CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION Review

A PSP action RPG classic returns

Reviewed by A.J. Maciejewski playing a PS5 on January 10, 2023 ☄️

CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION is also available for PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch

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Whether you've already played it or not, CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION is a great RPG so let's experience Zack's origins.

│ Just like in nearly all our reviews, you can watch A.J. play CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION below so you can judge accordingly. ▶️

A fitting prequel

FINAL FANTASY VII is perhaps the most celebrated RPG ever made and a prequel released for PSP 10 years after its 1997 debut. Now, CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION is here which is a remaster of that game and it's the best way to experience the action RPG classic. Its story centers on Zack Fair who's a SOLDIER assigned to search for an entity known as Genesis Rhapsodos. Throughout his travels, he unravels some surprising twists and meets plenty of familiar characters along the way. The strongest part of its story is seeing what the cast of the main game were up to beforehand and it's a real treat to watch Zack interact with them, especially Aerith. Plus, the CGI cutscenes are just awesome and act as a wonderful supplement to the action-packed core gameplay. v1d30chumz 35-172-230-154

Beautifully remade

Now that I mention it, everything about CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION looks and sounds great. Whereas many remasters carry over assets and such that clearly don't stand the test of time, everything here has been carefully recreated to form a seamless and memorable adventure from iconic locales to detailed character models. On top of that, it sounds excellent, too, thanks to a beautiful soundtrack that's been masterfully enhanced and new voice acting that makes the characters come to life even more than they did in the PSP original. I'd even go so far as to say that this is a prime example of how a remaster should be done. 👍

Combat

Well; what about the gameplay? CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION combines the original's combat with the feel of Final Fantasy VII Remake's to create something truly special. Now, you may only control 1 character but the battles are so fast-paced that you'll constantly be thinking on your feet whether you're dodging an attack, blocking a swarm of projectiles, healing, or hacking and slashing away. There are also plenty of supplementary aspects that allow you to use items, cast magic via your equipped Materia, and perform Limit Breaks that result in awesome animations. Exploiting enemy weaknesses as you try to gain the upper-hand is always a blast and the boss fights get incredibly daunting so you'll definitely be on the edge of your seat when you're faced with a tough challenge. 😅

Materia

Of course, setting yourself up for success is always an important part of any RPG and Zack has a few elements that you can tinker with to increase your chances of victory with the most substantial being Materia. Not only do you equip Materia to 6 slots then unleash the spells that they grant you in battle, there are also support Materia for a good ol' stat boost but what's even cooler is that you can combine Materia to create some truly powerful concoctions. Early on in the game, I developed Firaga Blade Materia which made decimating monsters a joy even if it ate up my AP gauge in a flash. You can also throw items in the mix when you're combining Materia and equip accessories so even if you can't seem to beat a boss, you can always keep experimenting until you come up with a winning formula. 🏆

Randomness

Finally, allow me to discuss a few aspects that can take away from the fun to be had with CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION. First, there's a very heavy theme of randomness seeing as you level-up randomly and slots are constantly spinning as you fight which can grant you the ability to summon or use Limit Breaks and even perhaps provide boosts such as making you temporarily invincible. Although some skill is required, I sometimes failed hard at a boss only to retry and get lucky which made my victory feel hollow. Speaking of bosses, they get super-tough about halfway through and the steep difficulty climb can be tough to swallow. This actually makes me wish that Zack could be customized in more ways in order to make success feel like it's more personal and less arbitrary.

CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION is one of the best remasters out there thanks to its complete presentational overhaul and when you have such a great base game to work with, you're left with an action RPG that even rivals modern examples of the genre.