Crisis Core Research Thread

[Obsidian Fire]

I wonder if this is a conscious reference to the clock room error (assuming most will agree that this way of writing 4 in roman numerals is an error) in the original game.

The "standard" forms described above reflect typical modern usage rather than a universally accepted convention. Usage in ancient Rome varied greatly and remained inconsistent in medieval and modern times

Nearly all clocks that use roman numerals will use "IIII" instead of "IV" not because of any ancient tradition, but because it looks more symmetrical. The number opposite four on a clock is eight, which in roman numerals is written "VIII". "IIII" better matches the width of "VIII" then "IV" does. (The random things you learn while studying graphic design...)

This thread is a cool read.

 

[Shademp]

- Version Difference: The "closed" sign is lacking an important letter in the japanese game.

Spoiler

JAPANESE

ENGLISH

A more subtle difference involves a sign next to the Shopping Paradise (the one where you can make cologne), where the font seems to have been changed and no I don't think it's just the camera perspective messing with me.

Spoiler

JAPANESE

ENGLISH

Especially the P letter is different when comparing the JP and the ENG (PAL). The Sector 5 Slums Market area is in the 02121.raw and 02111.raw files in the Japanese and English games respectively. However the texture for the OPEN sign was not ripped properly in the PAL files, so I can't compare them this way.


- More tiny version differences: Zack can release monsters into the Shinra HQ 67th Floor, causing a minigame with a counter that counts down from 3 minutes, and you have to steal Jail Cell Keys from the monsters to open up the cells and get the loot from there. ...Why the heck would you use jail cells for storage of materia and money? Anyway.

JP:
- After defeating a monster, Zack clenches his fist victoriously and says "おっし". The timer resumes when clicking past this message.

The message is the same whether you steal a key or not.

- When opening a door into and out of jail cell area you lose exactly three seconds. The timer at first fools you by freezing when you open the door and go to the next area, but when you regain control three seconds are lost from the timer.

ENG:
- After defeating a monster, the timer instantly resumes and you regain control over Zack. Zack says nothing, whether you steal a key or not.

- When opening the door into and out of the jail cell area, zero time is lost. The timer freezes when the door is opened and then resumes from that exact point when you regain control over Zack in the area you entered.

 

[Shademp]

- Another border difference but this one is actually even a bit embarrassing. At the start of Chapter 5 lots of missions are unlocked, among them are the 1-3-x missions.

Spoiler: Mission 1-3-4

JAPANESE

ENGLISH

At first glance the traversable area in the Japanese game looks way bigger. ...Buuuut, the funny thing is that the boss of the mission is on the bridge!

Spoiler: The Bridge (with typical camera difference)

JAPANESE

ENGLISH

There is no way to cross the bridge without triggering this battle that ends the mission. Woops! I hope to someday find a way to cheat myself beyond the bridge in the Japanese game so I can check out the inaccessible area. Thought I doubt there is any treasure there it would be so cool if there was.

 

[Shademp]

I got no version differences to report today but I just want to talk about today's emotional play session.

Still right at the start of Chapter 5 because I'm clearing missions. Finally realized I'm at the point where I can spam Quake because I can use Osmose to restore my MP easily. Got Osmoga from a Great Cavern of Wonders mission, making the MP recovery easier. Things were looking good. Difficult, but good.

Difficult then turned to impossible when I just couldn't beat the boss(es) in 8-1-6 (still Great Cavern of Wonders). I was not prepared. They are three black death machines (OF DEATH!!!111!!11!!!). One of them is guarded against EVERYTHING until one or two of them falls. They shoot relentlessly. Cause status effects. Remove MP. They also hurt my pride. After expending two Phoenix Down, I quit and smashed the desk. This was enough to make my desk lamp break. XP Grabbed a bag (with some socks in it) and just smashed and smashed against my sofa. Hands were hurting a while. Experimented with different materia and equipment setups, did Materia Fusion, but I still had no chance.

Spirit broken. Bitterly took on the task of completing other missions, in hope of finding the essential items or materia to clear 8-1-6. Did some missions where the motivation is that a psychic dude named P points out areas with priceless items. After a bumpy road, I then got to the dreaded 7-4-6 mission... The one with the Dual Horns (named "Wyerd" here) that have a defense stat of 254 and protection against all magic. Each Wyerd has a total HP of 48799, then consider in my case that physical attacks only caused between 50-200 in damage. Some frustration for a while because I couldn't find a good strategy to make a battle with one Wyerd last less than ten minutes. Gil Toss, which you can find in this mission, worked somewhat but I didn't want to expend gil in battle. Thank goodness at least for quick saves and easy return to before the battle so I could change the equipment.

