Square Enix has brought one of the best PSP titles to modern consoles with an HD remastering of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. This was the only reason I bought a PSP, as I am a big Final Fantasy fan, especially Final Fantasy VII. Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion will be available on PS4 and 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series S and X, and PC via steam, and we were given a PS5 version to test out.

The story takes place seven years before the events of Final Fantasy VII, and players will be in control of Zack Fair as he follows his dreams of becoming a SOLDIER First Class, wanting to share the rank of the other great heroes like Sephiroth. As you dive into the story, Zack is tasked with a mission to track down a fellow SOLDIER First Class, Genesis. Together with his companions, Zack starts to uncover the secrets of the Shinra Electric Power Company, setting a series of events in motion that change their lives altogether.

The story and the events that unfold are amazing and really sets the pace for Final Fantasy VII. As s fantastic origin story, players will come to care for Zack and his friends, and the emotional roller coaster of a story is great for all players.

As players will make their way through familiar locations from Final Fantasy VII and the remake, they will come across familiar faces such as Aerith and Cloud, and you will see the bond that was forged between them.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion has no new story elements from the PSP release but contains upgraded graphics, a remastered soundtrack, and a new user interface. It looks more like the Final Fantasy VII Remake, and even the voice actors updated to include the current actors for the Final Fantasy VII Remake and the upcoming Rebirth.

Combat has had an improvement since the PSP version, with commands and actions being remapped to better suit use on a controller. This has made the speed and feel of combat fast and free-flowing as you dodge and slash at enemies.

Like in the original release of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, the Digital Mind Wave, better known as DMW, is back. This is a slot machine-like system that starts during combat. If it comes up with 3 matching images of a companion, Zack will be able to unleash a powerful attack or summon one of the guardians, such as Ifrit, to unleash a destructive attack against all enemies.

The Materia system in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion is quite impressive compared to other Final Fantasy titles. For those that are unfamiliar with Materia, they are orbs of raw energy used to cast magic or boost stats like health or attack power. Depending on what gear you have equipped would result in how many slots of Materia you were able to use, but in Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion, you start with four, and after being promoted within SOLDIER, you can have up to six Materia slots.

Materia Fusion is also a great feature, especially towards the end game as you can combine Materia to create stronger spells, or even fuse them with certain items to create some amazing combinations that will change how many spells or actions can be performed.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion looks amazing, and with the upgraded cutscenes, it can easily be mistaken as a brand-new title as opposed to a remaster. It runs as smooth as butter, both in and out of combat, and I didn’t encounter any bugs during my time with the title. The new audio and soundtrack are also a welcomed addition, having the new voice actors for the Final Fantasy VII Remake voice their character again was a great touch, as both new and returning players can play all of Final Fantasy VII games from the original to the remakes and know the voices to the characters throughout.

The difficulty of Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion can spike at times, but this is dependent on if you are jumping ahead into side missions – there will be enemies that will one-hit you. The main story does hold some amazing boss fights that will offer a challenge to players, especially the last boss fight.

The missions are fairly short as it is still ideally a PSP title, with eleven chapters that can be anywhere up to an hour long, but there are a lot of side missions that can be completed, allowing you to unlock extra items and acquire Summon Materia.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion is a fantastic HD remaster and a great addition to the remake series for Final Fantasy VII. It will bring so much more lore to new players of the series and they can see where it all started, progressing across the series, and finishing the long storyline that the whole experience of Final Fantasy VII has to offer.

With the game looking and playing amazingly, it is hard to believe that this was a PSP title.

Written by: Shane Walsh