Crisis Core -FFVII- Reunion General Discussion
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
Nanaki Skywalker
Kate Lord of the Sith
- AKA
- Tarkatan Trash
You know how I mentioned I had already watched the cutscenes from the PSP version way back when? Well, I knew something was missing. Upon watching PSP version cutscenes again, I noticed that one of my favorite lines in the original was replaced.
ForceStealer
Double Growth
^Agreed.
A lot of the changes are marked improvements ("you'll destroy this place," "I really like that sword"), but that one is not one of them. The new voice acting in that whole scene was a big downgrade, too. Much flatter than the original. Lost things like Sephiroth's bemusement at Zack's angry "-aaand what?!" and such.
A lot of the changes are marked improvements ("you'll destroy this place," "I really like that sword"), but that one is not one of them. The new voice acting in that whole scene was a big downgrade, too. Much flatter than the original. Lost things like Sephiroth's bemusement at Zack's angry "-aaand what?!" and such.
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ultima espio
Pro Adventurer
Here it is, PSP voice restoration:
www.nexusmods.com
Cutscenes only, it's not ready for battle grunts yet. It doesn't work for FMVs either.
Restore Crisis Core's PSP Original Voices
This mod restore the original PSP voice acting for Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion, making Zack Fair sound as Rick Gomez again!
www.nexusmods.com
Cutscenes only, it's not ready for battle grunts yet. It doesn't work for FMVs either.
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Odysseus
Ninja Potato
- AKA
- Ody
Gotta disagree, the new version got a good chuckle out of me
Tetsujin
he/they
- AKA
- Tets
Renamed thread fgj 
Currently at 76% missions done. Endgame in this felt kind of weird so far. Basically went through it like a glass cannon. Costly Punch is OP but everything else in the later missions can easily mow me down in seconds if I'm not careful.
Well, I have two Genji equipment pieces now and fused a Curaga with HP+999% and such, so I don't feel quite as fragile anymore.
Man, I wish more missions had small cutscenes. Would break up the monotony a bit.
I miss the Yuffie stuff, lol
I also love how her mails always go to the SPAM folder
Currently at 76% missions done. Endgame in this felt kind of weird so far. Basically went through it like a glass cannon. Costly Punch is OP but everything else in the later missions can easily mow me down in seconds if I'm not careful.
Well, I have two Genji equipment pieces now and fused a Curaga with HP+999% and such, so I don't feel quite as fragile anymore.
Man, I wish more missions had small cutscenes. Would break up the monotony a bit.
I miss the Yuffie stuff, lol
I also love how her mails always go to the SPAM folder
cold_spirit
he/him
- AKA
- Alex T
Two weeks later and I've completed the main story. Clocking in at 28 hours, I played the entire game on hard mode, and got all the story trophies (plus more, such as listening to all 23 messages in Modeoheim). All that's left now is the remaining missions. I will not rush these. Best to spread them out to avoid the monotony.
If I were to watch a YouTube "game movie" of Crisis Core, I'd choose the original over Reunion. Simply put, the new voice work doesn't impress. It also helps that I find PS2/PSP era graphics to be super charming.
However, I would never watch a game movie. Video game stories are told through more than just cutscenes and this is doubly true for Crisis Core. NPC dialogue, mail, and DMW scenes each pull a lot of weight here, adding a ton of character and world insights that the cinematics don't capture.
As such, since Crisis Core is best experienced by playing it, Reunion becomes the clear winner. The gameplay improvements are transformational. Beyond the heavily advertised combat overhaul, I love how all of the game's systems have been streamlined. Things like dashing, skipping cutscenes, and useful mail that tells you the best mission awards. It's just a joy to play.
In fact, while Remake has more tactical depth, I can't help but appreciate Reunion's "pick up and play" quality more. Let me say that another way. Remake hits higher highs, but getting to those good bits sometimes requires shimmying through an hour's worth of rubble first. With Reunion, a fun bite-sized mission is always just a minute away. I like this.
