Final Fantasy 7 fans were on cloud nine after the recent 25th anniversary showcase. Not only did Square Enix reveal the second part of the Remake trilogy – named Rebirth – but it also announced a remaster of the PSP spin-off Crisis Core.
Since then, fans have been speculating that Crisis Core’s story will have increased significance in the wake of Remake. The release of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 – Reunion between Remake games surely offers a chance to recontextualise its story and characters.
Of course, the team at Square Enix are keen not to spoil any forthcoming plans, but it’s a fair assumption that Zack – the star of Crisis Core – may have a bigger role to play in the trilogy’s future.
Intriguingly, a remaster of Crisis Core was actually considered right back at the start of the Remake project, although development only began in the middle of creating the first Remake game.
“If you played Remake, or the original, you’ll probably know that Zack is in the first Remake game where he doesn’t appear at that point in the story in the original Final Fantasy 7,” executive producer Yoshinori Kitase told Eurogamer in a new interview.
“So he’s featured more than he was. We thought that people who were starting the story there would really want to know more about this character.”
The main reason for Crisis Core Reunion, then, is to re-introduce its lead character to a new audience. Simply put, not enough players experienced it the first time round. Released exclusively for Sony’s PSP back in 2008 (in Europe), it’s a prequel to the original game that centres on SOLDIER member Zack Fair, delves into the war between the Shinra corporation and Wutai, and offers further backstory on iconic villain Sephiroth.
Remastering the game for current consoles also provides an opportunity to refresh existing Final Fantasy 7 fans and plug the gap between the main Remake games.
“There are obviously gaps between the main titles – there are three years I think in the end between Remake Part One and Rebirth – so in order to give the fans opportunities to see more Final Fantasy 7 and experience the universe again in those gaps, we wanted to have some more games in there,” says Kitase.
Producer Mariko Sato assures that this remaster is a faithful reproduction of the original story without additions to the narrative, despite that extra Reunion in the title.
Changes have been made, however, to the battle system. “The concept behind it is to change the battle system so it feels a lot more dynamic, a lot faster, and make it feel a lot more like the combat in Remake does,” says creative director Tetsuya Nomura.