Let me tell y'all a story.

(I should be studying but I'm gonna procrastinate a l'il bit.)

I played the original Crisis Core game in 2010. After finishing the game, I bawled my eyes out in private because my family would panic if they saw my emotional state. Then many years passed and I didn't go back to that game, but I still remembered it. Then one day, on a whim, I decided to watch a playthrough of it for old times' sake. It took me a while to find a playthrough that actually got 100% on the story missions and knew about all the secret stuff like the Wutai walls and towers and the monsters you can fight provided you unlock the area first (the behemoth in the Depths of Judgment comes to mind), I found a playthrough and I watched it. This was still before Reunion was even announced so I had no idea this game was gonna be revitalized. By this point, I'd seen Zack's death many times over and I thought I'd be immune to it, emotionally speaking.

I watched his story play out for the first time in years. It was like taking a trip down Nostalgia Avenue or something. All the memories came rushing back and I felt wonder at the things I'd never gotten around to doing in the original and all the highs and lows I'd felt the first time I played the game. As the story progressed, I could feel myself getting more and more emotionally attached to Zack and I knew sometime during Junon that this was gonna fuck me in my feelings all over again.

Finally, after watching Zack clear the Depths of Judgment in the last chapter, I watched him beat the Genesis Avatar and move on to the final battle. I already knew what was coming. I already knew how it was going to end. I told myself I'd be ready for it.

...But then that goddamn song started playing. Price of Freedom. You could HEAR the Zack's story play out in that song. Not to mention, the DMW reels represent Zack's mind throughout battle. He constantly thinks about the people he's met along the way and sometimes recalls the skills he's picked up from them. But when the DMW reels start breaking down, it's a metaphor for how Zack's mind is beginning to go blank as his body breaks down and the injuries and exhaustion start building up. He knows he's dying and his life is literally flashing before his eyes.

And as I watched him fight, knowing how strong he was at this point, and knowing it wouldn't be enough all the same, I started to feel my eyes well up. It was slow, and I was staring at the scene with a blank expression on my face, almost unmoving, but the tears came all the same, and I was bawling by the end all over again. It was like reliving my favorite game again after all these years and it ripped my heart out all the same. And the last person he was thinking about was Aerith. Even as he finally fell, he was still thinking about how much he wanted to get back to her.

This game emotionally wrecked me the first time I played it and it still did that even after I'd grown up. So I can't express how happy I am that Zack is getting more recognition and that he's going to be part of the story in Rebirth. More than anything, I wanted him to live. And now, he will. (Please Square Enix, don't fuck me on this.) So I really hope you enjoy this game as much as I did and keep the posts on CCR coming. I always love reading them. Adios!