I had certain expectations for this game. Over the years, I've been told it was slow, clunky, a mess of a story, way too edgy, and mediocre in the gameplay department. Any real talk of the game died out the same year of its release, and so those arguments lived on as just an accepted general opinion. Even my own personal interest was tempered into a passing acknowledgement. Though, with the recent Final Fantasy VII talk with Remake and Rebirth, people have also been talking about the original games, including Crisis Core (which also got a remake) and this one. To be fair, the talk for "Dirge" is on a much smaller scale than "Crisis" or "OG FF7", but its reputation also seems a bit more flipped/improved in comparison after all these years (the OG game being relatively loved universally the same and Crisis having a smaller uptick of praise on top of its already high appreciation).

And so, I did some research, hunted down a brand new copy of the game (though, it was a re-print, unfortunately), and gave it a spin. So, what did I think of the game after all these years of hearing other opinions and being an outsider to the Final Fantasy Fandom?

Let's start off by saying the one true thing that was initially said about this game. It IS overtly edgy. Comically so. Though, is that really a bad thing? I suppose that would depend on your personal tastes, but I for one enjoyed the Hellsing/Spawn tone it carried. Besides, the main character for this game was exceptionally edgy in Final Fantasy VII way back in 1997 and it would have been a disservice if his solo outing wasn't matching him.

You play as Vincent Valentine, ex-Turk turned into a nigh immortal monster experiment, trying to live out his days in peace after the events of Final Fantasy 7 (would be labeled in game as "Meteorfall"). One day, while watching a celebration in Kalm from the rooftops, a mysterious organization (later identified as Deepground) show up bombing buildings, shooting up innocents, and kidnapping those that were targeted as "pure". Peace disturbed and day ruined, Vincent pulls his triple barreled revolver Cerberus (god, it looks so cool), and takes aim to put an end to these monsters.

Since the game is a shooter, one would have to talk about how the gunplay is in the gameplay. For the most part, it's pretty solid. Fighting Deepground soldiers, experiments, mutants, and security tends to respond well and keep a quick pace, though I wish I could adjust the sensitivity of the aiming camera a bit so it could feel a little better. It DOES have aim-assist adjustment, which allows for full auto (snapping to enemies within range of the target reticle), semi-auto (pulling the aim closer towards a nearby target), or manual (no assistance). These options give the player the tools that can either help those aren't good at shooters or (in the case of manual), allow skill to speak for itself. Balancing ammo storage and use can be a bit difficult, but ammo pick-ups tend to appear just often enough to get by with what you have most often, with shops being set at major checkpoints for top-ups or upgrades. You only have three guns available at all time, but each of them are HIGHLY customizable, allowing for all sorts of set ups depending on stock, barrel, accessories, and modifications, on top of branching upgrades and hidden specialty equipment that can be found. Hit detection works well enough, but aim-assist can sometimes pull a player away from shooting where you want to shoot, sometimes aiming at something unintended (for better or worse). I think the only problem in the gameplay itself is that sometimes enemies don't flinch often enough, or enemy super-armor can be a bit of a drag. That, and impact could always sound and feel a little heavier.

My other gripe in the over-all game tends to be that enemy variety is a little shallow, and paced out quite sparsely on top of it. I was getting new foes in the final chapters which felt like I should have been getting them a chapter or two earlier, with the final chapters being dedicated to interesting combinations of the full roster.

Still, the gameplay itself feels solid enough, with melee combat being serviceable as a last minute/emergency resort. Vincent hits hard enough with punches and kicks, but it's definitely far more efficient to just shoot things at a range.

Character interactions are quite fun, especially between the more odd-ball members of the old FF7 party (especially since Vincent was definitely one of said odd-balls). Also, despite Vincent's dour, broody nature, he never seemed forced, annoying, or boring. He's no quip master like Dante, or the deep and eternally threatening Keith David- I mean Spawn, be he has his no nonsense attitude with stylish flourishes and moments of actual human heart. If anything, his stoic seriousness tends to contrast well with the batshit insanity of Deepground's top-brass as well as your old crew (like Yuffie). There's something satisfying when a major boss talks their head off, trying to sound imposing, and then ask a question, only to be met with stone faced, brow furrowed and defiant silence. It's like he's thinking "Nah, fuck this guy. I'm not going to wax philosophy with a psychopath."

The story is... alright, honestly. I was expecting something bottom of the barrel. An excuse to shoot up malevolent experimental soldiers from a forgotten secret born from corporate evil and immorality. I mean, the main plot is extremely basic (evil people show up with evil plan. Kill thy ass), but the secondary plot, Vincent's personal story, is actually rather decent. It's not award winning or anything, but is an interesting character study as to why he is the way he is: an emotionally broken man that lost the light in his life a long time ago and is trying to cope with the damage. Memories and phantoms of the past come back to haunt him one way or another, as we learn more of what a complicated life the psudo-vampire man has and how much of a victim he was in this whole mess.

Over all, I've come to quite enjoy the game for what it is. Sure, it has some flaws. For one, normal was WAY too easy. Died only once due to carelessness. The foe roster could have been better. Locations felt a bit samey in the first third of the game (got way better as it went on). There is a forced stealth section, but it's only one and it's relatively short and easy. There's very little reason to replay missions outside of the hell-of-it due to the game not saving your stats/gil/items/equipment upon returning to a prior mission (unless you jump into EX Hard Mode, which allows Gil/Equipment carry over, but resets stats and items). That last one I found a bit odd since the game has a scoring and ranking system at the end of each chapter ala Devil May Cry.

However, the story is passable, the gunplay is solid, customization is excellent, there were no glitches or issues, none of the characters were annoying or aggravating (except one, but that's a spoiler), and I actually thought its finale was quite wicked. This was a fun game, straight up. Personally, I think this is the Hellsing game we never got...

My rating for the game is probably a bit more inflated due to how much I enjoy the aesthetic of the protagonist character and how detached I am from Final Fantasy in general, and I'm a bit more forgiving for such an experimental title, but it's still my honest, full kit feelings on the matter. From lock, stock, to barrel.

On the whole, Dirge is a boring and outdated shooter from a bygone era. The story is serviceable, but overcomplicates itself in the vein of many 21st century Square titles. I can appreciate the quality of the visuals and overall presentation for a PS2 game, and the minor RPG mechanics were ahead of their time (even if underwhelming in execution). Gameplay-wise though, Dirge is mostly a spammy shooter with random difficulty spikes, rote level design, and it goes on longer than it should. Vincent Valentine is and always will be a badass character, but this FF spin off can be left in the past.

this is the best gun-type game ever made, competing with the likes of metal gear solid

this game fucking sucks and tbh soul is why it's even remotely average

"Y'all got any fun? We got soul."