What is Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII?

The story behind the story of Final Fantasy VII

After the end of Final Fantasy VII Remake, many fans were caught off guard by the appearance of a certain character who starred in a spin-off title revolving around the VII universe. Meanwhile, others who never had the chance of getting their hands on that particular game were left scratching their heads in confusion.

Cloud and company are battling it out with Sephiroth and a bunch of weird creatures called Whispers. After a hard-earned victory, all of a sudden, the scene cuts to a man who is dressed exactly like Cloud, carries the exact same sword but has black hair and a different face altogether. The subtitles give the name ‘Zack’ but offer no further explanation as to who this character is or why he’s making an appearance so late in the game. Apparently, he fights someone, survives, and heads to Midgar while carrying a near-comatose Cloud on his shoulders. In the recently released DLC episode Intermission, you can see him frantically searching for Aerith at the Sector 5 slums church.

Zack who?

Before going into this any further, if you’re one of the five people that follow the gaming industry yet have never played the original Final Fantasy VII, this is your spoiler notice. If you want to keep a fresh experience…