Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
MSRP $49.99
“Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion looks like a modern game, but its aged PSP gameplay doesn’t match the HD overhaul.”
Pros
Still a compelling story
Intriguing DMW system
Strong RPG customization
Welcome visible and audio tweaks
Cons
Repetitive fight
Tedious aspect missions
Dated really feel total
If you walked away from 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake wishing for a extra trustworthy modernization of the traditional RPG, then the by-the-books Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion is for you.
Square Enix’s newest revisit is a protected preservation play, as if constructed to throw purists a bone. It takes 2007’s Crisis Core, a PlayStation Portable-exclusive prequel to Final Fantasy VII, and freshens it up with some new visuals, quality-of-life enhancements, and some tweaks to create parity between it and FF VII REmake. It’s not an formidable reimagining that’s going to shock gamers with narrative twists or additional content material. I think about that’ll be music to some followers’ ears, however there’s a easy actuality that comes with a restoration venture like this: a brand new coat of paint solely does a lot when it’s masking up rising mildew.
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion presents a wonderfully appropriate means for followers outdated and new to expertise an important chapter of the RPG sequence’ wealthy story. All of its upgrades are welcome and obligatory additions for a remake as trustworthy as this; they simply don’t do a lot to assist an growing older transportable sport whose flaws solely stick out extra when disguised with the phantasm of modernity.
The core expertise
As Square Enix launched into its formidable venture to fully reimagine Final Fantasy VII, a Crisis Core rerelease turned one thing of a necessity. The PSP sport was beforehand a world-expanding prequel that might be totally skipped, however its narrative now performs an vital function within the remake universe’s future. That’s due to protagonist Zack Fair, who seems to have defied destiny heading into the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
But I’m getting forward of myself. To perceive why that issues, you should know Zack’s authentic story. That’s precisely what this model of Crisis Core supplies, which makes it a basic success no matter its final ambitions.
Fifteen years later, Zack’s saga stands out for a way full it feels in comparison with most video games of this scale launched as we speak.
Crisis Core’s story stays totally unchanged in Reunion, timeline shenanigans be damned. Set seven years earlier than FF VII, it follows the bright-eyed soldier Zack as he appears to be like to make his means up the ranks of Shinra’s non-public military by searching down a deserter named Genesis. As a prequel, the narrative all the time had the unenviable activity of making each a bit of connective tissue that will curiosity followers and a self-contained journey that might maintain up by itself deserves. The former may be hit-and-miss. In its extra eye-rolling fan service moments, Crisis Core goes out of its solution to reply questions that nobody was asking, like “How did Aerith get her flower cart?”
Other items are much more compelling, although. Its finest scenes present essential context for the occasions of Final Fantasy VII, including extra depth to the villainous Sephiroth and giving Cloud Strife a heartfelt backstory that opens up his emotional vary. Considering that we’re solely one-third of the best way by way of the present remake experiment, the brand new model of Crisis Core is especially well-timed. It seems like much less of a decade-late retcon in 2022 and extra of a pure interlude in a narrative that’s unfolding over a number of releases.
Though it’s laborious to divorce Crisis Core from Final Fantasy VII and assess it as its personal story, there may be some standalone worth within the narrative right here upon revisit. Fifteen years later, Zack’s saga stands out for a way full it feels in comparison with most video games of this scale launched as we speak. Since the unique launch was by no means meant as an open-ended franchise starter, Zack will get a full character arc that almost all sport heroes simply aren’t afforded nowadays. Though I typically discovered myself hoping I’d get some shock payoff to Final Fantasy VII Remake’s surprising ending, I’m in the end glad Square Enix caught to the script right here. Doing so let me give attention to what’s really transferring about Crisis Core: the story of a younger soldier studying that heroism is about sacrifices you might by no means be celebrated for, not fame.
Over and over
Though its story is timeless, its fight hasn’t fairly held up as nicely — particularly when positioned subsequent to the fashionable Final Fantasy video games it’s reworked to seem like. Hacking-and-slashing is essentially a one-button affair that had me mashing my thumb down on my controller till it was sore. There’s a block and a roll so as to add a little bit of protection, however the repetitive nature leaves battles feeling a bit flat total.
A magic system helps alleviate {that a} bit, however it could possibly’t absolutely clear up these issues. Zack can equip as much as six spells at a time, which eat both magic or capability factors. Those can convey additional technique to battle, particularly due to a deep Materia combining system that provides additional RPG depth, however they largely wind up being simply as one-note. When I come up towards an enemy that has a clearly famous electrical energy weak point, I merely spam an electrical slash assault till I run out of capability factors. There’s not a lot incentive to combine assaults up, even in huge boss battles.
