Disaster Core: Remaining Fantasy VII Reunion Overview – Change

I converse for myself and different self-proclaimed teenage “scene weebs” rising up within the late 2000’s that the PlayStation Transportable stored us effectively nourished. Sq. Enix fed us instantly time and time once more, and their library is in depth. One in every of their most illusive, and arguably greatest identified, titles on the system was Disaster Core: Remaining Fantasy VII. A prequel to the unique PlayStation basic, it tried to inform the backstory behind a number of iconic moments, characters, and objects essential to the unique story. Disaster Core: Remaining Fantasy VII Reunion goals to modernize the transportable basic to deliver it as shut as attainable to the not too long ago launched Remaining Fantasy VII Remake. This model doubles as a technique to protect the unique PSP expertise and supply new followers of Remake a prequel to that timeline.

Zack Honest, a minor character of the unique recreation that you may actually blink and miss, is the protagonist of this story. Dreaming to be a hero, this plucky younger man climbs his means up the company ladder of Shrina whereas uncovering a conspiracy that adjustments all the pieces he thinks he is aware of. Whereas this story sounds somewhat darkish, and it definitely may be, the tone of Disaster Core is considered one of its most polarizing elements. The writing has remained intact, with the script solely receiving very minor revisions, and what which means for the standard of Reunion will rely largely on how a lot you loved the unique. 

Personally, I take pleasure in Disaster Core for what it’s. It falls into most of the common pitfalls that are inclined to plague prequels, primarily overexplaining elements which may have been greatest left to viewers interpretation. Nonetheless, I can’t discover myself faulting Disaster Core for being just a little awkward, primarily as a result of it strives ahead with such confidence that I simply can’t assist however adore it from begin to end. I don’t even suppose the tone is that a lot of a departure from the unique FFVII’s, however extra of an adaptation of the final “vibes” for the tradition of the 12 months 2007 (simply how I really feel Remake did the identical factor in 2020).

The story has been untouched, with the one variations being that the voice solid has been recast and each line of dialogue is now voiced in each English and Japanese. I sometimes attempt to keep away from speaking concerning the high quality of voice appearing, as a result of I believe individuals tend to be imply, particularly to English voice actors in video games. Disaster Core is a really nostalgic expertise for a lot of of its followers, and there’s lots of love left for the unique solid. I’ve a powerful fondness for them as effectively, believing that recreation was each the height and ideal sendoff for these voice actors within the Compilation titles. Having stated that, I believe Reunion’s solid (which is made up of some carryovers from Remake the place it suits) is essentially an enchancment. Nonetheless, there may be some awkwardness that’s laborious to disregard, and in some circumstances greater than the unique. This, I consider, has loads to do with the script simply feeling outdated on the whole. I perceive the selection to maintain the script principally the identical, however coming off of Remake’s unbelievable dialogue Reunion feels somewhat stiff. I take pleasure in this, it looks like a time capsule of the period, however followers of Remake will possible discover it jarring. 

The gameplay actually drives residence how divisive this title may be, it truly is like nothing else I’ve ever performed within the motion RPG house. Randomness is the secret, with a literal roulette system that decides how battles will play out. You’ve got all the pieces that makes up your typical motion recreation: Regular attacking, dodging, blocking. One, the highest left of your display is the DMW roulette, the place actions in your struggle can randomly roll sure numbers or characters that may give you a big number of outcomes. These might be buffs, summons, or particular assaults primarily based on characters Zack meets within the story. The tide of battle might randomly flip in your favor with a random invincibility, or with the ability to use expertise with no value to your meter. One other unusual important RPG mechanic tied to this method is leveling up, of all issues. The one technique to degree up is to hit a 777 within the roulette. I’m certain there’s math working behind the scenes that permit this to be paced out, however my level is that Disaster Core’s methods painting themselves as much more sophisticated than they have to be. That’s nonetheless right here, however fortunately lessened.

On PSP, fight felt awkward. It takes the persistence of a saint to understand Disaster Core’s fight. With enter lag and drawn-out animations, the sport felt nearly… incorrect to play. Reunion retains the eccentricity however eliminates the awkwardness. Your assaults and dodges come out with no delay, and because the greatest overhaul to Reunion, they succeeded completely. The fight was the most important barrier to entry, however with a few tweaks and with added aptitude they’ve made this the definitive model of the sport. I don’t suppose they made an motion recreation masterpiece out of Disaster Core’s elementary methods, however they made it a lot simpler to have enjoyable with them. There are nonetheless awkward mechanics, however what was added are all web positives. With out all of this quirky randomness, you’d be left with a fairly normal hack-and-slash recreation, so I believe this works out in the best context. 

