Final Fantasy Goes Portable on PSP

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII announced.

The revelation of release specifics for Sony's PSP has started a flurry of game announcements from publishers. Foremost among these is Square Enix's that it is currently working on a game for the PSP tied to the Final Fantasy VII universe.

Alongside Advent Children, Crisis Core comes to PSP.

Final Fantasy VII was released in 1997 and is considered by many to be one of the crucial titles responsible for the success of the PlayStation. The game has sold millions of copies around the world and has recently spawned a barrel of tie-in games across various platforms.

Entitled Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, the new PSP game is being created by several of the same people behind earlier entries in the series. Tetsuya Nomura has been named as the character designer for the title, adding yet another project to the busy game creator's workload.

Nomura held the same position on the original Final Fantasy VII and is currently working on numerous other projects at Square Enix, including Kingdom Hearts: Chain Of Memories for Game Boy Advance.

Yoshinori Kitase, who previously directed the series' PlayStation 2 debut, Final Fantasy X, will assume the producer role, while Final Fantasy: Before Crisis alumnus Tabata Hajime is set to direct the game.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is the fourth Final Fantasy VII-related game to be announced by Square Enix this year. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is a CG motion picture that is one of the few confirmed for release on Sony's proprietary UMD disc format for PSP.

Also part of the collection, Final Fantasy: Before Crisis is being developed for mobile phones exclusively, though there are rumours of a Nintendo DS release. The Final Fantasy VII quartet is rounded out by Dirge Of Cerebus: Final Fantasy VII, an action game for PlayStation 2.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is scheduled for release in early 2006.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games