Ten hours into Crisis Core
I came across the Nintendo Switch edition of Final Fantasy: Crisis Core, while in Worcester some weeks ago, but have only recently got round to actually playing it. This game is the prequel to Final Fantasy VII - which I also have installed on my Switch. The main character is Zack, a member of SOLDIER who goes looking for other members who defected.
Designed largely for fans of the original FFVII, I think, Crisis Core faithfully reproduces parts of the FFVII world and a few of its characters with the Unreal Engine. It does work quite well as a stand-alone title, being more a fighter game than an RPG, with a bit of exploration in a limited world, and punctuated by cutscenes telling the story. It's all quite linear. I do find the gameplay quite addictive, and it hasn't become discouragingly hard at any point. If the player can't get past an enemy, s/he simply needs to fight a number of characters to level up and try again.
The one criticism I have is the script and voicing can be a little annoying at times, and it's too Americanised.
Of course, none of the sequels, prequels or remakes we've seen over the last twenty-odd years have come close to the original Final Fantasy VII. I don't think anything else in the Final Fantasy series did either, come to think of it.
Released in late-1997, after maybe a year of excited anticipation and fuss in the gaming press, the original FFVII truly was singular amd revolutionary. I still have my copy from back then, in pristine condition. FFVII's graphics were cutting-edge for the time, the world was vast, the story was full of tangents, complexities and plot twists, and the design of the world and characters exceptional. Since it took several months for the average person to complete the game, players did get emotionally invested in the characters, and that's probably the reason it had a cult following.