“Reunited, and it Feels So Good: 15 Years of Crisis Core”

When you ask a gamer what they think of when they hear the term “handheld gaming”, chances are high that they will reference an iteration of the Nintendo Game Boy or DS systems. However, a system that is still underrated and unnoticed by so many gamers is the PlayStation Portable, or PSP. I certainly enjoyed my PSP immensely, and I still do today. One of the standout titles available on the PlayStation Portable, a game that continues to hold many fond memories, was Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.

After putting hundreds of hours and countless late nights into the game over multiple playthroughs, it was arguably the game I spent more time on than any other during that time period! Ever since playing it for the first time as a child in 1997, I have adored Final Fantasy VII and it remains my favorite game of all time. Being able to finally play through the story of SOLDIER First Class Zack and the events which set Final Fantasy VII into motion was something I had deeply longed for, and I absolutely lapped it all up.

The story was impactful and engaging; the battles were fast-paced and enjoyable, the soundtrack was outstanding (and additionally impressive considering it was on a portable console), and the characters—both old and new—were very memorable. It was also a relief to have a plethora of side missions to challenge your combat skills so that if the battles of the main story became too easy, there would always be a much more difficult series of enemy encounters available. Seeing the character development of Aerith, Sephiroth, and Tseng as a prelude to their characterizations in Final Fantasy VII was a fascinating and fresh experience in storytelling. I knew what was going to happen eventually, but understanding how the characters and story arrived at the beginning point of FFVII was rewarding and fun. The new characters such as Genesis, Angeal, and Lazard all played their own important roles and none of them felt as though they were wedged into the preexisting events of FFVII lore.

Zack was the most interesting case of all, because he was a character who was both familiar and brand new. Even though his appearances in the original Final Fantasy VII were extremely brief, it was clear that he had an influence on the plot that was critical; we just needed to see how that came to be, and Crisis Core gave the fans that chance. We knew his name and had seen him before, but now we would be able to really know and understand Zack Fair, SOLDIER First Class. 

When Square Enix made the announcement during their Final Fantasy VII 25th Anniversary live stream that Crisis Core was getting a full remaster, I was surprised and ecstatic. I enjoyed the original Crisis Core immensely, but there was no denying that it had some limitations that impeded it. The trailers with cutscenes and gameplay were very encouraging, to say the least. I had some feelings of trepidation, but this is usually the case when a publisher decides to give a beloved older game a “remaster” because the words “remaster” and “remake” have become so widespread in gaming discourse and interpreted dramatically different ways for various games.

Now that I’ve played Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII—Reunion on both the PS5 and Nintendo Switch, I can declare myself a very satisfied and happy FFVII fanboy. The game is truly the quintessential example of what a remastered title should be: the addition of massive quality-of-life improvements, making dramatic visual updates, and leaving the story and key mechanics intact. The player experience is exponentially better in Reunion than in the original, and it surpassed all my expectations.

The graphical improvement is crystal clear.

One of the most obvious changes from the original Crisis Core to Reunion is the transformative graphical update necessitated by the jump from the PSP screen to home console and PC. The character models, environments, and battle visuals have all been plucked from the small handheld screen and given such a makeover that they look right at home amongst current AAA game titles. On PS5, the 60fps gameplay is smooth, bright, and lovely to play through. The movements of the character models in Reunion are identical to those in the original, but now the models themselves look marvelous, and they’re nearly as good as those we see in Final Fantasy VII Remake. Attack animations and Limit Breaks are also identical (with the exception of the default Chain Slash animation, which has been updated to include the background environment and depth of field), except they also look like they belong on the cutting edge of today’s gaming technology. Strangely, the cinematic cutscenes look like they were directly taken from the PSP game but not updated at all, which is a bit jarring. It’s a strange feeling to see so much beautiful visual content being occasionally interrupted by scenes that definitely appear like handheld quality, but I’m definitely not complaining.

