Who remembers when Final Fantasy VII's universe was just Final Fantasy VII? The first of the PS1 trilogy was the biggest selling RPG ever back in 1997, and its legacy has been cemented in the pantheons of gaming history. So, did it really need a compilation? This term refers to a particular group of games, films and tie-in novels that have expanded on Cloud's initial adventure, both before and after Sephiroth's demise. While a good chunk of these are Japan only (Like Before Crisis, the mobile game based on the Turks, and the novella On the Way to a Smile, which is getting a well overdue translation soon) there are two entries in particular I want to focus on, one for being the best and actually enriching Final Fantasy VII's story, and the other for focusing on who was (and still is) my favourite character in this collection of games.

Let's start with Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Everyone who played Final Fantasy VII wanted to know just who Zack was and why Cloud turned out the way he was, and Crisis Core gave us that opportunity. Zack Fair turned out to be a delightful goofball at the beginning of his journey, climbing the ranks of Soldier and training under Angeal. Seeing Zack mature throughout the game made him extremely relatable, and I knew a lot of people like him at the time this came out who mucked and joked around, but when things got serious, a switch would flip and they would do whatever they could to help anybody. Seeing him interact and build relationships with Cloud, Sephiroth, and Aerith is magical, and it adds an extra layer of meaning to the original game. When i replayed FFVII a few years later, every scene with Cloud and Aerith had that extra emotional tinge. Crisis Core itself was not averse to emotional moments, and when Zack's mentor died, it proved to be the making of Zack, and while he kept that insatiable grin of his, he emerged as a true hero.

This makes it even more gut-wrenching when you get to the final section of the game. We all knew how this one would end, but it didn't make it any less painful. I'd easily put this on a saddest, or most difficult scene to play or watch ever list. Zack’s death in the FFVII flashback scene is brutal, but Crisis Core makes you see it, and play through it, in gorgeous, gory detail. The final fight sees Zack face off against hordes of Shinra soldiers, each one gunning down the First Class Soldier. As the battle drags on, Zack is increasingly sluggish and even unresponsive to commands, and I started getting that sinking feeling. I knew exactly what was going to happen here. "You'll be... my living legacy" still makes me weep bucketfuls of tears. Zack is fundamentally important to the powerhouse that is FFVII, and having played Crisis Core, I feel all the better returning to that game.

The second game I want to look at is Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII. Now, I'm not a big fan of this game, but I am a big fan of Vincent Valentine, and I've entrenched myself in the cutscenes in this game simply because I wanted to be Vincent as a little kid. I'm over that phase, but I've always found it odd that Vincent is an optional character — if anything, he's just as central to the plot as Cloud, what with his involvement with Professor Hojo. Dirge of Cerberus' story was a little all over the place, and the game decided to implement clunky FPS controls which were an immediate turn-off for me, but it managed to give a deeper insight into the relationship between Vincent and Lucrecia.

Lucrecia is a character I wanted to see more of in FFVII, so to see her fully voiced and with a pretty pivotal role to the central plot of Dirge of Cerberus was great. It does something similar to Crisis Core, and it gives a character who has a minor role in the original more limelight and the opportunity to provoke a more emotional response. This was the first time anyone got to see the real Vincent and Lucrecia, together. Sure, they were meetings as simple as picnics, but seeing the two of them together put a smile on my face. Again, it made Vincent's story in FFVII all the more tender. Vincent Valentine shouldn't be optional in the remake, so take note Square Enix.

As a side note, hot damn, Vincent in a Turk uniform.

The Compilation of FFVII gets a lot of hate from outsiders, and I agree that it maybe got a bit too big for its boots, but it's hard to ignore even the small amount of enrichment these two games alone have provided. Having expanded on the original's universe, I really hope Square Enix take these games into account with the remake. I can't wait to return to the planet possibly known as Gaia and see how all the pieces fit in together, no longer disjointed by decades or consoles.