I've got a lot to say about the story, but I want to ponder it a bit longer. What I will say now is that I really hope Dirge gets the same treatment someday.
If I were to watch a YouTube "game movie" of Crisis Core, I'd choose the original over Reunion. Simply put, the new voice work doesn't impress. It also helps that I find PS2/PSP era graphics to be super charming.
However, I would never watch a game movie. Video game stories are told through more than just cutscenes and this is doubly true for Crisis Core. NPC dialogue, mail, and DMW scenes each pull a lot of weight here, adding a ton of character and world insights that the cinematics don't capture.
As such, since Crisis Core is best experienced by playing it, Reunion becomes the clear winner. The gameplay improvements are transformational. Beyond the heavily advertised combat overhaul, I love how all of the game's systems have been streamlined. Things like dashing, skipping cutscenes, and useful mail that tells you the best mission awards. It's just a joy to play.
In fact, while Remake has more tactical depth, I can't help but appreciate Reunion's "pick up and play" quality more. Let me say that another way. Remake hits higher highs, but getting to those good bits sometimes requires shimmying through an hour's worth of rubble first. With Reunion, a fun bite-sized mission is always just a minute away. I like this.
I've got a lot to say about the story, but I want to ponder it a bit longer. What I will say now is that I really hope Dirge gets the same treatment someday.
SilverArrow20XX
Pro Adventurer
I unlocked Barrier Break at around 65%, and was red after that. So it's not specifically related to 95%.
That's just when most people start farming Barrier enemies for the final ability.
MoLe_BlAdE
Lv. 25 Adventurer
Still very early into my playthrough, but this is an absolutely stunning remaster. Combat is silky smooth, battle menus aren't nearly as cumbersome, and so far, I'm actually not hating the new VAs
X-SOLDIER
Harbinger O Great Justice
- AKA
- X
From my experience, Buster Sword Proficiency seems to be an increase as a max of in 0.077% per. battle. (Since the game only displays XXX.XX%, most of the time it's going up by 0.08, but occasionally 0.07, so I assume that it's just a part of the running "use 7's for things" that they've done, like with Hard Mode Minerva's HP).
The increases come from A) Attacking B) Using Abilities C) Blocking, and it looks like each of those contributes a maximum of 1/3rd of the total proficiency, and once it's contributed that amount, it'll stop doing anything. For me, 4-1-5 having two side-by-side spawning zones with 4-5 Wutai Troops made for really easy grinding up the Attack & Ability %ages. (That's also where I did DMW% grinding).
That meant for me that most of the last third was just from blocking damage, in which case 8-5-3 was ideal as it's got the Slaps & Razor Weeds as well as two side-by-side spawning zones. Aside from the Blizzard casting, they both do rapid multi-hit combos, and easily max out the block, allowing you to cast Flare, sipe them out, and then re-trigger the battle at the other location.
There are a few odd moments of the Proficiency % jumping up by a significant amount arbitrarily, but for the most part, it's fairly consistent. What I like most about it is that it establishes the auto-enhance for attacks and abilities doing boosted orange damage. Since the trigger for that mode is X+▢, you can activate it instantly, or trigger it at the end of a dodge roll which gives it really interesting utility, especially as a block tool.
Against Minerva, it seems like there're a lot of viable windows for taking advantage of that to boost damage for using Jump-type abilities to deal more damage as a dodge, to help make the Hard Mode version less of a crazy slog. I haven't gotten back around to giving it a go myself, (Hard Mode completion's the only outstanding trophy for me at this point), but figured that it'd be worth sharing here.
On another, related note my Japanese Hero Edition today.
The Crisis Core Reunion artbook's text is all in English and it's arranged like an English-language book (binding on the left) so I assume that that will potentially release in some stand-alone format at some point. It starts by stating that it's got art from the original and the new game, underneath an image of the Buster which seems exceptionally appropriate given its modifications. As an example, there's the OG art for Ifrit & Bahamut, but the new art of Bahamut Fury.
