Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core Reunion

 

Crisis Core is a Final Fantasy VII prequel game that originally came out in 2007 for the Playstation Portable and has since been remade for the Playstation 5 and called Crisis Core Reunion. This game was available on Playstation Plus and I was immediately interested in playing it after playing Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth and loving both games. 

Crisis Core follows the story of Zack Fair, a Shinra SOLDIER who is involved with Shinra's war with the Wutai. Here is a plot summary, as provided by ChatGPT:

1. Zack Fair’s Rise:
Zack starts as a SOLDIER 2nd Class under the mentorship of Angeal Hewley, a calm and honorable 1st Class SOLDIER. He idolizes Sephiroth, Shinra’s top operative. Early on, Zack is sent to fight in Wutai, a war that Shinra is trying to win to expand its influence.

2. The Genesis Rebellion:
Zack’s mission becomes complicated when another 1st Class SOLDIER, Genesis Rhapsodos, goes rogue, leading a rebellion. Genesis and Angeal both eventually defect from Shinra, revealing that they suffer from genetic degradation caused by Shinra's experiments—particularly involving Project G, an early attempt to replicate Jenova's cells.

3. The Truth Behind SOLDIER:
Zack learns that SOLDIER members are enhanced through infusions of Jenova cells and Mako energy, part of Shinra’s unethical experiments to create super-soldiers. Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal are all products of such projects, each reacting differently to the truth about their origins.

4. Angeal’s Fate and Zack’s Growth:
Angeal, conflicted by his monstrous transformation, ultimately chooses to die by Zack's hand rather than lose his humanity. Zack inherits his mentor’s Buster Sword and his legacy, vowing to protect others and live with honor.

5. Nibelheim Incident:
Later, Zack is sent with Sephiroth and a Shinra infantryman named Cloud Strife to investigate the reactor in Nibelheim. There, Sephiroth discovers the truth about his Jenova origins, goes mad, and burns the town down. Zack tries to stop him but is defeated.

6. Escape and Tragic End:
Zack and Cloud are captured by Hojo, a Shinra scientist, and experimented on for years. They eventually escape, but Cloud is left in a semi-catatonic state. While trying to reach Midgar, Zack is ambushed by Shinra troops. Outnumbered, he makes a final stand to protect Cloud.

7. Zack’s Death:
In a heartbreaking final battle, Zack is mortally wounded. With his last words, he passes his dreams and legacy onto Cloud, telling him to "be his living legacy." This moment sets up Cloud’s journey in Final Fantasy VII.

Final Fantasy VII has a complex plot, and as FFVII: Rebirth progressed, the plot became increasingly difficult for me to follow. Zack was on the cover of the game and was in certain stages of the game, and it was difficult to tell if Zack was alive or if he was dead and his scenes were flashback memories. It is eventually explained that Sephiroth has essentially created a FFVII multiverse, and Zack lives in an alternate universe but is dead in the main universe, as confirmed by Crisis Core. The most interesting parts of Crisis Core for me, however, were not Zack's backstory, but rather Cloud and Sephiroth's backstory. It explains why Sephiroth went mad and attacked Nibelheim, going from a hero to a villain. It explains how Cloud was Mako poisoned and how he never really was a first class SOLDIER, but rather an entry-level infantryman. It also explains how he acquired his famous Buster sword, and why he has such a personal vendetta against Sephiroth and Shinra. All of this is very interesting and important information, and thus I think this game is a must play for fans of Final Fantasy VII.

The game is nearly 20 years old and was originally a Playstation Portable game, which may explain some of the odd gameplay features. The gameplay in terms of how the battles work is slightly different than Remake & Rebirth, and I thought the differences were fine. I like the Remake & Rebirth battle mechanics slightly better, but not substantially better. The biggest negative about the gameplay is that you cannot see the enemies until you start fighting. You will be walking down a path, and it will be clear of any people, and then all of a sudden enemies will appear and a banner that announces "Activating Combat Mode" appears, and then you engage in battle. I don't know if this was a limitation of the original game on the Playstation Portable, but it seems like an odd game design. It would've been nice if this could have been updated to be a bit more natural, but otherwise this game was quite enjoyable and shed quite a bit of light on the FFVII universe.