CRISIS CORE
Only the brave deserve Zack Fair
Before Cloud, there was Zack Fair. Sure, his name might be less impressive, but he’s no less important to Final Fantasy VII’s lore, starring in this 2008 PSP prequel that remains the best reason to still keep the handheld on your desk (as it’s unfortunately not available digitally, and therefore not playable on PS Vita).
Looking back, there’s actually a surprising amount of similarities between Crisis Core and FFVII Remake. The style of progression, with hub areas and side-quests, is the same, but most importantly it has a real-time combat system a little like we’ve seen in Remake. The abilities that Zack can use are, like in the original game, dictated by the Materia he has equipped, which is more robust than it was on PS1. But most fun is Crisis Core’s unique DMW slot machine mechanic that spins as you fight on, powering up your moves and awarding you Limit Breaks if they line up matching icons.
Story-wise the game really digs into the events prior to Final Fantasy VII, especially the Wutai/ Shinra military conflict. (We already know that’s playing a bigger part of the Midgar portion of Final Fantasy VII Remake than it did in the original game.) As you might expect given its prequel nature, Sephiroth and Cloud both feature heavily alongside Zack. As Crisis Core was written by Kazushige Nojima (as VII and VII Remake are), there’s a chance more of its lore will be in Remake.
The game sold over three million units, and remains a fan favourite despite being locked exclusively to PSP hardware. Of all possible Final Fantasy remakes, Crisis Core is just below the big number VII itself on fan wishlists. With key lore hidden away within it, could it even become a core part of the Remake project itself?
“THIS IS THE GAME THAT REALLY DIGS INTO THE WUTAI/ SHINRA CONFLICT.”