Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion hands-on preview: Another promising remaster for fans

Crisis Core celebrates its 15th anniversary this year with an HD remaster

Characters like Sephiroth will make a grand return (iStock/The Independent)

Following on from the success of 2020’s Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and hitting shelves before the release of next year’s Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Crisis Core Reunion is an upcoming remaster of the highly acclaimed 2007 spin-off.

With characters such as Cloud Strife and Sephiroth making appearances, Crisis Core told a new story about Shinra and its team of mercenaries seven years before they came to be defined by the events of Final Fantasy 7.

The original 2007 PSP release was notable for its unique combat mechanics and expansion on the FF7 story as we’ve seen it before. The remaster was announced during September’s Nintendo Direct, but what exactly can fans of the series expect?

Ahead of its 13 December 2022 release date, The Independent was given an opportunity for a hands-on preview of the updated title. We played through the game’s first chapter to get a feel for its updated combat mechanics, voice acting and animated cutscenes.

For our first-hand impressions of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion, keep reading the rest of the article below.

‘Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion’: £44.99, Game.co.uk – available 13 December 2022

(Square Enix)

• Release date: 13 December 2022
• Publisher: Square Enix
• Platforms: PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and PC
• Age rating: 16+

As Crisis Core takes place before the events of Final Fantasy 7, fans will be familiar with many of the characters that make an appearance. In fact, actors that featured in the 2020 remake of FF7 have returned to the series to lend their performances to the prequel, along with updated character models and animations.

We played through the first chapter in our preview session where protagonist Zack, a member of “Soldier”, is dispatched to Wutai as part of the Shinra Corporation’s war effort to track down one of his missing comrades.

While the original PSP release used a real-time combat, this latest edition of Crisis Core has also implemented some features found in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake. It retains some of the unique levelling elements in the original however, using a “slot machine” style system that can be used to power up attacks and even gain experience points.

Rather than having levelling up tied to continuous fighting, leaving it to chance may seem like an odd design choice. However, the more damage that Zack is able to dish out, the probability of hitting the proverbial “jackpot” gradually increases over time, and all while ensuring that experience is gained at a meaningful pace.

But while there is is visual and mechanical parity with Remake,the level designs originally envisioned on the PSP have shown their age, with tight, boxy rooms for each encounter to take place in, with little variation.

Zack is also able to equip different materias which can be used not only to cast spells, but also boost physical attacks and heal. Certain enemies are weak to different elements which can be used to deal more damage.

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While there are just a few different enemy types during our short preview, larger boss encounters (including one with mainstay fire-elemental summon Ifrit), can present more of a challenge than the waves of low level enemies Zack can work his way through. With a balance of attacking, dodging, blocking and “limit breaks” (special attacks), each of these early encounters were both memorable and surmountable without much difficulty.

During boss encounters, enemies are able to charge up a special attack, but if Zack is able to inflict enough damage to drain their energy bar, it also creates an opportunity to have them stunned for a limited time. This creates a nice risk/reward for attempting to deplete enemy resources by throwing the kitchen sink at it, which in turn causes your own resources to be used up.

While Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion might not find broader appeal to anyone outside of the series’s existing fandom, our early impressions puts its unique take on combat on par with the 7 Remake while bringing enough intrigue to warrant the remaster treatment, making it ideal for something to tide them over before the upcoming release of FF7 Rebirth, which is scheduled for next year.

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Want to know what other games are coming out this year? Read our full guide on all the upcoming PS5 releases