Overview

Final Fantasy is a staple, an icon, a franchise that has influenced not only video games but, more broadly, pop culture. It's a series that has always been known for its ability to push the boundaries and create fantastical worlds, that leave a lasting impression on a broad audience. It's what makes deciding and discussing our favorite entry so difficult. However, when discussing the Final Fantasy series and the broader JRPG genre, many will turn to one of the icons of the Playstation 1 era, which is none other than Final Fantasy 7.

Final Fantasy 7 followed our spikey blonde-haired protagonist Cloud Strife, an ex-soldier member with a hazy collection of his past, beginning his journey in Midgar working with the freedom fighters Avalanche.

However, we aren't here to dive into the story points of FF7, more so to discuss one character who had a minor appearance in FF7 but a major impact on its worlds and events. That is none other than Zack Fair, our main protagonist of FF7: Crisis Core and its remaster FF7: Crisis Core: Reunion, which is the version of the game we'll be covering today.

Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core Reunion, which for brevity's sake, I will be referring to for the remainder of this video, as Final Fantasy CCR or FFCCR is quite possibly one of the most incredible remasters I've experienced that hinges borderline on being a remake. It brings the astonishing tale from the PSP to current-gen consoles. It makes minor tweaks and flourishes to the combat that don't stray away from the original Crisis Core but refine it to be more flexible to modern controllers and consoles, allowing for depth and player experimentation. It is a brilliant rendition, and I'm here to tell you why, so without further ado here's Final Fantasy Crisis Core Reunion.

Story

Zack Fair & Crisis Core

The idea for Crisis Core came about around the early 2000s when Square Enix experienced a shift in management. That new business approach would be the turning point for Square Enix that would see them focus more on codifying existing Final Fantasy games, and and trying to sell as many spin-offs and numbered sequels believing that this would prove profitable and successful.

Crisis Core's inception was factored into the equation when the release and concept for a Final Fantasy 7 movie titled Reunion was originally slated to release, that would later become the sequel film that we now know as Final Fantasy: Advent Children. Alongside Advent Children was a mobile phone game labelled Final Fantasy Before Crisis which would give us some more backstory into the character Zack Fair, who was becoming rapidly more of a fan favorite character. The interesting part of Zack Fair's character is how he came to be, where originally during the development of Final Fantasy 7 Tetsuya Nomura would state that the Sephiroth and Aerith were meant to share some form of connection originally as a brother and sister, then when that no longer made sense, it was considered to have them as former lovers, but neither ideas worked and thus the idea was scrapped. However, the idea of Aerith having a first love remained and thus Zack was added to the story of FF7.

However, it wouldn't be just Aerith that would develop a love for Zack, but the Final Fantasy fandom too, with his endearing happy go lucky nature he managed to strike a cord with fans making appearances in both the previously mentioned FF Before Crisis and the anime OVA Final Fantasy Last order. But after all these appearances Zack would land his own game on the PSP which would serve as a prequel to Final Fantasy 7 and that brings us to Crisis Core.

Embrace your Dreams

Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core Reunion retells the tale of the 2nd Class Solider Zack Fair on his journey to fulfill his asperations of being a hero. The narrative will see the appearance of many of the characters FF7 but introduces them in a light that is new and welcoming to people experiencing this world for the first time. The story of Final Fantasy Crisis Core has a strong focus on heroism and what it means to be a hero. The relationships that are formed and fleshed out throughout provide a level of reflection and comparison between Zack and the Solider idols he looks to be. The game dives deeper into the cruel and unjust working of the Shrina Corporation and their test subjects and further fleshes out many side and pivotal characters from Final Fantasy 7. Whilst some people may find this to be jarring or as though they're retconning certain motives or events, I think that it isn't anything offensive and still works will give or talk in the broader universe. CCR is a story that despite knowing where particular cards will fall if you're familiar with FF7 is still an emotional and fascinating experience to see how things fall into place.

I feel a lot of my enjoyment with the story comes from just how endearing and likable Zack is as a character. Whilst I feel that Cloud is a much more complex character to unpack and get to know, I do feel like Zack is a great character that is a simple character to understand, but I'd argue that comprehension of our happy go luck character is what makes both himself and the events that unfold so impactful.

A Powerhouse of a Prequel

Final Fantasy CCR is a powerhouse of a prequel that tells a compelling story within the world of FF. It's narrative doesn't feel contrived and feels as though it can stand on its on feet being a welcoming and memorable experience for new players and well crafted prequel for fans of the series that provides a sufficient amount of context and backstory, without indulging in itself. It is a game that I feel like any fan of Final Fantasy 7 should try and the remaster is the definitive way to experience that, it has

Gameplay

Combat

Materia and abilities

For those who are familiar with the universe of Final Fantasy 7 you'll be pleasantly surprised to see the return of Materia which for those who're unfamiliar, Materia is crystalized Mako aka the planets lifeforce, which is what provides the player access to the broad array of abilities found in the Final Fantasy series. In comparison to the original Crisis Core the gameplay and range of readily available abilities found in CCR have been refined to better suit the more modern platforms with extra available abilities that can be used on the back to bumpers of your controller.

