1997 provided one of the most influential years in gaming history mostly thanks to the power & success of one groundbreaking RPG, “Final Fantasy VII”. Years after “FF VII’s” release came a groundswell of support & fandom for both the franchise & role-playing games in general. As time progressed, the characters of “Final Fantasy VII” found their way into other games and even different forms of media including a full-length movie. One of those experiences happened to be a Playstation Portable exclusive focusing on Zack Fair – the best friend and mentor to Cloud as seen in the original iteration.
Garnering praise and slight criticism for embracing a combat system more in line with “Kingdom Hearts” and, eventually, future installments of the “Final Fantasy” franchise than its namesake, “Crisis Core” left a lasting impression where gamers who didn’t have the privilege of owning a PSP wanted to experience it for themselves. Fifteen years after “Crisis Core’s” original release, a remake of Zack’s adventure is now available for eighth & ninth generation gamers with the promise of it actively tying into the current “Final Fantasy VII Remake/Rebirth” timeline; and this “Final Fantasy VII” fanatic couldn’t be more excited to return to Midgar.
Did I Complete “Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion”?
Originally released on the PSP as not only a piece of “Final Fantasy” on the go, but also set as a prequel to the story initially presented in regards to the officially seventh-numbered entry in the “Final Fantasy” franchise, “Crisis Core” puts players in the shoes of Zack Fair – a Shinra SOLDIER 1st Class introduced in the original “FF 7” iteration as both Cloud’s mentor when he was attempting to be a part of Shinra’s highly-dangerous militia and Aerith’s attention of affection. It was also during this time the minds behind SquareEnix’s RPG experiences saw the action-oriented nature of RPGs being the future of the genre rather than the turn-based systems of the past including “Final Fantasy VII”.
Being a portable experience originally, the amount of content isn’t rooted in a grandiose story or open-world presentation like its prequel-released sequel, but rather in extracurricular activities specifically “Missions”. At any save point, players can activate missions both finished and uncompleted with some missions unattainable if the player doesn’t search out particular quest givers before chapter seven of the ten associated with the main story. There are 300 missions that need to be overcome for 100% completion with each of these short dungeon-based journeys having varying difficulties including the max of ten stars that rivals the narrative’s final bosses while rewarding the player with anything from high-end equipment to materia.
Beyond chapter-based trophies & achievements including a frustrating sniper section late in the story are collectibles in the form of mail that, just like missions, can be missed if the player isn’t careful or aware of missable moments & items. And with no chapter select, the option of going back and picking up something missed is impossible without restarting the story or using a timely made save.
After twenty-five hours, I finished the story on “Hard” difficulty to attain the trophy associated with said difficulty level while completing almost half of the missions. While “New Game Plus” carries over almost everything the player attains during their previous playthrough including “Digital Mind Wave” progress, mission progress resets; meaning I’ll have to use my last save before the final bosses to finish those missions and take on the game’s secret boss that will, most likely take me another twenty or so hours alongside another ten hours to get those collectible trophies I missed during my first playthrough.
What Makes “Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion” Unique?
Seeing the future of RPGs moving toward a more active approach, the minds & developers behind the original version of “Crisis Core” took a page out of “Vagrant Story” and “Kingdom Hearts’” playbooks in regards to gameplay. Unlike the original version, players can freely and much more easily move Zack and the camera alongside the highly functional lock-on system when in combat around a fully three-dimensional map while mixing melee slashes with his sword by hitting a controller button instead of issuing the “Attack” command via the menu at the battle screen’s lower, right-hand corner as it was in the PSP version, dodging & blocking (both using their own respective buttons to perform as well), spending MP to perform magic and AP (“Ability Points”) for those yellow-colored skill materia in regards to the latter with this version forgoing the original’s decision that AP would also be used to block & dodge.
The same command menu positioned in the PSP entry is now strictly for using items that the player can scroll through using a console controller’s triggers. AP skills are perfect as combo enders in “Reunion”; dishing out more damage and maybe even a critical strike if the player uses, say, “Blizzard Blade” at the conclusion of a three-hit combo. Combo canceling is also a new feature with players being able to stop Zack’s attacks by hitting the “Guard” button at any time.