It was then that I used...DARKNESS!!! Damage is caused by expending Zack's HP. 4000 HP depleted from the Wyerd, with only about 1000-1500 HP removed from Zack! A very fair trade in my eyes

Now I feel a lot better. Sure, the reward from the mission isn't what I hoped for, but I found a strategy that I won't forget AND it's a case where the game makes me use a materia (Darkness) that I otherwise ignore completely. I feel like a game is better designed the more of the available equipment/items end up relevant.


Side-note: It's curious how the Angeal DMW limit break, Rush Assault, ignores Wyerd's defense and would cause 1500 damage per punch from Zack. The Sephiroth and Tseng limit breaks only caused minor damage. Clearly Rush Assault is not a normal physical attack.

My thoughts turn to those who play Crisis Core without levelling up... *sighs heavily* Impressive how that guy reached so far in the game only one month after the game's English release.


EDIT: I... I did it! I defeated the black death machines! I simply returned, ran in circles, used Darkness and spammed Potions. After some tight situations and making sure to always stay out of the Smoke Vent (which causes a number of status ailments) I actually won!

 

[ultima espio]

Should have read this sooner, Rinoa was the first program capable of reading Crisis Core models, so it's buggy. If you want to view the models, redump everything with noesis and view them in there. Or alternatively create a batch script to rename all the.dat files to .ff7ccmodel.

 

[Shademp]

Progression with Crisis Core will continue to be slow for a while, because...
1 - Excessive mission grinding in both versions
2 - Me trying to learn katakana and translating words with those types of symbols in them. Figured I'd finally use FFVII as a basis to LEARN some Japanese symbols. I want to get to the point of translating short snippets from Japanese guides, mostly.


Meanwhile, now attempting to get familiar with Noesis and the game modding forum "Xentax".

Noesis can be downloaded here. Xentax won't allow you to post and use download links unless you donate 5 Euros. At first I was reluctant because I didn't recognize the transaction service "Stripe", but according to at least two lists on most trustworthy transactions services, Stripe is among the top contestants. Ignoring my default paranoia, I donated the money. Hoping I won't regret this.

Spoiler: Angry rant fueled by currently being in a very agitated mode

As always, game modding forums are a nightmare to navigate through, with a million subsections and each thread with starting posts that are impossible to understand without at least a few hours of research and/or getting the aid of somebody who is well-versed in this type of forum and the techno-babble therein.

I figured there was something better than RINOA out there, as I recall Cloud_S of TLS linking images to what I think was from noesis, but when it comes to finding tools, unpacking files, ripping isos, using plugins etc I have very little patience and usually end up lost and clueless. Ergo why I wait for wonderful people like ultima espio to point and say "THERE". This is also why I postponed emulating Crisis Core for so long.

*hyperventilates*

The people of Qhimm, Xentax etc do wonderful work but I will never stop hating my inability to easily navigate, find and use the content of such sites.

Oh well. At least it's not the ASSEmbler games forum (which I find now is offline).

*stops hyperventilating*

My apologies but I just really, REALLY don't enjoy the journey before I manage to find and use software.

Found the relevant Xentax Crisis Core thread, which I realise now was linked on the first page in thsi thread, but I can't use the file.

1.Extract the ripkit folder (with winrar) & put your discimg.pkg into the same folder(extracted with UmdGen) and run the extract.bat this will extract all the files

2.Then downsample but keep the same name,but if the files are bigger it will not be added.(to downsample read the tutorials)

3.Run the rebuild.bat this will then inject the files back in!!(Put the new discimg.pkg back in using UmdGen or WQSG_UMD_R31)

4.When you cso your iso it will be smaller!!

5.Make a ripkit!!!!!

I used the download link and got the "Crisis core final fantasy IIV discimg.pkg tool" file and then unpacked it using 7-zip. In the folder I only have the following files:
- discimg.LBA (Notes)
- extract (Windows Batch File)
- Read me (Notes)
- rebuild (Windows Batch File)
- UpEx (Application)

There is no ripkit folder. Am I supposed to unpack "Crisis core final fantasy IIV discimg.pkg tool" using winrar?

