No less than fifteen years have passed since it was born, one of the best Final Fantasy games. Curiously, after Final Fantasy Crisis Core would come what I consider to be the “decline” of the franchise. With “nomuradas” everywhere, inconsistencies, and well… a bloody loss of identity.
And it’s all fun because Crisis Core It was a game designed for laptops. That he rubs his hand on big budget games is ironic. The original version is exclusive to the now defunct Sony PSP. However, with everything the Japanese are putting together around the Final Fantasy VII universe, it only made sense to bring it back to life in order to give the story a bit more context. And on the way earn a few dollars.
In Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII – Reunion, we’ll be playing Zack Fair, who was the original soldier that Cloud would take inspiration from years later for his personality change. In Final Fantasy VII we weren’t given any context about him, but with Crisis Core we got to experience one of the best characters in the entire Final Fantasy universe. Because if there’s one thing the game does well, it’s exploiting the hardware limitations of the era, with an emphasis on character progression. And yes, Zack’s story was worth telling.
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In this house, when we analyze a remaster, we do so taking into account the work done in this remaster. But being such an old game and lands for the first time on Xbox, I would even like to give some context to the plot. Don’t spoil a game 15 years late, it’s complicated, you’ll forgive me if I fall for one.
The story of Crisis Core, now Reunion, recounts the events that caused Sephiroth to lose his mind and discover his past. The common thread is supported by two new characters who will give more context to Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal, the first Soldier to undergo the experiments before being applied to our legendary villain. As they explain to us what those failed events entailed, we’ll see Shinra’s decline in Zack Fair’s eyes.
Sure, the game is loaded with nods to Final Fantasy VII, and in fact masterfully weaves in some story gaps, like Aerith’s “supposed boyfriend,” the war and fall with Wutai, and more. again. The plot of the game is quite good as it is obviously limited to the Final Fantasy VII universe.
technical part
We’re going to get down to business. Material, never better said. We are facing a remaster that uses all the best practices one could imagine. This game was not limited to download resolution and fps. They focused on revamping several important aspects, and of course using the Unreal Engine came in handy, as they were able to include a new and better lighting system that the original game didn’t have.
I know I’m repeating myself more than garlic, but we’re talking about a game designed for a portable console. So they practically had to do everything from scratch. From modeling to textures. The floors and walls of buildings now become much more realistic, thanks precisely to this use of the new graphics engine.
On top of that, load times have been improved, and there are also improvements in framerate and detail that have a noticeable impact on gameplay. And let’s not forget that this is not a turn-based game, the game’s combat system is all about pressing buttons, so that aspect was important to polish.
Perhaps where it’s most apparent that this is an old game is in the resolution of the original cutscenes. That although it has been increased, compression defects and artifacts are still visible. This is something logical since they had to resize a game designed for a resolution of 480 x 272 pixels, to 3840 x 2160 pixels. And that for more magic than video re-editing and AI do, is not miraculous.
The cutscenes that display the best are undoubtedly the ones running with the game engine. The team in charge of the remaster also worked on the entire section of facial animations and expressions to make them look better than ever. While the expressions seek to be precise, they are now much better and more realistic.
The sound has also undergone changes. The music has been re-edited and the sound effects, as well as the original voice acting, improved. The soundtrack of this game, without being up to the magic composed by Nobuo Uematsu, represents a beautiful tribute. A more than good job by Takeharu Ishimoto.
gameplay
Crisis Core Final Fantasy uses a quite different style of gameplay from Final Fantasy VII. It’s the first game in the franchise to ditch the turns and focus on the action. The rest of the franchise’s combat systems grew out of this gameplay, including Final Fantasy XV’s more than forgettable system. You fight with real-time combos, and thanks to materials you can cast magic or have states during the fight.
I love that he continues to be respected the subject system is what made Final Fantasy VII unique. Being able to create your own fighter, upgrade it, or even combine or remove it to gain experience is fun. Although with invocations things change. In this game, you won’t be able to summon at will, because it uses a system called OMD, which is basically a roulette wheel that grants randomness to summons and limits. The more you use them and the more OMD Frames you unlock by doing secondaries, the more powerful attacks Zack will be able to do.
Beyond the combat, you have a fun adventure to play through, albeit rather daunting given the limitations of the original machine. There are no large areas to explore, no conversations with characters that jump out of the frame. In fact, side missions aren’t side missions as such, you access them from the save point and they’re usually found in small settings and clearing areas. Quite boring and useless
For the rest, you can expect a Japanese role-playing title. With potion shops, few choices, a strong story component, and a character menu where you can equip items to boost stats.
Duration
The original work having been respected, the duration is exactly the same. Don’t expect to see any cutscenes or additional missions. So you can bet on 18 hours for the main plot, and around 30 hours with everything finished. It’s not a very replayable game, because once you get through it, there’s not much else to see.
Achievements are quite fun to get, mind you. If that’s an incentive for you, there’s a good chance you won’t get them all in the first game, basically because there are events you can miss if you’re not careful.
conclusion
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII – Reunion is a tribute to what we could expect. A great game from the past that has been brought back to life with care and affection. If you assume that underneath all that sheet metal and paint is a game for PSP, you’re going to enjoy it like a little kid. Every sore spot the game touches and the way it irons out some loose detail goes straight to the hearts of lovers of Sakaguchi’s magnum opus.
Finally, Square Enix takes his roots seriously and gives him the respect a protagonist like Zack Fair deserves, one of the finest creations in the entire Final Fantasy universe. I never thought I would say this, but being able to play this game on Xbox is a dream come true.
For all this and more, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII – La Réunion is one of the best JRPGs in the Xbox catalog. A gem not to be missed if you like the genre.
JINGX
Good
- One of the best Final Fantasy stories.
- A neat and up to date remaster.
- The subject system.
- Animations and lighting.
- Addictive game.
The bad
- The secondaries are quite artificial.
- It’s still an improved PSP game.
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