Square Enix Announces Crisis Core Remake

Square Enix’s short but sweet video event for its Final Fantasy 7 25th Anniversary Celebration brought a lot of new and exciting stuff to look forward to, including the second part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake (titled Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth), updates to the mobile games First Soldier and Ever Crisis, as well as a bunch of other merchandise.

However, one particular reveal during the stream which grabbed the attention of many was the announcement of yet another remake from the franchise, in the form of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion. The game is an improved new version of the 2007 PSP game Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7, in which you played Zack Fair, a close friend of FF7 protagonist Cloud Strife, and original Buster Sword wielder.

So what exactly is there to look forward to with this game? Let’s take a look.

What’s Crisis Core?

For those unfamiliar with the original PSP game, Crisis Core was a prequel of sorts to the original Final Fantasy 7 on PlayStation, which starred spiky-haired protagonist Cloud Strife. Crisis Core put gamers in the role of Zack Fair, who played a significant part in Cloud’s origin story, and introduced a set of new and familiar characters that fleshed out the pre-existing storyline of the original game, and added new dimensions to Zack’s story (which was briefly touched upon in the PS1 game).

With the new game though, it seems that Square will be adding some new parts to the storyline, although we can’t be too sure as of this moment. It is a possibility though, based on the changes made to Final Fantasy 7’s story in the remake.

Upgraded Visuals and Sound

While the original PSP Crisis Core was one of the best-looking games from the system, the graphics from that time are certainly a long step away from what today’s consoles could do. The stream showcased some quick scenes and gameplay from Crisis Core Reunion, and this time around the visuals are vastly improved, and you can really see the difference in graphical quality, at least based on what Square Enix showed during the event.

The company says that the music, voice acting, and sounds from the original game will see some improvements. As per Square Enix, “… the graphics have been converted to HD, with all the 3D models, from the characters to everything else, being fully refreshed. What’s more the dialogue is now fully voice-acted, and there’s a new arrangement for the soundtrack!”

Gameplay

One thing that set the original Crisis Core apart from other Final Fantasy titles was the combat system. Instead of turn-based battles as seen on the original Final Fantasy 7, Crisis Core adopted a very different (and sometimes confusing) real-time combat system that mostly got the job done, although it was a divisive topic among hardcore fans of the franchise.

With that said, a few clips and images of in-game combat were shown during the presentation, which did bear some semblance to the combat system in the PSP game. However, Square Enix didn’t reveal too much of the combat, although hopefully new information will be shown in the months leading to the game’s release.

When Does it Launch?

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion is scheduled to launch in Winter 2022, and hopefully it comes out as soon as December to coincide with the Holiday Season. It will be a multi-platform game, so expect to see it on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Steam, and Nintendo Switch soon.

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