Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-

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Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-
Developer(s)	Square Enix
Publisher(s)	Square Enix
Designer(s)	Takayoshi Nakazato
Release date(s)	JPN January 26, 2006 NA August 15, 2006 PAL November 17, 2006 [1][1]
Genre(s)	Action-RPG TPS role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer (Japanese Version only)
Rating(s)	PEGI: 16+ CERO: Ages 12 and up ESRB: Teen OFLC: M BBFC: 15
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2
Media	DVD-ROM

Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- (ダージュ オブ ケルベロス -ファイナルファンタジーVII-, Dāju obu Keruberosu -Fainaru Fantajī Sebun-^?) is a Japanese third person shooter role-playing game which is a sequel to the popular 1997 video game Final Fantasy VII. It is also part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series, a collection of video games and animated videos set within the Final Fantasy VII universe. Directed by Takayoshi Nakazato, the game centers on Vincent Valentine. Dirge of Cerberus was released in Japan on January 26, 2006 and on August 15, 2006 in North America. The game was released on November 17, 2006 in Europe and in Australasia. The original soundtrack and in-game music for the game were composed by Masashi Hamauzu. Two other songs, "Redemption" and "Longing" were composed and performed by Gackt.

Contents 1 Story 2 Gameplay 3 Overview 4 Characters 4.1 Returning characters 4.2 New characters 5 Voice cast 5.1 English voiceover cast 5.2 Japanese voiceover cast 6 Crew 7 Localization 8 Soundtrack 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Story

Three years after the events of Final Fantasy VII, an unknown group of powerful SOLDIERs appear, bringing a swift and bitter end to the peace enjoyed by the people of world. The members of this enigmatic group are the ones who were trapped under the ruins of Midgar for three long years; the Deepground SOLDIERs, their intention is to call forth the final WEAPON, Omega, before its time. However, to do that, the DGS need Vincent to lead the way to Omega.

Vincent Valentine finds himself pursued by several elite members of the mysterious organization. An unrelenting chain of events leads Vincent to the truth behind his past and forces him once again to be the key player in a battle for the planet itself and all those living in it.

Reeve Tuesti, former Head of Urban Development at Shin-Ra (as well as the remote pilot of Cait Sith), is now the leader of the World Regenesis Organization, which looks after the planet and prevents people from damaging it further. Yuffie Kisaragi is another member of the organization, and several other characters from the original game provide the WRO with outside assistance.

The game begins with an FMV depicting the attack on the town of Kalm, an attack carried out by Deepground militia. Vincent thwarts the attack, but not before encountering Azul and Shelke, members of the Tsviets, Deepground's elite force of supersoldiers.

[edit] Gameplay

The game is a third-person shooter role-playing game that also incorporates RPG elements such as hit points and usable items. The player can switch to first person view mode and utilize a cross hair to shoot enemies. Vincent has an HP Bar, as well as magic points (MP). There is also a value for Level, where Vincent can level up by completing a chapter or dying during the chapter. Vincent can also choose weapons from a large library, primarily guns. The option of transforming into his Limit Breaks is also available, the first being Vincent's first limit break, the Galian Beast, and the second is Chaos.

[edit] Overview

Director Takayoshi Nakazato said that he was a big fan of the PC game Half Life and wanted to turn it into an RPG, and he has done so, in the form of Dirge of Cerberus.^{[citation needed]} This is the last game in chronological order in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, and is often referred to by the staff of the game as "the ending finale to Final Fantasy VII". However, producer Yoshinori Kitase has recently stated in an interview with Electronic Gaming Monthly that it's not necessarily the end of Final Fantasy VII's story, but will provide resolution to Vincent's personal story, just as Advent Children resolves Cloud's. The game's secret epilogue also leaves the door open, introducing a mysterious character named Genesis, or "G", who speaks in a cryptic fashion that suggests the story is not yet over.

The game received some criticism in Japan, although the gaming magazine "Dengenki PS2" rated the game a 313/400 [2]. However, Famitsu scored it a lower 28/40. [3] The review was released over three weeks after the release of the game, unlike the Dengenki score, and thus rumors were spread about Square Enix forcing the magazine to delay the review in order to not discourage gamers. Nevertheless, it managed to ship 392,000 in its first week [4], which is still moderately successful despite being much lower than sales of a new Final Fantasy game.