Interestingly because of this sort of mash-up of sourced artwork, sometimes they just have the in-game models of things, and other times there's art for the enemies. While 2nd Class Zack is primarily used as the size reference, a few images just have a generic human, while the Gun Bull Head, Dual Horn, & Bizarre Bug actually have a Dirge of Cerberus Vincent's silhouette. What's most shocking about that is that there's only a SKETCHED version of that Vincent used here as a silhouette in the Japanese "Dirge of Cerberus Complete Guide" where some of that art is being pulled from. Most of the artwork exists in the "Crisis Core Complete Guide" but that's not always the versions that are being used here and on top of that, there are companion pieces like the Ft. Tamblin Mountain Path that have new art alongside what's been included before. Because of the size of the book, all the art is all WAY bigger than any of those Complete Guides had.
This likely means that there's an internal archive of all that concept artwork that's been used for previous printings as well as stuff that's never been released that they're assembling these new books from. This is exceptionally good news for Dirge given that a vast amount of Dirge's concept artwork is just on the game disc in extremely low quality, so there's a possibility that we'll get a proper look at that at some point as well.
The game script is laid out like a Japanese book, and the end has the storyboards for a few scenes like the opening, Zack meeting Aerith in the church, and the ending as exist in the Complete Guide. I think there might be some that have new storyboarding, like the Sephiroth fight as the art style is quite different, but I'll have to go double-check that against a few other versions.
Copies of the game itself and the Steelbook case seem to be the same as have been released elsewhere. It also came with a copy of Aerith's letter with the handwriting being done by her Japanese VA. I especially appreciate that the printed details also have little smudges on the text from what look like tears that have fallen on the page and darkened the paper while writing it. The fact that the holding box is designed to look like Tseng's sealed container of all of Aerith's letters is an especially nice touch.
The CCR 2nd Class Zack Play Arts figure is also really solid. The alternate hands aren't just loose, but rather they have little racks to help keep them organized, which is a godsend if you've got a number of figures and alternate pieces floating about. As usual it's got numerous small improvements in quality that makes the older versions look significantly dated when they're side-by-side.
X
The increases come from A) Attacking B) Using Abilities C) Blocking, and it looks like each of those contributes a maximum of 1/3rd of the total proficiency, and once it's contributed that amount, it'll stop doing anything. For me, 4-1-5 having two side-by-side spawning zones with 4-5 Wutai Troops made for really easy grinding up the Attack & Ability %ages. (That's also where I did DMW% grinding).
That meant for me that most of the last third was just from blocking damage, in which case 8-5-3 was ideal as it's got the Slaps & Razor Weeds as well as two side-by-side spawning zones. Aside from the Blizzard casting, they both do rapid multi-hit combos, and easily max out the block, allowing you to cast Flare, sipe them out, and then re-trigger the battle at the other location.
There are a few odd moments of the Proficiency % jumping up by a significant amount arbitrarily, but for the most part, it's fairly consistent. What I like most about it is that it establishes the auto-enhance for attacks and abilities doing boosted orange damage. Since the trigger for that mode is X+▢, you can activate it instantly, or trigger it at the end of a dodge roll which gives it really interesting utility, especially as a block tool.
Against Minerva, it seems like there're a lot of viable windows for taking advantage of that to boost damage for using Jump-type abilities to deal more damage as a dodge, to help make the Hard Mode version less of a crazy slog. I haven't gotten back around to giving it a go myself, (Hard Mode completion's the only outstanding trophy for me at this point), but figured that it'd be worth sharing here.
On another, related note my Japanese Hero Edition today.
The Crisis Core Reunion artbook's text is all in English and it's arranged like an English-language book (binding on the left) so I assume that that will potentially release in some stand-alone format at some point. It starts by stating that it's got art from the original and the new game, underneath an image of the Buster which seems exceptionally appropriate given its modifications. As an example, there's the OG art for Ifrit & Bahamut, but the new art of Bahamut Fury.
