Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion Review: Is It Much Better Than The Original?

Crisis Core was the prequel that came in 2007 to the masterpiece of Final Fantasy 7. We were able to explore past events that needed quite a bit of understanding and background with Zack Fair as the lead character instead of the beloved Cloud. It has gotten a lot of praise through the years and now finally we are getting a remake with modern looks and mechanics.

In this review, we shall be explaining how good Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 is and if it is worth trying out. We shall split this review into Pros and Cons sections so that you’ll have a better time understanding what’s good about it and what’s not. Let’s get started.

Is It Much Better Than The Original? – Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion Review

The trailer gives you a very good representation of what the game actually is. Very cool music, amazing combat, and a very intriguing story that has very high ups but extremely low downs.

Pros

We shall start off with the many positive things that this game has going for it.

Story

The story is as great as the original. You will be focusing entirely on Zack and if you have it played, you can be damn sure that your emotions will get touched. Zack is a wonderful protagonist alongside his mentor Angeal, Cissnei, while also Cloud and Sephiroth both being present at times too.

The dialogue can feel a bit clunky sometimes, but despite these shortcomings, the game’s story is just as awesome as the original. In fact, the game gives a better understanding of the world and its characters.

Keep in mind that if you haven’t finished this game to the end point of it you will be missing out on a lot. It is absolutely worth seeing this game’s story through to the end.

Gameplay & Combat

The game is just the same as you would expect the Crisis Core Final Fantasy to be, just made a whole lot better and essentially improved in every aspect. Also, the DMW enhances the combat experience and it is a welcome addition to the game as well.

The combat is just aligned with the remake of Final Fantasy 7. You will be getting more or less the same attack patterns while also unlocking new mechanics once you unlock some of the cooler weapons of the game(Buster Sword). The combat also feels very snappy and responsive giving you overall a very pleasing and rewarding fighting experience.

There is also a very fun system of customization to your loadout by adding the Fusion system. This is basically a way to upgrade your gear as you progress through the game. The side missions are also a joy to play but can be a bit repetitive at times since they are very short.

Visuals

Overall the most impressive upgrade of the original is the visuals. Instead of simply increasing the resolution of the PSP version, this Reunion supports a whole lot of brand-new visuals. Most of them might be coming from the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but that doesn’t mean anything bad!

The character models look fantastic and amazing, the environment feels so alive and so well-designed… There are many areas throughout the game that will just make you want to look around and just travel around.

The biggest improvements are definitely the brand-new summon cinematics that will make you breathless at times, especially if you’ve played the original. Another big thing is the very different night and day visuals that work thanks to Unreal Engine 4.

Nostalgia Feel

The game is still a product of the PSP era, it is still Crisis Core, and the core of the game is pretty essentially the same, so you shouldn’t anticipate it to be accurate like the Final Fantasy VII remake because it isn’t. Also, just for the sake of clarity, while the game has been vastly improved in comparison to its initial release, it is still a PSP game.

You won’t get that same feeling lost with this new remake just like you’ve seen many newer games tend to do. The nostalgia is real with this one and if you loved the original, you are going to definitely love Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion too.

UI & Interface

They made the UI so much friendlier now and you won’t have to actually fight against it just like you needed to do in the original. It is reworked and you can do a lot more things at once without having to open and close the menus.

All of the cutscenes that might be coming up right now you will be able to skip. This is something that is a very welcome interface change indeed. You won’t be having problems with the interface in terms of showing you all of the information and details about your characters too.

The loading screens are just for a brief second right now. You won’t need to be waiting for a minute to do something meaning that the enjoyment will be to the fullest.

Cons

Although they are very minor issues that don’t necessarily change anything about the game, we shall still include them because they have been voiced by gamers.

Voice Acting

The original voice acting is replaced with a voice dubbing over made in English. This is something that players don’t necessarily like and wonder as to why it was made so.

Sometimes the dialogue and the voice acting tend to be clunky and weird, and especially when combined with the new voices it feels a bit bizarre. This is however a very minor issue and mainly a problem for the nostalgic veteran players of Final Fantasy 7.

Original Cutscenes

Again, this might be a personal thing but in Reunion, the original cutscenes will be kept. This means that you’ll be seeing the same short videos from before and they are just blown up and look blurry at times.

It is a very minor issue and nostalgic gamers seem to enjoy them too. But if you are a newcomer you might get confused as to why they might be made so.

Price

The game does feel as if it is overpriced at the very moment. You might need to wait for a month or two if you want to be getting it since there are just some things that can be upgraded on and with the current price tag, it is not quite there yet.

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