Crisis Core and Licensing Issues

[Lex]

This might be a good thing to write about on the front page, but I was wondering if anyone could shed any light on this.

Regardless of what problems we might have story-wise with Crisis Core, it's a pretty solid game. It's also one of the best selling titles ever on the PSP (it's number one in Japan and 10 worldwide on the list of bestselling PSP games), it's indisputably the best selling SE title on the PSP. And personally I think it more faithfully recreates the world of FFVII than other Compilation titles.

So why isn't it available on PSN? It would sell like hotcakes - I'd absolutely buy it again for my Vita, PSP games look awesome on it. It's one of very few PSP titles not available on PSN - the other was Birth By Sleep which has since been re-released in the Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 ReMix.

This seems very odd. On doing a bit of googling I see a lot of "licensing issues". Do we have official word on this? It seems to be one of the songs - more than likely Ayaka's "Why". I wouldn't mind if they removed it and replaced it with something else. Why haven't they done this?

Is it too much to hope that they might one day give it a facelift for the PS4 like they're doing with Type-0?

 

[ForceStealer]

I agree. I have no idea why is hasn't shown up on PSP. Especially for Playstation TV (although obviously a Type-0 treatment would be even better).

I can't imagine what the issue would be with licensing. If it is music-related, you're probably right that it would be Why. But I don't know why that would be cleared for release on the PSP but not elsewhere. And even if it is, just take it out. We all pretty much think that scene would be better without it (and I like the song in and of itself). Also, Crazy Taxi is on PSN with all of the Offspring removed. And that was a whole soundtrack, one would think it wouldn't be too hard to take out 1 track (or two if they count the instrumental guitar version that plays when Angeal dies.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Issue with just removing it might be an artistic one given that the song isn't just playing in the scene -- it's an actual music video, the visuals timed with the music and all. They would either have to rework the scene entirely or do new music.

 

[ForceStealer]

I think the scene would work just fine without any music.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

You really want to sell what is supposed to be the most emotional moment of the game -- and the story's denoument -- without music? =P

 

[Lex]

I don't have a problem with the song, the scene still got a strong emotional reaction from me even though we all knew what was coming. But I showed it to a friend once (who doesn't really know much about FF) and she just started laughing her head off and said "what's with the cheesy J-Pop!?" which tbh is a reaction I can understand.

So no I wouldn't mind if they removed it. They can always replace it with something else? Something that fits the scene a little better. The lyrics are fine but the style of the song is quite odd. It doesn't have to be uber sad or anything, I actually quite like the way "Why" feels - like it's the end of something but there's also something oddly uplifting about it. Even go without a song, what could be wrong with orchestrating the scene with FFVII motifs instead? Imagine a soft piano version of FFVII's main theme in a lower key with some strings kicking in. That could be pretty awesome.

 

[Shademp]

I definitely like the Why melody as it is used without lyrics. Really powerful use of it after Angeal dies. On one hand it would feel like something is missing by not following up that motif with Zack's death, but on the other hand I do feel that the J-Pop could be replaced with something that holds more..."dignity" to it.

The death scene as a whole only got an emotional response out of me before I started comparing it with the original game's version, which was much more brutal in its honesty. Nothing was romanticized. In a sense, to me, the CC version lacks dignity by sugar-coating Zack's death too much. This can't be outdone entirely due to how the scene is choreographed (Zack ascending into "heaven", feathers all around etc) but I would very much welcome a theme with a more sad edge to it.

 

[Tetsujin]

The death scene as a whole only got an emotional response out of me before I started comparing it with the original game's version, which was much more brutal in its honesty. Nothing was romanticized. In a sense, to me, the CC version lacks dignity by sugar-coating Zack's death too much. This can't be outdone entirely due to how the scene is choreographed (Zack ascending into "heaven", feathers all around etc) but I would very much welcome a theme with a more sad edge to it.

^I second all of that. It felt a bit like they were getting scared of their own courage to actually show Zack's death in all its brutality and decided they had to cheese it up as a counterbalance.

