4.5/5 ★ – SlashStriker's review of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion.

Zack Fair is the freakin' best. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion by Square-Enix and Tose is a remake of the original Final Fantasy VII PSP prequel, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. This game was chained to the PSP for way too long, with no PS Vita support or any way to play on modern hardware. This was especially distressing to me, as Crisis Core has long been one of my favorite handheld titles ever. I first played Crisis Core when I was 13 years old and it absolutely blew my middle-school mind. The game oozed 'coolness', with awesome graphics, a fun protagonist and more badass cutscenes then you could shake an oversized stick at. It was one of my first Final Fantasy experiences, sitting next to the equally bad start, FF: Crystal Chronicles. Yes, that means I played Crisis Core before VII itself, I also watched Advent Children before playing VII.. I was obviously quite lost! I tried playing VII when I was an elementary schooler, but it was far too complicated for me at the time. All this to say, I have a personal bias towards this game as a key entry point in my life to the Final Fantasy series and action RPGs as a whole (alongside Kingdom Hearts of course), and want to preface this review making that known. In Crisis Core, you take on the role of Shinra SOLDIER Zack Fair, the most bestest boy in all of Final Fantasy. Throughout the game you progress through his career with Shinra, meeting his mentors and rivals, watching the SOLDIER program fall apart explosively, or according to plan depending on whose perspective you are looking from. Zack is a lovable goofball who truly wants to be a hero in a world that doesn't seem to want to let him be one. His struggles are believable and his moments of triumph are never without equal parts heartbreak. The game also features starring roles for Final Fantasy VII favorites Cloud, Aerith, and Sephiroth, and provides incredible visibility in the innerworkings of Shinra and the Turks prior to Cloud's story. Zack's relationship with these key characters from VII cement him as a critical piece of the overall FFVII puzzle who cannot be understated. Zack's story is complete on it's own in this title, but fans familiar with VII's story will find so much to love in this title. Similar to VII's tone, the main story beats are very serious and dramatic, while the gameplay moments can shift from serious to downright goofy. The tone of VII is preserved in this Prequel fantastically. Gameplay in Crisis Core has more in common with VII Remake than VII itself, which I personally love. Zack has freedom of movement and action during battles, with no time-based mechanics whatsoever. Basic attacks can be triggered endlessly and equipped skills can be used repeatedly assuming you have the AP/MP to activate/cast them. The variety of equipable skills/magic is great, with many Materia carry-overs from VII and a few standout unique options. The game features a loadout system to ensure you can have a solid kit ready for any encounter, which is key as enemies have clear weaknesses to certain elemental properties and physical skills. Enemy variety is fantastic in this title, with new human and monster enemies introduced near constantly throughout the title, as expected with an FF title. Where Crisis Core differentiates from all other VII titles is that the game is mission-based, with no explorable overworlds besides small hubs to explore between missions. These hubs are temporary and usually inaccessible following each chapter, with a few key exceptions. During a mission you are either following a path through story content, broken up by cutscenes, or completing a basic task such as clearing out enemies or opening chests hidden in the map. Story missions are requires to complete the game, while the simple task based missions are used to pad out the runtime, give certain characters more moments to shine and, most critically, to grind Zack's level and equipment. Completely ignoring optional missions will lead to severe difficulty spikes during story segments, made even more dramatic on higher difficulty settings. The visual and performance overhaul on this title is nothing short of exceptional. They somehow took a PSP title, ported the framework perfectly and laid a new, modern graphics engine overtop that framework that enables it to stand up visually next to FFVII Remake. Character models are flawless, environments are gorgeous and varied and clothing/weapon details are just spectacular. I frankly couldn't ask for more. The game features a 4K 30FPS 'Fidelity' mode and a dynamic resolution 60FPS 'Performance' mode, and I found the 60FPS mode to be the perfect way to play this title. Its worth noting that the pre-rendered cutscenes are direct ports from the PSP title and have not been recreated, but are displayed at what I assume is 1080P. These look visually distinct from other, in-game, cutscenes, but do not detract from the overall presentation. These cutscenes were incredible in 2007 and hold up pretty dang well in 2022/2023. Sound design and music are ported directly from the PSP title. This game has a spectacular soundtrack directed by Takeharu Ishimoto building on VII's timeless score. Many of these songs have lived in the back of my head for most of my life, and I am happy they stuck with the original recordings. Voice acting has actually been completely overhauled though, to maintain consistency with VII Remake. I enjoyed the new voice cast, though I do think the new recordings weren't necessary given the content of the Crisis Core game does not change in any way to reflect the Remake series. It is possible that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will justify this change, but thankfully it doesn't hurt the game either way. I recommend Crisis Core to anyone who enjoys the world or characters of Final Fantasy VII. This is billed as an optional prequel, but you are doing yourself a grave disservice to not acquaint yourself with Zach Fair, especially ahead of the next two Remake titles. This remake was made with incredible care to preserve the framework of the original but also modernize it in ways that make it 'feel' the way it did in 2007. Preserving nostalgia like this is exactly what all game remakes should be trying to match. I played this game on PS5 and purchased the game for retail price at launch.