A new aspect to combat is the “Buster Sword Battle Stance”. In chapter six, Zack is gifted the weapon synonymous with “FF 7’s” imagery & logos. Similar to Cloud’s “Punisher Mode” in “Final Fantasy VII Remake”, the “Battle Stance” allows Zack to reduce the loss of HP while dishing out more damage than usual both in terms of general melee and AP skills. Unfortunately there are some significant drawbacks when using “Battle Stance” including Zack becoming immobile while in position, “Battle Stance” being broken if he’s significantly hit more than three times before the player acts, and “Battle Stance” consuming AP. Also, unlike “Punisher Mode”, there is no auto-counter system attached to it so if the player goes into “Battle Stance” right before being hit, Zack can’t pull off a counter melee strike like Cloud.
The slot-machine implementation known as the “Digital Mind Wave” (DMW) not only returns in “Reunion”, but is better presented with it no long moving to the middle of the screen from the top-left corner and pausing the action when the three numbers/faces line up to benefit Zack during a fight. The DMW begins to spin any time Zack gets ten “Special Points” (SP) by defeating an enemy. Hitting a particular lucky number set will gift Zack a variety of options including infinite MP and AP for a short period of time, the opportunity to call forth a summon like “Phoenix” or “Tonberry”, earning a “Limit Break”, or leveling up with a lucky triple seven if he has enough experience points (thankfully the game is very generous with Zack’s leveling). Zack’s emotional state also plays a role in what buffs he may attain with his emotions being connected to both current story moments and how well the player has done in previous battles (come close to death in too many battles in a row, and Zack will more than likely get Aerith’s “Healing” Limit Break rather than Tseng’s “Air Strike”, for example).
The DMW’s random nature does hinder battles at times when it seems Zack is on the verge of a buff when luck doesn’t fall in line. Thankfully, the developers made sure to help the player who came up short in a battle by giving them the options of either restarting the battle immediately, redo Zack’s equipment loadout including his materia, or simply load up a different save for a grandiose restart. This is a welcomed change considering some of the bosses and tougher final enemies during missions have special attack meters that randomly come up during a fight that can be knocked down by increments of twenty-five percent. If the player is able to empty that boss’ special meter the attack is nullified, but if not it will do damage in correlation with how much meter is left (at fifty percent it will only do half of its original damage output).
When it comes to equipment, one of “Crisis Core’s” greatest feats is the ability to break the gameplay courtesy of “Materia Fusion”. Players are given the opportunity to blend two materias with the outcome usually dictated by the materias’ levels and fusion items used to enhance certain stats like “Vitality” and “Attack”. In the hands of someone who has played the original iteration or simply look it up online will discover materia fusion strategies that turn even some of the hardest battles into minor squabbles.
A lot of changes and refinements to the gameplay helps turn this remaster of a portable game into a bona-fide remake as the developers could’ve easily just stuck to redoing the character models. A majority of the characters outside of street-level NPCs roaming around Midgar’s various sectors look vastly better than their PSP counterparts while the animations from the original version still hold up fairly well even if, at times, is seems like the player is watching an anime.
However, there was no updating the cutscenes without fixing some of the narrative flaws seen in the early chapters including a lack of exposition in regards to some of the relationships between the SOLDIER 1st class crew. The voice cast mostly taken from “FF 7 Reunion” don’t help the odd dialogue moments once reserved for text boxes (this version is fully voiced compared to the PSP iteration) and some of the more contrived story beats that reach into the realm of “melodrama” before significant moments from the original “Final Fantasy VII” come to the forefront and brings the story together in magnificent fashion.
Thanks to some beneficial combat changes rounding out a system that had all the makings of being something special limited by the hardware it was released on in 2007, “Crisis Core” is mostly a joy to play; though the story presentation and repetition connected to the optional missions haven’t been touched and still feels like a relic from the not-too-distance past.
Should You Play “Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion”?
Similar to other remasters and remakes of games from years ago, this experience is built for gamers who either loved the original & always felt the game could’ve benefited from some technical improvements, never had the chance to play it while always being intrigued, RPG players who enjoy more action-oriented combat over turn-based strategy, and/or big fans of the “Final Fantasy VII” series. While there is a lot to like about the combat, the story still has a level of silliness and pacing issues in the beginning chapters that is really helped by a strong final three or so hours. If you fall in one of those aforementioned categories as a player who has or hasn’t played the original “Crisis Core”, there’s no reason not to buy this version and feel like a true hero.
