What happens when you take the rich, layered storytelling of Final Fantasy 7, interesting characters, fantastical environments, entertaining gameplay, toss into a 2002 fan fiction generator seasoned heavily with Tetsuya Nomura and hit blend? The unholy coalescence spat out will unmistakably become Dirge of Cerberus. To quote an exquisite Let’s Play from TheDarkId, “So, is the game fun, at least? - No. No it is not. It is poorly paced, has barebones gunplay, the controls are awkward, there are lukewarm RPG elements, and it's riddled with cutscenes.” Every single original character in this bizzarro spin off universe such Shelke, Shalua, Nero, Weiss, Azul, Rosso, and Grimoire are shallow, out of place and crank the ridiculous meter to astronomical levels. The dialog is extremely superfluous and manages to reach turbo insanity near the finale. It is an insult to FF7 and Nomura’s story telling influence has slowly seeped into the FF7 Remake and inevitably Part 2 – Rebirth coming out in the near future. The sad and painful realization is at the end of the day, further down, deep down, there exists a small amount of decency and charm screaming to be uncovered. Wonderful, detailed set pieces, excellent animations, thoughtful camera angles, unique character designs, exquisite sound and folly work, thematic and sharp UI layout and overall presentation all exist beneath this rotten, FF-adjacent amalgamation of storytelling sludge. Composed by Masashi Hamauzu, the soundtrack is a beacon of silver lining. “Silent Edge”, “Counteroffensive”, “Trespasser”, “Turks 101”, “Underground Complex”, Wild Pack”, “Lucrecia's Research” are excellent and harken back to signature melodies, motifs and styles found in the FFXIII OST. Play this game at your own peril. It will tarnish your ideals and challenge what you thought you knew about the FF7 universe. You have been warned. #digitalthoughts #squareenix #squaresoft #retrogaming #gaming #videogames #action #jrpg #finalfantasy #finalfantasyvii #dirgeofcerberus #deepground #playstation #ps2 #480i #crtgaming #background #sony #playstation #ファイナルファンタジー #レトロゲーム https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr1k-UqvfIp/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
