Crisis Core- Final Fantasy Vii - Reunion

Game'scover

About the Game

In 1997 a game stigmatized the world of gaming since its creation and development left its influence on the space and influenced and inspired subsequent new developers when creating new games. Of course we are referring to the one and only Final Fantasy Vii that was first released on the PS1 by Square Enix which at the time was called Square Soft. This project was a great success due to its amazing story, unique gameplay, wonderful music and innovative graphics for its time. Ofcourse the Characters and their story also play a massive role to its success. This series is considered the hen with the golden eggs for the company mainly from the sales numbers but also the huge and global response from the public.
After the first and huge success, the company created the famous "Final Fantasy Vii Compilation", a collection whose content would explore the heroes of the series. The company continued the heroes development through movies, books, mobile games and finally, with two new games on two different consoles. One of them was Dirge of Cerberus (Sequel to Final Fantasy Vii) and the PSP game Crisis Core Final Fantasy Vii (2007) which was released on the game's 10th anniversary and focused on the story before the events of Final Fantasy Vii ( 1997) with a new protagonist who in 1997 existed as a side/optional character. The new protagonist was on screen for less than five minutes but overall plays a big role in the story. This spin off is considered one of the best PSP games. For years now, fans have been asking for a remaster, but they always had a negative result. At the beginning of 2022 SONY announced the new PS plus package which would include games from all past console generations. In the PSP sector Crisis core was not available, which was not accepted by a large number of fans. In June 2022, SqE celebrated the game's 25th anniversary with an online event where they announced various projects for the series including Crisis core Reunion. The long waited remaster of a beloved story, the question now was, "Will this game be an actual 100% remaster, or will it continue the remake project?".

Standard
Included the game alone
Deluxe Edition
Included the game and a steel case.
Collector's Edition(Japan Only)
Included the game,a Steelbook case, an audio disc, an artbook, the book with the script, Aeriths final letter to Zack and a Figurine of Young Zack made by bring Arts. All that was sealed within a box based on Shirna's sealed box of information. .

Story of the Game

To become a hero!This is the dream you share with the main character of the story, Zack Fair, a young 2nd Class Soldier who works for the Shinra Corporation. This story chronologically, takes place seven years before the story of Final fantasy Vii and allows you to have a better idea of the events that took place before the adventures of Cloud and his company. During his course in Shinra, Zack tries to prove to everyone, especially to his mentor Angeal, that he deserves to be promoted to Soldier 1st class, which will bring him closer to his dream.
During his work at Shinra, he learns that another Soldier 1st class, Genesis Rapsodos, has gone missing and must be found. During this mission, Angeal also leaves the company, an action tha labels him a traitor. Zack's world is slowly crumbling in front of him as he no longer knows what path to take and what is right or wrong as various secrets are revealed from everywhere. Based on the fact that it is a prequel to the well-known RPG, various characters appear in the story and share time with Zack such as Cloud, Aerith, Sephiroth, the group of Turks, etc. The main aim of the game is to etsablished Zacks importance to the overall story of Final fantasy Vii cause the directors keep mentionning that the 3 main faces of this universe despite the public believe are Cloud, Sephiroth and Zack. Furthermore, the Nibbleheim incident is something that the main game use to shock its players. With the remake project in development, the developers knew that the same shocking factors wont be as effective as before(as the story is now well known)and thus they need to alter certain factors. By giving us the Crisis core Story in the new era of consoles(and not the PSP) everyone will be up to date, and with Zacks potential story continuation, it is important to flash him out as a well established Character.

Battle Stance

Thoughts on the story

I personally expressed how this story is responsible for my love with gaming. Till this day, its narrative is beyond perfect. Sure some concepts and ideas might feel slightly repeatetive, but its overall execution was great. The game perfectly captures the emptions of Zack perfectly throughout the game. The rest of the cast also get their time in the spotlight such as Aerith, Cloud and ofcourse Sephiroth who also plays a major role. The company knew how good the games plot was which infact gifted the bundle to people wich included a special tissue. The games narrative follows the same of the 2007 title with very minor changes. It delivers is story though fully voiced cutscenes and with cutscenes that includes the models simply interacting with each other.

