Zack is an incredibly eager character in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion. He’s honest and has a good heart too and is always trying to look on the bright side of things. He is a true hero which is his goal in the game.
As fun as it is to see Zack again, it’s hard not to comment on how the overall plot of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion is confusing. There are a lot of elements that don’t make sense. When things look weird in games, that’s when the best memes are born. The original release of this spinoff had some great memes and a few of these were remade using the remake’s assets. New memes or old, there are plenty of laughs ahead along with spoilers.
7 Sephiroth Fan Club
After a couple of quests, players get to run around a few sectors in Midgar. By the fountain in Sector 8, players can run into a SOLDIER fan group who all like different characters. The unnamed follower of Sephiroth has perhaps the greatest thirst for the silver-haired villain.
She would be amazed if she knew Sephiroth was a playable DLC character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He can take his shirt off as one of his costume variants. She would be a shirtless Sephiroth main for sure if she could focus on playing the game and not just staring at the screen.
6 Looks Fishy
This meme is poking fun at Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy 15 which was a VR spinoff of that main game. Noctis, the main character, loves to fish. It made sense to put a fishing mini-game into Final Fantasy 15 as it was a giant open-world.
It was a bit sillier to see Square Enix announce a fishing spinoff as their first foray into the VR market. Imagining Zack being horrified at playing that in VR in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion as a training simulation is great. Hopefully, Monster of the Deep will not be Square Enix’s last and only attempt at a full VR game.
5 The One Who Squats
“I am the one who squats” is a play off of a quote from Breaking Bad. There’s an episode of the show wherein Walter says, “I am the one who knocks.” The idea of Zack calling Walter and yelling some nonsense about doing squats is great. Squatting was something from Final Fantasy 7 that became a meme and was made more hilarious in Crisis Core because it is all over the story.
There’s a part where Zack has to go on a mission in the snow, where he meets Cloud for the first time, and he must squat to keep warm. Walter could have definitely used some squats in the show to perhaps stand up to more drug lords.
4 Better Treasure
Sometimes chests in RPGs hold great items that can truly strengthen a party. In the case of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion, the items are not as good as the rewards for side missions. That’s the best way to get stronger in the game besides leveling up Zack it fusing Materia together.
This meme imagines chests being something more incredible. Imagine if Nintendo made a deal with Square Enix to put items from The Legend of Zelda series in this game, or other Final Fantasy games. It would be an incredible crossover and they add the chest jingle as well.
3 Tactical Fantasy Action
The aforementioned mission in the snow where Zack must do squats to keep warm has another odd mechanic introduced in the gameplay. Zack has to sneak into an enemy base that Genesis has taken over with his clone army. Players can crouch down low in specific areas to hide from patrolling soldiers.
It’s a concept straight out of the Metal Gear Solid series and this meme calls the game out on it. That’s Snake hiding in the upright box design from Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain. This series would have also been cool to see a crossover with Crisis Core when it first launched with Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker specifically.
2 Use Blizzaga!
Another mechanical issue that is funny to think about besides the idea of save points is the Materia system. In cutscenes, characters mostly fight with weapons. Sometimes a sword is heated up, like in the case of Genesis, but no one is really blasting fireballs or tossing ice bombs like players do while in combat.
This scene in the game has Zack questioning what he should do about some hot water. The real answer involves turning a crank to reverse the temperature but Zack could have realistically used Blizzaga instead. The meme calls on Finn from Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens to help point this out instead of saying something about the Force.
1 A Hundred Bullets
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim has an infamous line that was turned into perhaps one of the longest-lasting memes in video game history. In it a warrior is complaining about taking an arrow to the knee, forcing him to stop adventuring. This meme plays off of that but Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion cranks the drama up a notch by referring to the end of the game wherein Zack gets riddled with hundreds of bullets.
Zack still has enough life left to give Cloud an inspirational quote which is wild. It’s one of the darkest moments in a Final Fantasy mainline or spinoff game besides Final Fantasy 15. This meme at least helps bring some humor to the tragedy though.
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion was released on December 13, 2022 and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.