Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion (PS5) Review

Embrace your dreams.

 It's no surprise that Final Fantasy VII has become an icon in the gaming industry and made Final Fantasy a household name worldwide. As such, it would go on to spawn a whole franchise within itself with movies, novels, and games. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was a PSP game released back in 2007 and served as a prequel to the iconic 1997 RPG. Being a fan of FFVII,  I remember watching the cut-scenes online a long time ago and really digging it. It received a remake last year in the form of Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion, featuring new graphics in-line with FFVII Remake. Part two of Final Fantasy VII Remake is due next year and I thought I'd finally play the prequel now that it's here. So it's time to dive back into the mako-soaked world of FFVII!

 Taking place years before FFVII, we follow Zack Fair, who works for Shinra Electric Company's military division, SOLDIER. An upbeat and carefree rookie, he dreams of becoming a hero and helping those in need. Joining him are mentors Angeal, who wields the iconic Buster Sword, and war hero Sephiroth. Together, they must hunt down renegade SOLDIER 1st Class, Genesis, who deserted the group and plans on threatening the city of Midgar. During the adventure, Zack will meet and befriend many characters namely the friendly flower girl Aerith and timid cadet Cloud. The story was good as it sets up the events of FFVII in great detail. It does get over-the-top with a constant focus on poetry and symbolism, though.

Meet the charismatic hero Zack.

 Without spoiling much, many names, places, and concepts that we've seen in FFVII find their origins here with Zack at the center of them. Zack himself was awesome and I loved seeing him grow from rookie to badass over the course of the game. The side-characters too were great with Angeal, Aerith, Cloud, and Sephiroth stealing every scene they're in. The latter also gets much needed backstory for his future motives in FFVII. Genesis was a good edgy and dramatic villain and the ending was memorable yet heartbreaking.


 Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion is an action-RPG that has you playing as Zack. The levels has you exploring around Midgar, fighting enemies, learning about the world, and levelling up. Returning from the original game is the "Materia" system, which are skills you can equip that offer magic spells and physical attacks as well as healing. Each materia varies in power and can be levelled up the more they're used, increasing their potency. You can even fuse two materias together to create an even better one. New is the "Digital Mind Wave" or DMW, which is a slot wheel-styled mechanic that offers abilities and stat boosts during combat. It's entirely random in nature (which I wasn't a fan of) as using summons and levelling up are directly tied to it. 

The gameplay is fast-paced and fun to play.

 

Due to its handheld roots, the game is linear with no big open areas to explore. Still, you can take a break between chapters and explore around Midgar, chatting with NPCs, taking on side-quests, participating mini-games, and reading some interesting emails. The latter even offers some interesting bits of info on the world and characters. It took me around 20 hours to beat the game, with me doing most of the side-content. Speaking of that, there are optional side-missions that you can play that offer challenging enemies and some pretty rare items and weapons. They start-off easy but get incredibly hard with the last few can instantly kill you if you're unprepared.

There's plenty of challenging side-missions to partake in.

 Being a remake, Reunion features character models, backgrounds, and textures that are completely redone and close to the look of FFVII Remake. The animations, however, do give away that it was a PSP game. It ran great on PS5 at a smooth 60fps with no issues. Sadly, the CGI cut-scenes did not get remastered and look blurry as a result. The voicework features the same performances as the recent remake and they were solid. Zack and Genesis' voices felt a bit iffy at first, but grew on me over the course of the game. Crisis Core packs some of Nobou Uemastu's original soundtrack while adding a few rock tracks to the mix. My faves were the battle theme, "The Price of Freedom", and the ending theme "Why".

Crisis Core has mostly held up well.

 All in all, Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion was a blast from start to finish. The story and characters were awesome, the gameplay was fun, and the presentation is top-notch. It's no surprise that it ended up a great time being a fan of FFVII and I can't wait for the second part of the remake. Newcomers and fans alike shouldn't miss out on Crisis Core.