Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion Release Date, Trailer, More | digital trends (2023)

"Embrace your dreams. And whatever happens, protect your honor as a SOLDIER." These words are perhaps the most defining part of Cloud's personality in Final Fantasy VII, as well as in the remake. Spoken to him by Zack at the end of the original Crisis Core, the story of this top SOLDIER was unfairly tied to the PSP for generations Unlike some other media surrounding the original game, Crisis Core adds a lot of important context to the overall story of Cloud and seems to be even more important in the new trilogy, based on a massive change revealed at the end of Remake.

Luckily, you don't have to dig up or buy a dusty old PSP to try out this amazing title, as Square Enix has revealed that Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion, a full remake of the game, is on its way to your modern rig. This game is perfect for holding you back until Final Fantasy VII Rebirth comes out in late 2023 or early 2024, but don't expect it to be exactly like those games. If you've never played the PSP Original, here's everything you need to know about Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion.

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release date

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion will be released on December 13, 2022.

platforms

Unlike the original Crisis Core, or even Remake and Rebirth, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion will not be exclusive to a single platform. In fact, this could be the Final Fantasy game to launch on most platforms of all titles. You can pick it up for the PS4,PS5, Xbox One,Xbox-Serie X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC at startup.

Fan

The announcement trailer for Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion was shown during a packed Final Fantasy VII 25th Anniversary Event. While there have been some leaks, this still came as a huge surprise to most.

The trailer kicks off with the game's most iconic and memorable moment, which sets up the setup for the original's final mission. Zack stands up to an army of Shinra soldiers who proclaim that "the price of freedom is high". It's not critical, but we noticed that for consistency, Zack's lines were all re-recorded with the new actor who played him in Remake.

As we move on to a mission, Zack is attacked at the train station in Midgar, and we take a quick look at the game in action before reintroducing Genesis, the game's missing villain. We also meet Angeal, Zack's mentor and original owner of the Buster Sword. Zack and Sephiroth also talk about Genesis, which we also see. Another fun fact: Genesis is modeled after Japanese rock star and actor Gackt, who also voices the character in the Japanese dub. It has never been confirmed, but has often been suggested that the reason Crisis Core has never been ported before was due to legal rights over Gackt's likeness.

Later we see Zack and Aerith's first meeting in the Sector 5 church and hear Zack's dream of becoming a hero. When we cut back to the first shot, Zack draws his sword and says, "Embrace your dreams. And whatever happens, protect your honor as a SOLDIER!” before charging into battle.

While you could, of course, indulge yourself on the whole storyline of Crisis Core, here's a more sensitive overview of events. However, keep in mind that if it is to match Remake as we suspect, we already know that the game's conclusion will be changed, so there could be other changes to the story as well. We also know that the entire game will now feature voice acting, unlike the original.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion is set seven years before the events of Final Fantasy VII and focuses on Zack Fair, a candidate for Shinra's SOLDIER program, which Sephiroth is still a part of at the time. This happens during the war between Shinra and Wutai hinted at in Final Fantasy VII and Remake, but Zack's main mission is to hunt down Genesis, another top-notch SOLDIER like Sephiroth who has defected from Shinra and is creating clones of himself in order to to attack Shinra. Along the way, he'll also meet a certain prickly infantryman named Cloud, who he'll befriend on a mission to Nibelheim.

The release date for Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion arrived with another short trailer. This featured many of the cutscenes we'd seen before, but also included some new footage of boss fights against large mechs, Genesis, and even Sephiroth. It also lets us finally get a look at the younger Cloud, plus lots of little interactions with the cast, like Sephiroth and Genesis and Zack and Aerith.

playing style

The gameplay shown for Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion looks very similar to the original, albeit with some modern updates like character and camera controls. If you've never played the original, some aspects of the game probably look pretty confusing. Here's a simple breakdown of what to expect.

🎥 Improved camera and character movements
📝 Optimized user interface
⚔️ A new menu-based combat system
🎵 New background music arrangements by Takeharu Ishimoto
🗣️ Added full voice acting to scenes that were previously just text

Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - Reunion will be released this winter.pic.twitter.com/oIh9o7qpqK

– FINAL FANTASY VII (@finalfantasyvii)July 5, 2022

This is an action RPG, so movements and attacks will all take place in real time, just like Remake. You have basic sword combos, a context menu to use your abilities and materia, dodge rolls, blocks, and most importantly, the Digital Mind Wave.

Referred to as DMW for short, this is the roulette-like row of symbols at the top-right of the screen. This is the closest thing to Limit Breaks from Final Fantasy VII, but obviously works very differently and can lead to many different outcomes. Each of the three slots spins until it stops on a character portrait along with a number, the combination of which determines what you get. Spinning costs 10 SP (SOLDIER points). The left portrait will stop first, followed by the far right one. If the two portraits match, a Limit Verge begins and pauses the action for the final spin. Sometimes this triggers a flashback related to which character portrait was matched, but eventually the middle reel stops. If all three match, Zack will restore his HP, MP, and AP, and potentially go beyond his current caps on those stats. He will also unlock a Limit Break to use during this fight.

If the first two spins don't match, the middle reel will stop as usual, followed by the numbers. Without matching portraits, the bonus you get is entirely determined by the numbers, which can be a number of things such as: E.g. temporary invincibility, all critical attacks, no MP cost for the rest of the fight and so on.

There's also a deep emotion system associated with the DMW that changes based on the story and character relationships, but that's better discovered as you play.

Since the original was a portable title, the game follows a mission-based structure. Zack will take on smaller missions in various locations alongside the main story missions where you can level up, earn money, items and materia. Now that Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion is coming to consoles, that might feel a bit out of place, but if load times are short enough or non-existent, it won't be too distracting.

multiplayer

No question, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion is single player all day. The original didn't have it, and neither will this one.

pre-order

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion is still in a nebulous winter release window, but this season isn't too far away. As soon as we get details on the final release date and the pre-order situation is explained, we will lay everything out for you here.

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