First released on the PSP back in 2007, Crisis Core served as a prequel to Final Fantasy VII,
exploring past events with Zack Fair in the lead, instead of Cloud.
Despite all the praise it receives though, it remained stranded on PSP for years.
Now, with Final Fantasy VII Remake out and Rebirth on the horizon,
Square Enix has finally gone back to update this classic
and bring it to modern platforms.
Unlike Final Fantasy VII Remake, Reunion sticks to Crisis Core’s original story,
which provides important context for both the original FF VII,
as well as Remake and future installments.
Crisis Core revolves around Zack Fair, a member of SOLDIER on a mission to become a hero.
There are some great emotional moments here,
and Zack is a wonderful protagonist who you can't help but root for.
Along with Zack is a solid cast including his mentor figure Angeal,
as well as Cissnei, a member of the Turks.
Cloud and Sephiroth are also present and it's always a pleasure to get more screen time with them.
The story is enjoyable overall, but not every plot point or character
lives up to the standards set by the original Final Fantasy VII.
Some of the dialogue can also feel a bit clunky at times.
However, despite some shortcomings,
the story gives a better understanding of the world and its characters,
and it’s absolutely worth seeing through to the end.
While the story remains the same, Reunion has received quite the overhaul
with newly recorded voice acting, menu design that matches Remake,
and new soundtrack arrangements that sound great.
The most immediate and impressive upgrades though are with its visuals.
Instead of simply increasing the resolution of the PSP version,
Reunion sports brand new visuals
that are consistent with assets from Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Character models look amazing,
and environments feel more alive and enthralling than ever
with areas like the streets of Midgar being particularly impressive.
Furthermore, there are brand-new summon cinematics that are a treat to behold.
However, Reunion does keep Crisis Core’s original FMV cut-scenes
which look blurry and simply blown up,
but it's a very minor issue in the grand scheme of things.
There have been a lot of tweaks to gameplay to make things feel smoother overall.
Combat is now much more in line with Remake, with basic attacks being tied to the square button
and materia mapped to the shoulder and face buttons.
There’s also a completely new mechanic that unlocks once you get the Buster Sword,
allowing you to enter a stance where your attacks deal increased impact
and prevent Zack from flinching when hit.
Additionally, you can upgrade the Buster Sword's proficiency by using it in battle
to unlock additional enhancements.
These changes are great and make combat far more enjoyable.
Along with the materia you find in the world,
you can fuse them to create new and higher ranking materia.
Later, you can also add items to the mix to create even stronger ones.
It's a basic feature but an important one that gives some welcome customization to your loadout.
One of the most infamous features of the original Crisis Core
is the Digital Mind Wave, which is essentially a slot machine
that runs any time that you're in combat.
It can bestow a variety of buffs or enchantments, including limit breaks and summon attacks.
It's unintrusive for the most part when you're actually fighting, but
good rolls can absolutely make things easier.
It's a weird system but it never feels like success solely depends on good rolls.
Along with the main story, there are a lot of side missions to take on
that can be accessed at any save point,
which grant worthwhile rewards like new materia.
There are a huge number of tasks, but they're all bite-sized in scope
and only take a minute or two to finish.
This worked well for the handheld original, but they can feel repetitive at times.
If you’re looking to complete everything beyond the main story,
you'll be grinding it out for a while.
Even though Reunion has a lot of great changes that make the game a better experience,
it's still a PSP game at its core with fairly small areas to explore
and often stiff animations.
There are also a lot of random enemy encounters present throughout the game
which can be frustrating if you're just trying to get somewhere,
but thankfully battles aren't too long
and you can escape from them easily if you just want to keep moving.
Crisis Core –Final Fantasy VII– Reunion is a great update to the PSP classic.
Numerous changes improve both visuals and gameplay,
helping to modernize it for new and returning players.
Some elements such as the story, characters,
and large number of random battles may not land with everyone,
but Square Enix has done an excellent job updating an important title in the Final Fantasy VII compilation,
resulting in the definitive version.
Final score: 8 out of 10.
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