In the mid-2000s, Nintendo may have easily dominated the handheld gaming space with the DS and its incredible lineup, but never let it be said that the PSP didn’t have its fair share of absolute bangers. One of the most memorable PSP titles was Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, a prequel to one of the greatest games Square’s ever managed to produce. Mixing fast-paced hack ‘n’ slash combat with a story that was just as endearing and heartbreaking as the original Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core quickly built a strong reputation for itself. Now that Square is in the process of, uh, redoing Final Fantasy 7, the developer has seen fit to bring Crisis Core to modern audiences to bring them up to speed on certain plotlines and characters ahead of the launch of Rebirth next winter. We’re pleased to report that this remake has been a resounding success; Crisis Core was always a great game and now it looks and plays better than ever.
Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion, to give it its full title, places you in the role of Zack Fair, a peppy, cocky, and impressively skilled mercenary working for a paramilitary group called SOLDIER, which exists to maintain the interests of the hegemonic Shinra Electric Power Company. Though Shinra is of course the nefarious, puppy-kicking megacorporation you’d expect it to be, Zack genuinely dreams of being a ‘hero’ and wants to do the right thing. His world starts to unravel, however, when a high-level SOLDIER operative named Genesis goes rogue and takes a stand against Shinra. What follows is an increasingly bizarre journey into a world of aliens, clones, and genetic modification that somehow manages to stay coherent and alluring all the way through.
Though this narrative certainly features the series' goofy writing at its most, it’s the heart-to-heart moments between key characters that make it all worth it. [Update: A previous version of this review stated that designer Tetsuya Nomura was responsible for the writing — Crisis Core was in fact written by Kazushige Nojima with Sachie Hirano. We apologise for the error.] For example, Zack idolizes his mentor Angeal—a stoic, but compassionate SOLDIER operative wielding the iconic Buster Sword—and seeing how this relationship ebbs and flows over the course of the story really keeps you engaged when another hilariously angsty, poetry-reading villain makes you roll your eyes. Make no mistake, some of the writing and characters here are like something you’d expect to find scribbled in a moody theater kid’s fanfic notebook, but the way that it all comes together in the end somehow just saves Crisis Core from feeling downright silly.
As a portable game, Crisis Core was designed to be played in bite-sized chunks. There are ten story-focused chapters you can participate in that each take roughly an hour to complete, but anywhere throughout them you can choose to engage in missions via save points. These are each only a few minutes in length and usually just task you with exploring a small zone and killing a certain number or type of enemies. Each zone you enter usually has a few treasure chests hidden around its hallways, and you'll occasionally be interrupted while exploring by the sudden onset of a random battle. Some may not enjoy this ‘stop and go’ mission-based setup as much, but we felt that there were adequate rewards for knocking out missions, and they provide a nice distraction from the main narrative from time to time.
Crisis Core’s combat takes the shape of an action-focused hack ‘n’ slash, reminding us of the Kingdom Hearts series with its flashiness. Mashing the ‘Y’ button is usually all that it takes to cut most enemies to ribbons, with each hit always being punctuated by a satisfying screen shake and slight rumble of the controller. You also have a selection of magical attacks and special attacks you can deploy at will to exploit enemy weaknesses, though these attacks are limited by your available MP or AP. Crisis Core may feel a little simplistic in practice, then, but we found that the thrills of its fast pace more than make up for whatever shallowness there may be in its combat mechanics.
A key element of both combat and progression is the DMW—or Digital Mind Wave—which is a literal slot machine that is constantly running various numbers and character images in the corner of your screen during combat. If the slots land on certain combinations of numbers, you’ll get random buffs in battle like taking no physical damage or having all spells temporarily cost zero MP. If the slots land on a certain character’s image, you’ll be given a powerful Limit Break or summon attack to dish out massive pain on your foes.
At first, it feels a little weird having this completely random and unreliable assortment of buffs that might or might not really help you in this fight, but we found it inoffensive in practice. You don’t have to babysit or directly interact with it during a fight, so if you adjust your fighting strategy to simply not account for the existence of the DMW, then every time it actually does do something in your favor, it feels like a genuine bonus.
The DMW is also responsible for all your direct character progression, which feels like an interesting callback to the SaGa series. All of Zack’s materia and even his overall level can only be leveled up if the DMW numbers happen to line up in just the right way. If there’s a specific materia you’re trying to max out for a fusion or you want to grind up Zack’s level a little bit to take on a tougher mission, well, you’re just going to have to wait until the DMW decides to give you the power bumps you’re hoping for. This may sound infuriating, but we suspect that there’s a much more linear calculation happening somewhere behind the scenes, as we never felt like Zack’s level or materia was not sufficient to meet the demands of a given difficulty level.
