Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunionmakes a classic PSP title easily accessible again after being left behind on the handheld. After the game had gone without a single rerelease in fifteen years, being able toplay as Zack Faironce again has made this December rather exciting forFF7fans.
However, the announcement that new and old players would be able to get a remastered version ofCrisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunioncame relatively soon after PS Plus Premium was revealed to allow fans access to PSP games as part of its service. While the news thatCCFF7would be finally getting a remaster after so long was great news, it took some rather hefty wind out of PS Plus Premium’s sails rather early on, and it still does even after launch.
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PS Plus Premium and PSP Games
A brand-new tiered PlayStation Plus membership was rolled out around the world in June with a rather amazing selection of games being offered. Aspart of PS Plus' new Premium tier, fans could access a large catalog of backwards compatible games both through both downloads and cloud streaming. This would include classic PS1, PS2 and even PSP games. However, not all of these selections are treated equal.
What Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion Offers Fans
When PS Plus Premium was announced include PSP games, many fans thought that theoriginal Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7was the ace in the holefor Square Enix’s potential catalog on the service for a number of reasons. Not only would it have tied in rather well withFinal Fantasy 7 Remake, but it would have been great for PS Plus Premium because the game has hardly been released anywhere else. Instead, theReunionremaster came in and ripped the exclusivity out of Sony’s hands as it promised to be “more than just a remaster” on all major platforms.
However, despite the promises thatCrisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunionwasn’t just another remaster, the final product doesn’t deliver. Instead, the game feels exactly like it did on the PSP, with the biggest changes being tons extra voice acting and a new user interface that’s designed to better match theFF7 Remaketrilogy. Seeing this classic PSP game get repurposed for a newer generation is almost like throwing salt in the wound for PS Plus Premium fans who were looking forward to the PSP games on the service. Luckily, Square Enix could easily rectify this by adding the original game to PS Plus' Premium tier.
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PS Plus Premium Could Help Keep the Original Crisis Core Game Alive
Even thoughCrisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunionhas enough improvements to justify it being the better experience compared to the old 2007 game, there’s still an audience that would love to play the original. Considering how lacking PS Plus Premium is in the PSP department,CCFF7could still be one of the tier’s best offerings if it was added. Just likehow many people still play the PS1FF7, keeping the originalCrisis Coregame around would be great for fans wanting to relive FF7’s tenth anniversary.
Quite a lot of work would need to go into making it suitable for the service, but it would be worth it for both Square Enix and the fans as it would also be great for preservingCCFF7.Video game preservationis extremely important for the sake of learning how the industry has evolved and changed overtime, alongside making it that players can still enjoy their favorite experiences years down the line.
However, it may be more in Square Enix’s interests to just addCrisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunionto the PS Plus Pemium service itself in lieu of the nowdefunct PS Now service. I’s very clear that the goal withReunionwas to not only make a new, definitive experience of Zack’s story, but to also adapt it to be more in line with theRemakeProject. After all,Final Fantasy 7 Remakeis already available on PS Plus Premium.
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunionis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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