Story:
The story of Crisis Core Reunion is a prequel to Final Fantasy VII. You play as Zack Fair who is a Soldier operative that works for the Shinra corporation. Zack takes on missions that he believes are helping the corporation he works for and the world. Eventually, Zack learns the truth and what follows is what leads up to the events that play out in Final Fantasy VII.
Gameplay:
The game plays just like the original game as this is a remaster of a game that was originally released on the Playstation Portable; though there are some changes to improve the experience.
At its core, this is an action RPG that has a very good storyline. You play through the story and have objectives that must be completed in order to progress. There are missions that you can take on that will help you to acquire things like items, accessories, and materia (magic). In addition to unlocking equipment, missions also can unlock things like shops, summons, and the ability to equip additional equipment by expanding the number of slots available.
Magic in this game is referred to as Materia and can be offensive, defensive, or even neutral. You can use Materia to cast Cure, or Blizzard, but also use it to see the stats of enemies with ones like Libra. The more Materia is used, the more it levels up until it becomes mastered. Materia can be used on its own or can be fused with other Materia and items to create more powerful or unique spells.
Battles in the game are a mixture of random encounters with the enemies not appearing until encountered and those that are seen in the area that can be engaged. This is the case only when in missions with only random encounters during the story progression. While fighting enemies, buttons and button combinations are used for attacking, using items, and using materia (magic). Summons and limit breaks (special attacks) are able to be used through a roulette wheel, not unlike a slot machine. This is called the DMW (Digital Mind Wave) and what it lands on depends on many factors.
Factors that affect the DMW are Zack’s emotions towards characters and events that play out in the story, status effects, damage dealt, number of enemies, how much damage Zack has taken, and the level of each DMW character/summon/etc. The more you use characters/summons in the DMW the more they will level up and become more powerful. Over the course of a fight, the DMW will start to spin randomly until it lands on one specific character/summon that all have the same number.
Graphics and Performance:
Graphically speaking this game looks spectacular when playing it on the Xbox One or the Xbox Series X/S. Camera movement is smooth as can be with the animations and environments looking very good too. The FMV cutscenes are just as smooth as the game itself with no stutter or slowdown that I noticed while playing. Performance with this game is better than I expected as it’s been optimized very well for the current gen systems with there being no drop-in frames, graphical pop-up/in is for the most part non-existent with the exception being some indoor missions and some areas of the game such as the Midgar Slums.
This however does not take away from how awesome of a release this is. When comparing this game to its original, graphically and performance wise it’s a complete overhaul. Everything from the character models to all in-game set pieces have been perfectly recreated and look stunning. Even the FMV cutscenes have been upscaled and are worth watching even if you’ve played the game in its original format. For those that don’t wish to watch the FMV cutscenes, you do have the option to skip them which is nice since it wasn’t an option in the original release.
Sound:
I was expecting the music in the game to sound like it did in the original release, maybe enhanced but I was pleasantly surprised. Takeharu Ishimoto came back for this remaster and did not disappoint. He took the original composition of the Playstation Portable release and remade it from the ground up for this game. It doesn’t just sound enhanced, it sounds like it’s been rearranged and changed just enough to satisfy not only die-hard fans of the original but also those that are playing this game for the first time.
Voice acting in the game is something that I was concerned about heading into this game because I wasn’t sure how I would feel with Zack’s voice being changed from the original game. However, I have enjoyed every minute of the voice acting for Zack when compared to the original adds a bit more personality and realism in this remake. I appreciate that every bit of dialogue in the game has been voiced which was not the case in the original release.
Conclusion:
Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII was the first Playstation Portable game I ever purchased and was purchased even before purchasing the handheld. It’s a game that I have easily beaten 20 times and spent countless hours playing in its original format, so I was very excited, though skeptical when the remaster was announced.
I was skeptical about how much of the game would be changed, or not changed enough from its original release but those concerns melted from the first time I launched the game. My skepticism melted away as soon as I got into the game and felt like I was back playing the game for the first time ever and for the most part I was. Everything that’s gone into this game has been given a new lease on life. I could go on and on about this game, but I will leave you with this.
If you never gave Crisis Core a chance back on the Playstation Portable, it’s now more accessible than it ever has been with this remaster. I encourage you to check this game out on your platform of choice and give it a chance.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided