Finally got my hands on Crisis Core. Checklist time!

Great Graphics/sound etc? Check. Some of the best on the psp, and the FMV's are amazing.

Great Story? Hopefully, has potential (i'm up to mission 3! damn side-quests sucked me in...)

Good Characters? Yeah, despite the voice actors and script ranging from great to fucking horrible (generally over the same character, particularly Angeal; he was terrible to start with, but he got better).

Sephiroth? Surprisingly, nearly no! He showed up once so far(for real, and once in a simulation), said a couple of lines, and disappeared again. I think Square heard what you guys think about him now :P.

Gameplay? I don't know how Square did this, but its wicked fun while also being stupid and frustrating - at the same time!

DMW. I hate those 3 letters. In Crisis Core, your Limit Breaks and Summons are ENTIRELY controlled by a random fucking slot machine. When the DMW comes on, i feel like i'm not playing the game anymore. I'm not winning because i'm good, i'm winning because of luck, which is the last thing you want in an action game.

But Square didn't stop there! You and your Materia level up from the DMW too i.e. completely randomly! I went up 3 levels in one mission, and one level in the next 3! It makes no sense at all.

Other than that, CC has incredible, unique gameplay. When the DMW isnt coming out every 5 seconds and taking all the fun away, its awesome taking on hordes of troops and monsters and creaming them all, and the boss fights are even better, dodging around something big and nasty trying to kill it before it gets you.

If only the DMW didn't get in the way, id have nothing really bad to say about the game. As it is, i still really enjoy it (and i've mostly only done a lot of simple 'kill all enemies' sidequests) - a testament to how solid the core gameplay is. Square needs to learn when to stop the brainstorming before it gets out of hand. Or just get rid of whatever compulsive gambler they put in charge.