is, that the story basically revolves around a side quest from Final Fantasy VII, and then builds on it, being set three years after the events of the game. The story obviously follows Vincent, who in my opinion, is the coolest character in the entire Final Fantasy series (just my opinion, again). Through the course of the game you'll learn more about Vincent's past, as well as the awesome power that he possesses. I'd rate the story in itself to be around four stars, since it is pretty great, especially if you're a fan of Final Fantasy VII, but it loses points for the fact that it feels way too much like an elaborate side quest, even when you inevitably have to save the world at the end of the game.

Next up, gameplay... This is the part that could really use the aformentioned polish. In theory, it's not really that bad, but in execution, it loses points for alot of the details of it. For starters, Cerberus (Vincent's pistol) is by and large the most useful weapon. You only need the machine gun for swarming enemies, and the rifle for enemies too far off to hit with a pistol shot. Now, I do believe that Vincent's pistol SHOULD be powerful, but still, not so much that it overshadows the other weapons. The auto-targeting might seem silly to fans of the FPS genre of games, but it actually works rather nicely here. You can't make called shots very well, but you usually don't need to. You can always toom in if you need a head shot. Enemies can be annoying in that they tend to be exceedingly good shots, especially snipers. Now this seems realistic, but it makes it very hard to get an S rank in the damage recieved stat for a level. A major flaw is the inability to move absolutely freely. This means that you can't jump over the railing; you must take the stairs. You will never fall off an endless cliff, and there are no platforming sequences. It can feel far to restricting at times. Also, Vincent doesn't really seem as agile as you might expect. The least they could have done was give him a wall jump or something. The ability to roll would have also been a good addition. At the very least, he's capable of shooting from any position, so that's one good thing. At the end of every level you have the option of gaining xp, or gil. Both have their own merits, and it's a great option to have. You can also buy items and ammo at the end of every level. Later on, you'll probably find yourself stocking up on potions, and ammo for your trusty Cerberus, or one of the other weapons if you prefer. Alot of where the game went wrong is with the extra missions. They tend to be rather difficult (to a flaw), making it much more satisfying to run through the regular game at an increased dificulty. The major problem is that you often run out of ammo for the weapon you're using. It would have been nice if the extra missions supplied you with an X amount of gil, and a chance to spend it on ammo or items of your choice. However, it doesn't, so as I said, the extra missions are exceedingly hard in some cases. Overall, I'd give the gameplay a 3 star rating. It could have been at least four, but there are too many slight problems to ignore.

Now there's the sound. I personally (though I know many don't agree with my sentiments on this) like the sound Vincent's gun makes. It's something of a light pop as opposed to a powerful bang. The musical score and other sound effects are also mostly good, but not spectacular. I'd give the sound a 4 star rating.

On to the graphics. Without saying too much, the CG movie scenes are nothing short of amazing, showing the best of what the PS2 can offer. The in-game graphics are good, but they seem like they could have been better; particularly the scenery and stages. They're good, but feel a little flat. On the other hand, one of my greatest pleasures with the game would be simply watching Vincent's tattered cape billow out behind him... (He's just so cool!) I want to give the graphics another 4 star rating. They were great, but just felt a little stiff in some areas. It's no real issue though.

Lastly, it's the replay value... After you complete the game, you can pump up the difficulty to try taking on the game with your weapons from before. You can also attempt the many extra missions available, though as I stated before, those can be annoyingly hard. Unless you really enjoyed the game like I did, there's probably not much joy to be had after the main story is complete, though I also like seeing the story again... and again... Replay value, I want to give a 2 star rating. I don't imagine most will enjoy the game as much as me, and the fact is, there isn't much new after completing the game, unless you want to tediously try to unlock all of the scenes, artwork, and other extras.

In the end, Dirge of Cerberus appeals to me as a could have been great game with a shaky foundation. I for one actually hope for them to release another game such as this, but while clearing up all the flaws of this game. If they can get it right on the second shot, it'll be a wonderful thing in my book.

