Tag: tries
‘Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion’ tries to scale up a PSP game to the PS5
In 2007, Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core was a spin-off game; One part of a cash grab aimed at Final Fantasy 7 obsessives that were looking for something to play on the PlayStation Portable. It was a prequel-flavored slice of Midgar and the world of FF7 with real-time battles, baffling reels and enough goodwill and story lore to make it all just about work.
The story centers around a relatively minor (but popular!) character from the original game, Zack. Without spoiling the whys and whens (and 2020’s FF7R is shaking up the canon of Final Fantasy 7 anyhow), Zack has significant connections to Cloud, the big bad Sephiroth and other characters. Unfortunately, he dies before the original game starts and only appears in flashbacks.
As Square Enix tees up part 2 of its big-budget Remake project, Crisis Core Reunion gives newer players the chance to fill in the storyline blanks on Zack. He’s featured in post-credit scenes in Remake, suggesting he might be a more significant character going forward.
Square Enix has upgraded the character models, backgrounds, textures and the UI to bring some degree of graphical parity between Crisis Core and the recent Remake. There’s also voice acting across the entire storyline of the game. However, the character animations haven’t benefited from the same level of attention – it looks like Final Fantasy X’s HD remaster. That’s not so bad, but it’s a little disappointing from a PS5 game in 2022. Crisis Core Reunion has several character models that look almost good enough to appear in Remake, even if they move like characters in a PS2 game. (Sephiroth in particular, who appears briefly in the demo, seems more lovingly remastered than even Zack.)
It’s not all bad news. Now on a home console, you have two analog controllers to control camera and movement simultaneously: the PSP just had one analog nub. It makes the battles far easier to parse and focus on. And the battles were still enjoyable, if a little simple, during my demo.
Don’t expect the responsive battles and spectacle of Remake, either. Crisis Core’s slot-machine battle mechanism called “Digital Mind Wave (DMW) – no idea – is still here. During battles, it will cycle automatically through numbers and pictures of characters you meet through the game. If some of the numbers match, you can pick up health, ability points, improved chances of a critical hit and more. If the reel pictures match up, you can launch a powerful Limit Break attack that can do a lot of damage, buff your character and some other nice things. If the numbers line up as “777”, Zack will gain a level — and that’s still weird.
The battle system, like the visuals, is from a simpler time. You’ll fight with a combination of sword swings, spells, and techniques, topped up with Limit Breaks. You can block and dodge, which was crucial in the two boss battles I faced. But it all felt a little too basic.
I keep comparing Crisis Core with Remake, with its fluid animation, slow-mo menus and.. Millions of dollars of development capital. That’s a little unfair, but Crisis Core Reunion is here for FF7 fans looking dive deeper into the game’s lore — 2007 was a very long time ago.
NY AG tries to explain how Apple’s free Yankees stream is worse than cable TV
Yankees star Aaron Judge could break a home run record at Friday’s game against the Boston Red Sox, and you’ll be able to watch the game for free through Apple TV’s Friday Night Baseball broadcast. But in tweets ahead of the game, New York Attorney General Letitia James confusingly called for the game to be brought over to New York’s local Yankee Entertainment and Sports (YES) cable network, and after slightly walking that back, called the steps to watch Apple’s broadcast “burdens.”
The whole saga started with a tweet from James at 3:04PM ET.
Millions of New Yorkers paid their cable bills expecting to see live sports programming. Denying them the chance to watch Aaron Judge step up to the plate to make history tonight is wrong and…
Agitated passenger tries to kick-in plane window after praying loudly in aisle
Brave Luca Bish shows off his football skills in Michael Owen’s back garden as he tries to impress Gemma
GEMMA Owen has shared a video of boyfriend Luca Bish testing out his football skills in her famous dad Michael Owen’s garden.
The brunette beauty, 19, filmed Luca as he kicked a ball around and showed off his skills, while her dog chased it under his feet.
Gemma watched on as Luca Bish showed off his football skills[/caption]
The star kicked the ball in Gemma’s dad Michael Owen’s back garden[/caption]
The Love Islander’s dad famously played football for England[/caption]
Gemma filmed her beau in her expansive garden at her famous footballer dad’s home during the sunny September day.
Luca, 23, could be seen in a grey t-shirt and black jogging bottoms as he played football at the end of the garden.
Fishmonger Luca has already referred to Gemma’s dad Michael, who played football for England, as his “future father in law” as he opened up about making his relationship with Gemma official at the end of August.
It seems he’s not planning to stop there as the fishmonger hinted at wedding bells in a new interview.
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When asked what it was like meeting football legend Michael, 42, for the first time, Luca said: “The first time I ever met him I went on holiday with him to Portugal, which is quite a weird first experience to have with your future father in law.”
During the appearance on talkSport, Luca was also quizzed on whether Michael had spoke to him about some of his behaviour towards Gemma during their time in the villa.
Luca replied: “Not at all. He would have if he’d seen anything he didn’t like I’d imagine, but not yet.”
And Luca’s latest career move will no doubt have pleased Gemma’s dad, as he signed for non-league side Hailsham Town.
The football club announced on Twitter: “Delighted to announce a new arrival. Welcome to the Stringers, Luca Bish.”
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Luca was seen smiling for a snap in a tight-fitting zip-up shirt, as she posed alongside a football field for the announcement.
The TV star had played at Saltdean United prior to his villa stint, playing for an under-23 side under current Hailsham boss Luke Carter.
Luke reacted to the signing in a follow-up tweet, writing: “The boy was on fire for me last season before going on loan to the villa for the summer!”
It comes after Luca appeared on popular footballing TV show Soccer AM – where he showed off his skills with former footballer Jimmy Bullard.
Gemma and Luca made things official outside of the villa[/caption]
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Amazon’s New TV Show ‘Ring Nation’ Tries to Make Spying Funny
As if all the surveillance-style videos from Ring cameras floating around the internet weren’t bad enough, or the fact that Amazon will gladly give those clips to law enforcement without a warrant, now Amazon and Ring are turning those clips into a reality TV show. Seriously.