Hello!
I was attracted by this game because I am a really great fan of FFVII and FFVIII (I never had a console when I was younger so, being a pc player these two games were my introduction to the series). Rpgmaker is also ideal to creat games similar to the original final fantasies, so why not?

I admit that the base idea is pretty cool: Cosplay Crisis (or CC)... a game about COSPLAY! Yes, because the protagonists are just cosplayers, that during the course of the game become more and more similar to the heroes they love (they fight monsters and even join a military group called Landslide, that's... like Avalanche!). The story then mixes with Resident Evil when there's the mentione of a deadly virus that must be stopped, zombies etc... uhm ok, I guess!


Uhm when you make a Final Fantasy game do not forget an evil corporation/empire/organization!

So, Kumo, Levi and Miri are these three young cosplayers/mercenaries that live their (boring) lives until they clash with an evil organization called Omniax.
I admit that the first hours were rather boring (I wrote that, didn't I?) and confusing, later instead it gets a bit better with the introduction of some interesting villains. So yeah, the base idea is pretty great, the execution is... ok!

Speaking about the gameplay you can expect the typical FFVII combat of course, that it even includes the materia. Here's where the game shines, also because battlers and other animations seems to be all custom and that's noteworthy! They also look good, fun to play and not impossibly hard. Characters have some non-damaging skills that are tactically useful, you can (and have to) exploit enemies' elemental weaknesses, and weaken them with negative status. Ok, that's nothing new, but being a game about the FF series, it was expected and it's also really well implemented!


Our heroes are cosplaying as... themselves?

Unfortunately I cannot say the same for the rest of the game: the game uses RPG Maker XP and I do not like a lot its graphics. It's true that there are not the usual RTPs but the custom characters are created in the same style. And this is ok, the resources are good and pretty, the Final Fantasy characters are easily recognizable, but...
Yes, we have a problem: the cities are bad, there are frequent mapping errors (also some errors with effects, like characters casting multiple shadows!), and for example also finding the exit some parts or the access to a particular shop became really frustrating due to this kind of bad mapping. Oh and not to mention those loooong hallway where you will be forced to play lots of random battles.
Sigh. My desire for exploration was totally destroyed after a while... and I wanted to get over this and speed through the story that became more and more interesting after the boring beginnings.

And it's a pity because the overall graphic style is very charming too. I liked the portraits, the scenes, and some extremely cool parts like the motorcycle battle against the soldiers! That part looked epic and felt epic! Also the soundrack borrows directly from FFVII, FFVIII and FF IX, but this was to be expected and it's ok!
Ok, so what are my final thoughts on this game? Read the...


Ohhh sweet! Good find!

Final Verdict
Cosplay Crisis is a rather impressive feat: a fangame with original characters that mixes real world with Final Fantasy and Resident Evil and tries to make sense in all of this creating a long, 9 hours rpg! Uhm ok, the game partially succeeds in its objective, and it's clearly aimed to those who loved FFVII and FFVIII (like me), even if the whole "new world, new characters" and presence of real cities (let's go to Tokio!) may puzzle the fan of the series. But for me it was ok, I also did not mind the weird story that tries to keep together disparate elements, the only problem is that the first hours are really terrible compared to the rest when the real story kicks into action... and this may discourage many players, Final Fantasy aficionados or not!

And it's a pity because the game has a lot of potential and something good to show and with better mapping (and maybe also chipsets, I mean I am not a fan of XP, and I'd rather have preferred a Rm2k3 FF fangame to keep it similar to FFVI visual style) and no graphical bugs.
A pity, some parts were pretty cool, but in the end other sections are a chore to play. A contrast of opposites, something is very good (combat, graphic styles) something is very bad (mapping, bugs, boring start, some vague descriptors) so it gets an average rating from me.