Games for Lunch: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

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0:14 "Conflict Resolved." Wasn't so tough for a first boss, but makes me look forward to more complex battles later. The controls and interface come together beautifully.

0:15 "Showing your back to the enemy? Overconfidence will destroy you," says someone with a sword at my back. It's Sephiroth! "Damnit! You're not the only hero," Zack replies haughtily. "It's over." Sephiroth answers back, cryptically. Sephi disarms Zack, who lays helpless on the ground. Angeal drops his phone and breaks into a run, saving Zack from the killing blow at the last moment. "Thanks, Angeal," Zack says meekly.

0:17 Angeal and Sephi stare at each other before Angeal taps some buttons on his cell phone and MAKES THE SURROUNDING ENTIRE ENVIRONMENT DISSOLVE in a cloud of green and black squares. "Training's over," he says. Zack's mad that he can't keep going. "I was just getting warmed up," he sighs. "Embrace your dream," says Angeal. "If you want to be a hero you have to have dreams... and honor." It's all so lovably cryptic and Japanese. I'm already hooked!

0:18 Most of this minute spent loading, saving and loading, in that order.

0:19 Zack's doing exercises in an office hallway. "All this training and no assignments? It's like they're hanging me out to dry." There's been a mass desertion of troops, another SOLDIER tells him. One of the Firsts left, taking a bunch of Seconds and Thirds with him, that's why they stopped the training.

0:20 Zack's sent to get a new assignment. Lazard, SOLDIER's director, shakes his hand. A First named Genesis went missing a month ago. Zack's being sent to Wutai to find him. "This war has gone on long enough." If he does well, Zack may get promoted to First. His excitement shows in the animation and voice acting, both of which match the English writing surprisingly well.

0:23 Back in control. A random guard sends me an e-mail "tutorial" about combat. How 21st century! I open up my phone and see 14 (!) separate tutorials on everything from shopping to materia. Ugh. I'll read them later.

0:24 I lost all the materia I used in training because SOLDIERs have to "earn" their materia. This seems like a silly regulation when sending troops into a war zone. Shouldn't they be as magically equipped as possible?

0:25 More bureaucratic nonsense as I register my personal info on a "mission board." All the excitement of the DMV here.

0:27 Odd -- the only mission I have is the simulated training at the Shinra power plant. Didn't I just do that?

0:28 Oh, this is a different simulated training mission, with a series of 10 or so grunts pretty much standing around. I try to position myself so each sword-slash hits two or three guys at once. Manages to keep me minimally engaged.

0:29 "Dah-dah-dah-dahhhhh, dah, dah, dah, dah-dah!" That familiar "battle win" music is, like, 50 percent of why I like FFVII in the first place.

0:33 So the SOLDIER director is going to accompany me and Angeal on our mission. "By the way, what is your dream?" he asks Zack. "To become a hero!" is the answer. Kudos to the voice actor for actually pulling this line off convincingly. "Unattainable dreams are the best kind," says Mr. Director. "Uh, thanks?" Heh.