CRISIS CORE: FINAL FANTASY VII is an outlier in video game stories. With this being a prequel to the most influential JRPG of all time, it focuses on that being the main point. You know what’s going to happen in the end no matter what and the game builds up to this. You know in the end Sephiroth will go mad with bloodthirsty rage motivated by Jenova. You know Zack inevitably dies at the hands of his own comrades. These two parts are the keys that essentially open up this game. Now you get to feel what Zack felt when he died and when Sephiroth burned down Nibelheim and why these were tragedies even more. Now, I’m not dismissing the rest of the game here, as everything that’s new is actually pretty good besides Genesis. Zack has really good characterization that is key to the aforementioned build up to his death scene. Where am I going with this as relating to the game being an “outlier” in game stories? The climax. The climax IS the moments we know and love from FINAL FANTASY VII. The climax isn’t the final boss. I don’t think Genesis was ever intended to be the most exciting part about this game. That moment when you see Sephiroth in his anger induced thoughts pondering his own mother that lies before him…that moment when you see Zack in his disgust and conflicted emotions lashing out at Sephiroth. Oh, and it doesn’t end here; the bossfight. That fight with Sephiroth, that is the climax of the game. You knew this was coming the entire time and now you can live through it just as the original game eluded to. The second you arrive in Nibelheim is when the climax begins. Everything else after is the resolution, rather than the resolution being the events that take place after the final sections of gameplay. Crisis Core plays with your emotions here by making what we all know and love refreshing and making it hit as hard as possible.
Zack’s death is thematically the death of Final Fantasy 7’s tragic tale in context of the Compilation. This is where the Compilation shines the most. The Price Of Freedom. Zack ACTIVATES COMBAT MODE in his final attempt to salvage his dreams and honor as SOLDIER. His mind becomes hazy, the DMW deteriorating anxiously as the cherished memories that flood Zack’s mind take over. He’s fighting till the very end no matter what. Angeal’s influence isn’t the only thing that carries him now, he has the influence of Cloud, Aerith, Cissnei, and others to hold on to. Final Fantasy 7 is coming back and flooding into our minds. Zack lays there lifelessly as the scene bridging everything together unfolds. He hands Cloud not just his sword, but his dreams and honor along with it as Cloud’s future motivations become clearer. Why is this not the climax now you may ask? Because it’s the resolution. The resolution to Final Fantasy 7. It ends here. It hits you harder and clearer than never before. Maybe I’m exaggerating, but just to further get my own and this game’s point across.
From a gameplay standpoint the DMW is a pretty forced gimmick but I enjoy how it somewhat ties itself to the story. You use abilities influenced from characters you meet as the game progresses to show how Zack has made unforgettable connections and relationships. Although, relating to this I think Genesis falls pretty flat. He really only serves as a motivation for Angeal to act out in certain situations to get the story rolling. His Loveless recitings just feel redundant as the game comes to a close. Maybe that was intentional? As to feel how Zack feels hearing these lines over and over? I’m not sure, but I don’t think it enhanced the story very much at all considering how one dimensional Genesis is. Angeal on the other hand is absolutely perfect as an influence to Zack’s character evolution over the course of the game. He invokes courage and confidence into Zack to make him who he is.
To flip the script a little here, the side missions are interesting as a way to get more out of the combat while also helping solidify Zack’s original ties to Shinra. Missions being strictly gameplay focused content that you can hop into whenever you want is something I wish more games did with their side content. No need to spend long hours focusing on extra story, just hop into a mission to level up and that’s it. On the down side, the unconventional method of leveling up was a decision that I think inevitably shot the devs in their own feet. Having leveling up be randomized supports the DMW gimmick, yeah, but in turn it effectively makes the game much easier due to the devs having to balance the whole game around this system. If you get lucky and frequently receive level-ups the game can become extremely easy. This is why the combat system is “good” but nothing spectacular. A lot of times I was easily winning battles only using basic attacks.
To tie everything together: Presentation and Atmosphere. Unfortunately I don’t think the atmosphere here is as strong as the original game due to it being a PSP game with limited resources for how areas can look, but I still think they did the best they could with what they had. You can still point out iconic areas in the original and recall them the same way, which is exactly what this game wanted to accomplish as the FF7 resolution. Musically we got my homie TAKEHARU ISHIMOTO from THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU. Melodramatic and impactful tracks do leave those impacts, and heavy rock battle themes do rock heavily. The orchestrated songs like The Price Of Freedom make certain moments thematically hit much harder than others, which is further enhanced by some good Nomura direction.
As a game to add insight to the world of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core does indeed succeed in that aspect. Zack is a lovable punk that you do end up loving by the end. TO BE CONTINUED IN FINAL FANTASY VII…

this one i decided to write a lot longer than my usual stuff because i feel it can do this game justice and my ff7 compilation retrospective as a whole, so to people who actually bothered reading the whole thing, thanks.