‘Crisis Core Reunion’ is a fun yet flawed spinoff of classic ‘Final Fantasy’

When “Final Fantasy VII” was released in 1997 it became such a huge success that it developed a fandom larger than the series it came from. The universe was expanded to include spinoffs, movies and even a movie. They took place in different time periods and a larger story. “Crisis Core” is a prequel to the original game and the most substantial of the spinoffs and this new remaster dubbed “Crisis Core Reunion” does a great job of bringing it into modern times.

You play Zack Fair as a soldier for the Shinra Electric Power Company. His mentor Angeal and he are fighting a war against Wutai. As the battle progresses, he becomes involved in a bigger conflict within the company which employs him. Seeing how things played out years before the events of “Final Fantasy VII” is interesting, but the tone is inconsistent.

Zack is a fun character. He jokes around with people all the time and feels out of place within this game. It’s especially weird when you consider how self-serious the rest of the characters are, but sometimes even that feels like too much in the opposite direction. It is likely intentional that the main villains engage in long monologues, which make the story feel like a melodramatic play. However, the story picks up towards the end. It is fascinating to see how the original game events played out.

Combat is the best thing about the game. Battles feel more like an action-game with some RPG elements. The materia system allows players to customize Zack’s abilities whether they want to focus on doing magic attacks, raw physical damage or a mix of both. The downside is that unlike other games you only control Zack so the options with the materia system are a lot more limited compared to the original “FF7” or its remake.

Since this is a redone version of a game made for the PSP the general pacing feels like it’s made for smaller chunks of playtime as opposed to sitting down for hours. The main story isn’t long and the chapters go by fast. A combat simulator is available that offers a lot of small-sized missions. The game expects you will spend time there in order for the level curve to be maintained. It makes the game feel fast, but it does come at the cost of a shorter story than one might expect from a “Final Fantasy” game.

While “Final Fantasy VII Remake” is still being developed in parts this feels like a necessary release for those who want to fully understand the story of that remake. It’s like homework for an impending exam, but this remaster does a great job of making it feel modern. This new version gets three and a quarter stars, despite the flaws in the script and inconsistent characters.