Dirge of Cerberus is a third person shooter that picks up several Final Fantasy VII threads and weaves them together into an interesting side trip down Final Fantasy's memory lane. The story follows Vincent Valentine as he gets drawn into a mystery filled with surprise attacks and the disappearance of whole cities that occurs a short while after the events of Advent Children. It is full of references to (and characters from) FF VII, and many mysteries about Jenova and Omega will be revealed. Vincent's task is to discover something important about who he is and, of course, save Midgard's world.

I bought this because, well, I'm a Final Fantasy geek. Even though I'm not a third person shooter geek. There are only a few such games on my shelves - Jak, Prince of Persia, Bloodrayne, etc., - games that got a lot of critical notice. So take my opinions with a grain of salt.

The story is interesting and the artwork good. Gameplay isn't particularly complex - you build weapons as you gain cash and, for the most part you point and you shoot. You can also use physical combat and dodge and run, but again, don't expect any complicated moves. For some reason the game's play reminded me a lot of Castlevania. That isn't bad, but it's lacking in terms of the state of the art that I expect from the Final Fantasy series. It just doesn't really push the envelope.

My third person skills are pretty rudimentary, but it only took me about 10 hours to run the game the first time through. There a about a billion little side quests you can also play, plus all kinds of goodies you can unlock, but this is definitely a less than 20 hour experience, which means that you are spending a lot for a small game with limited variability. So the best reason for buying Dirge of Cerberus is that you, like me, are a fan and would want to have it for the context as well as the game..

Dirge of Cerberus is a game that continues the story of Final Fantasy VII after the first game and the movie Advent Children. The game has a completely different battle system. Instead of the turn based RPG battles it is a third/first person shooter game. Throughout the game you can collect items (i.e. Phoenix Down, Potions, Ethers, etc.) to help you along the way, and modifications can be made to the weapons you carry around to fit your taste. For example: you can modify a gun to be a rapid-fire gun with low accuracy, or have a slow shooting gun with a extremely high accuracy. The graphics are spectacular and the game's CGI videos are on par with the animation from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. However, the main character this time around is not Cloud Strife, but one of the hidden characters Vincent Valentine. One gets a fairly good idea of Vincent's past by playing Final Fantasy VII, but now we get the chance to see a much more in depth explanation of what happened to him during the experiments in the Shinra Mansion. Furthermore, we learn more about what happened with him and the woman who gave birth to Sephiroth. Most of the original characters make a brief appearance in this game, but if you are expecting to see all of them then don't bother playing the game. The game focuses on Vincent 98% of the time. The only other character that has a big role in this game is Yuffie and even she isn't there most of the time. Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Cid, and Red XIII are there, but have very small roles and some of them don't even show up more than once. Along with seeing some old friends we meet some new people (good and bad) along the way.

***WARNING SPOILER BELOW***

If anyone is expecting to see Aeris or Sephiroth you can forget it. Sephiroth shows up in a memory sequence and that's it, and Aeris doesn't show up at all.

***WARNING SPOILER ABOVE***

To sum up the game is fun, and the reason I say for "True Fans Only" is because I feel that only true fans will care about what happens in the game. Casual fans are probably going to want something that was just like the original game, which is something that this game is definitely not. Something to keep in mind is this game will be very confusing if you haven't played the first game and/or seen the movie. If you're like me and you're looking to learn more about Vincent then I recommend you try this game because it was entertaining for me. However, if you want the original game play and to see a lot more of the entire cast of Final Fantasy VII then this is not a game for you.

To be honest, gameplay-wise, Dirge of Cerberus wasn't anything special. You're confined to narrow hallways the entire game, you can't jump over anything, and you can pretty much clear any level by just standing in harm's way and firing.
So, what's the point of playing this game? The story!
Anyone who'se played FFVII will tell you that the game was all about an interesting story, and this game takes you back into the world of FFVII to explain many of the events that took place in the original game, as well as introduce new characters with their own stories.
If you can't get enough of FFVII, I see no reason that you shouldn't pick this up.