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 Fantasjī 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 reveals more on Vincent Valentine's past and revolves around a group of soldiers known as "DeepGround".

Prologue
The game opens in an FMV where Yuffie Kisaragi is monitoring rescue workers saving civilians prior to Meteor's fall. Vincent Valentine appears, and asks Yuffie to check the Mako Cannon for an unknwon reason. Yuffie says that they already did. Still, she holds up an electronic device that scans for life signs, and the device registers one. Vincent runs to the top of the cannon, returning to the site where Hojo was fought in Final Fantasy VII. Vincent looks around and sees Hojo slumped over on the controls for the cannon. He pulls out his gun to finish him but lightning strikes nearby, distracting him. He glances towards the flash, then turns back to find Hojo gone. Yuffie, riding a hover bike, flies up level with the cannon. Vincent hops on and they fly off. The camera returns to the computer that Hojo was slumped upon, showing the words "start" and "fragment program" appearing, flashing.

Three years later, Vincent is in Lucrecia Crescent's cave, where she's incased in bright materia (explaining why her sprite was not visible in Final Fantasy VII) with her eyes closed. Vincent talks to her. She replies, "I'm so sorry."

Vincent's eyes open, and he replies that he should be the one apologizing. He is resting on a bed in Kalm, with his cellphone nearby showing a message from Reeve Tuesti telling him to meet him in Kalm. Outside, it is night and a TV is on in his room. Two reporters state that a television crew and 38 members of an investigation team are believed to be missing. The reporters also say that for the past three years, a door had remained sealed but was recently opened; a door leading to an area beneath the ShinRa. The reporters say that there's evidence that thousands of people had once been transported here. As the reporters go on, Vincent looks out a window to see Kalm celebrating. However, the celebration is interrupted by an attack. Helicopters fly in, deploying soliders that slide down rappels and land in the centre. They open fire on the civilians. Vincent heads out and saves various civilians while exploring the town.

Chapter 1 - Sea of Flames
Somewhere else, a girl wearing a helmet with wires in it with computers around her says, "found you." The game switches back to Vincent, where he continues saving civilians and heading through Kalm.

Later, the game goes back to the girl. She takes off her helmet, where we see she has orange eyes. She says Vincent's full name and that "we've found you". A large, muscular man appears behind the girl and says, "Is this the one?" The girl replies, "yes."

Back to Vincent, he's going through a house. Suddenly, a loud crash is heard, and a hole in a wall appears. The unknown girl and guy appear from it, with the girl demanding that Vincent tell them where the Protomateria is. The guy is seen in full, with gigantic muscles and twice the girls size and with blue hair and blue marks on his face. As the girl asks for the Protomateria, her eyes change from light blue to orange. Vincent stares at them, and the large man suddenly says, "hail Weiss", and sends several soldiers at Vincent. After Vincent disposes of them, the man says he accepts Vincent's challenge. As soon as he finishes his sentence, the girl faints, and a voice is heard in the distance. The large man picks up the girl. She apologizes, and he mentions his name is Azul and that they will meet again.

Reeve appears, and explains that Azul's name is Azul the Cerulean, one of the Tsviets. Soldiers suddenly pop out of nowhere and shoot Reeve. Vincent kills the soldiers and checks on Reeve, only to have Cait Sith jump out of the body. Cait Sith encourages Vincent, and he heads out into Kalm once more. He meets the WRO, a group of people who Reeve is helping who are trying to restore the planet. Eventually, the soldiers retreat and Vincent meets up with Reeve, where he says that Edge is under attack.

The camera goes to two WRO soldiers. The two are absorbed by a black smoke and disappear. Some more WRO members arrive at where the other two members were and wonder where everyone went. A sound is made, and they look at it's source to see a A scantily-clad girl with red hair eyes holding a weapon. She says that her name is Rosso, Rosso the Crimson. One of the WRO members says, "Tsviets?" though all of them are instantly killed by her. Alone, she says that the WRO "wouldn't last a day in Deepground."

Chapter 2 - Showdown in the Wastes
Reeve and Vincent are in a truck travelling from Kalm to Edge. Reeve explains that the attackers were Deepground, created by Rufus' father. They are "army of superhuman warriors" and that Azul is a member of Deepground, though of the elite unit known as the Tsviets. They were kept a secret, and Reeve believes that only Heidegger, Scarlet, and Hojo know about them. When Rufus' father died, he obtained his rank so quickly that he was probably never briefed about the project. Reeve didn't know about them until recently when he was looking at some of Scarlet's old files. Instead of the 20 to 30 people that was said to be missing, the number was really 1,200 that simply vanished. It was covered up to reduce panic. The driver of the truck suddenly says that a "rogue transmission" is being boradcasted.

