via ign
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII has a habit of making a brief appearance and then disappearing without a trace for months. The last sighting was at the Japanese Jump Festa event last December, where Square Enix unveiled a playable version that blew us away with its visuals and production values. Then, all went silent.
The game has resurfaced again, this time on the pages of Famitsu. The magazine has a four page update on the title, with new story and gameplay details, and some hints on when we can expect another look (following what we presume will be a period of complete radio silence).
We now have complete details on two characters who seem to have the biggest roles in the game's story. First off is Zack, who made a brief appearance in the classic FFVII title and is the main character in Crisis Core. Famitsu reveals his last name: Fair.
Joining Zack Fair is a first class solider named Angeal Hewley. He travels with Zack heavily, and the two have developed a strong trust, with Angeal acting as the teacher and Zack the pupil. He's also apparently well connected to the Sephiroth and Genesis characters. An image in Famitsu shows Angeal, Sephiroth and Genesis in a face off in the city of Junon.
Proucer Tetsuya Nomura shared some comments with the magazine on the two characters. He pointed out that Zack's last name, Fair, contrasts with Cloud, the hero of Final Fantasy VII. Hewley is a Greek term.
The Famitsu story also clears up a few points about the battle system, which we got to experience at the Jump event. In our hands-on writeup, we mentioned a mysterious three-slotted roulette that appeared at the top-left of the screen. This is known as the Digital Mind Wave. The DMW spins around on its own and automatically stops. Based on the number on which it stops, your character earns a variety of status upgrades, including increased HP and a full MP meter. Once you've gotten your rewards, the roulette automatically begins spinning again.
The DMW is the key to getting special Limit Break attacks during battle. The roulette has character images in addition to numbers. If all three slots stop on the same image, you get a powerful attack or recovery move, depending on the image.
Nomura wouldn't give a final release date to the magazine, but he did reveal that the latest version of the game will be available for play at May's Japan-only Square Enix Party.
At the very least, Japan can expect this game in 2007 now, as the official release date in Famitsu was recently changed from TBA to TBA 2007.
