Dirge of Cerberus Game Play

The Dirge of Cerberus is completely unique in its genre. It could best be classified as a FPS/RPG. This may sound a bit confusing to some, and it has actually prevented others from getting the game. But Square has actually made a great balance between the two genre's, that even the novice shooter can get the hang of it.
The game play itself is styled after a FPS. You fight with either the 3rd person perspective, or 1st person perspective. Your enemies are visible to you, the same as they are in the Kingdom Hearts series, and Final Fantasy XII. You basically run through the missions shooting the heck out of enemies. You also can use Vincent's Claw as a melee weapon in close range combat.
Mixed into the action FPS part of the game, is the RPG elements. The screen will show your stats, such as HP and MP like with any RPG. You gain EXP after defeating an enemy, and the EXP will show above their head. You also have an Item menu at command.
The "Square-Enix/Final Fantasy element is the story of course. Not too many shooter games have the deep plot line of Dirge of Cerberus.

Vincent will have only 3 weapons at his disposal at any time. But these weapons are completely customizable, and there is a wide array of accessories for them. You have a semi-auto targeting system, that will allow you to get a lock on to most enemies. This was a great assistant for a lot of RPGers, that had not done many shooter games. You can also switch between 3rd, and 1st person to take out enemies further away.
The controls are simple, and easy to get into. There is no customizing the controls, as was the case with other titles in the series.
Saving is done automatically, though you can make a temp save as well. There can only be one temp save, and it will be wiped out when you load another save/temp save. Below is the button configuration for Dirge of Cerberus. Be sure to remember that the directional pad is also used a bit in this game. (Yea, haven't used that since Final Fantasy VII came out!)

- Crouch/Stand
- Menu
- Perfom Melee attacks
- Jump, or open doors
- Super Bolt
- Switch between weapons
- Fire weapon
- Reload weapon
L. Analog - Move Vincent
R. Analog - Move camera
L. D-pad - Change shortcut item
R. D-pad - Use shortcut item
Up D-pad - View map
+ - Deactivate limit break
Start - Pause game