Dirge of Cerberus Reactions
Well, the game is finally out and I'm sure a lot of you picked it up today like I did. I've been playing for the last three hours or so and just as I expected I am having a great time with it. The game does not feel "slow" at all in my opinion, which seemed to be the big complaint. The introduction FMV was amazing, the gameplay has been unique and fun, and I am really digging the weapon customization system.
I can now say with confidence that this game is only getting burned so bad by everyone because people like to hold Square to insane standards and expect every game to be as detailed and expansive as a new installment to the Final Fantasy main series.
What are your reactions so far?
Follow-up Post Upon Completion
Following up on my earlier post, I just recently completed the game this past weekend. I'm happy to say that I enjoyed the game more as I went along, and I felt that they did a better job of pacing the game towards the latter stages. Either that or I just got used to it the pacing, and simply didn't notice.
Without getting into the gory details, my personal opinion is that this game falls somewhere between a low 7(like a 7.3) and an 8.0 on a scale of 10, depending on how you look at it. It's not groundbreaking by any means, and in terms of pure gameplay, it's entertaining enough, but very standard and conventional. However, I sincerely believe that DoC did enough things right to be considered a decent game.
The thing I was most happy about was that the story motivating the action was very legitimate to the FF7 universe. I was worried they'd just put in a placeholder plot only loosely associated with the original FF7, simply to cash in on FF7's popularity. Instead, I felt like it was a very legitimate addition to the FF7 universe, and gave a satisfying conclusion to Vincent's segment of the story. Honestly, I felt that the story for this game was more legitimate than the story that FF7:AC centered around.
In conclusion, I'd say if you appreciate the story of FF7, and can appreciate or tolerate shooters, you owe it to yourself to buy or rent(I completed the main story in 12 hours) this game. If you dislike FF7, or have an exceptionally high standard when it comes to shooters and action games, you'll find enough wrong with this game that you may want to pass on it.