Though much of Zack’s progress is tied to the DMW, you’re still given some agency over his build via equipping and fusing materia. Each materia corresponds to a different spell, ability, or stat parameter, and you have nowhere near as many available slots as you do materia. It’s fun to design specific loadouts to different mission types, and we enjoyed that there’s a meaningful sense of progress over time as you build your materia collection and gradually acquire more powerful varieties. Plus, once you’ve maxed out a materia’s level (or you just have way too many lying around), you can fuse any two together to make a new or more powerful variant. This system does well to offset the randomness of the DMW; together they feel like a perfectly balanced means of driving character growth.
This being a remake, Crisis Core has clearly benefited from borrowing various assets and designs from the recent Final Fantasy 7 revisit. Though the character models can sometimes have that glassy-eyed look, we were impressed by the visual fidelity here. Whether you’re fighting Ifrit in the depths of a fiery volcano or exploring the picturesque village of Banora, there are plenty of high-res textures and varied locales on display that make this feel more like a slightly downscaled port of a current-gen game.
The native resolution obviously makes all the models and environments look a little ‘soft’, but this feels very much like a game that should not be running on the Switch anywhere near as well as it does. It may run at only 30FPS, but that frame rate remains smooth regardless of what’s happening onscreen, which is often quite a bit. Every swing of Zack’s sword is accompanied by an array of sparks and flashy animations to really sell each hit, while the summon animations are almost comical in how over the top they can be. We applaud Square for its efforts here — a far cry from the disappointing cloud situation with the Kingdom Hearts games on Switch.
Conclusion
Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion is everything that we hoped this remake would be. It takes a great game once shackled to handheld-only hardware and brings it forth to a new generation with a fresh coat of paint. Though some may be put off by its mission-based gameplay structure or the sometimes ridiculous writing, its excellent combat, gorgeous presentation, and heartfelt narrative combine to make this one that no RPG fan will want to miss out on, especially those who were fans of Final Fantasy VII. Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion is a fantastic addition to the Switch’s ever-growing library of great RPGs, we’d advise you to give this one a go.
Comments 72
Great! Awesome to read that Square Enix didn't release a bad version of the game compared to other consoles. I'll buy it on Switch now.
I'm starting to hope that after Nier: Automata and this game they might reverse their decision to make Kingdom Hearts cloud only. I'd buy a physical version of that collection in a heartbeat.
Seems kinda weird to get this but not the FF7 remake but okay
I wasn't expecting this one to be this good. While Nomura writing is a personal big con, there is no "too many well made fun action RPG" to me
@Aerona I agree, although if they do release it on Switch, I fear it might be a Cloud version (pun intended)
@Aerona The FFVII remake isn't a true retelling of the original FFVII though so not getting that on Switch is okay since Crisis Core connect to the story of the original and not the remake.
"Square didn't make this one a cloud game"
Well obviously yes, this one is a Zack game instead.
I've seen a few videos on the Switch version and while it's disappointing Crisis Core is just 720p docked the frame rate is very good with very few dips below 30fps so a very good port. Also pop in is very annoying on the Switch version
Wooo I'm stoked. I've only waited fifteen years to play this game. Merry Christmas to meeeeeee!
So I'm guessing this is a shot-for-shot remake/remaster of Crisis Core and not and actual reimagining on the same level as FF7R?
Although the game is not out until tomorrow, I can't help but notice that recent reviews from Nintendolife are frequently delayed in comparison with other sites. This review was out on other pages, including brother-site PushSquare for almost a week now. Just seems strange. As long as the review is out before the actual launch date it is fine with me as in this case, but other titles didn't while similar pages had.
Calling this out because I buy digitally and never pre-order. So if I want to buy a day one, I need to see reviews before that
I hope Santa gets me this and (finally) Luigi's Mansion 3.
This actually looks so good on the switch? What the heck! Definitely a Gonna pick it up after I finish 7 at some point.
I decided to go with the PS5 version (will be delivered today) for 4K, 60fps, trophy support, and because I have FF7 Intergrade on PS5. It's nice to know the Switch version is good also. I'll probably pick up a copy after a price drop. It's just strange having Crisis Core on Switch & Xbox but not FF7 Remake.
This is in my backlog, but there is a long line of them so dont know when I will get to it.
