Final Fantasy VII - Crisis Core: First time seeing a terrible story told so beautifully.

I had many - MANY - starts and stops with this game when it came out on PSP. I just couldn't do it. The battle engine annoyed me, the force-placed battles annoyed me, and switching equipped materia and items was annoying. Everything just...annoyed me. Here I am, older and wiser, revisiting it.

I don't remember where I stopped the first time I'd played, but I got through it this time.

What I Liked

Absolutely fantastic cutscenes and delivery of what story was there.

Graphics certainly not terrible for the time. The PSP was just a limited console; I don't hold that against the game in any way.

Very good music. Tracks that are arguably better than any other in the series.

For some reason, Aerith's character development was top notch here yet lacking and poor in the base game. Not sure why.

What I Didn't Like

The first quarter or so of the game is quite fun especially if played after playing the base FFVII. It seemed to flow quite well and I never got frustrated at this part. But then roughly halfway through, things start making less and less sense. By the end of it, I had no clearer understanding around certain characters than I did when I started.

The battle engine. Just horrible and not fun. It tried, but it was clunky in implementation.

The DMW (slot machine) got in the way of an otherwise fluid experience. I would have rather had a basic menu selection option of summons and whatnot.

The final quarter of the game, before the actual end sequence, is some of the worst pacing I've experienced. It just becomes an absolute slog. Without spoiling anything, it involves you having to "clear the path" so you can safely traverse with an injured character; then segments with a sniper rifle that felt grossly misplaced (though slightly fun).

I'm glad I don't have to play this again, but I'm also glad I finally slogged through it to completion.