As I have access to a PSP and heard years ago how amazing Crisis Core is, is it worth going back and playing eight years later and is it widely considered canon or at least worthy of the Final Fantasy name?

it's good! combat's fun and the story has some nice moments. if you like Zack you should check it out! it's not that long if i remember correctly.

whether it's canon or not, i dunno. i wouldn't even worry about that when it comes to FF7. shit got all weird when they tried to expand upon it.

Almost certainly canon. Pretty good game, nowhere near Peacewalker levels but probably the second best "action" game on the PSP.

Music is fantastic, I spent a lot of time on buses just idling listening to it.

It's canon. I think it supplements the story of 7 in some really great ways while also being a good game on it's own merit. Definitely play it!

EDIT: I guess you didn't really specify, but in general I think playing ff7 first is recommended if you haven't. Having knowledge of 7 makes CC more enjoyable whilst playing CC first will affect your perception going into 7 in some very weird ways. That said it's good on it's own so 7 can be safely ignored if you aren't interested.

It's canon and definitely worth playing. One of the better action games on the PSP.

Wandering on a Sunny Afternoon remains one of my favourite pieces of music ever, man, I really loved this game, this topic may just get me playing it again. Did it ever get released on PSN so it's playable on Vita ?

I played it about 3 years ago having not played 7 yet and I think it is one of my favourite final fantasy stories. It's more grounded. The gameplay was fine.

Pretty sure all that junk in the compilation is canon.

I liked Crisis Core for its story and characters (the pre-existing ones at least. I honestly don't remember any of Gakt's scenes), and the combat is good but the mission design gets repetitive. I was pretty done with that by the time I finished.

I haven't played it, but if you haven't played 7 the main character in this game spoils a major part of FF7

It's a good game if you're fine with the PSP feeling a little dated. It is indeed considered canon, but like many prequels, it runs into the problem of introducing characters that are weirdly never mentionned in the original. Not that big of a deal, but there's that.

The game has a lot of annoyances but its still fun. Also yes, it is canon.

Hey, wanted to chime in here as I've just started playing Crisis Core after the FF7 remake piqued my interest earlier this year. This PSP game still holds up pretty well in the year 2020. A familiarity and appreciation with FF7 certainly helps, but I'm regularly surprised how well the story, characters and animations still are. Like, it makes me bummed out with how Kingdom Hearts has been handled in the years sense this came out. Zack is such a fun/likeable character, and it makes Sephiroth sympathetic as a character(!?!). Really has stoked my interest in getting to the FF7 remake... at some point. This absolutely should get a port.

Also, the combat is a slot machine... not like how Tifa uses a slot machine for limit breaks, or Setzer using a slot machine as a randomized attack. But there is a slot machine automatically running constantly while you're in battle... and it decides when you level up... it's quite a thing.

@sawtooth: This is a bump, but I will say, the ending of Crisis Core is by far the best storytelling think modern Square-Enix has done since the ending of FFX. Also, I plan to cover this game some time next year.

Doubt that the OP is around to see this, but with FF7 being remade these days, Crisis Core (and Dirge Of Cerberus for that matter) may or may not end up being canon if Gackt won't be in the remake.

@facelessvixen: It's also worth considering that given the way things go in FF7 Remake it could be both canon and non-canon if we're to believe that fate can/will change and we're in a multiple timelines sort of situation.

This game made me tear up during my commute haha. Square-Enix canon is a messy and fleeting thing, and I wouldn't worry about it. If you haven't already you should beat the OG FF7 before playing this, though.

Finally finished my playthrough, and wow. Game does a great job giving context to the character motivations of so many of the FFVII characters. Definitely a few head scratchers as well, but a solid pay off. Maybe the best implementation of gameplay as a narrative device since Metal Gear Solid. With the FFVII remake continuing, I kind of hope they integrate this storyline to some degree.