The Phawx (PhawxTV) | Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion ON Steam Deck @ThePhawx | Uploaded December 2022 | Updated October 2024, 15 hours ago.
NOTICE - I HIDE HIDDEN CODES IN MY VIDEOS. Make sure to watch all the way through ;)
Steam Store Link - store.steampowered.com/app/1608070/CRISIS_CORE_FINAL_FANTASY_VII_REUNION
In 2007, ikkE released Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - a prequel to one of the most iconic RPGs of all time. 15 years later, the game has received a remaster, allowing modern audiences to experience Crisis Core on current-gen platforms. But is it worth revisiting, or should it be left in the past?
I won't pretend to be the biggest fan of Final Fantasy games, I did play Final Fantasy 7 when it was originally released in 1997 and put around 50 hours into it before I finally detached. From what I understand, Crisis Core follows the story of Zack Fair, a member of SOLDIER and a close friend of FF7's protagonist, Cloud Strife. Being a part of Final Fantasy 7, The game takes place in the world of Midgar, a dystopian city controlled by the evil corporation Shinra. As Zack, players will explore the city, fight enemies, and uncover the secrets behind Shinra and the mysterious SOLDIER operative Genesis. The writing can a bit melodramatic at times, I do try to give a bit of time to each segment but I found myself skipping cut scenes often enough and super thankful that there is an easy way to skip the cutscenes. Some of the cut scenes do have some charm to them though.
With it's origins as a portable game, Crisis Core was designed with bite-sized missions in mind, which can be seen as both a positive or a negative. This structure may not be to everyone's taste and in fact might find itself wearing thin on traditional platforms. On the one hand, the bite-sized missions make it perfect for on-the-go gaming, allowing players to easily pick up and play for a few minutes at a time. This type of gameplay finds itself at home on the Steam Deck. On the other hand, this structure can feel repetitive, with each mission tasking you with exploring a small zone and defeating a set number of enemies.
When looking back and comparing the original version of Crisis Core to the remaster in Reunion it becomes plain to see how extensive this remaster is and not just stopping at graphical upgrades but QoL upgrades as well allowing for a larger set of inputs and a full house top-to-bottom upgrade to music and sound.
Thankfully even with the improved visuals, performance on Steam Deck is quite good. My particular settings were to have everything on high except shadows and enabling anti-aliasing at 720p. When viewed on the Steam Deck it truly looks fantastic. It's possible to run the game at 60fps on the Steam Deck with some dips in framerate. However, By switching to 40hz mode and locking it at 40, it's possible to get substantially better battery life and a more consistent framerate.
The choice is ultimately yours, but if you leave the game at 60hz with similar settings to mine, be prepared to have around 2 hours of battery life. If instead you find 40hz mode enjoyable, you'll be able to bump your battery life up to 3h and 30 mins. a 90min gain is often worth it for me especially considering that 60hz isn't really necessary in Crisis Core Reunion.
While the combat in Crisis Core is action-oriented, and it's obviously much faster-paced than it's traditional turn-based cousin, it is still fine gameplay wise to play at 40hz. The combat loop is obviously the main draw to the game, or I should say the most important aspect to me, with it's mix of hack-and-slash and magic combat. I can understand why the game would slowly introduce players to combat mechanics the first 30 minutes or so may seem simplistic at first, however Crisis Core requires strategic use of your abilities with careful dodging and blocking to defeat tougher enemies. Considering that I skipped out on Crisis Core on the PSP, Reunion with it's QoL improvements does a great job of blending a faster paced combat loop while still feeling like it respects it's roots as a turn-based game.
If you were wondering if this game is worthwhile on Steam Deck, I'd recommend Crisis Core Reunion only to it's biggest fans of the series and new players alike. The updated visuals and improved camera are fantastic additions however, for people who played the original and that was enough, it's probably wise to keep that in the past.
NOTICE - I HIDE HIDDEN CODES IN MY VIDEOS. Make sure to watch all the way through ;)
Steam Store Link - store.steampowered.com/app/1608070/CRISIS_CORE_FINAL_FANTASY_VII_REUNION
In 2007, ikkE released Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - a prequel to one of the most iconic RPGs of all time. 15 years later, the game has received a remaster, allowing modern audiences to experience Crisis Core on current-gen platforms. But is it worth revisiting, or should it be left in the past?
I won't pretend to be the biggest fan of Final Fantasy games, I did play Final Fantasy 7 when it was originally released in 1997 and put around 50 hours into it before I finally detached. From what I understand, Crisis Core follows the story of Zack Fair, a member of SOLDIER and a close friend of FF7's protagonist, Cloud Strife. Being a part of Final Fantasy 7, The game takes place in the world of Midgar, a dystopian city controlled by the evil corporation Shinra. As Zack, players will explore the city, fight enemies, and uncover the secrets behind Shinra and the mysterious SOLDIER operative Genesis. The writing can a bit melodramatic at times, I do try to give a bit of time to each segment but I found myself skipping cut scenes often enough and super thankful that there is an easy way to skip the cutscenes. Some of the cut scenes do have some charm to them though.
With it's origins as a portable game, Crisis Core was designed with bite-sized missions in mind, which can be seen as both a positive or a negative. This structure may not be to everyone's taste and in fact might find itself wearing thin on traditional platforms. On the one hand, the bite-sized missions make it perfect for on-the-go gaming, allowing players to easily pick up and play for a few minutes at a time. This type of gameplay finds itself at home on the Steam Deck. On the other hand, this structure can feel repetitive, with each mission tasking you with exploring a small zone and defeating a set number of enemies.
When looking back and comparing the original version of Crisis Core to the remaster in Reunion it becomes plain to see how extensive this remaster is and not just stopping at graphical upgrades but QoL upgrades as well allowing for a larger set of inputs and a full house top-to-bottom upgrade to music and sound.
Thankfully even with the improved visuals, performance on Steam Deck is quite good. My particular settings were to have everything on high except shadows and enabling anti-aliasing at 720p. When viewed on the Steam Deck it truly looks fantastic. It's possible to run the game at 60fps on the Steam Deck with some dips in framerate. However, By switching to 40hz mode and locking it at 40, it's possible to get substantially better battery life and a more consistent framerate.
The choice is ultimately yours, but if you leave the game at 60hz with similar settings to mine, be prepared to have around 2 hours of battery life. If instead you find 40hz mode enjoyable, you'll be able to bump your battery life up to 3h and 30 mins. a 90min gain is often worth it for me especially considering that 60hz isn't really necessary in Crisis Core Reunion.
While the combat in Crisis Core is action-oriented, and it's obviously much faster-paced than it's traditional turn-based cousin, it is still fine gameplay wise to play at 40hz. The combat loop is obviously the main draw to the game, or I should say the most important aspect to me, with it's mix of hack-and-slash and magic combat. I can understand why the game would slowly introduce players to combat mechanics the first 30 minutes or so may seem simplistic at first, however Crisis Core requires strategic use of your abilities with careful dodging and blocking to defeat tougher enemies. Considering that I skipped out on Crisis Core on the PSP, Reunion with it's QoL improvements does a great job of blending a faster paced combat loop while still feeling like it respects it's roots as a turn-based game.
If you were wondering if this game is worthwhile on Steam Deck, I'd recommend Crisis Core Reunion only to it's biggest fans of the series and new players alike. The updated visuals and improved camera are fantastic additions however, for people who played the original and that was enough, it's probably wise to keep that in the past.
