Danny Rogan

Upon first seeing the cover of Psionic Elite the reviewer was slightly amused that the character on the cover, a female fist fighter wearing a white tank top, black shorts, and boots, resembled Tifa Lockhart from the video game Final Fantasy VII, albeit with short hair. This comparison was not helped going through first chapter as the story opens with the main character, a emotional moody former superpower cooperate solider turned mercenary, riding on a train with a group of show more terrorists/freedom fighters to destroy a power station owned by the corporation he used to work for because his estranged childhood friend from his home town that was destroyed, now works with said terrorists/freedom fighters. Again those familiar with Final Fantasy VII might not be able to help but notice this brief summary of Psionic Elite’s opening brings to mind the exact plot points of the opening to Final Fantasy VII. At first this reviewer dismissed suspicion over the growing number cosmetic similarities were just a trick of the mind due to being a fan of Final Fantasy VII and being made to think of the game by the book’s cover. However upon the book giving the description of the main character of the book as having, “blond spiky hair” and “glowing green eyes” (the exact description of the main character, Cloud Strife, from Final Fantasy VII), this reviewer put down Psionic Elite with firm belief they had been tricked into reading a Final Fantasy VII fan-fiction. This belief did not disappear as the story continued. Many of the characters, plot points, and themes are blatantly exported from Final Fantasy VII, and there is also the blatant sexualization found in fan-fiction, including one actual detailed sex scene in the late)r chapters. The book does introduce some original ideas, but unfortunately the use of elements from Final Fantasy VII prevent the creation of a significantly unique identity. But most unfortunately, the worst aspect of the book is just how boring it is. There are a few decent actions and fighting scenes, but the are largely overshadowed by interpersonal relationship dialogue that comes off and awkward, robotic, and/or just cringy. Further as the Psionic Elite is a poor man’s Final Fantasy VII the plot and scenes are painfully predictable for any one who has played the video game. This makes the book’s near 475 pages a bit of a slog to get through, and makes the prospect of read the other five books in the series an uninviting prospect. That being said, the last four to five chapters are more enjoyable then the earlier half of the book. This reviewer really wanted to like Psionic Elite as it was a homage to one of his favorite video games. The author certainly did put in effort into their work but with a sloppy execution perhaps the better option would be to skip Psionic Elite and just go play Final Fantasy VII for a better version of the story. show less