Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII

[sj33]

US version arrived today, many of you will know this has fixed many of the problems people had with the JPN version -

-Improved camera
-Aiming is no longer fixed to the sholder
-Double Jump
-Combos (melee) and shooting in mid-air
-Faster general game pace
-Limit break is now an item, to encourage player to think before using
-Additional missions

Must say, pretty fun so far. Not had experience with the Japanese version, but I can see it severely sucking without the above fixes, so good job Squeenix.

You'll enjoy this more if you don't try to compare this to DMC tbh, and take it as it is.

Yet to hit the Gackt music though, though the US version does retain it - when does it come?

VA's are from the Advent Children dub, boo no JPN voice option. But you do have access to the game soundtrack, movies etc from a new 'Extra Features' menu on the title screen.

[SuperBeatBoy]

well if you think of it being similar to gungrave or something like it. then you can appreciate it, its not as fun or flashy as what ive previously mentioned. i dont mind it at all acually, i think its alright. but i can see myself not playing it again after finishing it. also whats the deal with using the right analog stick for aiming mounted weapons. just found it disorientating and awkward especially the on the rails segmant on the 2nd stage.

[Silvergun X]

Wow, I might actually try this then!

[SuperBeatBoy]

the customisations of your weapons is a nice thing an all. You can have up to 3 different combinations for weapons set to one key, which means you dont have to keep going through menus all the time and quick access when your in the thick of it.

[sj33]

It really is quite fun IMO. It's certainly not ground-breaking, in fact, this sorta thing has been done before, probably better, but it's not like that really detracts.

Not far enough in to comment on plot, though is feels very Advent Children. The clear focus is on the customisability, and there really is a lot to get your teeth into in that regard... on the first level I managed to get an improved barrel to improve aim, materia which you equip to the weapon.

Gameplay isn't amazingly tight, but your not fighting with the controls either. The gun aspect is actually extremely forgiving, having some sort of auto-targetting system (which I think you can disable).

I'm anally pro-sub, wanting the original JPN language etc, but the English dub is a quality one, never detracting like many do. Same VA's as AC I think.

And of course, my favourite Yuffie has a major role in this, and appears a lot. Sold.

[Johnny]

Ah, thanks for the impressions. I had been put off this after reading reviews after it's JP version but the fact that it's been improved for the US release sounds great.

Pity about the voice acting as I would have personally preffered JP voices w/English subs but you can't win 'em all I guess.
Would have preffered a ?20-?25 price as ?30 seems a bit much for something that has it's problems.

[Friction]

I too got the US version today and have only spent about 10 minutes playing (will spend much more time with it tomorrow) and from what I have seen I think I will enjoy it quite a bit!

Looks nice enough, controls are quite intuative and respond well and looking forward to the story unfolding.

Bonus that I love FF7 and AC, so I guess I'd end up liking it regardless!

Certainly fill the gap till FF13 for a bit anyhow

[Taurine]

I've played this a few times since it arrived on Friday, and until a few minutes ago I was loathing it. Metroid Prime is the only FPS I've enjoyed in years (don't ask me what I think of Halo) so I'm not exactly a veteran of these kind of controls.

Anyway, if anyone else is hating it for the controls, here is what saved it for me: invert the vertical controls, leave the horizontal ones in normal mode, and turn the control speed sliders up to full. Before I did that I just didn't know what was going on. I don't know if I've now got conventional or weird controls but they work for me.

Before I got the controls sorted, I was still going back to it over and again, because I wanted to see the cut-scenes and CG. Its fluff but its fun!

The game it most reminds me of is Jet Force Gemini, which I liked a lot

[Silvergun X]

I have to say, i'm also really enjoying this!

There's definately a little something missing to make it top notch material, but as it stands, what with the side quests during missions, the weapon customisation, I think it's still very good fun.

I can see myself playing this for a while.

---

I'm thoroughly enjoying the plot. While it started off a little bit strange and uninteresting with some rather strange moments, now that it's developed a little bit more it's become very absorbing.

A part of me agrees with the Gungrave comment a post or two back, but this game is far better than Gungrave in my opinion. Less pointless flashy moves, more large guns and blasting things away. It's no Devil May Cry, but as long as you're not expecting it to be, you're in for some good fun.

Treat it like an FPS.

[SuperBeatBoy]

http://1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3152877&did=1

another reason why i dont like 1up.

[Concept]

Wasn't it common consensus that Dirge of Cerberus happened to be one of those rare examples of Japanese developers trying to do a first person shooter and then failing miserably at it? Or am I wrong?

[Silvergun X]

Japanese version yes, but the US version seems to have improved on a lot of things.

[Dandy_sephy]

a first person shooter

Isn't it primarily a 3rd person shooter though?

[Bleeders]

Is it really as bad as reviews suggest though? So far from what I've seen, the media hate it where as some are quite enjoying it.

[Silvergun X]

It depends on how you look at it, and what you expect from it.

Yes it's a third person shooter. When you pull your weapon out, you can go into either shoulder aiming view still in third person, or you can click in the right thumbstick to go into first person mode, at which point it handles like one aswell, to the point where you can use a USB keyboard and mouse to play the game.

Definately gonna have to be tried on my second playthrough.

It's nothing groundbreaking, but it does play quite nice and i'm having fun with it. It helps if you think about it like an FPS in third person instead of a Devil May Cry style game.