Glad it reviewed well as I love the original FF VII and never had a PSP so this will give me more info into one of my most beloved games.
I love jrpg but I tried 4 differents final fantasy and I didn't like them. Well....lasts FF aren't jrpg
Locked and loaded for tomorrow. I've had it pre-ordered for a bit, so I'll be picking up at best buy tomorrow.
For those on the fence most of the senior team that worked on this game also worked on Final Fantasy Type-0 and Final Fantasy XV. This was more Hajime Tabata's baby than Nomura's. So if you like Type-0 and XV you'll probably enjoy Crisis Core. Especially if you liked the FFVII Remake.
Also clarification on the review the game was not written by Nomura rather by Kazushige Nojima (Bahamut Lagoon and Final Fantasy XIII) and Sachie Hirano (The World Ends With You, Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy XIII). So, a little weird to mention Nomura in your review rather than those two.
@Controller-Drift honestly sounds better. They're giving their staff the time to play through what games have to offer as well as actually get some rest, haha
Got my copy yesterday.
I'll just share my thoughts from the thread.
The Switch version is very good.
There's a bit of jagged edges noticeable at times, which is expected for most Switch games, but it seems to be using some fairly high quality AA to smooth things over.
It looks very crisp and clean, runs fantastic, load times are fast... and best of all, the game is very fun to play. The action combat works well for this game as a sort of spinoff prequel. I love the battle system. Getting slots lined up is exciting as it's constantly spitting out "No MP use!!!" or "No AP use!!!" or "Limit Break Available!!!", etc. So I go ham with materia spells or special physical attacks when those messages pop up.
Camera controls are well done, a good lock on system, tutorials are good but not overbearing. It's just a quality release through and through.
This game feels built ground up for Switch. Let's just put it that way. You know how games built for Switch always look and run really good, much better than most multiplats? That's what this game feels like. As if Switch was target platform. Whether or not that's true Idk, but the result is the same.
One of the things I really like about this game is, it feels very similar to Final Fantasy VII Remake, but with one important differentiator.
Remake really aggravated me with its forced slow walking for "cinematic purposes" and integrated in-game cutscenes that would sporadically take control away from the player without any visual indication.
Whereas this game does none of that nonsense. It's either gameplay, or it's pre-rendered cutscene. And there's no mistaking the two. The game never takes control away by seamlessly integrating in-game sequences either. And it makes it so much more enjoyable to play.
I love me games like this that take full advantage of the Switch hardware to produce a game that looks and plays great in both docked and handheld without looking super blurry. Games such as Nier Automata, Persona 5 Royal, Monster Hunter Rise Sunbreak, Skyrim, Diablo 3, Dragon Quest Treasures, Portal Collection, and of course, Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core.
@Wexter I know right, it's annoying when Nomura get blamed for every crazy FF story.
@New-Moonbeam you can critique Nomura's writing as much as you want, but at least do it for games he actually worked on! I think he was just a producer on this version, but he was not part of the writing room to my knowledge.
@Nikhogan if that is the case then yes! Absolutely, that guarantees better reviews too, although I am anxious.
But if it is due to them receiving the review codes later than the rest, then it is not
Does one need to have played through FF7 to enjoy this?
@mereel no if anything you play this first before Final Fantasy 7
@KBuckley27 I'm not sure if I agree with that. Getting into Final Fantasy VII is both insanely complicated and insanely simple at the same time. If you want to experience Final Fantasy VII as intended by the original series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, you play the PSOne version of Final Fantasy VII before anything else.
The reason is because events in Crisis Core and Remake spoil and directly contradict events in the original FFVII.
If for whatever reason you don't want to play the original Final Fantasy VII, then you can probably get away with playing Crisis Core before VII Remake (despite the name VII Remake is not a remake, but rather a reimagining of the original).
Enjoy friends.
"Square didn't make this one a cloud game"
Not sure if this point is a compliment or jab. XD
Good to see from this and other reviews, that it's a well done version of the game. They should marked it like hell.
I'm picking it cheap at a local retailer, as a gift to a friend who's been interested in FF but never dipped. This should be small enough to give him a good taste, and may be his entry to bigger RPGs.
"Nomura's goofiest writing"...thats a big statement there. This dude is a circus clown franchise-ruiner on the loose that needs to be put away for a long time.
@invictus4000 He didn't write this though, he wasn't even the producer according to Wikipedia. Good grief you people's hate boner for the man, you would think he murdered your whole family.
@JaxonH Thanks so much for the thoughtful and detailed review - much appreciated. Where on earth to start with FF on Switch for n00bs?