 

[ultima espio]

You could have just asked and I would have gotten it for you

With that tool you just need the discimg.pkg from inside the crisis core iso (you will need to mount with daemon tools if you haven't already) then click on extract, and it will dump everything. Click repack to rebuild it.

Just make sure that you only put back files that are the same size or smaller, otherwise it won't inject.

Once you've dumped all the files you want, rename the folder to discimg.pkg Extracte (or similar) and create an empty folder called discimg.pkg Extracted, and place your altered files in here. It will speed up the rebuilding process.

 

[Shademp]

More capitalization differences, this time on the SOLDIER floor. Big images in the spoiler tags.

Spoiler: Example #1

JAPANESE

ENGLISH

Soldier -> SOLDIER

Difficult to tell if there are more differences, because this sign is actually two signs which have text that has to properly overlay from the player's perspective in order to be read clearly. A texture rip from the area would be very welcome.

Spoiler: Example #2

JAPANESE

ENGLISH

soldier -> SOLDIER

 

[Shademp]

- Never paid attention before, but Lazard's office is on the 51st floor. Can't find a floor indicator for the Exhibit Room.


- Remember the missions that are available four chapters earlier in the Japanese game? That's right, the 6-4-x missions. In order to unlock these in the English game, you must complete 6-3-6 AND 6-2-6. The 6-2-x missions are unlocked in Chapter 5, by talking a guy from the City Planning Department. When completing these missions, three stores are unlocked. The Sector 8, Sector 5 and Sector 6 stores.

After completing 6-2-6 in the English game, a new mission was unlocked, plus I got the Sector 6 - Accessory Shop and a mail from the City Planning Department.

When I completed 6-2-6 in the Japanese game, I did at first NOT get the shop and the mail. Only after unlocking a mission, be it by doing a sidequest or by completing a mission, is the shop and the mail given. Remember because the 6-4-1 mission was already available since way early on in the Japanese game, no new mission was unlocked instantly after 6-2-6.

At first this may seem like a version difference, but it (kind of) isn't. If I had not completed 6-3-6 already in the English game, then the 6-4-1 mission would not have been unlocked after completing 6-2-6. At least I feel very confident in this theory, because the flag/trigger for these shops and the mail seem to be "If Unlocked New Mission -> Then Shop & Mail".


- I wonder if Square accidentally created a homosexual NPC. A Wutai spy is disguised as a woman in Sector 8. When a guy tries to chat up the woman/man-spy, the spy rates his looks before stating that the wallet contents are more important. Could be that this is meant to be a female Wutai warrior, but still... Would be cool if it actually was a male Wutai spy who is looking for some gay action as well as money.


- Umm... are they talking about Barret here?

Spoiler

Correct me if I uploaded the wrong Japanese snapshot. The context here is that a Shinra group just went from Midgar to Corel Village and back to Midgar for a jaunt inspection. Where the heck do they get "Magnum" from?

 

[The G'randiest' Daddy]

Ahem... No, I won't say it

 

[Shademp]

Spoiler: Mission 6-4-2 border difference: The Return of the Goof

JAPANESE

ENGLISH

Corrected for the English release, just like in Mission 1-3-4.

 

[Shademp]

- FINALLY! Now I can, with a good conscience, head to the snowy mountains and Modeoheim.

At the start of chapter 5:
Zack Level 44, mission completion 34%

Later on, very near the start of chapter 5:
Zack Level 56 (Level 57 in the Japanese file), mission completion 52%.

PHEW. Halfway through the pain!


- You know what, I am avoiding a big part of the Crisis Core experience by not reading any of the mail. Yes, sometimes I read a mail, but then I load a quick save and return to before reading the mail, because I'm right now obsessed with getting all the mail but without having read ANY of it when I reach the final save point. Ergo, no folders are created for each type of mail. In a later playthrough I'll make sure to read all the mail as soon as possible.


- I am amused by the helicopter crash that the journey through the snowy mountains begin with.
A) The establishing shot shows Zack alone. He stands up, shouts, then looks back and suddenly there Tseng and the two infantrymen are. They are clearly getting up from the snow and shaking themselves back to life, yet they were not present in the earlier shot, nor did Zack bother to look around before starting to shout.