Gameplay

Square Enix's remaster keeps the core of the game similar to the PSP gameplay, but several obvious changes have been made to bring the game up to 2022 gaming standards. According to game producer Yoshinori Kitase, fans have high expectations because of the quality set by the Final Fantasy Vii Remake(2020/2021). For this fact a simple PSP port on consoles would not be enough. At the same time the team, according to Character Designer Tetsuya Nomura felt like this game deserved more than just a simple port, as it established a huge fan base, its consider one of the best games on the PSP hardware(The best ateast for Square Enix) and overall was consider the most succesfull part of the FFVII compilation. With this idea in mind, the developers tried to create a new experience that combines elements of the PSP and the Remake.

During the game the players control Zack and can explore different small areas based on how far they have progressed with the story. In the "quiet" areas they can talk to various NPCs. Some will share various stories about the game's lore, others will give the players missions, mini-games and side missions that they can either do via "mission select" at any time or only during their stay in that area. Finally other NPCs will make Zack an official members of their fan clubs in which they admire various heroes of the game.
Outside of the "safe zone" areas the players can still explore and talk to NPCs with the only differences being that bad guys will appear as Zack roams freely and there are various boxes that he can open and take their content. Bad guys don't show up on the players screen when they're exploring as seeing in the remake, so they can't know if any enemy is at their destination or not. As the players walk, Zack will stop, draw his sword, and bad guys will appear from everywhere. Then the well-known "Activating combat mode" line of the game returns announcing the start of the battle.

Zack and Angeal
During battle, you can use Zack to fight with a real-time combat system that combines elements of the traditional Crisis core with elements of the Remake. On the PSP the attack button locked Zack into the attack animation while on the remaster you can stop your attack at any time. You can use your sword for physical attacks or to defend against various attacks. Any physical contact attack that you defend with your sword will slightly injure you, and if it's a magic attack with status effects (eg poison) it will affect you. The best solution is the dodge roll which gives you "frames of invincibility". Then with the use of materias you can use powerful magic attacks with MP cost and powerful sword attacks with AP cost. Finally, by using DMW(Digital Mind Wave) you can activate powerful attacks that do not allow opponents to defend them (Limit breaks/Summons).

DMW (Digital Mind Wave) represents Zack's thoughts and is the only mechanism that allows random elements (Buffs, Level ups) during battle. At the start of the battle at the top right of the screen there are three diamonds with faces/monsters you have met/defeated. These rhombuses work like slot machines(Gacha) that spin by themselves. When a character's face appears on all three diamonds it allows you to activate "Limit Break" techniques and "Summons" techniques. These two classes allow you to activate cinematic attacks that don't allow opponents to defend, deal high damage, and cause AoE (Area of Effect) attacks that hit multiple targets at once. In addition to the images of the heroes, there are three numbers that affect the battle. When certain combinations are activated they give Zack buffs such as No MP/AP cost, Critical chance increase, invincibility etc. On the PSP DMW would freeze the game often to show the effect that "spoils" the flow of the battle, with the remaster version this issue was resolved. If the DMW had a positive impact it will show the result in the center of the screen and if the player "won" Limit Break or Summons, the attack is cached giving the player control over when to use it. Limit Breaks and Summons are stored separately as how they activate differs. A technique that was not used will be replaced when DMW has another positive result.

Zack vs Sephiroth
The game has a large number of materias which allow you to experiment and find a play style that suits you. The materias are divided into different categories, such as support (Heal, barrier), magic attack (fire, thunder), physical attack (assault twister, high jump), passive buffs (Atk Up, MP Up) and DMW support (Octaslash, Healing wave ). Zack can simultaneously have six materias that can be activated during battle by combining two buttons just like in the Remake. Most materias require MP and AP to activate. Then by using the DMW(its random spins) materias can be leveled up which will give you bonus stats and do more damage. Finally, you have the opportunity to create your own materias through "Materia Fusion" by combining two materias and rare stones for a stronger one.

Two brand new mechanics of "Reunion" are the Buster sword stance and the chance to stop enemies when they are about to attack you with their ultimate attack. When enemies prepare their strongest attack (which you can't defend against) a 100% bar will appear. You have a short window of time to hit the enemy to reduce the damage of this attack. In case the damage is reduced to 0% this attack will not be performed. The addition of this mechanic allows for clever use of techniques and gives you a chance to stop or prevent what could have been a "one shot kill" especially on the hard difficulty level.