The transmission shows a male with long purplish hair. He says that "the pure will be "spared" for the cause, while the tainted will be hunted down and exterminated. They shall be slashed, strangled, and slaughtered. Beaten, stabbed, and crushed. Garroted and impaled. Shot and executed without mercy. The time has come to cleanse this world." He then laughs and the transmission ends.

As soon as the transmission ends, a group of beasts similar to cheetahs appear and begin chasing the truck. Vincent uses a machine gun turrent hidden in the truck to kill them. Unfortunately, the truck crashes. Reeve says that he will stay behind and fix the truck then head to the WRO headquarters. Vincent continues in a wasteland fighting more of the beasts and eventually arrives in Edge.

Chapter 3 - Silent Edge
Rosso is seen sitting on a crate in a warehouse, complimenting what "Weiss" had said on the transmission. The camera fades out and there are many dead bodies of WRO members around her.

As Vincent is exploring Edge in the rain, he meets a girl in a labcoat wearing high heels and a unique outfit underneath the labcoat with an artificial left arm and missing her left eye. She tells Vincent that she's Shalua Rui of the WRO. She later leaves for bussiness to attend to, saying that Reeve keeps telling her she's wasting her time searching for her reason to live.

Vincent continues exploring Edge, until he enters a warehouse. He is ambushed by Deepground, though defeats them. He heads outside of the warehouse only to be confronted by Rosso. She says that she has never felt the rain before and that she "hadn't even seen the sky until a few days ago". She says that the Protomateria is "the key to controlling Omega" and that he should hand it over to spare his life. Vincent says nothing and Rosso attempts to kill Vincent. Vincent dodges her attacks and transforms into Chaos and blows Rosso away. He then falls consciousness, while Shalua can be seen approaching him.

Vincent is back in Lucrecia's cave. Lucrecia says that she is sorry and that Vincent should awake.

Vincent is next seen when he was a turk. He and Hojo are in Shinra Manor's basement, where Vincent is confronting Hojo, who's wielding a gun. Vincent yells, "Talk! Why did you let this happen!?" Hojo tells Vincent to be silent and shoots Vincent. Faintly, Hojo can be heard saying, "I can... body... next experiment... a genius... I am... success here... justify... failures..."

Vincent suddenly wakes up with foggy vision. He moves around before he is heard screaming and the screen fades to black. Again he wakes up, only this time in a capsule of green water. Lucrecia can be seen outside the capsule, looking at him.

Chapter 4 - Headquarters Under Siege
The game changes to the present. Vincent wakes up in a capsule of green water, just like the last scene, though with Shalua outside looking at him. She lets him out and tells him that they are in the WRO headquarters. She says that "the beast inside" Vincent "went a little wild back there." Vincent asks if she means Chaos, where she then asks if he "harbours the Chaos gene". She asks if he was the "product" of one of Lucrecia's experiments. She explains to Vincent that she had a thesis, "The Planet's Pulse", where "she refers to Chaos as one of the sentient xenoforms residing among" humans. However, "the theories that she presented in her work" were complex and not understandable. At this point, Vincent remembers Lucrecia saying she's so sorry and telling him to awake. Vincent asks if he can see the thesis, though Shalua explains that it was never submitted to Shin-Ra and that all she knows was from going through the company's archives. Reeve's voice can be heard off screen asking Vincent if he has recovered.

The game changes to a scene with the small Tsviet girl and Azul. The girl is typing on a computer while Azul walks up behind her asking her, "What is the status of our keeper?" The girl replies that Vincent's "location remains unchanged since the confrontation" and that he's in the WRO headquarters. They walk out of the room they were in, with the girl grabbing an orange materia before they go.

The game changes back to the scene with Vincent, Shalua, and now Reeve. Vincent had previously told them what happened to him, that Rosso said that the Protomater is "the key to controlling Omega". Shalua quotes a passage from Lucrecia's thesis, saying, "Soul wrought of terra corrupt, quelling impurity, purging the stream to beckon forth an ultimate fate. Behold mighty Chaos, Omega's squire to the lofty heavens." She says that Chaos and Omega are somehow connected to Lucrecia.

Suddenly, they are interrupted as an alarm goes off. Deepground begins to infiltrate the headquarters. As Vincent heads out to help out the WRO members from being killed, Shalua looks at a computer screen with feed from a camera. She sees the small girl and is in amazement at her.