Interestingly because of this sort of mash-up of sourced artwork, sometimes they just have the in-game models of things, and other times there's art for the enemies. While 2nd Class Zack is primarily used as the size reference, a few images just have a generic human, while the Gun Bull Head, Dual Horn, & Bizarre Bug actually have a Dirge of Cerberus Vincent's silhouette. What's most shocking about that is that there's only a SKETCHED version of that Vincent used here as a silhouette in the Japanese "Dirge of Cerberus Complete Guide" where some of that art is being pulled from. Most of the artwork exists in the "Crisis Core Complete Guide" but that's not always the versions that are being used here and on top of that, there are companion pieces like the Ft. Tamblin Mountain Path that have new art alongside what's been included before. Because of the size of the book, all the art is all WAY bigger than any of those Complete Guides had.
This likely means that there's an internal archive of all that concept artwork that's been used for previous printings as well as stuff that's never been released that they're assembling these new books from. This is exceptionally good news for Dirge given that a vast amount of Dirge's concept artwork is just on the game disc in extremely low quality, so there's a possibility that we'll get a proper look at that at some point as well.
The game script is laid out like a Japanese book, and the end has the storyboards for a few scenes like the opening, Zack meeting Aerith in the church, and the ending as exist in the Complete Guide. I think there might be some that have new storyboarding, like the Sephiroth fight as the art style is quite different, but I'll have to go double-check that against a few other versions.
Copies of the game itself and the Steelbook case seem to be the same as have been released elsewhere. It also came with a copy of Aerith's letter with the handwriting being done by her Japanese VA. I especially appreciate that the printed details also have little smudges on the text from what look like tears that have fallen on the page and darkened the paper while writing it. The fact that the holding box is designed to look like Tseng's sealed container of all of Aerith's letters is an especially nice touch.
The CCR 2nd Class Zack Play Arts figure is also really solid. The alternate hands aren't just loose, but rather they have little racks to help keep them organized, which is a godsend if you've got a number of figures and alternate pieces floating about. As usual it's got numerous small improvements in quality that makes the older versions look significantly dated when they're side-by-side.
X
ForceStealer
Double Growth
Doing endless missions in caves is starting to get tiring
Although, the glowup they received is quite something:
They do look amazingly better...but it really would have been nice if they could have added a few new maps and drop some of the missions into those.
Interesting. As far as I was able to suss out, it only seemed to be increasing when I got a kill while in the new stance.
X-SOLDIER
Harbinger O Great Justice
- AKA
- X
The blocking boost only becomes apparent when the kills stop giving anything at all.
Also on the topic of missions – it still blows my mind that there is ONLY ONE MISSION that utilizes the Shinra Boat. With the Costa Del Sol location, it very much seems like that was a piece of content that got built and never implemented into a scenario properly, especially given that it has working doors, and there's one of the DMW memory sequences with Cissnei talking about their vacation that takes place there. At least left it around and implemented it into a mission, but you'd think that you'd at least be able to get a whole sequence out of them like the Beach missions got.
That's also likely where Zack's second scar showed up around the time of his haircut, but that all got turned into a transition sequence post-Angeal's death. I figure the reason that it was initially built out is that there was a plan for addressing the fact that Midgar & Nibelheim are on different continents that was going to be addressed as a part of Zack & Cloud's journey to Midgar at one point, but it wasn't ever completed. With Cloud being around for the Stealth Minigame on Zack breaking into Modeoheim, it seems like that was set up to be a call back to them needing to sneak on board a boat to cross the ocean.
It's really neat getting to see that level in all its glory in CCR, but it's still just as much a point where it seems like some stuff was left on the cutting room floor of the original that we unfortunately still don't get to experience.
X
ForceStealer
Double Growth
Doubly so considering they go all the way to Banora, which is supposedly on the island with Mideel, and nowhere near the route they apparently take from Nibelheim to Midgar
But yeah, it's insane it's only in a single mission out of 300. Even if all that other stuff got cut, why wouldn't more missions have used the map just because they had it? Very weird. I haven't been doing a ton of missions so far, but I saw the description that mentioned the boat and immediately dropped everything to do it, lol.
