To give players a better idea of what has been updated, two of the producers from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion described the differences between the original PSP title and the remake in a PlayStation Blog post. With the release date of Crisis Core: Reunion officially confirmed, it's the perfect time to whet the appetite for the title.
One of the many spinoffs sparked by the revolutionary title that was Final Fantasy VII, the original Crisis Core was one of the hit titles of the PSP, and indeed one of the major reasons to own the console alongside titles like Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker. Now, with the PSP far in the rearview mirror, Crisis Core is making a hopefully triumphant return.
The two producers who spoke about the game are Yoshinori Kitase, the executive producer of the original Crisis Core, and Mariko Sato, who was not part of the original project but loved the game all the same. According to the producers, the first step for all the changes made was to confront Tetsuya Nomura, who is the creative director of Crisis Core: Reunion in addition to the mainline Final Fantasy VII remake titles. Apparently, this input calls for the story to remain the same, as it was earlier reported that Crisis Core: Reunion won't introduce new story elements.
The next step was largely tackling graphical enhancements, which proved singularly difficult for the Crisis Core: Reunion team in the wake of Final Fantasy VII Remake and its gorgeous look. These were the basis for Crisis Core: Reunion's new graphics, although originally the plan was just to carry over the old graphics unchanged. For reference, these were PSP graphics, about on par with the PS2 at best. Just switching the 3D models didn't cut it, so a lot of adjustments had to be made, including the look of the classic Final Fantasy VII buster sword.
Likely more impactful than the changes to the graphics are changes to the combat system, although the nature of them is a bit vague. This is what makes Tetsuya Namora say Crisis Core: Reunion is more than a remaster, although how much more is still up in the air.
How exactly the combat has been tweaked will be important. After all, Final Fantasy VII Remake's combat mixed real-time with action in a fresh new way that resulted from years of development, but Crisis Core was already one of the building blocks of that combat. Only time will tell if the improvements to Crisis Core: Reunion's combat are for better or for worse.
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion will launch on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on December 13, 2022.
Source: PlayStation Blog