Vincent continues through the HQ. Shalua and Vincent are on the ground floor when she notices something invisible following Vincent. She points a gun at it and it shows itself. It's the girl that was seen with Azul. The girl approaches Shalua as she continues to point the gun at her. Shalua says her name, "Shelke." Shalua says, "We've both changed so much. No, you haven't changed at all. Not in ten years." Shelke ignores Shalua and threatens her. Shalua then says, "Even though ten years have passed, you're still Shelke, my only sister!" Shelke says that for 10 years she "lived in a hell far deeper" than any Shalua imaginable. Shelke says she should be 19, though she still appears as a child. She says that she requires a daily dose of mako. Shalua begins crying over what has happened to her sister. Reeve enters the same room, and Shelke prepares to kill both of Shalua and Reeve. Reeve asks Shelke to look at her sister, how she "has given more than her arm, more than her eye. She has put her life on the line time and time again. All to find her lost sister. More than half her organs have been reconstructed. Not a day goes by when Shalua doesn't suffer the pain of a hundred souls." Shelke says she has had enough. Just as she is about to execute Shalua with two sword-like beams, Reeve shoots at the ceiling, causing a sprinkler system to turn on, causing the beams to turn off. Reeve gives Vincent bullets that will sedate Shelke. Vincet fights and defeats her. Vincent continues through the HQ, leaving them behind.

Vincent soon meets Azul. Vincent attempts to shoot at him, though he has a barrier. Reeve catches up to Vincent, and Azul chases both of them down a hall. Reeve points out a large rocket launcher which Vincent quickly grabs and shoots at Azul. When the smoke clears, Azul not has the rocket launcher and he and Vincent fight. Vincent defeats Azul, who falls unconscious.

Vincent tells Reeve that he's going to Nibelheim. Reeve warns him that Deepground is also there and tells Vincent to "use the sewer system extending from the old mako reactor" to reach the town. Vincent departs, and Reeve has plants to use Cait Sith to find out "what Deepground is truly up to."

Chapter 5 - Manor of Despair
Vinvent proceeds through the sewers, fighting more Deepground soldiers as well as Sahagins. Eventually, he comes to an elevator and heads in. While going up, he has a flashback.

The flashback shows Vincent again as a Turk, "reporting for duty". He's beside Lucrecia, saying he's been assigned to protect her. Lucrecia is confused, and says to herself, "Why would they send his..." She introduces herself to Vincent, showing that this is how he met her.

The scene changes to Cait Sith. He has infiltrated Deepground's location, deep under Shin-Ra. He proceeds through rooms filled with pipes and ladders, similar to a Mako Reactor, and avoiding detection from Deepground soldiers. Eventually, he sees a container, similar to the ones Deepground had put humans into back in Kalm, on a rail on the ceiling. It travels along the rail above a lake of green liquid. The container is dropped with screaming people inside. Just before it hits the liquid, a hand grabs the container, and pulls it underneath. Cait Sith, seeing the whole thing, says out loud, "Good gracious me! What in the blazes is growing down there?" A male with wings and arms wrapped on his soldiers surrounded by darkness appears beside Cait Sith and says, "Usher of souls. My brother. Omega." Cait Sith then says his name, Nero, Nero the Sable. Darkness then surrounds Caith Sith and he disappears.

The game switches back to Vincent, now in the basement of Shin-Ra Manor. He is in the library where Sephiroth learned he was part of the Jenova Project. A small materia rolls near him. He reaches down and picks it up, but when he rises, he sees Lucrecia. Lucrecia then says, "Vincent, right? Have you come to check up on me?" She walks through Vincent, showing that she's only a hologram. She then says, "Omega. His awakening is upon us." The scene changes to her cave, where she continues, "Soul wrought of terra corrupt, quelling impurity, purging the stream to beckon forth an ultimate fate. Behold mighty Chaos, Omega's squire to the lofty heavens. I came across this passage while studying the scriptures of the Ancients. The Chronicles of Yore. Omega. The end. Just as all other sentient beings, he too, is born of the Lifestream. However, his only purpose is to cleanse the planet of all things living and lead their immortal souls through the abyssal aether to a new beginning far, far beyond the neverending sea of stars. Just as life circulates through our planet, so too, does our planet through the universe. Or at least in theory." The scene changes to Lucrecia standing in the middle of space. She continues, "However, what I can be certain of is, if Omega awakens, then all life as we know it will end. And when Omega has embarked on his journey to the cosmos, our planet will wither and die." The scene changes back to the manor. Lucrecia says that she will leave her records for Vincent, and then says, "I am so sorry." She and the materia Vincent picked up disappear, and on a nearby table, a disk appears, which Vincent takes. Vincent explores the manor, killing Deepground soldiers and collecting Omega Reports that contain info on the unknown Omega. Eventually, he has the flashback that he's in a capsule of green liquid, with Lucrecia looking at him outside. However, he is interrupted by Rosso.

