Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII Reunion" is released today!　A 15-year-old masterpiece that depicts the story leading up to "Final Fantasy VII" comes back to life for current-gen consoles!

We had the opportunity to play the Steam version of this title ahead of others, and this time, we will present a review after completing the entire game up to the ending. Although we have avoided the core of the game, this review contains a few spoilers regarding the story and battle system, so we ask for your understanding. The buttons used in this article are based on the DualShock controller.

The story that takes place seven years before the main story of "FFVII" is brought back to life with the latest technology.

This game takes place seven years before the events of FINAL FANTASY VII. The city of Midgar, developed around the energy of the "makutame" mushroom, is controlled by the Shinra Company, an influential and militarily powerful company that controls everything. Soldier Xax Fair, the 2nd Soldier Class, a member of the powerful Soldier Company, investigates the recent "mass disappearance of Soldiers" in cooperation with Soldiers Angiel and Sephiroth, the 1st Soldier Class. This is the synopsis of the film.

In the original version, the catchphrase was "Men shed more tears for their friends than for their own misfortunes. The story of this film focuses on the lives of the men who are at the mercy of the world, rather than on a major incident that involves the world. There is Zach Fair, the hero who pursues his dream of becoming a hero; Angir, who trains and guides him; Genesis, who is tormented by a sense of inferiority; and Sephiroth, the most powerful Soldier of all. As many truths are revealed in the wake of the mass disappearance of Soldiers, they are confronted with the meaning of their existence and their beliefs, such as what it means to be a Soldier and what they fight for.

In general, it is difficult to enjoy a series title unless you are familiar with the past titles in the series, but "CCFF7 Reunion" requires almost no knowledge of the other derivative titles.

This work is the oldest in the "FFVII" series timeline, and the story it depicts at the same time is the beginning of all the works in the series, including the main story that follows. Other derivative works, such as "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" and "Dage of Cerberus - Final Fantasy VII" featuring a man named Vincent, were released earlier than the original "FFVII", but their storylines were earlier. However, in terms of the timeline of the storyline, this work preceded the original version. Due to the timing of its release, it is certain that some fanservice elements and foreshadowing of later works appear in "CCFF7 Reunion," but since they are all depicted as first appearances, beginners can enjoy the game with peace of mind.

Other points to note are that this work has been converted to full HD, a remarkable evolution from the original version, which was in picture quality for the PSP, a portable device. The PSP version has a rough look to the characters' hair, faces, and clothing, while the remastered version has finer details in facial expressions, wrinkles in clothing, and shadows created by these elements. The fully voiced characters, including the main characters and even the ordinary people around Midgar, greatly enhance the immersion in the worldview compared to the original version.

Excerpt from the official website. The left half is the PSP version and the right half is this game.

This work can be said to be a model of remastering, basically taking over the original version. The storyline is, of course, the same, as well as Zax's attack motions, the equipment available, and even the types of missions that are challenging. Compared to the remake of "FFVII," the characters' movements in the event scenes are more mechanical, but this is due to the fact that the game is based on the original work, and I personally did not mind it.

The mini-games that appear during the story, such as intercepting flying shells and infiltrating facilities, are also as they were back then.

The volume of the main story is quite compact. In the author's case, it took about 20 hours to reach the ending, although he played the game while completing a good number of missions, which are described below. If you just follow the story without worrying about the missions, you can finish the game in about 10 hours. If you set the difficulty level to "NORMAL," you will be able to proceed quickly and easily without encountering any particular obstacle, making it suitable for players who want to experience only the story of this work.

Battle system with new elements, including "D.M.W.," in which luck is involved

The battle system in this title is a combination of command selection and action. Basically, the player selects "Fight" with the □ button (in accordance with the DualShock controller) and wields the sword to attack the opponent's weak point with a special attack using "materia". In addition, the player can use the L1 button to defend against enemy attacks, and the X button to evade, etc., as needed. The game is not turn-based, but real-time, so you can feel a sense of speed.

Materia are set in advance; holding down L1 and pressing various buttons such as △ and □ consumes MP and activates the corresponding materia.

The "D.M.W. (Digital Mind Wave)," which was also present in the original game, is also present in this game, and refers to the slot displayed in the upper left corner of the battle screen. It is up to the player to decide what effect will appear at what time. It is completely up to luck.

In addition to luck, the effects that are triggered are all powerful. When the patterns are matched, a powerful technique called "Limit Break" can be activated. The contents of the limit break can vary depending on the pattern, such as inflicting massive damage to the entire enemy or restoring Zacks' HP and MP. The number of variations of Limit Break will increase as you progress through the storyline and complete missions. When a number is reached instead of a pattern, status enhancements are granted, such as invincibility for a certain period of time, zero MP consumption, and physical attack disablement.

After playing for about 20 hours, the probability that the D.M.W. reels will line up is quite high. Some effects are triggered even in the fight against zakos, and limit break can be used many times in the boss battles, which tend to be long battles. Even though it is an element of luck, the probability seems to have been well adjusted so that it can function as a means to fight the enemy.

