Developed as a 10th Anniversary game for Final Fantasy VII and released in 2007, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII had a chance of being one of those games lost to time. This was given its exclusivity to the PlayStation Portable, making access to it by the average gamer much more difficult. Thankfully, following the successful release of Final Fantasy VII Remake and its sequel Final Fantasy VII Rebirth set to hit store shelves next year, Square Enix has opted to bridge the pair by remastering the PSP-exclusive as Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion on all modern gaming platforms. While pitched as a Remaster, I would argue the game sits somewhere between Remaster and Remake, and despite not being the significant overhaul that Final Fantasy VII Remake received, offered much more than a simple graphical overhaul.
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was ideally structured for portable gaming, better than most on the platform in my opinion. There was no need to worry about hunting for a save point, with its enticing narrative and gameplay broken down into an assortment of smaller missions. This was perfect for those who may have only had time to play a short mission while on the bus but didn’t hamper the experience for those with the time to deep-dive into a multi-hour play session. Reunion retains the structure from the original, rather than simply starting from scratch and telling the story through a revamped system. With ten main chapters coming in at an hour or two each, and a diverse assortment of missions adding several more missions atop that – Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion may not have the length of a typical Final Fantasy game, but its core experience translates well to the home gaming format.
Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion is set seven years before the events of Final Fantasy VII. Instead of putting players in the shoes of Cloud once again, although he is a narrative-important character to the arc, players instead take control of Zack Fair. Zack is a greenhorn second-class SOLDIER of Shinra Electric Company, who aspires to become a first-class similar to his mentor Angeal, and the likes of Sephiroth, who at the time is considered the best-of-the-best. The narrative brings together the aforementioned characters, new faces and some younger versions of returning characters. It could be argued that the pacing is a little bit off at times, going from splintering fast, to a snail’s pace, and back again. However, for what was originally a portable game, it is a coherent and gripping tale, that will likely have more value in future releases given the presence of Zack Fair in Final Fantasy Remake.
The battle system and other gameplay elements of Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- have been rejigged a bit, bringing them a little more in line with Final Fantasy VII Remake in terms of approach, but not to the extent it detracts from the fluid gameplay of the original. No longer confined to the limited control scheme of the PlayStation Portable, the action combat system has been refined to feel more fluid, leaving you more in the moment. While not being so much about the strategy as it is button mashing to defeat enemies ahead of you, it is easy to gain access to materia (Magic and Ability types), use items or just thwack your way through another set of foes. The combat is enjoyable, and the mission-based approach to levels works well in making combat satisfying without requiring as much grind as a mainline game.
The big gimmick of the game, however, is its DMW (Digital Mind Wave) system. Through a slot machine that is continuously running in the top-left-hand corner of the screen during battle, players can access a range of boons and beneficial battle effects. Through this system, players can use obtained limit breaks, status buffs, summons and level up. There is lore behind why this system exists, being Zack recalling and using his memories to form these perks, and it is an interesting concept adding an element of luck to each battle. But while enjoyable in ensuring players can’t rely on just going through the patterns in each battle, it does reduce the amount of strategy involved in completing boss battles as sometimes you can be dealt a much better hand than others.
While there are some remnants from the original release that may make you ask why they didn’t just redo it from scratch, Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion is overhauled in the audiovisual department to make it feel, perhaps not on par with modern releases, but definitely like they belong on modern hardware and as part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake universe. Built using Unreal Engine 4, which Remake also was, not only do you see the performance improvements but also a complete graphical overhaul. With significantly higher-res character models, spectacularly detailed environments and a range of other mod cons for the transition to home console, it is pleasing to the eye, and it is nice to see that even a side-game in the series did not receive half-assed development in this area. Furthermore, the original English voice acting has been replaced by new voice acting to maintain parity with the series’ current English voice actors. While not necessarily needed, it was a welcome addition and helps cement this within the ongoing chronology,
Arguably one of the stronger, stand-out titles in the PlayStation Portable library, even if it has taken a decade and a half to bring Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII to consoles, it was worth the wait. While not achieving the highs of the mainline remakes, Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion serves as a satisfying release – both in terms of its approachable and action-oriented gameplay, and the narrative which helps set the scene for what has happened in Remake, and about to happen in Rebirth. Furthermore, it serves as an ideal example of what a remaster should look like, keeping the elements that made the game worthy of being remastered, but either keeping or enhancing the charm for the newer generation of platforms.
This review was conducted on an Xbox Series X copy of the game. A review code was provided by the Australian publisher for the purpose of this review.
Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion is now available on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and Windows PC.