Vincent asks Rosso what Deepground's doing with Omega, though she doesn't know, nor does she care. "But," she says, "this is what Weiss desires. Hail Weiss. And what Weiss orders, we do. It is very simple. If he desires the awakening of Omega, then that is what all of Deepground desires. We could care less what happens to the planet. But all this matters little to me. It is not every day you are granted the chance to cleanse the world of all life. Just the thought sends a chill of excitement through my body. The Deepground soldiers were born and bred to kill. We were chained to a destiny of servitude. But then three years ago, we were freed from our chains--though waiting for us was darkness lit only by the faint glow of mako. And what do you think we did when we gained our freedom?" She laughs and continues, "We killed. That is how we were raised. That is all we knew. And so I bathed in the blood of a thousand soldiers. And I enjoyed it. I reveled in it. And when I finally stepped out of the abyss, I craved for more." Vincent attempts to fight her, though she escapes. He instead must face a robot, which he defeats. However, when he destroys it, Rosso appears out of nowhere and stabs him with her hand. When she pulls it out, she's holding onto a materia. Vincent falls to the floor and transforms into Chaos, though is unable to move, and transforms back into himself. Rosso is about to kill Vincent, though someone enters the manor and throws a shuriken that hits the ground near Rosso, causing her to step away from Vincent. The shuriken creates a bright light that temporary blinds her, and when she can see again, both the unknown person and Vincent are gone. Rosso then says, " Wutai flea! If you manage to survive that wound, I'll make sure you don't survive the next one. But no matter." She holds up the materia in her hand and says, "The end is upon us."

A flashback happens again. A person hidden in shadow is sitting behind a table while Vincent talks with him. Vincent asks if it's true if "Dr. Crescent is to take part in this project", where then Lucrecia enters the room and confirms it. Vincent says, "But using your own child for an experiment?" The shadowed person replies, "I don't know what you're implying, but both of us are scientists. We know what we are doing. You are the last person to have any word in this. Now leave us at once, boy!" Vincent asks Lucrecia if she is sure that this is what she wants. She replies, "Am I sure? Am I sure!? If this only concerns me, then yes, I am sure!" Vincent then narrates, saying, "All I did was watch. I didn't even try to stop her. And then..." Lucrecia is seen crouching, holding her stomach, as footage of Jenova, Holy materia falling down, and Sephiroth walking through flames, which are scenes taken from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Vincent continues narrating, saying, "That was my sin. And this... This... Is my punishment."

Vincent wakes up in a truck. The unknown person that saved him is also with him. The person removes their disguise, showing that it's Yuffie. They have a small friendly conversation, and then Reeve is seen on a TV in the truck. He says that by using "you-know-who" (Caith Sith), he was able to infiltrate Deepground and that he's going to launch a "full offensive" against them and that he is analyzing the Omega Reports. Reeve tells Vincent to meet him at the WRO headquarters again and then the transmission ends.

The game changes to a scene with Shelke. She is inside a capsule of water and gets out of it, not knowing where she is. She sees Shalua sleeping over a computer console. The scene changes to a room where two WRO soldiers are on gaurd outside a room. The camera enters the room, where Azul is seen laying down on a table with his eyes close. However, the camera looks straight down on his face, where his eyes suddenly open. Shalua suddenly awakes, and asks how Shelke's feeling. She says that she's a "fool to let your enemy live" and that she's gonna kill her. However, Shalua says, "And I don't remember you ever being able to win any of our fights, do you? How about it? You want to try your luck?"

The scene goes back outside Azul's room, where the door keeping his room concealed is burst open. A large beast's foot steps out. The camera shows Deepground snipers picking off WRO soldiers all over the place and suddenly the headquarters are infiltrated with Deepground. The scene goes to Reeve in a room, where WRO soldiers are reporting deaths. As he is listening, a missile is launched at him. The scene changes to Shelke and Shalua, where Shalua asks why Deepground came back. Shelke replies, "They were waiting for Azul. His death was merely a prologue to the true terror."

The scene goes back to Vincent and Yuffie inside the truck. The truck suddenly shakes, causing Yuffie to hit her head and fall unconscious, while Vincent gets out and is ready to fight three machines waiting for him.