Handheld video games had been loads totally different again within the period of the PSP and Nintendo DS. Transportable gaming was meant to be extra pick-up and play, whereas now builders appear to principally shrink down console experiences. Disaster Core takes what could be a typical PlayStation 2-style RPG and breaks it up with a big collection of missions that may be began and completed at any time. These are all elective, however the rewards are effectively price it. The “PSPness” of Disaster Core was a part of its attraction, and fortunately this was not lessened on this remaster. The areas really feel stripped again of complexity in comparison with a recreation like Remake (however I’m fairly grateful for the added dash button, even when it won’t technically be wanted), minigames are added ceaselessly to interrupt up the tempo, and chapters are quick and candy. There’s even a sturdy Materia fusion mechanic, which gamers can lose hours into.

As a result of I worth Disaster Core as a conveyable expertise – the sort we don’t actually get anymore – I’ve been stoked to expertise Reunion on the Nintendo Change. I used to be actually shocked it was coming to Change in any respect, provided that Remake was clearly means too highly effective to ever run on the system. Reunion’s visible fashion is a stripped-back model of its predecessor, present as pores and skin on prime of the unique’s bone construction. Many of the animations have been re-used, and it definitely looks like a few of Remake’s belongings had been repurposed.

The unique’s pre-rendered FMV cutscenes will need to have been preserved as a result of this goes far past a typical upscale. Every of them has been re-rendered, which is straightforward to see because of adjustments made in them to insure parity with the unique FF7 and Remake. Particularly, the Buster Sword, which had a wierd redesign in Disaster Core and was “mounted” to match Cloud’s higher. The Buster Sword was truly up to date within the pre-rendered cutscenes, which wouldn’t have been attainable except they had been fully re-rendered. They give the impression of being excellent, however nonetheless of the time in all the perfect methods.

I’m pleasantly shocked with how Reunion performs and appears on Change. There are some anticipated cutbacks, with the goal decision and framerate being decreased to what you’d discover on some other console. For what I used to be anticipating, I’m happy with the outcomes. The fashions look fairly sharp contemplating the {hardware}, and the textures don’t really feel too reduce. There may be some awkward dithering on hair, The sport targets 30 frames-per-second, and largely hits that. I discovered my expertise extra constant in transportable play over docked, and I believe I’d advocate Change customers play primarily that means. The 720p goal seems greatest on the small display and didn’t maintain up practically as effectively when blown as much as my TV. I additionally felt the framerate didn’t maintain as effectively when enjoying it docked. 

Disaster Core is attention-grabbing, actually the top of video games which might be better than the sum of their components. The story hits good highs, and Reunion efficiently brings the remainder of the expertise as near these highs as attainable. Clearly, when each different console is promising a full HD 60 frames-per-second expertise it’s laborious to not look down on the Change model. However this stacks up effectively to a remake/remaster of the PSP authentic, and when taken as a conveyable model it’s fairly bold that so little was misplaced. 

I’ve at all times liked Disaster Core, it’s a foundational type of recreation I keep in mind fondly from my youth. It got here out at simply the best time, born in the course of the daybreak of the now thriving YouTube technology of millennials, featured proudly in Home windows Film Maker AMVs and cutscene compilations. Make no mistake, my enjoyment in Disaster Core is way from ironic or “cringe” that many would possibly affiliate with these. It’s frequent to replicate again on that period negatively, however to me, Disaster Core represents the pure innocence of youth and the earnest errors related to it. Zack’s story is so endearing and captured the eye of so many youngsters the world over for a cause. We obtained to see somebody battle to remain afloat in a system far bigger than himself and do his greatest to maintain his innocence intact. As I performed this on my Nintendo Change, I felt despatched proper again to that a part of my life. I even obtained the urge to play it below my covers late at evening as if to cover from mother and father I not dwell with. Repackaging these emotions, and reducing as a lot of the bloat as attainable is commendable. Disaster Core: Remaining Fantasy VII Reunion strives to be the expertise we keep in mind, rising above the sport we truly obtained.

Model Examined: Nintendo Change
Overview copy supplied by Sq. Enix