ForceStealer
Double Growth
Discussion of mission maps (and the lack thereof) reminded me of this classic @Shademp piece:
Oh look, a Modeoheim mission! How nice. Maybe this will mean a mission in a new area. One that is snowy.
DAMN YOU CRISIS CORE!!!
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Makoeyes987
Listen closely, there is meaning in my words.
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
That was so fucking weird. A complete flub of asset reuse. Like, there is a frozen map right there and they chose to take us to the Chocobo Plains?? LMFAO.
Mayo Master
Pro Adventurer
Hi folks! I finally got my hands on this game... It's been fun so far (though I'm only on chapter 3 and going through a bunch of side missions). Overall I have mostly the same impressions as what most people already shared on the thread: the combat system overhaul is really good, the soundtrack is awesome and the visual upgrade on the environments are solid. The lighting/shading is a little uneven - it feels more like 'default Unreal engine' from the mid 2010s' (somehow it feels like it works better on the environments than the characters, if that makes sense). The VA is a bit of a mixed bag, but just the fact of having a fully voiced game is a massive upgrade (Woot! Kunsel has a voice now!). I'm also enjoying of getting all these tiny lore tidbits through the side missions. Anyway, it's a pleasant refresher after not having played that game for more than a decade!
ForceStealer
Double Growth
So, having completed approximately 22% of the missions, I completed the story, had absolutely no trouble with the final boss at all, and I even stayed up in the ending fights until the force fadeout. Just so you understand what I'm saying about getting OP in case you didn't want to
But other than that, it was an enjoyable remaster, haha. The environments truly look great, even if the character lighting is a little weird, as Mayo said. The combat was vastly improved, though obviously it's nothing compared to Remake's. I don't know if I'll have the patience to do all the missions, but it certainly sounds more viable/enjoyable, than it was in the original. I did spend the other night just going through a couple sets of them. Maybe I'll listen to some podcasts and clear them out, haha. Having to constantly switch into the Buster Sword stance to increase the proficiency is getting old, though, lol.
The new way to access your equipped materia just made them so much more a part of my actual repertoire. It had me actually thinking in terms of my "build" and how the set works together, great stuff. And having slots to save different setups was also nice. The fact that I'm considering going for Minerva when I could never muster up the will to try before is proof of that. (I haven't started using any Punch materia yet, though, so I'm not sick of watching that goofy animation over and over As Mako said, Darkness is pretty awesome, though. I don't think I ever used that move before. And it even benefits from combo-ing like the other command materia. Sweet )
It is a shame some effort couldn't have gone into either creating new Mission maps, or at least redistributing them some to cut down on some of the monotony, but they do look pretty. I like looking into the distance on the island map especially. Pretend like I'm seeing more of VII's world
I mentioned this with Mako on discord I know, but to this day I don't understand what happens with Genesis at the final battle. Genesis makes it extremely clear that he has no idea what he's actually looking for. "There are many interpretations." But then, somehow, he gets fixed anyway? What is he doing that even morphs him into the big boss in the first place? Once he's fixed, why does he still fight Zack? And why did the Lifestream or whatever see fit to fix him? If that's all he needed, why didn't the Lifestream help him sooner? It all seems so rushed.
And it is wild to me how, with all the time this game wastes on loveless nonsense, they don't show the whole truck scene between Zack, Cloud and the driver. We have time for Genesis' involvement in Nibelheim, but not like, THE scene that established Zack's whole character in the original? Why not expand a little on that, where they were when they flagged down the truck, why they needed after the motorcycle. (Or how the hell they got down to Mideel and back)
The game teases me with things I'd actually want to see (Zack commanding lower-ranking SOLDIERs, and being a respected superior officer, the details of his and Cloud's actual trip, etc.) in favor of it's weird new story. It does do well showing Zack's relationship with Sephiroth I think. Especially the scene in Junon.