The original handheld game was really bad so I'm not expecting much from this.
Looks like it runs amazingly, great job Square Enix! Game Freak needs to take note....
Is this a good game to jump back into Final Fantasy on the Nintendo Switch?
Last time I played Final Fantasy was 7 on the PS1. Seen the Nintendo Switch has pretty much every Final Fantasy game but lack the time to invest replaying all the games. This game a good to get me back into the world?
Hope someone in my family gets it for me for Christmas. Otherwise, this will have to wait a bit
Too much to play now, but I'll get this game later on for sure, the original in PSP was awesome.
I agree with some, come on SE, release the first Kingdom Hearts normally!
Any good past FF that can come to Switch is all the better. As for the newer series - well that would be good to have as well since that will make it more for FF fans since they can be on the go. But sadly this is up to Sony - which has it's head in the sand and can't see that having a portable Switch version will get more gamers coming since they aren't no longer tied to the TV.
@JaxonH I'm pretty unfamiliar with Crisis Core. A reviewer in the UK that I monitor on-and-off hates musou games because of the repetitive combat, always marks games down ridiculously if they're musou. They gave this release (playing the PS5 version, so not marked down due to Switch downscaling or anything) a 4/10, which made me jump to the assumption that it must play like a musou game. Any truth in that?
@gcunit
Not at all.
Combat encounters feel basically like FFVII Remake. Nothing like a musou though, that's for sure. I love the combat. It's fun.
So glade it has a good score as I have it on order
Are they actually going to explain why he has a slot machine in his brain, this time?
@New-Moonbeam If it makes you feel better they seemed to have removed the mention of Nomura from the title of the article and all what is left is the highly inaccurate and clunky mention of him in the review itself. Still not sure why Nomura is being mentioned, but it seems to have been partially corrected. Hope Mitch can clarify or update the article as mistakes happen or I'm just unaware of Nomura's involvement with the writing. As on a personal level I don't think the mention in the review is really all that necessary and could just be removed in general.
@JaxonH Or maybe Final Fantasy VII Remake's combat feels like Crisis Core? Oooooh! All kidding aside, basically yeah. I'd say the combat feels more like an RPG hack-and-slash than a game like the Dynasty Warrior games.
Really fun combat and it seems Reunion tightened up an already pretty great combat system from the PSP original.
@Aerona While playing this, I was wondering myself if Square has plans to bring FF7R to Switch someday. Given that this uses so many assets from that game, I think it would be completely possible.
@ModdedInkling Yeah, unaltered story here. I think that was the point, so audiences would be more familiar with Zack's story ahead of his involvement in Rebirth.
@Controller-Drift Though I can't speak for other games, the embargo for the Switch version of this only lifted today; it was separate from the other versions.
@mereel I wouldn't say so. You'll obviously get more out of the appearances of FF7 characters, but this tells a narrative that's completely self-contained.
Nomura was the character designer for Crisis Core, but WAS NOT a writer. Might want to correct the review?
Real fact: Nomura didn’t write anything in this game. Don't do it for the sake of reviewing. Get it done by someone who knows their business.
I'll be picking it up on PC in the hopes that someone is able to mod Rick Gomez's original Zack voice in.
@Wexter Thanks for flagging. I've updated the review and the headline to correct the mistake and add the names of the writers. Our apologies for the error.
@SwitchVogel oh then that's why. Strange that they did that difference for Switch. Glad that it is still a great version for Nintendo. Thank you!
You’re right. It’s not a cloud game. It’s a Zack game.
Nice. Definitely picking this up later down the road, good on SE for optimizing the Switch version well.
@dartmonkey NP! It was probably just an honest mistake because of all the Remake news!
This was one of my favorite psp games so I look forward to playing it tomorrow.
@Serpenterror Really? I didn't know the changes made to ff7 affected anything in Crisis Core
@Aerona I know, I think all we can hope for is a port of FFVII Ever Crisis until new hardware is released.
@New-Moonbeam Lol nah just murdered my childhood.
Also...respect for the Rinoa pic!
@PtM Some companies build that into their games, any screenshots you take are immediately branded with it.
@Controller-Drift in the case of this game I know outlets didn't get switch copies at the same time as pc/ps codes
The level up system works in a specific way, and I don't think the game tells you this. You gain XP like any other game, but you only level up if the DMW spins its level up combination. This means that if you gain enough XP before that happens, you can gain multiple levels in one go.
