TGS 2022 - Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion Hands-on

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I'd pretty much given up on ever playing Crisis Core again.

Originally released in 2007 as part of the Final Fantasy VII Compilation series, it never left the PSP. No ports, no remasters, not even a digital release. It seemed its destiny was to be forever tied to Sony's first handheld and the doomed UMD format. As batteries bulged and units failed, fewer and fewer of us would have access to it.

And then something strange happened. Back in June, a multi-platform remaster was announced. 

Welcome back, Zack.

Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion was my first demo of TGS Day One. I have fond, but rapidly fading memories of playing the original on my trusty, white PSP back in the day, and of all the FFVII spin offs it was the one that I had enjoyed the most. So when the doors opened at 10am, Square Enix was where I headed first.

The fifteen-minute demo was available on PS5 and also on Switch, in handheld mode. You weren't able to select your preferred platform, and I ended up playing it on the latter. At first I was a little disappointed, as the PS5 would clearly be the superior of the two. However, it soon struck me that playing it handheld was a fitting way to revisit it, albeit not the way I'll opt to play it come December.

The demo opened with an arena-based battle against two towering giants. Zack seemed to have things under control, until he didn't, at which point your buster-sword-wielding mentor, Angeal, intervenes and saves the day. Following a few cutscenes, our group is attacked by mysterious soldiers, which eventually leads to a boss showdown against series-staple, Ifrit. As before, Zack is ultimately out of his depth and is saved by Sephiroth. As in the original, everything is exaggerated and a tad, dare I say it, anime.

At this point, it's important to stress that this is a remaster not a remake. There are gameplay improvements - the visuals have been converted to HD and new 3D models have been created for pretty much everything. All dialogue is now voiced, and the original has been re-recorded. Narratively, we've been told it remains faithful to the original. Of course, as a remaster of a PSP game it did occasionally feel dated. The environments have that same emptiness that plagued so many titles on that platform, and visually no one is going to mistake this for a brand new game.

Combat is real-time, fast and smooth, and if you've played FFVII Remake you'll feel right at home here. It was easy to switch between magic and melee, and keep your enemies on their toes. Avoidance appeared to be the best form of defense, as I dodged most standard attacks fairly effortlessly. I also instinctively utilized dodge to get behind my foes, but I couldn't tell whether slashing them from behind consistently led to increased damage or not. I essentially ignored the ability to guard, and wasn't punished for my reckless approach. The biggest difference between this and the PSP original is the ease of control. Simply by having an increased number of input options, in particular a second analogue stick, Crisis Core is so much easier to play now than it was fifteen years ago.

The roulette, slot-machine combat mechanic returns and I remain as confused about it as I was back in 2007. It randomly spits out combinations of character portraits and numbers - match three characters and it'll trigger your limit break, which you don't control. Other buffs, and more crucially the gaining of levels, is dependent on this randomized system. I was unable to decipher if the level of player control has been at least slightly increased in this regard. The slot machine adds a hectic and unpredictable element to combat, which is welcome at times but less so at others. Sometimes it heightens the excitement; at others it feels like unnecessary noise. 

A few gripes aside, I was impressed by Reunion. It would appear that we're getting a remake that will both embrace modern advancements yet remain true to the original. Looks like we'll soon have one less reason to worry about the condition of our rapidly-aging PSPs.

Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion will launch on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Switch and PC on December 13th.