One of the areas which desperately needed a rework in Reunion was the battle system, and Square Enix passed this test with flying colors. The PSP’s small, single control stick could be cumbersome at times, and the system of using the L and R bumpers to switch between regular attacks and each individual equipped Materia and/or item wasn’t particularly easy to use, because the battles are very fast-paced and switching between battle commands and only having one available to execute at a given time was very clunky at times (especially in the more difficult fights). The fact that the L and R buttons on the PSP version also rotated the camera meant that you couldn’t manually change the camera angle during a fight, which led to quite a few frustrating deaths in battle. Reunion completely solved all of those issues in one fell swoop, taking full advantage of the current generation’s controller layouts. Every command, Materia, and item is immediately available with quick, intuitive button inputs and it makes every fight so much smoother and more satisfying. Being able to rotate the camera at will and make the decision whether or not to lock onto enemies are both such a relief from the original game. Just as important is the ability to map individual commands to different buttons, and the ability to reassign key controls like dodging, guarding, etc. These changes really enabled me to maximize the plethora of abilities I had at my disposal, and it felt like I was in complete control at all times despite the speed of combat. It felt much more akin to being like a SOLDIER First Class: quick, decisive, and remarkably adaptable.

One major addition to Reunion was the integration of a full voice actor cast to perform every line of dialogue in the game. From the main characters to the most random NPCs, not a single line was overlooked, and the performances were brilliant. The voice actors for some of the main characters were changed from the original to the remastered version to maintain continuity with Remake: Caleb Pierce, Briana White, Cody Christian, Britt Baron, and Tyler Hoechlin all return as Zack, Aerith, Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth, respectively. The performances of Pierce, White, Christian, and Baron are particularly outstanding because they are portraying younger versions of their Remake characters (or both, in the case of Zack): they maintain the unmistakable personalities of their characters while genuinely sounding like younger people, which is no mean feat. The performers who were changed for Reunion, like Bill Millsap as Angeal, Kayli Mills as Cissnei, and Shaun Conde as Genesis, performed superbly as well. I prefer the Reunion versions of these characters’ voice performances, so the changes were very welcome. Less prominent (but no less memorable) were the reprisals of Tseng, Reno, Rude, and Hojo by Vic Chao, Arne Pantoja, William C. Stephens and James Sie. To put it succinctly, the full voice casting of Reunion created a depth of immersion that the original could never achieve, and my emotional attachment to these characters and this story only grew further.

One update which I was unsure about when it was announced was the rearranged soundtrack by original composer Takeharu Ishimoto. I had reservations about this because I loved the original soundtrack as it was, and it remains one of my favorite game soundtracks to listen to both in-game and on its own. (Put “Combat” and “The Summoned” in your workout playlist if you haven’t already. You’re welcome.) I’m pleased to say that not much was altered in the OST for Reunion. It felt very much like the treatment that Square Enix gave to the Final Fantasy X soundtrack for their HD Remaster release: more polished with the additions of subtle layers of melodic sound, but nothing to overpower the original songs. A couple of tracks were rearranged into an entirely different key, which I found odd and not preferable to the originals, but these were very few. It’s not that these specific tracks didn’t sound good; they do, but I simply prefer the original arrangements, making it a matter of personal aesthetic taste.

I’m so happy to say that all the changes made from the original Crisis Core to Reunion make the experience of this game both fresh and familiarly engaging. The major visual enhancements, superb combat system, full voice acting, and soundtrack are all brand-new features that made me feel vastly more immersed in a story that I was already in love with. Square Enix has my heartfelt gratitude for the love and care that they poured into this remastered game, and it’s one that I will treasure and replay for years to come.

I’m a very happy FFVII fanboy, indeed.

JRPG fiend turned Twitch streamer, Mystraker (Myst for short) turned his childhood love for role-playing fantasy adventures into the driving passion of his life! You can find him on Twitch, usually waist-deep in a sprawling epic tale with more than a few anime tropes thrown in. His love for RPGs even inspired him to earn a degree in religious studies, so you can also expect some deeper thought on his favorite games as well as an appreciation for references to real-world cultures and connections.