Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core (PSP)

Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core is the highly awaited prequel to the most enjoyed Final Fantasy game of all time. With intense graphics, exciting storyline, unique battle system, joined with mysterious characters, players will discover many new secrets hidden in the world of Final Fantasy VII.
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I agree to what John Yamamoto, president and chief executive officer of Square Enix Ltd. comments, “CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- is one of the most anticipated FINAL FANTASY releases of all times. Pushing the boundaries of the PSP hardware, it offers a truly fantastic gameplay experience to not only existing fans, but new ones as well.”

This game will really push the boundaries of the PSP. Having awe-inspiring visuals, full 16:9 widescreen presentation, an interesting battle system, and additional gameplay challenges not present in other versions, fans and newcomers alike can definitely experience Final Fantasy from a whole new perspective.

The Storyline
Set seven years prior to the events of the first Final Fantasy VII, the Shinra Company is rapidly increasing its influence through its monopoly on mako energy and military might. With the burgeoning city of Midgar as its base and symbol of prosperity, Shinra is on the verge of establishing absolute dominance over the world.

SOLDIER is a group of skilled combat operatives within Shinra. The elite within the group — those strong enough to be deemed SOLDIER 1st Class — are respected and idolized by the citizenry.

Zack is a young SOLDIER 2nd Class who aspires to become a 1st. He spends his days carrying out assignments under the guidance of his 1st Class mentor, Angeal. During an operation in Wutai, a large number of SOLDIER members, led by 1st Class operative Genesis, go missing. The severity of the situation prompts Shinra executives to deploy even more SOLDIER operatives in hopes of bringing an end to the war with Wutai—and conducting an investigation into the mass desertion. The ones assigned to the mission are Zack, Angeal, and the 1st Class hero who is known the world over as Sephiroth.

What truths lie behind Genesis’s disappearance? What secrets bind the three SOLDIER 1st Class operatives? For Zack, a cruel and fateful struggle awaits.

The Gameplay
The battle system of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core will take players to a new level of gaming. It’s not your ordinary RPG game wherein you attack, then wait for the enemy to attack, etc. Here, you can move your character around, then attack whenever you want to. You can even dodge your enemy’s attacks, and even go behind the enemy to get a critical hit.

And of course, every Final Fantasy has magic, and like FFVII, players get to equip materia for their magic powers. The items are very much the same (potions, ethers, the usual), the weapons and the accessories too.

You can also acquire aeons like Ifrit, Bahamut, and Odin; but unlike other FF versions, players don’t get to summon their choice of monster. Aeons and limit breaks (similar to FFX’s overdrive) come out by chance depending on the rolling slots during battles, which can sometimes be a downer during boss battles because that’s when you need to summon the most.

There are also missions for Zack to complete. Though these are not required to finish the game, gamers would most likely want to complete the missions since this is where you get the rare weapons, accessories, and even materias. These missions make it easier to hunt for treasures.

Another thing different about Crisis Core, is that players only get to handle Zack all throughout the game. When you meet new characters along the way, they sort of just become part of your limit break, but Zack is still the only one you handle. Now that’s what I call a main character. One thing good about this though, is even at the very beginning, Zack starts out strong already. Unlike in FFVII, Cloud has to level up a lot just to get strong shots. Zack is really enough even for a group of enemies.

Characters
There are only six main characters in Crisis Core: Zack, his best friend Angeal, Cloud, Genesis, Sephiroth, and of course, Aerith. Fans of FFVII will remember Aerith, Cloud, and the infamous Sephiroth. In Crisis Core, we get to see what their lives were like seven years before Final Fantasy VII, and I can say it was really interesting.

There are also sub characters like Yuffie, the ninja in FFVII; Lazard, the director of SOLDIER; Cissnei, a member of the Turks; and Tifa, who will appear at the latter part of the game.

I’m sure RPG fans will agree with me, that the Final Fantasy series is one of the best RPG games out there, and Square Enix once again proved themselves to be one of the best with Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core.
For more information about Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, you can visit the official site at www.crisiscore.com

Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance

Set in the 37th century, Supreme Commander signals the next evolution in the RTS genre by being the first strategy game to deliver a truly strategic and tactical experience. You direct one of three warring human factions, the Aeon Illuminate,

Delivering one of the most advanced and innovative features of any RTS game, Supreme Commander establishes a breathtaking new standard with the sheer scope and scale of its gameplay. Colossal battles tear across maps of incomparable size as hundreds of units clash in epic battles of supremacy.