B1) There's not even a reason given for WHY the helicopter crashes. The narrative purpose is transparent though: Extend the gameplay segment by making Zack land further away from their destination, so that he can have bonding time with Cloud. The topic of conversation is that the team has to walk a great distance and only the country boys, Zack and Cloud, keep up well. This type of scene/dialogue may have been more difficult to force if the helicopter had simply landed a shorter distance away in order to avoid detection.

B2) One sad thing about this helicopter crash in CC is...DC: Lost Episode did it better. In this cell phone episode, it starts with Vincent in a helicopter either on the way directly to Shinra Manor or to the Junon harbor (immediate destination not specified, but the final destination is Shinra Manor). The aircraft is then attacked by Deepground gargoyles, they drag out the pilot, then drag out Vincent who turns into Galian Beast and has an awesome aerial battle with gargoyles, then he lands on the ground and the empty helicopter crashes.

If aerial Genesis copies had caused the helicopter crash in the Crisis Core scenario, I don't know if that would have hurt the plot too much. Maybe the argument would be that if Genesis knew Zack and the rest were coming he would have fled

Spoiler

(then again if no Genesis copies escaped from the site to report about the helicopter, there would be no problem in the plot)

. But at least the DC: Lost Episode scenario is still better because you get an explanation AND an awesome cutscene (the aerial fight).

 

[Shademp]

- Before Tseng and Zack head off to Modeoheim, they both suffer from the problem of their lips not moving when they speak. I made note of this in the second page of this thread, but I confirmed now that this problem is true for both versions of the game.

- The Replicon birds in the snowy mountains I can understand, but Bizarre Bugs? No! I don't care that the bugs are mega-huge and would probably survive well in snow. Bugs don't aesthetically fit in with snow and cold.

- Zack's Metal Gear Solid bit, when infiltrating the Mako Excavation Test Site, is yet another questionable minigame. Combining squats and maintaining Zack's body temperature is a neat way of combining two minigames from the original game, yes. Not only that, but having you sneak past guards in CC may be a tribute to the section where Cloud, Barret and Tifa sneak past guards in the Shinra HQ. I see what you did there, Square.

But because Crisis Core is a shorter game than the original FFVII, the minigames feel more cramped, disruptive and lame. Doesn't help that many of the CC minigames ARE way retarded in their setup, especially in the Sector 5 Slums market. I don't want to rant about it at length right now, but let's just say that the developers of CC left behind their brains a little too much when paying homage to FFVII by including a ton of minigames.

Hilarious how the Genesis copies won't spot you even if you stand right in front of them, as long as you don't go beyond the empty gate. El oh el.


- Question: Does Zack say that a monster caused the helicopter crash in the Japanese game? I hear he says "monster" in the JP game.

Spoiler

In the English game all he says is...

 

[Strangelove]

the japanese line talks about a 'sudden greeting/welcoming by monsters', which sounds like a playful way to way monsters attacked them.

 

[Shademp]

Thank you so much Hito. <3 That clears up the scenario of the helicopter crash.

*My reaction when now learning of what was lost in translation*

 

[Shademp]

- Minor difference. While it is obvious in both versions that the scale for Zack's body temperature is celsius, only the English game actually write out the scale unit.

Spoiler

- According to a mail from Kunsel, Modeoheim is near Icicle Inn. That much was obvious without the mail. But "close" could mean anything from "on the same contintent" to "just a short walk away". Can we derive anything from just walking through Modeoheim?

The abandoned village is right next to water (see also the small boat next to Zack), with more mountains on the other side. If the way that Zack points in the "zone information" map matches the cardinal directions, then this mountain ridge is to the northeast.

Looking southeast and south, there is nothing but the ocean in the horizon.


Roaming the world in the original game, I can't find a perfect candidate for the location of Modeoheim and the Modeo Ravine. The northeastern mountain ridges *almost* work, but they don't show a clear enough ocean horizon directly to the south.

Spoiler

In this sense the areas directly to the east of the Northern Crater work better. But in my mind, the Great Glacier and the Northern Crater are areas that only rarely are ventured to and that would have been too cumbersome to build any village in.

Spoiler

The western parts of the continent don't work as candidates for me at all, in my analysis, unless there are supposed to be some mountains there which are not present in the original game.

Wherever Modeoheim is supposed to be, the world map of the original game is not very helpful when trying to find a perfect fit.

