Final Fantasy VII~Dirge of Cerberus is an action game that was released for Playstation 2 in Japan on January 26, 2006 and in the U.S. on August 15, 2006. It is a sequel to the original Final Fantasy VII, which was released in 1997 and is widely regarded as the most popular, and most loved, of the Final Fantasy series. Dirge of Cerberus is part of the “Compilation of Final Fantasy VII”, which is a series of sequels and prequels to FFVII developed by Square Enix. Dirge of Cerberus takes place 3 years after the end of the original FFVII and one year after the animated Final Fantasy FFVII~Advent Children. Dirge of Cerberus follows the story of Vincent Valentine, exploring his background while occasionally meeting with other characters from the original FFVII.

In what is known as Project G, Gackt collaborated with game/character designer Tetsuya Nomura and was involved in several aspects of the game. Gackt was asked to write a theme song for the game, and after watching various cut-scenes for the game, he wrote Redemption as the main theme. Longing is also used as an insert song for the game.

Gackt's mysterious character, Genesis...

Genesis appears to have the “mako eyes”...

In addition to creating the theme songs for Dirge, Gackt also appears in the game itself as a character. His character, named Genesis, only appears in a secret ending to the game when all G Reports have been collected. He bursts out of a sphere of water, and proceeds to pick up Weiss's body (the leader of Deepground Soldier). A single black wing appears over his left shoulder and he flies off with Weiss. It should be noted that his wing resembles Sephiroth's, who also has a single wing, but over his right shoulder. There is some speculation that Genesis is actually Sephiroth's prototype.

Genesis is not animated in the typical way the other game characters are. Instead, a new type of CG was used to actually put Gackt himself into the game world. He also speaks a couple of lines as Genesis, though his voice is unfortunately dubbed in the U.S. release. The secret ending hints at a sequel, and Genesis will no doubt have a bigger role in future FFVII games. It is already known that Genesis will make an appearance in the PSP game Crisis Core~Final Fantasy VII, but Gackt's involvement in that game is presently unknown. [**Update: please see writeup on Crisis Core~Final Fantasy VII]

The costume designed for Gackt's character Genesis, and for his DIABOLOS tour.

As part of the collaboration with Tetsuya Nomura, a costume was designed and created which Genesis wears in the game, and which Gackt wore for his DIABOLOS tour in 2005. Gackt also sang Redemption during the concerts. He has stated that there are similarities between the worlds of DIABOLOS and Dirge of Cerberus, making the collaboration especially unique. As a side note, there has been much speculation in the past regarding Nomura's use of Gackt as a model in Final Fantasy games, especially the case of Squall Leonhart from Final Fantasy VIII. Many fans have commented that Squall bears more than a passing resemblance to Gackt. You be the judge...

The Final Fantasy series has a huge following in the U.S., and a broad fan base, making the release of Dirge of Cerberus perhaps Gackt's first, and certainly his biggest, step into the U.S. market. Commercials for Dirge of Cerberus in the U.S. have prominently featured Redemption playing in the background, with Gackt's name appearing in the corner of the screen. Although his few lines were dubbed by an American voice actor, it was very much a victory for Gackt and his U.S. fans when the decision to keep Gackt's songs in the game was confirmed.

Reviews for the game have been fair to good. Of note, this is the first Final Fantasy game that is a first-person shooter rather than an RPG. The game was tweaked for the U.S. release, resulting in many improvements over the Japanese version. In addition, the online mode was eliminated from the U.S. release because it was not seen as being popular enough to support.

Cover of Redemption CD.

In conjunction with the release of the game, Gackt's Redemption single was released in two versions. The special edition comes in a case with cover and spine art that looks just like a Playstation 2 game. The special edition also comes with a DVD containing two versions of the Redemption PV. One version is the regular PV with Gackt in his Redemption/Genesis costume, and the other version is the long trailer for Dirge of Cerberus.

For Gackt fans, the joy in playing this game comes in hearing his songs and in seeing Gackt as a character within the Final Fantasy world. If we had it our way, though, Genesis would be a playable character with several lines of dialogue voiced by Gackt himself!

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