In addition, two major new elements have been added to the battles in this title. The first is the "skill power gauge," which appears when an enemy uses a major technique. The gauge is initially set at 100%, but if the player reduces the gauge before a move is launched, the power of the move is reduced by the amount of the gauge reduction. If the gauge is reduced to zero, it is possible to stop the technique from being launched. Unlike the original, Limit Break can be used at any time in the new version, so you can save your Limit Break and activate it as soon as the opponent's Skill Power Gauge comes up, immediately blocking the big move.

In the original version, the only way to block an opponent's big move was to use the opponent's HP and defense to withstand it, which in a sense could only be done by force. In the new version, this problem has been eliminated, and the range of battles has been broadened.

The second new element is the "stance" and "hard strike" with the buster sword. This is released when Zax obtains the Buster Sword. When in stance, he can hold the Buster Sword horizontally toward the enemy, reducing the amount of damage he takes in the process. When attacking while in stance, the technique becomes "hard-hitting," and the motion changes to a heavy, sword-slamming blow. The motion changes to a heavy blow like a sword slap, dealing more damage than a normal melee attack. If you use a materia that consumes AP while in stance, the power of the attack will be greatly increased.

The flow of "ready" and "hard-hitting" is fixed, so basically, the enemy's attack is met with a ready stance and countered with a hard-hitting attack. The combination of agile normal attacks and heavy hard blows gives a sense of balance and makes the action-based battles in this title even more enjoyable. In addition, although we do not have the full details yet, the skill level of the Buster Sword increases as the player is hit by enemy attacks while holding it, with additional effects depending on the progress of the skill level.

However, the increase in proficiency is negligible, at 0.01% each time an opponent attacks. It takes a lot of time to increase proficiency.

Scene showing the use of the buster sword. Excerpt from the official website

Although not as significant as the new elements listed so far, another feature is that when the story progresses to a certain point, an evaluation is made at the end of a battle, and HP, MP, and AP are now recovered according to the achievements of the previous battle. The more difficult the achievement, the greater the recovery of various statuses.

This work has potions to recover HP, ether to recover MP, and soma to recover AP, but all of these must be purchased as needed, so it is nice to be able to follow up on the effort in this way. Once I was able to consistently complete the achievements, not only could I save items, but also the tempo of the gameplay itself was improved because I could focus that much more on the story and missions.

Quickly playable but challenging missions

Missions can be carried out in parallel with the storyline. Pressing the △ button while touching the save point opens a dedicated screen that displays a list of missions that can currently be accepted. The missions are divided into several difficulty levels and offer a variety of rewards, including materia and equipment that can be attached as accessories. Some of the items, such as summoner materia that can learn Limit Break and items that increase the number of equipment slots for accessories, are important and have a great impact on battles, so you will want to advance them often in between stories.

The map on which the missions take place uses part of the field, and although it depends on the location, it is not that large. It takes only a few minutes to go from the starting point of the mission to the goal. Depending on how well the player has trained Sachs, relatively easy missions with 1 or 2 stars can be completed easily.

As the story progresses, the ability to synthesize materia is unlocked. Depending on the combination of materia, powerful materia can be synthesized.

You will receive only one reward for each mission, but the mission itself can be taken as many times as you want, so you can use it to practice against certain zombie enemies and bosses. In particular, the missions that can be received in the latter half of the story and at the end of the game, there are many enemies that are much stronger than the story's bosses, so the missions should be actively utilized to test the current strength of the player.

Generous tutorial and strategy information

In this work, some of the e-mails that arrive on Zax's cell phone contain tutorial-like information that is useful for playing the game. At the beginning of the story, most of the information is rudimentary, such as the buttons required for various actions and an overview of D.M.W. However, as the story unfolds, the information is updated as needed.

The stories in the "Recommended Information" section are very important, and many of them are very informative, such as "Get the materia for the summoner Ifrito here in this mission," or "Get the address here for more stores where you can shop. In the "Let's synthesize materia" series, the author teaches you how to synthesize materia that will be useful from the beginning to the end of the story. It's a bit like a strategy book.

As for "FFVII," the first remake appeared in 2020, and the second is scheduled for release in the winter of 2023. As mentioned at the beginning of this paper, the story of "Crisis Core," which is the oldest chronologically, is naturally connected to the main story, and this is a unique opportunity to follow the story of the "FFVII" series in sequence. Behind the inclusion of many elements to make players comfortable, such as a friendly tutorial and recommendations, may be the developers' hope that many people will take the opportunity of the remake of the main "FFVII" to play the works from the same series.

While faithfully reproducing the original version, and taking into account remaster-like elements such as full voice and HD quality, this title also includes new elements such as exclusive attacks using the Buster Sword and status recovery after battle. This is not only a remastered version, but also a powered-up version, and is recommended not only for those who do not know the original game, but also for those who played "Crisis Core" back in the days of the original.

(Text by Yoshiyoshi Natsumashiuchi)

Title Information

CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION
(Crisis Core -FINAL FANTASY VII- Reunion)

Compatibility PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X│S, Steam

Genre Action RPG

Release date: December 13, 2022 (Tuesday)
Steam version will be released on December 14 (Wed.)

Price 6,820 yen (tax included)

CERO C (Ages 15 and up)

Official website #

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