 

[Lex]

^I agree with that too actually. Thinking about a scene where he dies in a similar way to what is shown in FF7 with the theme that Shademp just linked is super ;-;

 

[Cloud_S]

Ever since Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (and other select titles) was remade for the PS3, I've been waiting....and waiting for the same to happen with Crisis Core. So I can only imagine there must be issues preventing it from being done, or available on anything beyond the UMD.

 

[Octo]

Seems weird to me, it it is the soundtrack that's causing the problem, I'm sure I've heard about other stuff (films/tv) where they've just changed the soundtrack (IIRC one of the series of Alan Partridge had a different soundtrack in the DVD release than the televised version)

So if thats whats causing the problem I find it odd they would let that stop them, because how much can it cost to get a couple of new tracks VS how much they could make on it?

 

[Roger]

Seems weird to me, it it is the soundtrack that's causing the problem, I'm sure I've heard about other stuff (films/tv) where they've just changed the soundtrack (IIRC one of the series of Alan Partridge had a different soundtrack in the DVD release than the televised version)

So if thats whats causing the problem I find it odd they would let that stop them, because how much can it cost to get a couple of new tracks VS how much they could make on it?

Yeah, doesn't seem like they have this problem with Kingdom Hearts or FFX-2

 

[Shademp]

Maybe the lack of a re-release (normal or HD) is simply due to the Square Enix staff not being interested enough to do the work?

 

[ForceStealer]

You really want to sell what is supposed to be the most emotional moment of the game -- and the story's denoument -- without music? =P

Just to add to what everyone else said, the scene didn't have any music in FF7

 

[Lex]

Here's the thing though... what work? Releasing a PSP game on the PSN is literally just packaging the eboot and adding the signed PSN code to it. I could do it in two seconds if I had the software/ code they use to sign it to PSN, eboots aren't tricky to make. They'd make a shit load of money, everyone wants to play this on their vita.

If we're talking about a HD remaster like Type-0, they can always outsource it like they did with FFX?

It's got to be the licensing thing, but I'm still not convinced that isn't just some fan theory although I've seen it independently mentioned on a number of reputable places. And if it is that... it's not hard to replace some music come on.

Here's another theory: they don't want to draw any attention to the compilation. It could be a SEGA style let's pretend this game never happened (Sonic 06 was removed from all stores and online purchase) since Dirge was poorly received and the Compilation is unfinished. It's a conspiracy! But I think it's quite plausible. Other than FFXII, the Compilation titles are the most difficult to access for gamers these days. It's just weird.

EDIT:

Just to add to what everyone else said, the scene didn't have any music in FF7

True, but I've got to say I don't like the idea of CC ending without music. If we take the scene as it stands, I don't think it would work well as an ending with no music. That could be years of conditioning from FF endings though.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

What Lex said. Also, an optional scene that fleshes out backstory and thematic stuff in one game is quite different from the emotional climax of another story.

 

[Octo]

I think either way, the song that was chosen was inappropriate (in my opinion anyway) they should have just gone with an instrumental.

Like imagine 'Why' playing over Boromir's death...that would fucking suck.

EDIT: I'm listening to it now and its just.....like....'I missed the bus and you didn't return my text messages you dick why?!'

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Well, as a music video it works well. And I can get the "why?" of the whole thing from Cloud's perspective ("Why did you die for me, Zack?") -- but I can see people's problems with it too.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Personally the bit that punched me in the feels gut was the fading of the DMW. After that I would have been happy just to have the camera pull back from Zack's bleeding corpse into a wide shot and then see some wisps of green spirit energy wafting off into the never-never. The suggestion that Angeal still existed in some kind of afterlife that directly contradicted the fundamental premise on which their world was based kind of annoyed me.

I hated that song.

 

[Skan]

Personally the bit that punched me in the feels gut was the fading of the DMW. After that I would have been happy just to have the camera pull back from Zack's bleeding corpse into a wide shot and then see some wisps of green spirit energy wafting off into the never-never. The suggestion that Angeal still existed in some kind of afterlife that directly contradicted the fundamental premise on which their world was based kind of annoyed me.

I hated that song.

Can I second this? The only two people who should still retain consciousness in the Lifestream are Aerith and Sephiroth. I highly dislike the implication that Zack is "alive" in ACC as well, but thankfully you can more or less handwave both Angeal and Zack as projections from Zack and Cloud (respectively).