EDIT: Naturally, if you don't trust the CC map to take into account cardinal directions, your options increase and even the areas immediately west of Icicle Inn become good candidates for the location of Modeoheim.

 

[Shademp]

- Discovered a small "glitch". If you press the Pause button at the right moment when the game transitions from battle music to area music, (so far only works for "area battles", not scripted, obligatory battles) then the background music of the area will keep on playing. Normally, all sounds stop when you press Pause. May or may not be an emulator-specific glitch.


- Ground texture of the Genesis DMW "Apocalypse" attack.

Japanese game
versus
English game (image from this video, just like the first page in this thread)

"Bsrren of promises" -> "Barren of promises"
I can only imagine this as a typo, especially if Japanese keyboards are the same as ours and have the a and s right next to one another.

"foresall" -> "forestall"
Accidental typo or just poor spelling.

"To sands" -> "The sands"

Not sure if the brightness in the video is because of upload settings or because the symbol crest is brighter in the English game.

Spoiler: More gameplay and plot reactions. No discoveries.

- Having to listen to (or for the player, "read") 23 phone messages in order to find a Power Wrist is a really lame reward for going through all that. I am somehow amused that the number 23 appears both here and in a later scene with Aerith.

- Sometimes, in New Game+ playthroughs, I like to keep the Boiler Handle from Modeoheim just so I can keep it in my inventory.

- I really enjoy the DMW and how it is employed in the story. After Zack find Tseng and Cloud hurt, right before the Angeal battle, Zack's heightened emotions make Cloud and Tseng limit breaks more likely. The DMW is truly one of the most praiseworthy aspects of Crisis Core.

- There is so much wrong with the scenario of Angeal's death that I feel discouraged from actually bringing it up. I don't want to have to point out how pathetic his assisted suicide is and how bad the dialogue is.

- The above scene does manage to cram in one of the defining aspects of Crisis Core; tributing plot elements of the original game. The original game contained misdirection, misinformation, surprise parentage and complicated copy/clone stuff. All of that is included in the scene prior to the Angeal fight, with the revelation that Project G was not Project Genesis but in fact Project Gillian, that Hollander is Angeal's biological father and by expositing what part Jenova played in the conception and growth of Angeal and Genesis. I do appreciate the effort by the writers to make it feel more like an FFVII game by including these plot elements. But because the plot is filled with so many problems, this tribute to the original game can feel a bit shallow.

- HAHAHA! When striking Angeal Penance from behind, he craps lightning! "Thunder of Envy" the attack is called. While I appreciate the existence of a counter-move, it just looks way too silly.

- Finishing off Angeal with the Genesis limit break felt...poetic somehow. Points to the game for making me feel for Zack's grief even though I have almost no respect for the Angeal character.

- When Chapter 6 starts, Zack asks what SOLDIER honor is. Not even Zack knows! And yet he spoke against Genesis's use of summons like it was a dishonorable move. DAMN IT GAME!

- I like how the game teases you with the anticipation to use the Buster Sword, by first having you use a parasol instead. Great move.

- Never understood how Zack could even THINK Genesis committed suicide. The company also seemed to assume that Genesis was dead. It's like Zack forgot that Genesis can FRICKIN' FLY! Falling into a dark abyss means nothing when it comes to a character like Genesis. Even Tseng starts speculating about Genesis's soul controlling copies from the lifestream, which clearly is an homage to Sephiroth controlling the Black Capes in the original game, but seriously Tseng you are smarter than this. If Genesis had been impaled by Zack's sword, I may have been more forgiving for this part of the plot. I can see though how impaling Genesis in any might feel like a repeat of Sephiroth's first death.

EDIT: I always wondered if the white feathers were supposed to form some kind of symbol or remind you of a shape. Can anybody make anything out?

 

[Shademp]

JUNON! New location, meaning new places where the English text was corrected for the English game. Only one observed example so far but I'm convinced I will find more.

Spoiler

JAPANESE

ENGLISH

Shira -> Shin-Ra. More appealing font chosen.

This text appears over and over across the street, so the Shira mistake can be spotted well over a dozen times.

Spoiler: SWAG!!11!!!11!!

 

[Shademp]

Oh look, a Modeoheim mission! How nice. Maybe this will mean a mission in a new area. One that is snowy.

Spoiler

DAMN YOU CRISIS CORE!!!

