Plot. The story takes place seven years before the events of Final Fantasy VII. Zack Fair, a Second Class SOLDIER completes his training under the tutelage of First Class SOLDIER, Angeal Hewley. He becomes even more excited to hear that he is going on his first mission to Wutai. Along the way, he learns from the top First Class SOLDIER, Sephiroth that Angeal has betrayed the Shin-Ra. At first he refuses to face the truth, until a mission in Banora Village with the Turks leader, Tseng. When he learns the truth, he becomes angered at his friend and mentor for his actions. When he is made into a First Class, Zack has another battle to fight, against the forces of former SOLDIER member, and friend to Sephiroth and Angeal, Genesis Rhapsodos. But soon, Zack will discover the true face of the Shinra Company.
Concept. The concept of the game is to guide Zack throughout many story missions in the game. At first you begin with the Shinra, until the end when you discover the company's true colors. Also, to take a break from story gaming, you can select different missions that are not part of the story. Since there are no party members in this game, Zack is the only playable character.
Design. The graphics of the game are rendered in 3D, and in terms of gameplay, the look is similar to that of Dissidia, Kingdom Hearts, and Final Fantasy XII. Some cutscenes like the intro, are rendered in CGI, which resembles almost like a movie.
Music. Unlike previous games, Nobuo Uematsu does not compose in the game. The music is primarily composed by Takeharu Ishimoto, who also composed in games such as Dissidia, Kingdom Hearts, and so on.
Voice Acting. Rick Gomez, Steve Burton, George Newbern, Crispin Freeman, and Quinton Flynn all reprise their roles since the movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Rick Gomez not only voiced Zack, he also voices Gippal in Final Fantasy X-2. Steve Burton is the original Cloud Strife since the first Kingdom Hearts game. George Newbern reprises his voice as Sephiroth since Advent Children, and Kingdom Hearts II. Crispin Freeman and Quinton Flynn, are the original voices of Reno and Rude. Mena Suvari does not voice Aerith any longer, and she was voiced by Andrea Bowen. Tifa and Yuffie were not provided with voices.
Rantings. Fighting Genesis clones were a major bother as they can be quite strong, and it will have many bad moments. Also, another thing I hated about this game, was Cloud's hero wannabe antics. I mean, Zack is the hero of the game, and Cloud is just a shadow of him. The characters that I truly hated were Hollander and Hojo, the ones responsible for making Sephiroth what he really is, a villain.
Good Aspects. The game is really good, and the storyline is very inspiring. Zack turned out to be one of the best characters in the history of Final Fantasy. This game will have many fans of the series plunged into the amazing world of Final Fantasy VII. To me, this game is like an expanded story of the OVA, Last Order: Final Fantasy VII. The game has high replay value, and it I highly recommend you Final Fantasy fans to play this game.
Overall. This game is incredibly epic, and one of the best titles for the PSP. I give this game a 10 out of 10