And it is wild to me how, with all the time this game wastes on loveless nonsense, they don't show the whole truck scene between Zack, Cloud and the driver. We have time for Genesis' involvement in Nibelheim, but not like, THE scene that established Zack's whole character in the original? Why not expand a little on that, where they were when they flagged down the truck, why they needed after the motorcycle. (Or how the hell they got down to Mideel and back
)The game teases me with things I'd actually want to see (Zack commanding lower-ranking SOLDIERs, and being a respected superior officer, the details of his and Cloud's actual trip, etc.) in favor of it's weird new story. It does do well showing Zack's relationship with Sephiroth I think. Especially the scene in Junon.
But other than that, it was an enjoyable remaster, haha. The environments truly look great, even if the character lighting is a little weird, as Mayo said. The combat was vastly improved, though obviously it's nothing compared to Remake's. I don't know if I'll have the patience to do all the missions, but it certainly sounds more viable/enjoyable, than it was in the original. I did spend the other night just going through a couple sets of them. Maybe I'll listen to some podcasts and clear them out, haha. Having to constantly switch into the Buster Sword stance to increase the proficiency is getting old, though, lol.
The new way to access your equipped materia just made them so much more a part of my actual repertoire. It had me actually thinking in terms of my "build" and how the set works together, great stuff. And having slots to save different setups was also nice. The fact that I'm considering going for Minerva when I could never muster up the will to try before is proof of that. (I haven't started using any Punch materia yet, though, so I'm not sick of watching that goofy animation over and over
As Mako said, Darkness is pretty awesome, though. I don't think I ever used that move before. And it even benefits from combo-ing like the other command materia. Sweet )It is a shame some effort couldn't have gone into either creating new Mission maps, or at least redistributing them some to cut down on some of the monotony, but they do look pretty. I like looking into the distance on the island map especially. Pretend like I'm seeing more of VII's world
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roku
Pro Adventurer
It's funny how despite being non canon Last Order shows the full truck scene. Hell, more of the truck scene is shown in Advent Children Complete. Just a baffling decision.
Last Order also included Zangan, Tifa Mourning her dad and, more of Cloud's dialogue to Sephiroth in the reactor.
Granted Last Order also included Tifa knowing Cloud was in Nibelheim and Sephiroth jumping in the lifestream instead of being thrown in( granted this was consistent with Before Crisis' version of the Nibelheim incident.).
Last Order also included Zangan, Tifa Mourning her dad and, more of Cloud's dialogue to Sephiroth in the reactor.
Granted Last Order also included Tifa knowing Cloud was in Nibelheim and Sephiroth jumping in the lifestream instead of being thrown in( granted this was consistent with Before Crisis' version of the Nibelheim incident.).
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Nanaki Skywalker
Kate Lord of the Sith
- AKA
- Tarkatan Trash
This is by far the cheapest Trophy I have ever gotten. Even cheaper than the "Failure IS an Option" Trophy (which is basically getting a Game Over) I got in OG FF7 for escaping from Battle Square.
All you have to do is use Graviga on Gaea Malboro in Mission 6-6-5 with the ability to break the damage cap (I had Brutal equipped.) Funny thing is, i did this completely on accident by pressing an unintended button while holding L1...and in doing so also developed a strategy for beating this dude.
Clement Rage
Pro Adventurer
Just heading for Nibelheim now.24% of missions done, but I'm sick of them. They serve their purpose, but make me overlevelled, and I don't like being overlevelled. But some of them have storytelling considerations. Think I might have to try a no missions run at some point.
Genesis and Angeal are very well designed bossfights, I was having mild difficulty with Genesis, but then you can just use magic to squash him, a bit sad.
All of the NPCs have their own mini plot arcs, nice touch. Hope I didn't miss any.
That random pickpocket kid is quite the businessman. I had 30k in my pocket, and he has significantly more.
Genesis and Angeal are very well designed bossfights, I was having mild difficulty with Genesis, but then you can just use magic to squash him, a bit sad.
All of the NPCs have their own mini plot arcs, nice touch. Hope I didn't miss any.
That random pickpocket kid is quite the businessman. I had 30k in my pocket, and he has significantly more.