Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core — 15th Anniversary

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was the last game in the original FINAL FANTASY VII chronology, while also being the main prequel. It’s been 15 years since it was released on the PSP on the 24th of March, 2008. Now that the anniversary is here, it’s time to accept Crisis Core not only as a prequel to Final Fantasy VII, but also the game to help us understand what was actually happening in Dirge of Cerberus.

After all, let’s consider who Square Enix chose as the antagonist of Crisis Core. They could have chosen anyone. They could have selected the Turks, or Wutai, or focused more on Hojo. Thankfully, they didn’t go down the Hojo route, or I would have gone insane. After all, he got more than enough screen time in Dirge of Cerberus.

No, Genesis Rhapsodos was first introduced in Dirge of Cerberus, and while we’re not sure of his status after the conclusion, he was still one of the biggest mysteries of the game. After all, the villains were spliced with his cells, so how could no one mention this 1st Class SOLDIER who could compete with Sephiroth?

Let’s be honest, after Dirge of Cerberus and Crisis Core, they really didn’t fit in as much in the original game’s timeline. They did mess up the timeline quite a lot, which is why the Final Fantasy VII Remake series has been focusing on including Deepground by including Weiss and Nero in Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. Combining Yuffie in that game was just a nice touch, as I stand by Yuffie being one of the main characters linking everything together. (Is that a stretch? Perhaps. But she has a fairly significant role in all games, even if she is a joke character in Crisis Core.)

Genesis — to this day — is still pretty divisive from a fandom standpoint. Is he annoying? Absolutely. This man has a LOVELESS obsession that puts everyone to shame. He’s essentially a theatre kid thrown into SOLDIER. However, he still has considerably more development than poor Angeal, who was left forgotten aside from his old buster sword.

Of course, Crisis Core was also the first time we saw SOLDIERs in action, and understood how few of them there were. Altogether, there are only four 1st Class SOLDIERs in the game: Sephiroth, Genesis, Angeal, and Zack. All other SOLDIERs are 2nd or 3rd Class, and have absolutely no agency in the story. Although, they did get a few nods in Remake.

There is a reason that Crisis Core was so popular, and that is because they couldn’t stop expanding on world building. Crisis Core was the game to tie up the loose ends in Dirge of Cerberus but it was also undoubtedly, the trigger for many fans who wanted Remake.

So, let’s celebrate the fact that this PSP game managed to live on for all these years. I’m glad it’s now found a new home on PS4 and PS5, and honestly, I’m glad that it looks like we’re finally getting an understanding of Genesis’s overall role in the story. Even if he is also one of the most annoying villains I’ve ever fought.