Crisis Core Reunion Review

With the overwhelming success with Final Fantasy 7, Square Enix decided to expand the FF7 universe with a few more properties. There was the movie "Advent Children", which has Cloud face off with The One Winged Angel once more; Derge of Cerberus which shed some light on the background of Vincent and we also got Crisis Core, a prequel that shows the world just before Final Fantasy 7.

Crisis Core follows Zack Fair, SOLDIER 2nd Class who dreams of becoming a hero. Zack is mentored by Angeal, one of the three 1sts and original wielder of the Buster Sword. Along with Angeal, 1st class is filled out with the hero Sephiroth and the theatre crazed Genesis. Early on, Genesis abandons SoldieR and takes with him a bunch of 2nd classes with him. Still dealing with a war, Shinra sent SOLDIER operatives Zack and Angeal to Wutai to end the conflict once and for all. Angeal sends Zack to escort the Director to safety and when Zack return for Angeal, he is attacked by Genesis copies. After fighting Genesis copies, Zack is informed by Sephiroth that Angeal had also betrayed them and gone missing. Zack, confused, slowly starts to lose faith in his dream and with everyone around him seemingly going mad, he starts to question what he even is, human or monster?

Crisis Core is in no way a happy story. There are moments that make you smile and laugh, but ultimately it’s a story of loss. Zack joins SOLDIER to become a Hero, only to watch the madness boil , spill over and eventually covered up. Genesis never stops harping on about LOVELESS, a shakespearin play that he believes holds a prophecy and which he spends the entire game trying to solve. Angeal becomes conflicted and confused and instead of guiding Zack towards his dream , leads him down the path of ultimate despair. And Sephiroth as we all know goes completely mad and causes an incident that is paramount to both Crisis Core and Final Fantasy 7. If it weren’t for our two beloved characters, Aerith and Cloud, Zack wouldn’t have any light in his world.

Which brings me to the ending - no spoilers here but we know that at some point Cloud ends up with the Buster Sword. The Buster Sword has a story as sad as Zack's. Angeal's father bankrupted himself and died forging the sword for Angeal's entrance to SOLDIEr. Representing his family's honour, Angeal refuses to use it, instead passing those dreams and honour onto Zack, who carries that burden with all the strength he has.

I’ve beaten the game six times now, including Hard Mode and earning the platinum. That final cut scene still makes me choke up. Especially since Zack is who Cloud is trying to be.