Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - Reunion Review (Telmi)
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion is a great remake of a PSP classic and an easy recommendation for any Final Fantasy 7 fan. My review is after 100% completing the game.
Although Crisis Core is a prequel to Final Fantasy 7, it should be played after the original game. Some pretty major events of FF7 are spoiled here if you play this first. You play as Zack Fair, working for the nefarious Shinra megacorporation. During his journey, events happen that challenge his beliefs about what is right and wrong, and he grows as a person due to those. Zack is a refreshingly different protagonist compared to Cloud of Final Fantasy 7. His endless optimism and willingness to jump into things stands in stark contrast to Cloud, which I found quite enjoyable. The story sadly becomes a bit convoluted towards the end, and the writing isn't exactly stellar. Despite all that, the bittersweet story has a strong emotional core and remains entertaining all the way to the very end.
Graphically the game looks quite nice. It's a massive improvement over the original PSP version of the game; visuals here are almost on par with Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Character models and backgrounds aren't as detailed as FF7R however, signifying a lower developmental budget. The animations also feel a bit stiff and less natural than you would expect. The cutscenes sometimes look quite low resolution on modern displays, with compression artifacts throughout. Even so, the sheer extent of visual upgrade is commendable. Calling this game 'just' a remaster is doing it a disservice: it is essentially a full-blown remake that stays faithful to the original game.
Gameplay is another highlight: Crisis Core was originally one of the first real time combat systems in any Final Fantasy game. The battle system surprisingly still holds up today, and Reunion enhances that with a few cues taken from Final Fantasy 7 Remakes combat. It feels much like a modern game now, with the unique ideas of the PSP version still present. The Digital Mind Wave (DMW) system, those spinning numbers on the top left of your battle screen, feel like a gimmick at first but eventually turns out to be quite interesting and fun. It does mean that there's an element of randomness to every battle alongside your typical RPG stats. It feels fun instead of frustrating: I enjoyed every battle and the random element never really felt unfair. Sadly, being too faithful to the original game comes with its drawbacks too. The main story has nice environments to explore, but the side missions take place on basically the same few maps repeated over and over again. If you want to fully complete the game these missions become monotonous fast. This is a remnant of the PSP versions gameplay. In the context of 2022, the game would be far better if most of this side content were streamlined away.
Voice acting is one area the game significantly improves upon the original, provided you like Zack's new voice actor. All the lines were re-recorded and expanded and even voice actors from Final Fantasy 7 Remake return here which makes it nicely consistent. Occasionally the dialog feels a bit stilted in places, but it's still serviceable. Musically there are some standout tunes here alongside usual remixes of FF7 music like you'd expect.
This is a far better PC port than Final Fantasy 7 remake. On my PC the game ran at basically a flawless 120fps at 4K all the way. The graphics options are about as barebones as FF7R but at least it runs well... I've seen some users report stuttering but I didn't really notice any myself. Even if there were stutters, it was masked well enough due to the games slightly slower pace and tendency to put loading screens at every area transition (another remnant of the PSP versions quirks, I guess). Extensive keyboard and mouse control remapping is present too, another nice touch.
Overall, this game is a fantastic addition to Square Enix's Final Fantasy 7 Compilation. Issues like the outdated mission structure and stilted dialog hold it back but it remains a good game despite that. If you loved Final Fantasy 7, you'll love this.