At Game Rankings, the reviews for the game are currently 60%. Popular review game sites IGN and GameSpot have given it scores of 7 and 6.0, respectively. G4's game review show, X-Play, has given this game a 2 out of 5 due to bad level designs, weak gunplay, and bad AI.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Returning characters

• Vincent Valentine
• Reeve Tuesti
• Cait Sith
• Yuffie Kisaragi
• Lucrecia Crescent
• Cloud Strife
• Barret Wallace
• Tifa Lockhart
• Cid Highwind

• Hojo

[edit] New characters

Main article: List of Final Fantasy VII characters#Dirge of Cerberus characters

• Genesis
• Shalua Rui
• Grimoire Valentine
• The Restrictors
• Omega WEAPON
• Usher
• Azul
• Shelke
• Rosso
• Nero
• Weiss
• Argento

[edit] Voice cast

[edit] Crew

• Game producer: Yoshinori Kitase
• Game director: Takayoshi Nakazato
• Character Designer: Tetsuya Nomura
• Art Director: Yukio Nakatani
• Art Supervisor: Yusuke Naora
• Main Programmer: Yoshiki Kashitani
• Music Composer: Masashi Hamauzu

[edit] Localization

The U.S. version of Dirge of Cerberus received a major overhaul due to the fact that the developers were not satisfied with the final Japanese version; the developers also wanted to make the game more single player oriented.

• Vincent's running speed is 1.2 times faster, and he can perform a double-jump and do ranged and melee attacks in midair. Also, his dive-roll dodge move is supplanted with a dash move.
• Vincent's weapon can be customized to make it lighter, so there is no sluggishness when drawing your weapon.
• Limit Breaks no longer detract from the magic bar; instead, a single-use item can be used to perform the attack.
• "Easy Mode" has been removed, replaced with an "Extra Hard" mode. This new mode includes unlockables such as 40 special missions, a character-model viewer, and artwork and sound galleries.
• Online Multiplayer support was removed due to the poor popularity of PlayOnline in America, and lack of PS2 HDD support in the U.S. Missions from the Online Mode were reworked into some of the missions that can be unlocked in "Extra Hard" mode. However, this contains none of the additional storyline presented in the Japanese Online mode.
• The game retains support for mouse and keyboard peripherals for PC FPS-style gameplay.

[edit] Soundtrack

Main article: Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- Original Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the game was composed by Masashi Hamauzu. Vocal tracks were performed and composed by J-Rock singer, Gackt Camui for the theme songs, "LONGING" and "REDEMPTION". The soundtrack was released on February 15, 2006 in Japan with a price of ¥ 3,300 bearing and the limited edition of the soundtrack will be released on the same day with a price of ¥ 3,900 bearing the catalog number. The CD consists of 2 CDs with 53 tracks. The limited edition of the soundtrack includes a "Cerberus Complete Case" deluxe box which is designed to hold the soundtrack along with the Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- PS2 game and the limited edition of Gackt's single for the game, "REDEMPTION".

The CD single for Gackt's single for the game, "REDEMPTION" was released on January 25, 2006, with a price of ¥1,200 (roughly USD 10.17). A limited edition was also released featuring two "REDEMPTION" video clips, one being Gackt's promotional music video and one being set to animation from the game, with a price of ¥1,950 (roughly USD 16.53).

A supplemental soundtrack was released through the Japanese iTunes service and the SQUARE ENIX MUSIC Download page on August 22nd, 2006, for the price of ¥1,500. Titled "DIRGE of CERBERUS -FINAL FANTASY VII- MULTIPLAYER MODE Original Sound Collections", this album consistes of 27 tracks, including a handful of songs from the single player game which weren't included in the OST, as well as all of the original music composed for the multiplayer mode and two new songs composed by Ryo Yamazaki for the North American release of the game.

[edit] References

• IGN Preview
• X-Play review
• Press release
• Billy Young. "Details Arise From Tetsuya Nomura Interview." RPGamer. December 1, 2004. Accessed on January 9, 2005.

[edit] External links

• Official Japanese site
• Official Japanese PlayOnline site
• Official US site
• Official European site
• Dirge of Cerberus at the Open Directory Project
• Dirge of Cerberus.net

Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-

List of Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- characters Vincent Valentine - Cait Sith - Yuffie Kisaragi - Lucrecia Crescent - Cloud Strife - Tifa Lockhart - Cid Highwind - Barret Wallace - Red XIII Hojo - Rufus Shinra - Shalua Rui - G - Grimoire Valentine - Weiss - Rosso - Nero - Azul Compilation of Final Fantasy VII - Final Fantasy VII - Soundtrack - "REDEMPTION" - Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode

v • d • e Final Fantasy VII and Compilation of Final Fantasy VII

Advent Children - Before Crisis - Crisis Core - Dirge of Cerberus - Last Order - Lost Episode Cloud - Aerith - Tifa - Barret - Red XIII - Cait Sith - Cid - Yuffie - Vincent - Sephiroth - Jenova - Rufus - Turks Character list - Location list - Term list - Timeline AVALANCHE - Materia - Midgar - Shin-Ra - One-Winged Angel - Soundtrack - Reunion Tracks - Advent Children Soundtrack - Dirge of Cerberus Soundtrack