The Infinite War
For a millennium, three opposing forces of humanity–the Cybran Nation, the Aeon Illuminate and the United Earth Federation–have fought a bitter and bloody war over conflicting and unwavering systems of belief. There is no room for compromise. No room for mercy. No room for anything but the complete eradication of anyone with opposing belief systems. Labeled the Infinite War, this horrific conflict has shattered a once peaceful galaxy and only served to deepen the hatred and schisms between the three factions. Now, after centuries of struggle, the battle for supremacy has at long last reached a turning point. You are a Supreme Commander, and only you have the power to bring the Infinite War to an end once and for all. The fate of the galaxy is in your hands.
Game Features:

- New Playable Faction: A completely new playable faction will be available in multiplayer games and serve as the main threat during the new single-player campaign. This new threat is a cunning and devious race with advanced technology and are true masters of quantum technology. New weapons, new strategies, new conquests!

- New Units: Over 100 new land, sea, air, base and experimental units evolve armies to address strategic weakness or become the ultimate expressions of factional military doctrine.

- Warfare on an Epic Scale: Fully realized navies, orbital weaponry and advanced counter intelligence technologies give commanders unprecedented, deadly new capabilities in what is already the most strategic RTS on the market today.

- New Multiplayer Maps: New multiplayer battlefields provide new grounds for players to prove their supremacy.

- New Single Player Campaign: Play through a brand new single player campaign as you gather your forces to save mankind from extinction.

Re-Mission: A game and community for young people with cancer

Re-Mission is a third-person shooter video game released by the non-profit organization HopeLab on April 3, 2006.

The game falls primarily within the serious games genre, is intended to be both informative and entertaining, and is designed for young persons with cancer. The game was the culmination of years of research to ensure that it addressed realistic cancer-related medical issues within the context of entertaining gameplay.

An epic battle rages deep in the realms of the human body. Colonies of microscopic cancer cells replicate, attack and damage healthy orgrans. Enter Roxxi, a gutsy and fully armed nanobot, and medicine’s mightiest warrior. Lead here through challenging missions and rapid-fire assaults on malignant cells, wherever they hide. It’s the world’s smallest battlefield, yet the stakes have never been higher.

In Re-Mission, the player controls an RX5-E (“Roxxi”) nanobot who is designed to be injected into the human body and fight particular types of cancer and related infections at a cellular level. The player must also monitor patient health and report any symptoms back to Dr. West (the in-game doctor and project leader). Each of the 20 levels is designed to inform the patient on a variety of treatments, how they function, and the importance of maintaining strict adherence to those treatments.

Fighting cancer is an inside job. Guide Roxxi through the complex environments of the human body. Wreak havoc on cancer. Fire weapons like the chemo blaster, the radiotion gun and the anti-biotic rocket. Combat malignancies like non-hidgkin’s lumphoma and leukemia. Combine gameplay with science. Every re-mission adventure fuses action and accuracy.

I hope this game can be used by our hospitals to help cancer patients understand what the disease is all about and at the same time patients gaining more confidence in winning the battle by playing the game.

Re-Mission is available at no charge to young people with cancer and health care providers by visiting the game’s official website at http://www.re-mission.net/

Best Games of 2007

Before aything else, let me greet you all my readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

My school schedule is really unbelievable and the year 2008 won’t be any different for me – more school works.

Even if I am busy, I manage to play a couple of games (not as many as I want to), and I want to share with you what I think is the best games of 2007. Here’s the list:

1. Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy is a 3D action-platform game developed by Nintendo EAD Tokyo and published by Nintendo for the Wii in 2007. It is the third 3D platformer in the series after Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine. The game follows Mario on his quest through space to save Princess Peach from his arch-nemesis Bowser. Levels take the form of galaxies filled with planetoids, while gameplay is updated with a variety of gravity effects and new power-ups.

2. Mass Effect
Mass Effect is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare exclusively for the Xbox 360, which was released worldwide in November, 2007. The game takes place in the year 2183, with the player assuming the role of an elite human soldier named Commander Shepard, set out to explore a vast universe on his/her ship, the SSV Normandy.

3. Halo 3
Halo 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie Studios exclusively for the Xbox 360. The game is the third title in the Halo series and concludes the story arc that began in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2. The player assumes the role of the Master Chief, a cybernetically enhanced supersoldier, as he wages war in defense of humanity, assisted by human Marines as well as allied alien Elites led by the Arbiter.

4. God of War 2
God of War II is the sequel to the popular God of War video game. God of War II takes place some time after the events of the first game; Kratos, after his defeat of Ares, has become the new God of War, but has not been accepted by the other members of the Greek pantheon due to his ruthless treatment of the other Greek city-states. He finds enjoyment the only way he can, by leading his Spartan army in conquering Greece.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is an action-adventure game published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. It features 3D cel-shaded graphics with an overhead camera perspective, and uses several features of the DS for game controls, including the Touch Screen and microphone.