Crisis Core: FF7 Reunion (Review and Christian thoughts)

 

 Crises Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion (Review)

"Embrace your dreams...and, whatever happens, protect your honor... as a SOLDIER!"

Final Fantasy Crisis Core Reunion is a remastered, rerelease of the original Crisis Core, released in 2007. Taking place before the events of FF7 as a prequel, the game follows a character, Zack Fair, and how his story impacts the main game, and his dream to become a hero. The game is split up into ten chapters, each following Zack's journey, which ends about three months before the events of FF7. 

    I just finished this game, and I thought I should write a review and also share some of my thoughts as a Christian since games like these often spark controversy as to whether Christians should engage with them or not. This game was something that my siblings and I would come into the living room for on some nights to watch my dad play. So while I technically didn't play it myself, I was there for the whole journey and experienced the whole thing. I'm also currently playing through it myself, so I may post some helpful insights on the game.

"Zack, embrace your dreams... if you want to be a hero, you need to have dreams... and honor."

The storyline is this game is... complex. There's so much to the plot, and it's got a lot going on... and I loved it. This made the game feel not just like a game, but like a movie! It had so much to it, I enjoyed all the twists and turns the plot took, along with some of the emotions it had.

"When the war of beasts brings about the world's end,
The goddess descends from the sky,
Wings of light and dark spread afar,
She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting." 

-LOVELESS

The main bad guy in this story is Genesis. He was born for a Shinra project and infused with Jenova cells at birth, but he turned out to be a failed experiment. He eventually joined SOLDIER and later found out that his body was decaying due to being a failed experiment. So he rebelled against Shinra with an army of clones he made of himself in hopes of finding a cure, spending way too much time quoting the epic LOVELESS, 一which helps drive him towards his goal. His character was very interesting. It wasn't horrible, but not my favorite. But I enjoyed the plot and his part, so I think he's still an overall okay character. 

    One of the main characters is Angeal, Zack's mentor and close friend. Angeal is the original bearer of the famous Buster Sword, which his father made himself. Angeal grew up with Genesis, and they joined SOLDIER together. There, they befriended Sephiroth, creating this friend trio, which, knowing who Sephiroth is, I had not gone into the game expecting. It was cool to see. I enjoyed Angeal's character... most of the time. Through the plot, he goes through this whole conflicted state, and it makes him messy. In the end, though, he was good, but I just felt like the relationship Zack had with him could have been better or portrayed more.

"I have twenty-three tiny wishes, but you probably won't remember them all, so I put them all together into one... I'd like to spend more time with you."

Along Zack's journey, you meet Aerith. And I don't know a single person who doesn't like Aerith一that includes Zack, too. Upon meeting, they become close friends and even develop romantic feelings. The romance between them is simple and sweet. It adds something heartwarming to the plot, and it's a very clean romance, too. No intimate touching or kissing. Only a date and sweet moments. It was exciting to see Aerith in this game before the events of FF7. Her character is so light and sweet, and she's always found in the church praying or planting flowers. Nothing bad to say here, everyone enjoys Aerith.

    The story unfolds more as Zack keeps running into Genesis, and defeating him... again... and again. It's honestly pretty tiring and annoying how many times you have to fight him. Hard fights, too, and they are not the only boss fights in the game. You have to fight A LOT of boss fights. But during your journey to defeat Genesis and become a hero, you actually get to see how Zack meets Cloud.

"If only I were a SOLDIER..."

Cloud is the main character in the main game Final Fantasy VII, and you get to see him in this one, and how he met Zack. It's so cool being able to see Cloud in this game. He's younger and surprisingly, very happy. If you know FF7 at all, you know how serious and how much of a loner Cloud is. But in this game, he's a lot brighter and shares some laughs with Zack, and it was just so fun to see. The two of them meet during some missions, even leading to the one mission that sets everything up for the main events in FF7. The Nebilheim reactor.

"Poor little Sephiroth... You've never actually met your mother; you've only been told her name, no? I don't know what images you've conjured up in your head, but... JENOVA was excavated from a 2000-year-old rock layer... She's a monster."

Sephiroth finds out that he was born with Jenova cells as a Shinra project, one that didn't fail, which made him a powerful and famous hero. But this also technically means Jenova is his... mother? Well... that doesn't really make any sense, but Sephiroth now believes that Jenova一this dead alien from years ago whose cells were injected into him一is his mother. And since her mission was to destroy the world, he must carry out her mission, and basically go evil and destroy the world. This all ties into the main plot of FF7, where you actually visit Cloud's memories and see this particular mission where Sephiroth turns into an evil maniac. Like with this game, my dad played through the original FF7, and we all would watch, so as someone who's experienced the og, it was so cool seeing the plot of FF7 in this game. 

    In this, you also see how Cloud turns out the way he is in FF7. You see how Cloud and Zack are taken for experimentation for Shinra, where they infuse the two of them with Jenova cells, trying to make them Sephiroth clones. Eventually, Zack wakes up and busts out of the lab with a passed-out Cloud. 

"How are you? I wish I knew where you were. It's already been four years now. This is the 89th letter that I've sent to you, but I don't even know where to send them anymore. I really hope that this final letter that I'm writing gets to you. By the way, the flowers are selling very well. They make everyone so happy - thanks to you, Zack!

So, Cloud and Zack have been in the lab for FOUR YEARS. And during that whole time, Aerith has been sending letters, which Zack never got to read because they were taken by Shinra. Zack, even more determined, sets a place for Midgar, with Cloud STILL passed out. They make their way to Midgar, but get ambushed by an army of Shinra men.  

    *Sigh* Now, it's no spoiler what happens next. In the ambush of Shinra, Zack hides cloud and fights the Army head-on, alone. Zack gets shot pretty bad and falls to the ground, giving him only moments left to live. Cloud, now finally awake, comes crawling over. He finds Zack and, in his dying breath, tells Cloud to be his living legacy. The two share a small moment before Zack dies, ending the game with a sweet but bitter ending, as Cloud takes on the Buster Sword and Zack's legacy.

"For the both of us... You're gonna... live. You'll be... my living legacy."

 

-Thoughts and overall review-

Okay, this game was really fun. Most Japanese Anime are really dark and full of sin. But if you're like me, a Christian who's against all that but wants to play FF7, this game is totally safe... in my opinion, I say that because you have to take this with a grain of salt, because everyone's tolerance or standards are different. 

    I never played the original Crisis Core from 2007, but from what I've seen, the graphics are A LOT better in this. They're not as good as the FF7 remake or rebirth, but it's a video game, and it was still enjoyable. It's said that the combat gameplay is a lot easier in this, but I think it's still pretty hard.. The combat gameplay is also very fast-paced. There are so many things you can do, and with how fast it's going, I find it a little hard to do everything in time. But if you're good, Zack can also get some good hits in pretty fast as well. Being able to swiftly dodge, use a materia to hit them far off, and hit them with your sword. I still enjoy everything at the end of the day, and while the game isn't perfect, it's definitely fun and enjoyable. The bosses can also be harder depending on you're level, which you can increase by doing side missions. So the game might turn out easier or harder depending on how much grinding and level-ups you do. The game also isn't that long; we beat it in about twelve hours. It will take longer if you decide to do all the side missions. 

    The side missions in this game were pretty boring. And there are so many of them. There was no way we could get them all done. There were a couple of fun ones, though, like the summon missions or the ones where you get to see Yuffie from FF7, but here as a child.

    As far as demonic stuff, this game is safe. There is nothing like that in this game. There's also no cursing一aside from a few times they say damn or hell. As far as sexual content, there isn't any. Everything is pretty clean in this game! I think Zack is also a great character. He's very friendly and funny, and he's such a likable character. His voice actor plays him well, and all his interactions with other characters are enjoyable to watch. Another concern among the Christians is the feminine male characters. I definitely agree and don't like those characters, and it's very common in Anime. But this game really didn't have much of it. I think there are definitely some feminine-like features in some of the male characters一like long hair, smooth skin, and pretty eyes一but they were definitely more male, and it's nothing I found bothering me in this game. 

     The storyline is very complex, and I didn't mention all of it, nor all the characters. I think this makes it more of a mature game, although FF7 games or any like it should be for more mature audiences anyway. But since I had younger brothers who watched my dad play and had us there, it helped them, and they got it all pretty well! The game was good for them, and now they're playing it themselves at nine and ten years old. Again, it all depends on what you can tolerate, but if you're someone younger or know someone younger who wants to play, it may be good to play it with them. 

    It's hard because you go into this game knowing the ending. Its kinda why the game was made. Zack is this character who's mentioned in FF7, but is already dead, and you don't really get to see much about him, even though he has such a big role. So this game takes you back about 7 years, so you can see what happened to Zack before he died. But playing this game, you almost forget the ending; it's just so fun, and Zack is such a good character; you just don't expect it.

    I would rate this game 9.5/10, and the age rating is typically around teens and up. I hope this post has helped anyone or sparked you're curiosity to play. (It took a while to write.) The game has such a happy feel and is so much lighter than the other FF7 games or any other Anime games.  I loved this game, and the ending, even knowing it from the start, still got me a lil choked up. And I'm so glad Zack could finally live out his dream.

"Hey, would you say I became a hero?"

                                            

    

-Jaybirdstweets.