Embrace your dreams and protect your honor... as SOLDIER!
Beaten: 2007, 2008, 2014-ish, got a little ways into the remaster in 2022
Version played: Playstation Portable (Japanese and English), Playstation 5 (Reunion)
Let's set the scene.
It's 2007. I have been obsessed with Final Fantasy VII since I played it the year before. I know that there's a new game coming out, and while it'll be out in English, that won't be for months. I desperately want to play it. I had a Playstation Portable, but I lost it on a trip, so I need a new one.
Oh, there's a limited edition PSP branded with art of the characters? And it's $400 on eBay? Well, I have $800 in savings from my high school job, so this is a really smart way to spend it, right?
I wish I was making this up, but it's all true. In my defense, I was 18, but even so, what a terrible financial decision.
Because, uh, the game it came with was in Japanese, a language I do not know. And yet I persisted anyway, finding scraps of translations online to understand the menu options and make my way through the game. I proceeded to complete the entire game and all of the side content in Japanese. And then I did it all over again when it came out in English.
I say all of this to explain that when I talk about Crisis Core, it's really hard to detach it from my adolescent love for it. These days, I am significantly more critical of the plot and characters, to the point that I feel like they subtract from what we learned in the original game. I do still have affection for it, of course, but I'm not looking at it with the rose-colored glasses of youth anymore. It's... just not a very good story.
It is, however, a very fun video game, which is why I picked up the remaster. I haven't gotten very far into it, but from what I've seen it's a very faithful update, warts and all. (Although unfortunately I don't care for the voice direction in the remaster; I'm too fond of the original voice cast.)
Favorite character
I have to say Zack because it's his game. Zack is probably one of the most likeable leads in the whole Final Fantasy series: he's just a good guy who wants to be a hero and protect the people he cares about, and he cares about pretty much everybody. That's what makes his story so tragic, and why it resonates so much. As much as I dislike a lot of the plot of Crisis Core, they absolutely nailed Zack, to me.
I used to have a lot of affection for Genesis, because I was a teenager who loved Gackt. I still love Gackt, but Genesis is... maybe not a great character. Ah, well.
I do also like Cissnei a lot, though I wish she had more character in this game.
Favorite music
I love this soundtrack so much I have a physical copy of it. I really don't buy physical copies of game soundtracks — I was an early convert to digital music and I have a very well maintained iTunes library even now in the age of Spotify. But this one is so good that I had to own it.
Takeharu Ishimoto absolutely hit it out of the park with this soundtrack. This is one I listen to with some regularity, because it's fantastic. This is what made me a fan of Takeharu Ishimoto's work in general, and I haven't disliked a single soundtrack of his yet.
Favorite tracks:
- Theme of CRISIS CORE "Successor"
- Encounter
- Last Order - Crisis Mix (from "LAST ORDER FFVII")
- Wandering on a Sunny Afternoon
- Conflict
- Theme of CRISIS CORE "Under the Apple Tree"
- The Clandestine Dark Suits (from FFVII "Turks' Theme")
- Combat
- Night of Seclusion
- The Price of Freedom
- Why
Favorite location
Okay, this is silly because this isn't a game with an explorable map, but my favorite zone is the one in optional missions that looks like the Chocobo Farm. Usually "Wandering on a Sunny Afternoon" plays on those missions, and it's always a delight to wander around there.
Other than that, nothing in particular. FFVII's world remains my favorite, and getting to explore more of Midgar is always fun.
Gameplay thoughts
Crisis Core is a blast, and always has been. The remaster refined the combat a little to the point that it felt just as good as the original. It's an action RPG with Zack as the sole playable character, and while you can always swing your sword around, the key is the materia system. Crisis Core does it differently than FFVII, and adds materia fusion into the mix to make even more powerful spells and abilities, and it works like a charm.
The story is fairly short and straightforward, and not particularly difficult, but the real meat is in the optional missions. They only take place on a handful of maps, some with only slight variations, and yet Crisis Core is so much fun to play that I don't mind tromping through the same environment a dozen times. The more missions you do, the better gear and materia you get, plus special items for materia fusion. Eventually it gets to a point that you can do max damage with every swing of your sword, which is basically a necessity to take on the superboss.
And then there's the Digital Mind Wave, which is basically a roulette wheel that spins and gives you various buffs and lets you do limit breaks and call down summons. No two fights are ever quite the same with the DMW spinning in the corner.
All told, it's very fun and very well put together for a portable spinoff.