3) Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core
Final Fantasy VII is one of the most beloved entries in the entire series, case in point the remake that was announced last year at E3. In the early 2ooos, Square Enix announced a project called “Compilation of Final Fantasy 7.” This was a metaseries of different pieces of entertainment that would add onto the story and lore of FF7.
The metaseries contained things like the film Advent Children and a mobile game only released in Japan called Before Crisis. Of course one of the biggest pieces of the compilation was Crisis Core, a prequel game to FF7 that would finally flesh out the story of Zack Fair, Cloud’s friend and former colleague in SOLDIER.
Zack was one of the most underdeveloped characters in the main game that held more of a connection to 7’s events than we even knew before Crisis Core. Of course, it’s a very melancholic experience as the death of Zack was something already known. Crisis Core gave us a look at the infamous Sephiroth when he was still a member of SOLDIER and seen as a hero, and also introduced us to two new important characters named Angeal and Genesis. It did a great job of fleshing out the world of FF7, and giving fans more insight into characters and what happened before the main game, adding another wrinkle into things with the new characters and villains it introduced. On top of this, Zack was a charming character that you just couldn’t help but sympathize with.
Crisis Core went a different direction from 7 gameplay wise, and had a much more action oriented style with a slot machine kind of minigame thrown into the mix. It focused entirely on Zack as the playable character and gave him different attacks, magic, and summons to use in battle. Crisis Core’s battle system would go on to inspire pieces of how Type-0 would play out.
