Crisis Core: Why Final Fantasy Heroes Need Angst To Live

Final Fantasy VII was a landmark title not only for its popularity, but in how it deconstructed the very notion of a Final Fantasy game. While previous titles had plenty of drama and conflict, FFVII had characters so dysfunctional and cynical that many found them unlikable. But ten years later, Square Enix released the FFVII prequel Crisis Core for PSP, which deconstructed the classic RPG by having a well-adjusted, idealistic protagonist-- and demonstrated why that angst was necessary as a survival mechanism.