I've endured every single Final Fantasy VII spin-off, side game, and sequel out there that I've been able to get my hands on. But, most of them have failed to live up to the pure joy I felt infiltrating the first Mako Reactor as Cloud and his pals during the original game. Crisis Core, the PSP prequel, changed all that, and while it's still miles behind my love of the OG game, it's an FF7 spin-off any fan owes it to themselves to play.
Now, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion has dropped to just $19.99 at Best Buy, making it more affordable than ever to experience the real start of the FFVII story. It reached a similar low in July earlier this year but quickly bounced back to the $30 mark and has hovered there until Best Buy rolled out their Black Friday deals.
Should you buy Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion?
I am a FFVII die-hard fan, there's no doubt about that. However, just because I've been replaying the original game every other year since it launched, doesn't mean I'll just recommend anything associated with it willy-nilly. I'm not hugely a fan of the Advent Children movie, for example, and even though I've put in at least 100 hours into both games, I'm not a fan of Final Fantasy VII Remake or Final Fantasy VII Rebirth either.
Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion, however, was one of my absolute favorite games when it first launched on the PSP. Being able to experience Zack's side of the story, which we only saw a glimpse of in the original, was a dream come true back in the day. It just needed some quality-of-life features but luckily the remaster has this sorted.
Outside of the entirely new voice cast and new character models, the remaster supports rumble, you can pause and skip cut scenes, and there's an option to retry battles and adjust your equipment if you die in-game. (This might happen a lot as there are some tough fights later on.) There are so many improvements it'd be impossible to list them all, but most importantly, these additions don't affect the overall fun. It may take a while to get used to the combat and its DMW mechanic, which features a constant unleashing of slot machines on screen, but it's worth it to see an in-depth look into what happened before Cloud jumped on top of that Midgar train.
If you never played the PSP original and want to experience the start of the FFVII story, grabbing Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion for just $19.99 at Best Buy is a deal worth taking.
Check out our live Black Friday PS5 deals hub for more savings on the latest games and even console bundles, controllers, and other PS5 accessories. Our Black Friday gaming deals hub is also full of savings on consoles, controllers, and brand-new games for not just the PS5 but the Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and your gaming PC, too.