Materia works a little differently, and can be leveled up without any XP by just leaving the game running in a combat scenario that you can't lose, and eventually the DMW will level them all up for you with no input.
@Aerona Well the Final Fantasy VII remake is WAY more demanding, getting that running and looking decent on the Switch would be very impressive though.
This is essentially a PSP game with prettier visuals.
So basically loads of small areas that are glued together with loading screens. This allow the game to be very lightweight in terms of performance compared to a modern game.
If they released FFVII Remake on Switch, I suspect it would be a cloud version.
I'm so excited to play this!
"Mashing the ‘Y’ button is usually all that it takes to cut most enemies to ribbons, with each hit always being punctuated by a satisfying screen shake and slight rumble of the controller."
Sounds thrilling.
Surprisingly great FF spinoff, I enjoyed it more than FFX-2 or the two FFXIII sequels. It’s good it got a resurrection, even if the “chirpy, optimist hero!” JRPG trope is about as tired as the whole JRPG genre.
Was never going to buy a psp, but this game allllllllmost made me break down. Glad I get to play it finally!
Really impressed with this, it feels like they really went above and beyond both in terms of bringing it to modern systems and bringing that version to the switch.
would be cool to see if the FFVII remake/rebirth/revengence trilogy would be viable for a theoretical "switch 2"
I'm so glad this performs well and that it isn't a cloud game like the Kingdom Hearts Collection. Looking forward to play this. Great christmas gift <3 .
@Aerona
Sorry for replying to an old post. Without spoiling too much, Final Fantasy VII Remake doesn't just have a few "changes" here and there. It's a reimagining that, potentially, deeply transforms Zach's role in the overall story arc. It plays like a scene-by-scene remake at times, but it's ultimately a stealth sequel (because the existence of the original is part of Remake's narrative) that sends the post-Midgar plot into unknown territory. This is what the post you were replying to meant. Crisis Core connects seamlessly to the original VII, of course, but it's not so clear how fully it'll connect to Remake, though obviously it'll still provide backstory and that's why they're re-releasing Crisis Core now, matching the art style to Remake and the upcoming Rebirth, and even adding a Re-Something word to the title. (Also, and this may not apply to you, but this is why I always recommend people play the original VII first, if they have the mildest interest in it. I think doing so enhances Remake and, frankly, some scenes in Remake barely make sense or won't cause any emotional impact at all unless you know the original.)
@Beaucine Ah I see, thanks for the explanation 😄
@Beaucine
"...but it's ultimately a stealth sequel (because the existence of the original is part of Remake's narrative) that sends the post-Midgar plot into unknown territory."
I think you have watched some conspiracy videos about where it is potentially going due to X and Y and thus then believing it to be a stealth sequel, which it hasn't been confirmed to be and likely isn't but is exciting, whether it's clutching at straws or not.
Yes I grant you there are strong parts that suggest it could be going elsewhere, but that is also exactly what you want from a marketing and hype perspective for the next part.
It keeps new fans intrigued but also none the wiser and old fans either excited or cautious about where it will go, both add to hype.
An if you wanted FF7R to be the original literally with modern graphics, then you likely didn't like FF7R in the first place so they won't be aiming for that backing knowing not everyone would be happy.
For me, I think it will keep fleshing out story elements that were insinuated but were not shown or show it deeper or make some characters a bigger part of the story, but it will ultimately tell the same one.
@Rosona
Other than Tim Rogers' 3-hour video, I haven't watched or read any conspiracy theories. I didn't need to. I just don't see any other way to interpret the ending to FF7R. It's not clutching at straws, it's what explicitly happens at the end: the story goes off rails because the characters — and spoiler warning here — literally defeat the physical manifestations or protectors of fate, who were keeping the plot aligned with the original game. This is a major plot point that's called out in the dialogue, not my interpretation. We can argue semantics about whether the above makes Remake a "stealth sequel" or not, but, frankly, if the second part doesn't go off into unexplored territory, I'd consider that a major letdown. It's not about marketing, it's about narrative logic and coherence. Even the naming — Rebirth — points in this direction. They'll probably revisit many of the same locations, though, for the vibes. They might even find a way to echo the original's narrative structure. But with everything they set up, I do expect major shifts. Anything else would be a copout, in my opinion.
I so want Remake on switch🥲
@Diowine Why do you need to buy it on day one?
Just picked this up on sale, it's REALLY good! Sure, the dialogue is a little ridiculous, but it's a gorgeous remaster, the combat is excellent, and there's a ton to do. Not bad for $28.
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