It makes me yearn for a PSP, but I will not budge because I cannot afford it and couldn't budge if I wanted to.

I played for about 25 minutes last night.

1) cinematics are "Advent Children" quality

2) in-game graphics aren't too shabby either

3) I didn't read the manual, and have little to no idea what I was doing in the first battles

4) There's some weird "slot machine" in the corner of the screen and I have no idea what it's for

5) combat is NOT turn based

Wait, I thought this didn't come out until April? Damn, I need to get it together. Maybe I'll check it out sometime this weekend or something.

Wow. I'm actually surprised with those scores. But, do I really need to see what happens to Zack... for the third time? FFVII and Last Order were enough for me.

SommerMatt,

Do I need to remember much of FFVII to enjoy it? I really do not remember much about that game...bits and pieces but like you, I haven't played it in 10 years.

Giving this thread a bumpy bump bump.

I gotta get back into the game. After my initial play session, I haven't gone back... too sidetracked by books and other stuff.

What is SP used for?

I'd love to play it, but I know the story.

*SPOILERS*

Thats about all I can remember. Then again, I do have 2 perfect games still on my memory card.

If SP is used for the DMW then why does my SP never go down, and why does it seem like it doesn't matter how much I have? It's not like I get a better chance to level up.

Well, it only uses like 9 SP per spin so if you have 100,000 SP you wont notice it that much.
Some of the later fusions take up to 30,000 SP so it does add up after a while.

Gotcha. I still say it's a bizarre system.

Get it. Hack it. Love it.

Okay, I've put roughly seven hours into the game so I thought I'd share some updated impressions.

Pros

- Strong Story, Great Lead. - It's been years since I've played FF VII, but I'm finding the trip back to the universe a pleasure. The lead character, Zack, has a great personality and it's a welcome break from the effeminate emo leads the FF series is infamous for.

- Soundtrack. The music in this game is just awesome. There's a wide range of styles and it's all excellent.

- Satisfying Combat. I was dubious about real-time combat in a FF title, but it really does make random encounters swift and fun. I know it may sound crazy, but the combat reminds me a lot of God of War with benefits 'cause you've got such a deep materia/spell system.

- Side Missions. At every save point, you can open your menu system and activate unlocked side quests. They're categorized into chapters and ranked from Very Easy to Very Hard. Most are of the "Get from Point A to Point B" variety, but they're bite sized (most only lasting 5 to 10 minutes) and addictive as heck. Plus there's a TON of Missions (I read that there's 300). There's great loot to be had here too.

- Instant item-purchase system. You no longer have to schlep out to stores to buy goods. Since you have a cell phone, you can call up any store you've been to and order from their inventory direct from your phone. Comes in handy when you're dungeon crawling.

-DMW. The 'Digital Mind Wave' is the spinning slot machine in the upper left corner of the screen you may have heard about. Its mechanics are a bit obscure at first but after a while it starts to make more sense. Constantly spinning when a battle starts, it stops at regular intervals. When the first and third slot match you launch into a full screen version of the slot machine while the middle slot falls into place. Match all three portraits and you activate a limit break/summons. At the same time, there are random numbers spinning at a different pace next to the portraits. When two numbers match your equipped materia are leveled up, match three and your character levels. Additionally, random number combos earn you stat boosts for the battle you're in (no cost for MP use, invincibility, etc.). Finally, regardless of what numbers you pull, the value of each boosts your respective HP, MP and AP levels.

It's a lot to wrap your head around, but once you get it, it makes every encounter a lot more interesting.

- Console Gaming on the Go. As I said before, this is the first PSP game that makes me feel like I'm carrying around a PS2 in my pocket.

Cons

- I'm dialing back the quality of voice acting just a bit to about a B- level. Certainly not horrible by any means, it's just not as impressive as I originally thought.

- Load times. 10-15 seconds between maps, and about 5 seconds to load in-game cut scenes doesn't seem to bad, but it definitely becomes noticeable after a while. Surprisingly, random enemy encounters load/exit super quick.

- Locations feel empty. The graphics engine is great, but there's a decided lack of geometry in the environment. The locations are varied but they don't feel lush. On the plus side, the character models are great.

- Almost too addictive.

..................

I'm really glad I picked this title up. It's definitely a top-shelf PSP experience and even at this early stage of the game (I'm not that far in) has already justified the asking price.