Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-

Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII- (ダージュ オブ ケルベロス -ファイナルファンタジーVII-, Dāju obu Keruberosu -Fainaru Fantajī VII-) is part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and is set 3 years after Final Fantasy VII and 1 year after Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. The game reveals more about Vincent Valentine's past and tells the story of his battle against a group of SOLDIERs known as "Deepground".

Story
Three years after the events of Final Fantasy VII, an unknown group of powerful SOLDIERs appear, bringing a swift and bitter end to the peace enjoyed by the people of world. The members of this enigmatic group are the ones who were trapped under the ruins of Midgar for three long years; the Deepground SOLDIERs, their intention is to call forth the final WEAPON, Omega, before its time. However, to do that, Deepground needs Vincent to lead the way to Omega.

Vincent Valentine finds himself pursued by several elite members of the mysterious organization. An unrelenting chain of events leads Vincent to the truth behind his past and forces him once again to be the key player in a battle for the planet itself and all those living in it.

Reeve Tuesti, former Head of Urban Development at Shinra (as well as the remote pilot of Cait Sith), is now the leader of the World Regenesis Organization, which looks after the planet and prevents people from damaging it further. Yuffie Kisaragi is another member of the organization, and several other characters from the original game provide the WRO with outside assistance.

Returning characters
While the main cast from Final Fantasy VII return, the majority of them make cameos only. Yuffie, Reeve, and Cid are the only characters that players can talk to. The other characters mainly just make cameos.
 * Vincent Valentine
 * Yuffie Kisaragi
 * Lucrecia Crescent
 * Reeve Tuesti/Cait Sith
 * Cid Highwind
 * Cloud Strife
 * Barret Wallace
 * Tifa Lockhart
 * Red XIII
 * Hojo

New characters

 * Shalua Rui
 * Grimoire Valentine
 * Genesis
 * Omega WEAPON
 * The Tsviets
 * Azul the Cerulean
 * Rosso the Crimson
 * Nero the Sable
 * Shelke the Transparent
 * Weiss the Immaculate

Gameplay
Dirge of Cerberus is a third-person shooter RPG, though players also have the option of playing in first person mode. The game consists of 10 chapters with stages in each of them. Players will primarily play Vincent, though on one occasion, players will also play as Cait Sith.

As Vincent, players will mainly shoot at opponents, though melee attacks can also be used. Vincent has an HP bar as well as an MP bar for using materia. Killing opponents earns players experience which can be used to level up or exchanged for gil after completing each chapter. Vincent has a wide array of guns at his disposal which can be customized with items found throughout the game. Some of these items include barrel sizes and sniper scopes. Players can also use limit breaks what will transform Vincent into the Galian Beast, as well as Vincent's ultimate limit break, Chaos. As Cait Sith, players must hide behind objects from being detected while progressing through his single level.

Soundtrack
Dirge of Cerberus ' soundtrack was released in Japan on January 15, 2005. The soundtrack was composed by Masashi Hamauzu. Two theme songs on the soundtrack, LONGING and REDEMPTION, were done by Japanese rock singer Gackt Camui. Gackt makes a "cameo" as Genesis in the game's secret ending.

Reception
Both in North America and Japan, Dirge of Cerberus recieved moderate reviews.

In Japan, the gaming magazine Degenki PS2 rated the game 313/400. Famitsu gave it 28/40. The Famitsu review was released over 3 weeks after the the release of the game, which caused rumors to arise that Square Enix wanted this delay to happen so as to not discourage gamers from purchasing Dirge of Cerberus. Despite this, the game sold 392,000 copies in its first week.

In North America, Game Rankings' reviews for the game are currently 59%. Gamespot gave the game a rating of 6.0, while IGN gave the game a 7.0 rating. X-Play listed the "game is horribly paced" and that the "battles are generic" for cons.

Packaging artwork
de:Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII