Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion Review

Crisis Core came out on PSP in 2007. That's not a knock against it, it was a remarkable achievement for the hardware, but it means Reunion is doing a lot of heavy lifting to make it feel like a 2022 game. The fact that it mostly succeeds is impressive. The visual overhaul is substantial. Unreal Engine 4 rebuilt the game from scratch, and the character models now sit comfortably next to the Remake trilogy. Midgar looks like Midgar again. The environments that were blurry PS2-tier in the original are now sharp and detailed. They didn't just upscale the original; they recreated it. The combat modernization matters just as much. The original's battle system was serviceable for a handheld but clunky on a TV. Reunion streamlines the inputs significantly, adds visual clarity to the DMW (Digital Mind Wave) slot mechanic, and makes the whole thing feel like it belongs in the same universe as Remake's combat. It's still simpler than what the mainline trilogy offers, but it works. Zack Fair's story is the reason to play this, and it holds up. He's the other side of Cloud's history, confident, genuinely good, the kind of hero who wears it easily rather than reluctantly. Watching his relationship with Aerith, his bond with Angeal, his slow understanding of what SOLDIER actually means, it all lands. The finale is one of the franchise's best moments and Reunion presents it better than the original ever could. The voice acting is the one genuine point of contention. The original English Zack (Rick Gomez) is beloved by fans who grew up with the PSP version. The new actor (Caleb Pierce) gives a different, more grounded performance. Neither is wrong. They're different interpretations. If you've never heard the original, you won't notice. If you have, you'll notice immediately. And then there are the 300 side missions. They were designed for five-minute handheld sessions and they show. Most are arena rooms with enemies you've already fought. Doing them all is a true slog, and the game doesn't hide this, it just has 300 of them. Do the ones that offer meaningful rewards and skip the rest. The story doesn't require them.