In 2007, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was breathtaking. This prequel to one of the most beloved Final Fantasy games ever made felt truly groundbreaking. It pushed the PlayStation Portable to its technical limit, melded the RPG systems of the original game with a deeply compelling combat system, and introduced stunning new depth to the well-worn world of Final Fantasy VII. In 2020, Final Fantasy VII Remake did all of that a little bit better. Now, in 2022, the question stands: Is revisitng Crisis Core in the form of the new remaster Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion worth it? CBR had the chance to experience the first few hours of the game, and the answer seems to be yes -- mostly.
Reunion opens on a gorgeous reimagining of Final Fantasy VII's iconic opening sequence. Where Cloud simply hopped off of the top of a train in the PlayStation original, Crisis Core protagonist Zack Fair sprints along an identical vehicle, slicing and dicing enemy operatives as he goes. This cutscene is seemingly unaltered from the PSP original; somewhat puzzlingly, it doesn't even seem like it's been upscaled to match the enhanced visuals of the rest of the game.
For the most part, that's totally fine. Even 15 years later, and even with an odd fuzziness that doesn't look quite as good as the rest of the game, excellent art design and digital cinematography mean this sequence remains a visual treat. The only issue is, Final Fantasy VII Remake executes an almost identical trick with its reimagined opening. Throughout my time with the early hours of Reunion, one thing felt obvious: this is a good game full of good ideas that's just a couple of years too late.
Make no mistake, though: it is a good game. Crisis Core was good in 2007, and it's even better now. Crisis Core Reunion's combat system feels a bit like a rough draft for the one found in Final Fantasy VII Remake, merging real-time action with FFVII's customization and resoure management to mixed success. Reunion makes some considerable changes that truly enhance the experience and make it feel less like a rough draft and more like an alternate take.
Notably, there's now a dedicated attack button and a hotbar for spells and abilities rather than the mini-menu found in the original game, and the Digital Mind Wave, Crisis Core's bizarre gameplay-altering slot machine, no longer stops combat in its tracks, making it less of a frustrating intrusion and more of a neat gimmick. They're small changes, but ones that make Reunion feel just a touch more playable and smooth than it was back in the day, bringing it from a fun-but-clunky cult hit to a crowd-pleasingly smooth action RPG.
The music in Reunion is also downright exceptional. Original composer Takeharu Ishimoto has returned here with new arrangements of the original soundtrack, and it sounds brilliant. Crisis Core also includes a handful of tracks from the original Final Fantasy VII, composed by franchise legend Nobuo Uematsu, and while these are, of course, as excellent as ever, it's almost more impressive that Ishimoto's work can stand on its own next to one of the greatest video game scores of all time.
Reunion's gameplay and music are a treat, but it's visuals don't quite measure up. The game looked excellent on PSP, but it also came with a lot of obvious visual concessions that haven't necessarily been addressed here. Environments and individual models have been greatly enhanced, but animations still look clunky. Characters' bodies are notably more expressive than their faces (a necessity on the PSP, where finer details were harder to see and render), but when viewed in a contemporary setting, it can make characters look a bit lifeless. Zack might fold his arms in a manner that indicates indignance, but his face barely moves. Things certainly look more realistic than they did on the PSP, but compared to, say, FFVII Remake, these characters are just not as appealing or interesting to look at.
That's Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion's biggest roadblock: It will always be compared to Final Fantasy VII Remake. If the game had arrived before FFVII Remake, a lot of these issues might be easy to dismiss, but Remake has already done a lot of what Reunion does, but just a little better. Crisis Core is being remastered as a part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake project, it's priced at around the same point as Final Fantasy VII Remake, and it is (to some degree) a remake of a Final Fantasy VII game. It doesn't necessarily need to be on the same level as Final Fantasy VII Remake, but it should probably be a bit closer. While these opening hours were decidedly fun, and it's pleasant to revisit this world during the break between Remake and the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion hasn't quite cleared the hurdle standing in its way yet.