In June, fans were treated to the incredible news that Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion, a remake/remaster of the acclaimed 2007 PSP title Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, would be released in the very near future. At that time, we were informed that the game would be coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC during winter 2022. That leaves us with December 2022 and both January and February of 2023 as potential release months. As of now, we don’t have an official ruling from Square-Exix regarding Reunion‘s specific release date. Now we might have our first indication that it’s on track to come sooner, rather than later – and it’s that always reliable Australian Ratings Board that has delivered the goods.
The Aussie ratings board, that regularly, alongside the ratings board from a few other regions, like Korea, spills the beans on titles before their formal announcement, has done it again with Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion. They’ve proceeded through their usual processes to assign the remake/remaster an M rating, something it has determined based upon the game’s use of violence. An M-rated game is recommended, for anyone above the age of 15, although those younger than this age are not denied the ability to purchase a game with this rating, that is for the MA15+, and R18+ ratings.
Speaking to IGN about the rationale behind remaking the game, Square-Enix’s own, Yoshinori Kitase proclaimed “There isn’t really an exact date that I can point to at the moment, but I do recall that it was towards the end of the Final Fantasy VII Remake development that we realized that with the quality we were able to bring to Final Fantasy VII Remake, we might be able to create something for the stories that are actually surrounding Final Fantasy VII. And it is an actual possibility that we can develop Crisis Core. So that’s the timing at which we decided that yes, this remake can actually happen.”
So what about the fact that in this article alone, the language is switched between Remake and Remaster? Well, it seems that Square-Enix developers are a bit torn. The last comment from Kitase referred to the game as a remake, meanwhile, he describes the game as a remaster, “Various improvements have been made to nearly all other scenes and battles, to a point where it could be said that the work we are doing is akin to creating a ‘remake… However, as the core elements such as the story are grounded in the original work, we call it a ‘remaster'” says producer Mariko Sato. Confusing huh? They also claim there won’t be significant story changes
Whatever it’s called, it seems as though Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion‘s release date for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC, is soon to be revealed if the new rating is anything to go by.