Also totally agree about the DMV fading. That part is always such a punch in the gut.

 

[ForceStealer]

Zack showing up in AC doesn't bother me that much. It's not too crazy to think of him being conjured by Cloud or Aerith. Especially when you consider the Farplane connection with FFX. But Zack's ascension to heaven was a bit much.

I still found the ending to be pretty heartwrenching, even with the music.

 

[Skan]

I mean, it's not crazy. But it's kind of stupid when you think about it. Zack's networking skills paying off for him in the afterlife? Or is it just because he felt like he had something left to do? If the former, fucking ridiculous. If the latter, then it'd make sense for Angeal to be "alive" as well. But everyone probably dies with regrets, and therefore it makes no sense for Zack (or Angeal) to be the super-special guys who get to float around with a consciousness in the Lifestream.

The fact that Zack never actually (physically) affects anything aside from Cloud in ACC suggests to me he isn't a spirit -- more that he's a projection of Cloud's mind (maybe the remnant Zack bits of Cloud's personality). At the end when Zack leaves with Aerith, one can interpret it as Cloud finally letting go of the part of him that is Zack, which allows him to move on and live his own life again.

But, you know, interpretation. Some people like to think there's a party goin' on up there in the Lifestream.

 

[Strangelove]

i don't want to think of that angeal thing as literal in any sense. i want that to be like, zack just dying and this is his mind's way of making him feel better/it's just symbolic.

i remember digital versions of psp games not being as common, but after they put out the pspgo they seemed to push it to the point where every game got a digital release. but i don't know if it was as common around cc's release and cba checking now.

about the licencing of 'why' (i swear this seems like i'm going nowhere but i have a point). recently the japanese playstation plus has been doing a 'umd passport' thing where you can register psp games and download them for free (normally you would pay a reduced price). a bunch of square enix games has been put in the last two batches, one of which was the 3rd birthday. the theme for that ('eyes on me' by superfly) was published by warner music japan as a single according to amazon. this is the same as 'why', so if 3rd birthday can get get there i don't see why it would stop cc.

(wiki tells me ayaka is no longer with warner music, so i don't know if that counts for anything)

but the difference between 3rd birthday and cc is that 3rd birthday had a digital version from the start, whereas cc has never had a digital version release.

(ayaka's new label might be a problem now if there's licensing issues, but it wouldn't explain why cc never had a digital release back when it was released either)

edit; another barely related example

shin megami tensei iii: nocturne got an updated rerelease called 'smt3 nocturne maniacs' in japan (which is what the english versions were all based on), one of the additions was dante from devil may cry being a character in it (as a kind of cross collaboration the design for smt did the devil trigger designs for dmc3). after a while that went out of print because there was some kind of issue with the licencing of dante which meant that they couldn't publish it again. later on they bundled a new version (chronicle edition) with devil summoner: kuzunoha raidou 2 where they replaced dante with raidou, their own company's character

which doesn't fit cc because there wasn't any content from another company there

there was also ico, which for a long time didn't get reprinted because of a problem with the licensing of some of the code used in the game. this might be more relevant to cc's case

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Zack was very much real in AC(C). He and Aerith have a conversation about Cloud, and official materials refer to him being around Aerith in the Lifestream.

He's not some special exception to the way the Lifestream works, though. Aerith is, and she might be the reason Zack is there at all. Not that we know how long it takes to dissolve in there anyway.

 

[Skan]

Cloud perceives that Aerith and Zack have a conversation about him. Cloud also perceives that a giant incorporeal wolf is following him around.

Not to mention, Case of Lifestream also says that the only two beings who retain their individuality are Aerith and Sephiroth. If Sephiroth is having trouble keeping his shape in Case of Lifestream (Black), and Aerith can only do it because she's an Ancient, then I think it's stupid that Zack can keep his individuality just because he's Aerith's boyfriend. Not to mention, he dies before Aerith does. What, does Aerith suddenly show up and pluck his soul out of the Lifestream and keep him all shiny and dandy for when Cloud needs his help a few years later?

I wouldn't put it past Squeenix to make Zack an exception to the rule, but I still think it's idiotic.