The game has a good variety of enemy types that you can encounter, particularly if you partake in the Missions, which we'll dive into shortly. However, there are many moments where you face the same enemies over and over which can come off feeling monotonous if you aren't the biggest fan of random encounters, but this is more of a minor disclaimer, than something I'd deem a flaw.

One new feature appearing in Crisis Core Reunion comes in the later half of the game when acquiring the famous Buster Sword, and that feature is raising the level of the Buster Sword's proficiency. The benefit of increasing the sword proficiency would be as it hits a certain percentage it would increase the threshold of damage that can be applied and other additional benefits.

It's an interesting idea, that in some senses feels that it breaks up the real time flow of CCR's combat, and whilst I understand why this is the case, I feel that this being introduced later in the game is a bit of a missed opportunity, because unless you branch out into a lot the side missions and make an active effort to charge your blade and increase its efficiency, it can feel like it can fall to the wayside.

DMW System, Summons, Limit Breaks

The Digital Mind Wave or DMW from the original Crisis Core see's a return in Reunion and is the core driver for utilizing Crisis Core's equivalent of both Limit Breaks and Summons. The DMW spins like a slot machine providing an element of luck that can trigger a special limit break if it lands one of the characters Zack has a connection with. The DMW system also is host to triggering summons if landing on a particular Summon that has been unlocked. There more in sync Zack is with a character the higher level and damage output that becomes possible from that respective limit break or summon.

Gameplay Systems

Missions

One aspect of CCR that has for the most part remained the same is the incorporation of missions that were found in the original PSP release. Due to the portability of the PSP these missions were meant to serve as quick bite size missions for the player to tackle and to break up the progression from the main story. I think it is important to keep two things in mind when talking about these missions and that is what their original purpose was, and also the fact that this game is still a remaster. I personally found these missions fairly enjoyable providing a nice stopping point for the main story and an arena to better experiment and play around with your current materia and summons available. The mission side content always provided a continuous source of growth and progression seeing your rank and rewards of each mission grow higher as you get stronger.

Midgar Exploration

Aside from the missions you're able to in-between the main story missions venture out around Midgar and talk to some of the people in the area. These conversations usually link back to the Missions and unlock particular missions, they also provide some fun little side content that breaks up the mood from the more serious narratives counterpart. These can span from helping out the solider fan clubs, or helping Aerith build her flower cart. It's nothing revolutionary but its a nice addition and with the nice rework of the visuals its great to roam the streets of Midgar. Speaking of, let's discuss the overall presentation for Final Fantasy CCR.

Sound and Visuals

The overall presentation for Final Fantasy CCR is handled with care with its soundtrack seeing the return Takeharu Ishimoto making renditions of the original soundtrack of Crisis Core, which in all honesty I'm not overly familiar with, but after playing Crisis Core Reunion can say that the soundtrack in Reunion is quite impressive with some returning riffs and motifs that reference famous tracks from FF7 and original compositions that strike the fine balance between the energetic action and the tragic, heart felt moments.

The visuals, have seen a major overall where the difference is night and day between its original where both have a distinct style, Reunion leans more into visually looking like the Final Fantasy 7 Remake that released in 2020. Whilst Reunion isn't on the same scale of graphically to FF7 Remake, I'd still argue that Reunion has some visual impressive changes that make this remaster more than a justifiable revisit. There are a few cinematic cutscenes that come through grainy which I believe may be due to the upscaled cutscenes found in the original game. Again I feel like this is a minor little nit pick and overall the visual presentation is on point for a game that is being flagged as a remaster.

The technical performance for this game from my experience was really good, I played Reunion on a PS5 and the game maintained to me a consistent 60fps and no texture pop in or minor bugs that I encountered that are worthy of note.

Conclusion

In conclusion Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core Reunion is a faithful remaster that in many ways feels more than a typical remaster. and I feel strongly that this title sets the bar for what a full priced remaster should be. It refines the overall game experience Crisis Core, but still contains the same bite sized missions and many of the bones and foundations of its PSP counterpart. So if you were someone who wasn't a fan of the original Crisis Core, than I doubt Reunion will be the change to win you over. But I feel that if you're experiencing this game for the first time like me, or are experiencing this series for the first time Final Fantasy Crisis Core Reunion is a great starting point with a more interactive gameplay system, and more so an emotional narrative and precursor to one of the most influential games of all time. The story of Zack Fair is one that will be remembered by myself and many and Crisis Core Reunion is a game I wholeheartedly suggest you check out!