From our oh-so-short play session with the game, the long wait for Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was most definitely worth it.

While I'm sure my words are riveting you right out of your seat, there's no way they're as cool as the actual cinematic looked on the PSP in my hands. After the opening train sequence was over it was time to actually take control of our main character.

Gone are the days of pre-rendered backdrops and loading times in between fights. As Zack moved around the train station a group of enemy soldiers came out of a tunnel in the distance and were quickly on our hero. This is where the original Final Fantasy VII gameplay is really turned on its head. Rather than presenting players with the classic turn-based style of combat, Crisis Core's combat is essentially entirely real time. You can move around the screen, roll to dodge attacks, and hit a button to block. The R and L triggers are used to cycle between general attacks (as well as pan the camera during standard gameplay), critical attacks, and magic. In the beginning of the game players have lightning and fire magic spells, both of which do serious damage. The feeling of being able to run and attack your enemies in real time is just plain awesome and definitely feels more skill oriented than the turn-based alternative.

The ruthless and despicable Square Enix employees ushered us out of the kiosk and just as soon as we had gotten our hands on Crisis Core it was taken away. There's still no release date for the game back in the states, but here's hoping that Square wizens up and ports the game over. If they do, I'll be the first in line for a new PSP and my copy of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.