It feels weird to rate this game due to what it is. It’s a remaster of a PSP game from the early 2000s, and it still plays and acts like that in many ways, yet there is still a lot that I loved during my time with Crisis Core. First off, the main characters are great! Zack, Sephiroth, Cloud, and Aerith all serve their purpose in the story and do it very, very well, which is what kept me playing. I also enjoyed the addition of some of the newer characters, like Angeal and Cissnei. However, even with all that I like about the characters and the moments they have when interacting with Zack, the story of this game is still very convoluted and kind of all over the place. Even though I liked Angeal, it still feels like he and Genesis have an incomplete arc thrown at you during the game. None of the stakes or issues brought to you by these two ever feel grounded enough for me to take them seriously, and funnily enough, it’s Sephiroth (who isn’t even evil for 90% of the game) that remains the best antagonist during Crisis Core. The combat and side missions are nothing to write home about. Simple yet fun and effective combat mixed with repetitive and boring “side missions,” which can be excused to an extent since this was originally a PSP game. The ending to this game is an absolute masterpiece, though.
After the mediocre boss fight with Genesis, we see Zack travel with Cloud on the way to Midgar, where the Shinra army eventually stops them, and damn…what a conclusion for Zack. Seeing him give up his dreams, his life, and the girl that he loves so that he can protect Cloud was gut-wrenching. After fighting hundreds of soldiers, we finally see Zack get gunned down and effectively pass over his dreams and will to Cloud, who eventually ends up fulfilling everything that Zack dreamt of becoming during his journey in FF7. What a tragic yet beautiful way to end this game, and damn is Clouds VA so good when he screams out in agony over Zack's death. It's pure peak fiction. Overall, I still enjoyed my time with this game but pondered why Square Enix made this remaster instead of just revamping the game from the ground up as they did with the FF7 Remake. I feel like this game could’ve been so much better if it went through a remake process and got the full love that it deserves.

Final Score: 7/10