 

[Strangelove]

that area looks absolutely frigid

 

[Shademp]

- Well people, looks like the game is over. Now, at the very beginning of Chapter 6, I have Costly Punch. Nothing left to see here.

- I decided to compare the Chapter 2 image of Gillian dead on the floor with the flashback image of her being dead. Observe the differences in this gif where each picture stay for 1.5 seconds. While the gif was made in gif maker the snapshot quality decreased somewhat.

Spoiler

Some "differences" are clearly only artifacts of the color and clarity manipulation when adjusting the shot to look like a flashback. But we can clearly see that the shadow of the Gillian model is not present in the flashback. Her hair texture is different above her forehead, as though the flashback card uses a snapshot from an earlier version of the Gillian model.

There are no differences here to be observed between the Japanese and the English game.

Compared flashback images with present-time images of the Angeal monster from Mako Reactor #5, but no definitive differences were spotted.

 

[Shademp]

Progress continues to be slow because of treading through lengthy missions in both versions. Went from one save point to the next in Junon today before resuming the mission shenanigans.

I can write a few random points even though I have no interesting updates or discoveries.


- When Zack's HP is critical (low) when a battle ends, he does not perform the victory motion where he spins the Buster Sword. Instead he just wipes his forehead with his arm.

A tiny glitch happened in the game now though. Zack's HP was critical, a Power Surge happened that restored his HP and then I finished off an enemy with Costly Punch, but even though his HP was high Zack only wiped his forehead and did not spin the Buster Sword. The enemy was defeated too quickly after the HP restoration for the game to recognize the victory pose Zack should have made.


- I am taking snapshots of all the DMW scenes in both the English and Japanese game as I unlock them. I think I have almost half the DMW cutscenes "saved" this way now. There may be software out there to read and possibly even rip the DMW scenes from the game, but because I'm stubborn about postponing software research, I'm taking tons of snapshots for now. I number the DMW scenes according to how they are written in the CC Ultimania.

The way that the Angeal scenes are numbered don't fit well narratively in my head. I'll present an analysis of this at a later point.

- This week or the next I'll be getting some Crisis Core stuff I ordered. <3 So looking forward to it.


- In my next playthroughs of Crisis Core, I'm definitely not using a Phoenix Down on Zack. I play to NEVER use up a Phoenix Down, anyway. I find it displeasing to always have that feather above Zack's head, so when I make save files for the american version of CC I will make sure that any recordings and snapshots can easily be taken without that infernal feather being present.

 

[Shademp]

MY STUFF ARRIVED!

- Crisis Core Ultimania. With this I now have two copies of the CCU.

- Crisis Core -FFVII- The Complete Guide. Twice as thick as the Ultimania. I was surprised to see that it's a hardcover book. For some reason I find the hardcover style to be beautiful and almost "religious". The detail of this book is amazing. It includes the Japanese game script, complete with optional dialogue, mission descriptions, mail, mentions all the scripted battles and what enemies you fight, notes on what background music is playing during a scene and what the screenplay number is. I wouldn't be surprised if these screenplay numbers match identification numbers in the game's code.

The Complete Guide (let's call it TCG) counts chapters the same as the CCU, with the first playable segment being a prologue (or in this case, "outline") and the Wutai mission being Chapter 1. TCG does the wise thing and ends Chapter 10 with when Genesis is taken away by Weiss and Nero and has Chapter 11, also known as the Epilogue, begin with Cissnei going away to save Zack. How the final chapter should be divided up can be a matter of debate.

In the DMW Scene list, Angeal's scenes are ordered in the same seemingly non-chronological way as in the CCU. There's a difference in the Sephiroth Scene List however. In the CCU, the first scene is of Zack and Sephiroth leaving Wutai and the second scene is the training session where Zack defeats a Dual Horn. In TCG, these scenes are switched. Because Zack almost definitely met Sephiroth for the first time in Wutai, the Wutai DMW scene should be #1 in my opinion.

Interestingly enough, the DMW moves and the limit breaks of bosses are listed both with their Japanese and English name. The latter matches the English game.

SO MUCH ARTWORK! Loads of concept art for monsters/bosses and areas that I haven't seen in any other book. If we trust the concept art, the Exhibit Room of the Shinra HQ is on the first floor. Makes sense. An art piece of the Sector 8 Loveless Avenue shows a zeppelin up in the air. Wouldn't that have been cool to see? (This artwork was in the CCU as well, I just noticed)

Halfway through the book I reach the storyboard section. I've been flipping through this book for forty minutes and I'm only halfway! Saving the rest for tomorrow.