The flat fight simply isn’t dynamic sufficient to justify a lot repetitious padding.
There’s an additional layer on high of all of that, which is Crisis Core’s divisive Digital Mind Wave (DMW) system. During each battle, there’s one thing that appears like a slot machine pinned within the top-left nook of the display screen. It auto-plays by way of battles, making an attempt to match up photographs of characters Zack has interacted with and numbers. When the slots line up accurately, Zack can activate restrict breaks, use summons, or get buffs like invincibility for a short while. Its professionals and cons are equal. It takes plenty of management out of gamers’ fingers, which is why Zack’s moveset winds up feeling so sparse. Even leveling up is frustratingly on the mercy of random spins (although there’s a logic to when that triggers).
At the identical time, DMW works as a high-concept concept — one thing that current Final Fantasy video games have actually dialed into. Crisis Core is a sport about destiny, starring a personality whose path was determined nicely earlier than the sport even launched. Having Zack be on the mercy of the universe’s random quantity generator matches along with his journey. When you settle for that concept for what it’s, fight turns into extra palatable. Zack’s actions turn out to be directed by an unseen power, granting him buffs that he has to capitalize on. When the wheel tells me spells are free for a short while, I reap the benefits of that second to heal up and unleash as many spells as attainable. When it tells me I’m impervious to bodily injury, I fearlessly lay into my enemy. It’s what I’m destined to do.
Even so, the fight system nonetheless feels too skinny to maintain your complete expertise, particularly in the case of subquests. Reunion options round 300 aspect missions, that are practically an identical in nature. Each sends gamers on a brief dungeon crawl the place they should defeat a number of enemies, with little or no variation. They’re extremely tedious, however key upgrades like further merchandise slots are locked behind them. The flat fight simply isn’t dynamic sufficient to justify a lot repetitious padding.
The important story missions not less than have slightly selection with fast minigames right here and there, like a robotic sniping part, although even these are pretty easy interludes. The most enjoyable I had in Reunion got here in menus after I was crafting highly effective Materia or optimizing my equipment. None of that basically made a distinction as soon as I jumped into battle although.
Remake or remaster?
When going into an older sport, I all the time are available with my expectations calibrated accordingly. I don’t load up a Sega Genesis sport and assume it’ll have the fashionable enhancements of a Nintendo Switch title. That expectation shifts, nonetheless, the extra the sport is packaged as much as look fashionable. If one thing appears to be like prefer it was made in 2022, however performs prefer it’s over a decade outdated, it could possibly typically depart a sport feeling slightly off. That’s the difficulty Square Enix runs into right here.
It’s a chapter from a ebook stapled into a very completely different one.
Lots of work has gone into upgrading Crisis Core for brand spanking new consoles. Its visuals make the most of property from Final Fantasy VII Remake, giving it an instantaneous leg up. UI is improved throughout the board, with the DMW being a lot much less invasive total. The audio is particularly a excessive level, with new voice performances to match Remake and incredible new music compositions that make the expertise really feel a lot grander than a PSP sport.
But it’s a PSP sport.
I don’t imply that in a derogatory means. Sony’s handheld contained loads of wonderful experiences (Crisis Core included), which took nice care to make huge sequence work on a a lot smaller scale. The stripped-down fight and glut of fast sidequests had been a very good match for the restricted tech of the time. The actuality, although, is that these design choices are laborious to divorce from the platform it was constructed for.
Part of the issue is that this model of Crisis Core feels caught between a remake and a remaster. Its high-level visible overhaul makes it seem like a ground-up remake of the unique, however that’s a little bit of an phantasm. Its new property are merely papering over the outdated ones, which actually stands out contemplating how dead-eyed characters are and the way sparsely animated every little thing is. Square Enix very pointedly makes use of the phrases “HD remaster” in its advertising and marketing, nevertheless it’s laborious to see it in that mild when it is a venture constructed to create parity with a wildly reimagined model of Final Fantasy VII. It’s a chapter from a ebook stapled into a very completely different one.
Like Zack Fair, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion is on the mercy of its future. With no big-picture modifications to its construction and gameplay, the remaster’s success is predetermined by how nicely its 2007 counterpart has aged. Reunion is a textbook translation of the unique, which is incredible information for historic purists who need to expertise its standout story unaltered. Though for anybody who resonates with Final Fantasy VII Remake’s philosophy that the world isn’t a static place ruled by destiny, Reunion will stick out as an ideological counterpoint disguised as a praise.
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion was examined on PC and Steam Deck.
Editors’ Recommendations