Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - Reunion

Crisis Core – Final Fantasy VII Reunion is a masterclass on how to remaster a game. It has revamped graphics, combat, and voice acting. However, the PSP core is still inside the pretty graphics. Still have to deal with bite-size levels, poor lip flaps, upscaled grainy cinematics, and random encounters. Overall it is still a fantastic game.

An excellent master of a flawed old handheld game, with somewhat fewer warts.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion walks a tightrope between a remake and remaster. Most elements of the PSP version remain unchanged, including the story, DMV system and mission progression. The voice acting was done with a new cast, many visuals have been completely rebuilt and the combat mechanics have been redone where it plays like a modern action RPG, which may be the single biggest impr...

Yes, the mini-games are awful but they don't last very long, and yes, Genesis still sucks, but at least the rest of the cast manages to carry the game. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion isn't perfect, but it's got a lot of heart. And sometimes, that's enough.

As HD remasters go, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion goes above and beyond what’s expected in many regards. Its visuals have been lovingly brought up to date, and the combat has been tweaked to make it much more palatable to modern audiences. But some aspects of it, like its suffocating linearity, haven’t aged well at all. And then there’s Zack’s terrible voice acting. Still, if you’ve never...

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is a PSP exclusive spinoff from 2007 that's often remembered fondly through the tinted goggles of nostalgia. In truth, the original Crisis Core was a messy game when it first released, and it's only gotten worse with age. Much like Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the animated film that flanked it, Crisis Core was packed with cool ideas that appealed to fans of th...

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion is a beautiful remake of a good-but-not-great game. Its structure is more well-suited for the platform it originated on, and several of the one-shot gameplay concepts it introduces don’t really land as well as they probably did in 2007. Still, it’s got charm, and I love the unpredictable nature of the DMW and how it impacts the solid combat mechanics. I don’t...

An overhauled and elegant combat system is let down by writing, voiceover performances, and character-building stuck firmly in the past, even if Zack is still an easy hero to root for

“Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion looks like a modern game, but its aged PSP gameplay doesn't match the HD overhaul.”

A sensitive remaster of the PSP prequel that's recontextualised in the wake of Remake.

A straightforward remaster of the 2007 PSP original, Crisis Core is a perfectly fine action game that's received a handsome glow-up for 2022, but its story adds little to the wider FF7 plotline.

Ultimately, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion doesn’t do anything too crazy beyond massively upgrading the visuals and expanding the audio. And frankly, that’s good enough. The original PSP game was excellent with its strong central character and carefully crafted combat, and the addition of a right thumbstick on modern controllers to control the camera is a huge upgrade all by itself. By jus...