Chapter 6 - Deepground Strikes Back
Vincent destroys the three machines and proceeds through the wasteland to the WRO headquarters. As he approaches the HQ, he hears soldiers saying they need backup and other yells as well as a beast's roar. When Vincent enters the HQ, it's in complete disarray and almost totally destroyed. Vincent eventually encounters a massive beast on four legs. Shelke and Shalua are behind him when he sees it, and Shelke says it's Azul. Vincent shoots him as he runs at the three of them though his bullets do nothing. Shalua tries to attack him but is smacked into a wall by one of his gigantic paws. Shelke stares at her with no expression, until Azul also hits her. Azul attempts to hit her a second time, only to be stopped by her pulling out a materia that paralyzes him, saying, "The extreme potency of this shield materia is comparable to that of your barrier field, Azul." Azul goes back into his human form and she puts away the matiera. He asks her why she stopped him and tells him he tried to kill her. Azul replies, "Then now is the time." He tries to attack her though she dodges it. Azul continues, "You are no different from the others. Your weak body is nothing without mako. Your only skill is collecting data from inside a virtual reality. It makes me sick to even think of you as a member of the Tsviets. Weiss has ordered your termination." Shelke is surprised at this comment and yells, "Weiss!?" Azul continues, "Your mission was to identify and locate the keeper of the Protomateria. That is why we uploaded the doctor's data into your neural network. But now we no longer need it. And we cannot let it fall into the hands of the WRO. Your fate has been decided, Shelke. It is time for you to return to the planet." Shelke quickly pulls out her materia and temporarily paralyzes Azul once again. Shalua grabs her and runs out of the room, along with Vincent. They run to a door where Shalua hits a button to open it. Vincent runs out of the room, though Shelke and Shalua stay behind, Shelke demanding to be let go. The door begins to close and Shalua puts her robotic arm in the door to stop it. She pushes Shelke through to Vincent, where Shalua apologizes for not being a better sister. Azul is seen approaching her from behind, until the door breaks her robotic arm. The doors close, a loud thud is heard, and a beige coloured liquid comes out from underneath the door visible to Shelke and Vincent. Vincent grabs Shelke and runs away from the door down a hall.

The scene changes to Reeve in a destroyed room with Vincent near him. Reeve's ashamed that he couldn't do anything to stop the attack. Vincent says three years ago it was him and the others that taught him to move ahead. After saying this, he walks away.

The scene changes to a room with Shalua in a capsule and Yuffie and Vincent talking. Yuffie is angry that Vincent couldn't save her. Shelke doesn't understand why Shalua sacrificed herself for her, where Vincent answers, "Before, when I asked Shalua what she was searching for, she answered "her reason to live. It was you, Shelke. You were her reason to live." Shelke says she doesn't understand, so Vincent explains, saying, "When a person has someone they care about that much, giving their life is sometimes the least they can do. And maybe that's what makes us human. Although... it seems like there are a lot of people around me who don't need a reason to risk their lives for that of another." Shelke almost falls down, though Vincent holds her up and looks into her eyes and has a flashback.

Vincent is sleeping outside Shin-Ra Manor on a hill with trees around him. Lucrecia wakes him up and wants to have a picnic where he was, and asks if he wants to join her.

The flashback ends, and Shelke backs away form Vincent, wondering why Lucrecia's "data fragments" are responding. Reeve enters the room and tells Vincent that the Omega Reports were missing some files. Shelke speaks up, saying, "Are you speaking of Dr. Lucrecia Crescent's findings?" Reeve's surprised at this comment, and she then continues, saying, "A large quantity of her mnemonic data fragments has been uploaded into my neural network. It was my prime directive to use this data to locate and retrieve the Protomateria. However, not only was the data incomplete, but part of her consciousness began interfering with my own thought processes. It was believed that the missing fragments may have been the reason for this. I can attempt to upload the WRO's files on the Omega Report. By combining it with the data I possess, you may obtain a clearer picture of what you will be up against. And perhaps I can regain control of my mind." However, Yuffie interrupts them on an intercom, telling Vincent and Reeve to come outside the HQ.

When they get out, they see Yuffie waving to Cid and the Shera, along with many more airships. The scene cuts to Cid, where he yells, "What the hell we waiting for!? It's time to get up 'n go! Come on get on board!"

Chapter 12 -Final Chapter: Omega and Chaos / A Finale Chaotic
BASICALLY VINCENT IS A WALKING TIME BOMB THAT WAS DESIGNED TO TRANSFORM INTO CHAOS IF OMEGA FAILED TO DO ITS JOB

Characters
I AM GOING TO DESTROY THE WHOLE OF THIS WIKI. HA HA HA

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 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 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 rumours 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.