The Tragedy Of Zack, In A Triumphant Port !
As I’ve said in previous Final Fantasy 7 related reviews this game needs no introduction. Yet we are covering this today however ironic. Crisis Core (The full title is too long to use throughout) is the prequel or introduction to Final Fantasy 7. Originally releasing on PSP I remember being super excited at the time. My favourite game had been expanded and put on a handheld. Young me was totally buzzing. Since then Final Fantasy 7 has become a totally different beast in the past decade with the remake anthology. One of such re-releases was Crisis Core: Reunion. A glow up of the PSP game for modern hardware. Then out of no where it was shadow dropped on the Switch 2 during a Nintendo Direct announcement. So lets have a look at where it all began … again!
Crisis Core is really where the extension of the Final Fantasy 7 universe began. Debates could be made ‘Advent Children’ started it but that’s a film and as a gamer I will stick to my convictions. Crisis Core follows Zack Fair who is a character that is difficult to talk about. In the original Final Fantasy 7 Zack is only in 2 scenes, if I’m remembering correctly. It would be rather easy to brush him off as a minor character. To be honest on reflection I think I might be in that mindset with Zack. That being said he is part of the biggest plot twist in Final Fantasy 7, if not gaming in general. This skews the consensus of how important Zack actually is. Personally I think the scene is all about Cloud, Zack is just an unknown variable making it more impactful. However I’m sure many would totally disagree with me.
Now we kind of know who Zack is lets dive into the narrative of Crisis Core. The story follows Zack Fair as he is becoming a solider first class. Training with his mentor Angeal. Who is closely intwined with, you guessed it Sephiroth. The three are shown going through moments that are briefly spoke about in the original game. Like the war with Wutai. The narrative actually does a decent job of painting Sephiroth as this god like hero. Which is incredibly important for the big downfall moment soon to come. Involved in the narrative is another solider called Genesis. I personally can’t stand Genesis. In my eyes he becomes evil because he isn’t Sephiroth, and some how becomes the main threat of the game. I would argue the game would be no different without him. Well maybe it would be a chapter shorter and end during the Nibelheim incident. Which is where the game should end, well shortly after that so we can experience more tragedy.
(SPOILER ALERT INCOMING)
I like the core of the story, seeing the events that lead Cloud and Sephiroth together. All of the auxiliary elements of the narrative are the problem. Crisis Core should have seen Zack become a soldier. See Sephiroth fall from grace from the perspective of a reliable narrator. Then finally see Zack die after we have become to know and love him through his journey. All of these scenes are where Crisis Core shines unbelievably bright. Sadly its impossible to ignore the nonsense. Crisis Core borderline rewrites Final Fantasy 7, with Zack being at the centre. For example, why does Areith sell flowers? Is it because it ties into her deep connection with the planet? Is it because it’s a symbol of hope in a hopeless world? No it’s because Zack told her to! Crisis Core should be an interesting prequel experiencing what we knew from flashback scenes in the original. Instead it verges on total fan fiction levels. The dodgy written moments in the remake series can be drawn back to here, I’m convinced.
Anyway lets talk about what we are playing. The Switch 2 port is amazing. On a technical level its giving a current generation experience while in the palm of your hands. Offering both performance or quality modes. Personally I stuck to performance mode. Having a buttery smooth experience while still seeing visual flair. With how the Switch 2 performs handling Crisis Core, I would claim its the definitive way to experience this game. With it originally being a portable game you can see how the design philosophy suits a handheld console much better.
Chapter lengths are around about an hour each sprinkled with short cutscenes (apart from the final one, that is ludicrously long). With side missions that are mostly short dungeon runs with simple objectives lasting a few minutes a pop. Its clear Crisis Core was developed for the gamer who has a few moments on the go. The pick up and put down design of Crisis Core just suits the Switch 2 down to the ground. If I was to ever play the game again it would most assuredly be this exact version.
Crisis core takes a more action take on Final Fantasy 7. Think somewhere between the first ‘Kingdom Hearts’ and what eventually became the remake series. It actually quite a good combat system which rewards experimenting different equipment builds. However it includes one of the most bizarre systems I’ve ever experienced, DMW. Digital Mind Wave (unabbreviated) is meant to signify Zack’s emotion and feelings with other characters in the heat of battle, very Anime! In practice it is a slot machine that is always on the spin. Matching characters will give Zack a limit break super move or a summon creature to turn the tide of battle. Sounds okay but its a bit random. Now for the real crazy part! This system is tied with levelling up Zack and his equipment. It’s insane you can go large parts of chapters without levelling up. Then by the luck of the draw level up three times in a couple of fights. Don’t get me wrong I’m almost certain their is an invisible XP system that causes it to trigger. Yet while playing though it, it just has the visual feedback of total randomness. I do have incredibly mixed feelings about this system but the final fight of the game uses it amazingly. Marrying gameplay systems with plot for an epic moment. So part of me wants to forgive it, but its is a crazy system. I can’t say I’m shocked that we haven’t seen anything like it in a mainstream RPG since.
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 – Reunion at its absolute root is a good game. A good game which is marred by incredibly bizarre narrative and system decisions. This port specifically is most assuredly the best way to play the game. The more I think about it Crisis Core is absolute essential playing for the remake trilogy. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing either.
Review Code Kindly Provided By Square Enix
