Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion (Switch) Review

Portable Design with a Modern Update

Millions of players entered the cyberpunk fantasy world of Final Fantasy VII through the 2020 remake after waiting more than a decade for the idea to be realized. While the game put longtime fans through a range of emotions, (even going as far as charting a brand new path through a narrative that is deeply familiar to many and celebrated by countless fans) any newcomers to this world might be confused about the inclusion of a few characters. Originally expanding on Shinra’s side of the story prior to the events of FFVII, Crisis Core tells the story of Zack Fair, a haughty and often naive member of SOLDIER a private army of the dominating energy company Shinra which has an iron grip on the use of Mako, a source that we quickly learn drains from the entire planet’s lifeforce. This prequel backdrop enhances a lot of the original Final Fantasy VII, further realizing the visual language and deepening the world-building in a way that polygonal models often failed to do particularly for the city of Midgar. However, with a new wave of fans and further importance placed upon understanding the expanded (often messy) universe of Final Fantasy VII, making Crisis Core more available was paramount as we are coming closer to the release of the second part of the FF7 Remake tale, dubbed Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Thankfully, a full remaster of Zack’s adventure has been released on multiple platforms as Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion.

Crisis Core Reunion is an impressive modernization of one of the more celebrated entries in the FFVII timeline. Character models have been upgraded, the voice acting was updated, and combat was improved with several quality-of-life features added to smooth out the game’s overall experience. Generally, the design philosophy appeared to be to further align Zack’s world with the latest lens of the FFVII Remake, making some areas feel almost identical and aligning the idea that this game takes place in the same city of Midgar we see in the FFVII Remake. Aside from a cohesive pass to improve the game, Crisis Core Reunion keeps the core gameplay and story intact.

With that philosophy utilized, Crisis Core Reunion feels like an odd blend of new and old, often highlighting the design elements of the past in a starkly negative light. This was also something I noticed in my last playthrough of Kingdom Hearts II but Crisis Core Reunion suffers from a lot of stop-and-go segments. Nearly the entire game results in seeing a cutscene, walking a few meters, and triggering another scene or a combat encounter. There is a constant interruption and many fights resolve in less than a minute making the game feel more akin to a beat-em-up than a character action game. Exploration is less about locales and more about navigating menus, something that also carries over into other titles but feels painful as we still are not given full reigns of Midgar, a city perfect for establishing a sense of place through discovery. That said, stage backgrounds are often gorgeous in Crisis Core Reunion, making everything feel more cohesive thematically.

Furthermore, the RPG elements don’t add a lot of depth either as one is either completely overpowered or extremely incapable of dealing with enemies with little in between. This is not to the fault of Reunion’s approach to keeping things authentic to the original which does improve the game’s overall combat significantly but I would have liked to see more elements work in tandem to create a more focused critical path through the game’s story. This is coupled with the less-intrusive but still chaotic DMW slot system that grants random bonuses and allows for the opportunity to manually perform powerful Limit Break attacks or Summon iconic beings such as Ifrit or Bahamut. Animations for the summons look particularly impressive as they were completely remade for Reunion while the game’s cutscenes were upscaled. While the DMW is much better than the PSP version, the combat still feels like a toss-up and less about skill or good decision-making.

I think the game’s inconsistent but tolerable performance on Nintendo Switch might contribute to this but there feels like a noticeable amount of input delay and carryover. This is most evident in the way Zack moves; rather than snapping to place, he tends to jog as he slows down and often will travel in the complete opposite direction in tight spaces. This makes fine motor control such as landing on a save point more awkward than it should be.

I felt similarly in the game’s combat which almost takes actions in a queue. Paired with the ease with which enemies can interrupt Zack’s attacks (something that he thankfully overcomes mechanically and thematically by the time he is passed down the iconic Buster Sword) makes the combat feel unwieldy. This might be intentional because of Zack’s character as a talented but inexperienced fighter but I believe this might be merely a disconnect with inputs and the game’s slower framerate on the Switch. I’d love to sit down with the game on PS5 to compare but maybe the game’s feel could be improved in a patch. Either way, playing Crisis Core Reunion on a Switch is a novel experience that takes me back to the days of knocking out missions in bed on the PSP. Unfortunately, that gameplay just doesn’t resonate with me as much as it did back then.

Where Crisis Core always stood out though was its story, focusing on the relationship of SOLDIER’s toughest heroes: Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth. This creates an edgy character drama full of fun moments but ultimately serves as a way to flesh out the motivations and pasts of these characters while giving players an interesting antagonist with Genesis. The story is often ridiculous but it is charming with its 2000s anime tone, much like what was seen in Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. This likely means that the creatives behind these games recognize the appeal of these types of stories, making Reunion’s tone slightly off but in a way that is authentically Final Fantasy VII.

While the game’s script was touched up, the story largely remains the same in Reunion but uses voice actors found in the FFVII Remake. What results though is an inconsistent delivery of lines that is most painful in Zack’s initial meeting with Aerith. The spoken lines are weirdly stilted with strange timing which is unfortunate considering how much better the voice acting is through much of FFVII Remake compared to other Square Enix games. It is wonderful to see Shinra’s employees adding a lot of depth to the game’s setting and I think much of why FFVII has stood the test the time is because of the efforts to flesh out the world through games like Crisis Core. Even though I found myself not fully enjoying the return trip to Zack’s missions, I did have a tendency to listen more intently to dialogue and read the game’s emails with more interest.

When Reunion was first announced, I was really hoping for Square Enix to add in extra scenes or even provide a new ending. That is simply not the case and I feel like that is a bit of a missed opportunity to tease diehard FFVII fans for the upcoming Rebirth. FFVII Remake was a bold statement in the world of video game remakes and I wanted to see that again here but I do understand the reservation. Even a Kingdom Hearts-style secret boss or scene would have made Reunion far more interesting but this is a 2007 handheld game with a 2022 update and comes with the limitations of doing that type of game development.

All in all, it was smart for Square Enix to release a remake of Crisis Core to further prepare people for the events of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which is currently slated for the winter of 2023. I think that more could be done to improve Crisis Core’s overall gameplay but I think the decision to keep it rather faithful to the original was the right choice for the game’s legacy. I’ve written a ton about the way Square Enix mostly honors its past through modern ports, remasters, and full remakes and it’s interesting to see yet another example of the company recognizing its past. So many game studios move forward without any regard to their legacy so it is awesome to see a publisher keep games available, especially considering their next big release hinges on the world established through those extra stories in the world of Final Fantasy VII.

I do wish that the experience found in Crisis Core Reunion was more refined and the performance on Switch could certainly be improved but this is a great way to refamiliarize oneself with Zack, Sephiroth, Aerith, and the rest of Midgar’s cast of interesting characters. That said, Reunion might be enjoyed best on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC but it is playable on Switch.

SCORES

GAMEPLAY - 7/10

VISUALS - 6/10

SOUND - 8/10

CONTROLS - 6/10

REPLAY VALUE - 7.5/10

OVERALL - 6.9/10

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion is available on Nintendo Switch, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC. More information can be found on the official website. A digital Switch copy was provided for the purpose of review. Screenshots were captured using the native features of the Nintendo Switch.