On the other hand the "Buster sword stance" becomes available when Zack takes possession of the Buster sword. This sword has better defense and allows you to change battle stances change which, like in the Remake, slightly changes the way you fight. By combining two buttons you switch to this stance where you can take hits before launching a more powerful attack which if it kills the enemy, rewards you with MP and AP. Finally, this sword has a "Proficiency" level that goes up as long as you use the battle stance. This proficiency rewards you with various passive buffs such as "barrier breaker" and "exceed maximum damage" that allow you to hit enemies with a shield and exceed the maximum amount of damage.

Thoughts on gameplay

As someone who considers the PSP game one of my favorites i gotta say that Reunion's gameplay is pure perfections for what it is. An updated remaster of an old classic. It feels better than the original but also very close to what it was. All the new mechanicks and life changes are way better and overall boost the game's appeal. To elaborate, two very simple things such as adding a sprint button for Zack to run faster in missions and the hub world or stop pausing the game every time the DMW is activating would make the experience sweet. Moreover, the addition of the multiple materia allow the players to enjoy different build ups. There is a fair argument to be made, that after a certain point all the side missions will pretty much lock the player with a specific build of skills in order to proceed. Nevertheless, it still fun and an overall improved game.

A soldier's duty is to do his missions

Great war
Square Enix's new remaster allows you to spend your time with various activities. Some areas have their own mini-games and mini-challenges such as the "waterfall chaser" in the Gongaga area, the "Training room" in the Shinra building, the "Materia hunt" sector 5 slums, etc. These games are accessible during your period in that area.The Game is of no return, meaning that the player cannot travel back to an area if they re already gone. Each area has a diamond hologram that acts as a safe point. At the safe point you can save your progress or select the "missions" option. The game has 300 missions available which are unlocked through the story and through optional dialogues. These missions have a difficulty level of 1-10 and upon completion they give you various materia, crafting ingredients, stores, DMW summons and much more including a secret boss. Goddes Minerva is the boss that will put all your skills to the test. These missions are in the form of "boss fight", "survive waves" and "locate the enemy on the map". The final objective of the mission is the only villain that will be seen on the screen.

Battle Stance vs Minerva

Sound and Graphics

A big criticism of the game when it first came out in 2007 was how cool it looked for its time and for the console it was released on. Square Enix's new remaster looks better than ever. It may not be at the same quality as the "Remake" (2020) for various reasons such as the fact that the game is also available on the Nintendo Switch and the fact that the game was not build from 0. Nevertheless, the graphics and models of the series, while being of high quality, allow the game to run at 60fps on the new consoles (PlayStation, XBox, PC) with 4k quality, while the previous generation consoles run at 30fps. The game presents the plot by combining scenes with the in-game models as well as CGI scenes. The CGI scenes in 2007 were very impressive but in 2022 those same scenes while great look old with minimal changes. This is also shown by the fact that all the CGI scenes for Summons have been remastered and are close to the quality of "FF Vii Remake". This leaves the mind wondering what the entire game might have looked like if all scenes were treated the same.

On the other hand, apart from the obvious differences in the visual field, Square Enix has also created changes in the audio. The first significant difference comes from the fact that the entire cast has changed and the actors of "Final Fantasy Vii Remake (2020)" return to their roles. For the new characters, new talented actors have joined the Final Fantasy Vii team. Caleb Pierce who plays the main character Zack Fair had big shoes to fill as in 2008 Rick Gomez gave an admirable performance which led many fans to the point of comparing different parts of the games. New pieces of dialogue replaced all the scenes where the story was given through subtitles and various micro-changes were made in some places. Most of the songs of the series have been upgraded by the original composer Takeharu Nishimoto in order to be "close" to the new "Remake" trilogy. Finally iconic songs like "Price of Freedom", "Under the apple tree" and "Why" are back and better than ever.

Zack and Aerith

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy vii: Reunion is exactly what the company promised, a remastered version of the PSP game. From the beautiful graphics, to the enchanting music, to the enjoyable gameplay and the great plot, everything seems perfect. Zack's character looks better than ever and his story won over fans who didn't know it while enchanting those who did. The release of the game is not accidental as those who know the history of FFViiR (2020) know that Zack will have a role in the highly anticipated Final Fantasy Vii: Rebirth and in general in the new trilogy that is the Final Fantasy Vii Remake project. The game can be completed within 12 hours 30 for 100%. The game, like in 2007, at its completion does not have "chapter selection" but it offers "New Game +".

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