Games I beat in 2023 🥳
1. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII -Reunion- (PS5)
I don't know how many hours I poured into the original PSP version, but I'm pretty sure I never beat it. I had almost 0 recollection of everything post-Nibelheim so maybe I never played it? Despite that, I loved this game in my tween years. Zack was cool, dorky protag who I find endlessly charming still. The QOL improvements in this are significant, even if it's basically the same game with a fresh coat of paint.
Some of the story elements seem more cheesy to me now and this playthrough highlights how much I don't really care for Genesis, but that's vastly overshadowed by the story stuff I find really well done. Loved the budding chemistry between Zack and Aerith and the scenes between them make it all the more clear how sorrowful it is for them to have lost what might have been.
The morsels of Yuffie and Tifa we get are great, and the Vincent joke had me laughing a whole lot. Good one, guys. The game shocked me with how short it was at just under 20 hours (and honestly had I not gotten lost in the pretty video-gamey final level where you have to find the goddess materia, I probably could've shaved off an hour) but Holy heck are there way too many optional missions. I did at least 2.5 hours of them and barely made 25%? Talk about an absolute grind. Did not care for that.
Anyways, all in all, really solid game, holds up and is a worthy compliment to the original and Remake (so far). Now for me to go back and finish the original and Remake (don't tell anyone I haven't beaten them yet, woops).
"Embrace your dreams"