- Japanese Crisis Core, black label. I now own both the black label copy and the Ultimate Hits copy. Purely on faith I have assumed that the black label releases and the "best seller" re-releases have no difference in the in-game content, but I will rip an ISO of the black label copy and compare with the files of the Ultimate Hits iso.


- American Crisis Core, black label. WOO! With this I finally have three distinct versions of the game: Japanese, American and European (English). I doubt there are any version differences between the US and the European games, but nevertheless I will keep both eyes out.

 

[Shademp]

- JP Black Label and US Black Label ripped.

Zero file size difference between JP Black Label and JP Ultimate Hits noted. If any changes were made, they did not affect file size. More research required to confirm for sure if both releases are identical. The only difference so far is the production ID, which can be read on the game box.
JP Black Label: ULJM5275
JP Ultimate Hits: ULJM5517

All CC ISOs end up with the same file name however: UMD9660. I don't know if this is just a name all PSP game ISOs get when ripped with the software I have.

- ISO size comparison.
JP: 1,66 GB
US: 1,59 GB
EU: 1,61 GB

More research will be done in the file reading department when I can be bothered.


- Briefly booted up the US copy and noticed a small difference in the first screen that pops up.

Spoiler

US

JP & EU

Square Enix logo in the US game is wider, has dark grey letters instead of black, and swaps out the registered trademark symbol of ® for the trademark symbol ™.

If you read the definitions on wikipedia, then Square Enix was by definition not a registered trademark in the US when this game was released...which sounds TOTALLY WACK. Surely Square Enix was a registered trademark in the US...right?

Oddness aside, it's cool to have found this difference between US and EU.


- Yet another small version difference with a sign, but the content is interesting in both versions.

Spoiler: Shin-Ra Electric Power Company: Home of Square Enix

JAPANESE

ENGLISH

JAPANESE

ENGLISH

From JP to ENG, the board was whitened and many letters extra whitened to increase contrast with the board/sign. Font of "Shin-Ra Electric Power Company" was changed to look more clear and with less compression artefacts. Japanese symbols are, sadly, illegible in both versions.

At the bottom right is a link to the Square Enix website, www.square-enix.com

It is debatable if all letters on the sign are correct (low texture quality makes it impossible to confirm, though there is at least one odd spacing between the s and the q) but the intended website link is clear.

Further confirming my theory that Square Enix is in fact the real-life equivalent of Shinra Company and that the Shinra theme plays during board meetings in Square HQ. The question now is who goes "GYA HA HA" and who goes "KYA HA HA" at the meetings.

Spoiler: Gameplay reactions

- When Hollander releases bots to attack Junon, Zack says "Damn! You underhanded snake!" and "That Hollander... When I catch him, I'll deck him but good!"
Both "underhanded snake" and "deck him but good" are new expressions to me. o__O

Almost as amusing as when a SOLDIER refers to Hollander as "she-dogging", presumably because "bitching" was not a word they allowed.

- The shadow of a Genesis copy got stuck in mid-air for a while.

- I wonder what that airship at Junon airport is supposed to be. Surely not the Highwind? Maybe a small, proto version of the Highwind. I could buy that.


-

Sephiroth, you are needed in Modeoheim! ...Sephiroth? ...Hello? Planet to Sephiroth? *sigh* Sephiroth is stuck in his "DAT ASS" gaze.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

From JP to ENG, the board was whitened and many letters extra whitened to increase contrast with the board/sign. Font of "Shin-Ra Electric Power Company" was changed to look more clear and with less compression artefacts. Japanese symbols are, sadly, illegible in both versions.

At the bottom right is a link to the Square Enix website, www.square-enix.com

It is debatable if all letters on the sign are correct (low texture quality makes it impossible to confirm, though there is at least one odd spacing between the s and the q) but the intended website link is clear.

Further confirming my theory that Square Enix is in fact the real-life equivalent of Shinra Company and that the Shinra theme plays during board meetings in Square HQ. The question now is who goes "GYA HA HA" and who goes "KYA HA HA" at the meetings.

Thanks to this, I now have the headcannon that the office Cloud and Co. go though at the top of the Shin-Ra building is Shin-Ra's official gaming branch. Their biggest customer is Dio in Gold Saucer.