Final Fantasy Reunion review: Reboot, a much better game

This is not the first video game that’s highly anticipated. It’s a 15 years old. It is the beginning a much older game.

The new game Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII ReunionThe upcoming release of the, is scheduled for next week. It’s a relaunch of the handheld title of the same name from 2007, with great graphics, fast-paced combat, so it can easily be resold for modern platforms, such as the new PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo consoles. It also serves as a prequel for another game reboot. 2020 Final Fantasy VII Remake.

If this sounds confusing, it’s because it is. Video game reruns have been around for a while. Boy, have there been a lot of them lately. The Last of Us, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Tactics Ogre and many other popular titles were updated by gaming studios this year.

With Reunion, Final Fantasy maker Square Enix is ​​capitalizing on the nostalgia project. Final Fantasy, which was first released in 1987, was a huge success after the seventh installment, which debuted in 1997, became an even bigger hit. The game features Cloud, an angry mercenary who works together with a group to stop the end of the world.

Final Fantasy VII is one of the most popular games in history. It has spawned many spin-offs and animated films. Fan fiction has also been created. The game has been re-released at most six times on every major platform, including smartphones, tablets, and PC. It’s a massive franchise – and Reunion helps to keep it alive.

Reunion is a different video game rerun. Reruns usually increase the resolution of the graphics to make them look better on new TVs. It is far better than the original game thanks to its improved visuals and smoother gameplay. It’s a solid example how to start over fairly and keep an established title safe.

“We could better see the audience of these characters, and the Final Fantasy VII franchise,” Yoshinori KITASE, Square Enix’s executive producer, said to Reunion via a translator. .

After playing Crisis Core, I completed Reunion last week. The game has been transformed from a fragment to an essential episode of Final Fantasy. Its visuals and battles have been changed. (In other words, Reunion is Rogue One from Final Fantasy — the prequel we deserve.)

Reunion is also a extreme approach to a “remaster”, a videogame idiom that refers to an older game whose graphics were improved to look better on modern TVs. Square Enix released Crisis Core originally for a handheld gaming console. Old playstation portableModern systems require that graphics be redesigned.

Now, the original characters’ faces are no longer pixelated and expressionless. The detailed, lifelike mugs have replaced them.

To make game progression more fun and faster, the game developers also overhauled the battle system. This is a smart solution in an age where people have endless options for other activities if they get bored playing video games.

Square Enix did not alter the Crisis Core story, and the script was carried over by voice actors. The game’s protagonist is Zack Fair, who is part of the elite military force Soldier. Soldier is controlled by Shinra Corporation (the world’s most powerful electric power company).

Zack is assigned to track down two of his comrades who have abandoned Shinra. It’s not spoilery to say that our hero meets tragic end, something that has been well-known by fans of the franchise for more than 20 years. The story of his legacy is told in the previous part.

Although Reunion’s graphics are a significant improvement on the original, they aren’t as polished and well-produced as Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Reunion is an intermission of a larger series. Square Enix states that Reunion is a way to keep players interested in Final Fantasy VII Remake between its releases. The latter sold 3.5 million copies within the first three days of 2020 making it one of the most popular PlayStation 4 games. . This new version will be released in installments every two to three year. (The second episode will be released next winter, almost three years after the premiere episode. The series will end with the third episode.

“It’s going be a long waiting,” Mr. Yoshinori stated. “So we want make sure that we keep those fans onboard and interested.. “

This break is a crowd pleaser. This game is a great way to introduce Final Fantasy VII’s stars Cloud, Sephiroth, & Aerith.

Reunion is a new approach to battles in terms of gameplay. Zack can be controlled in 3D space by players. He can swing his huge sword at monsters and dodge their attacks, while also bombarding them with magic spells. This is more interesting than the old “turn-based”, where players had to wait for their turn to take their turn and then press a button to start an action.

The Digital Mind Wave, an incessantly running slot machine that runs behind every fight, was the biggest problem with the original Crisis Core combat system. Special attacks that can eliminate enemies are activated when certain combinations of reels land.

The original slot machine was very loud and disruptive. It would interrupt the battle to run its animation. It has been redesigned to run silently in background. When a slot machine unlocks bonus features, players can press a button anytime to activate them. They can also skip the animation.

Reunion simplifies the grind experience. Traditionally, players must do repetitive (often mind-numbing!) fights in order to gain enough power to advance through the game. Instead of fighting random enemies and wandering about, players can take on optional missions that will deploy a Zack to defeat a specific opponent. Players can gain experience and learn useful items, as well as magic spells, to aid them on their main journey.

It took me about 18 hours to complete the game. I had a lot of fun, unlike my experience in Crisis Core where it took me four hours to complete the game because the battles were boring. The main problem with the game is its simplicity. After completing a handful of optional missions, players can be defeated and defeat the main villains of this game in just a few simple steps.

Some gamers might be too excited about new titles to feel that Square Enix is too easy to release reboots. Mr. Yoshinori explained that reboots can only appeal to a limited number of older gamers. The original plan was to update Crisis Core with minor graphics improvements. However, it became apparent that Final Fantasy VII Remake had attracted many new players, so the mission was changed to attract them.

He stated, “We decided halfway through the game that we had to step up our game.”