I think I can see why Zack became so popular, Cloud fought for his friends and saved the planet, but somehow Zack always felt even more heroic, at least for me, maybe because his whole deal was to become a hero and in the end made the ultimate sacrifice, not necessarily a complex character, but a compelling one, so I'm glad we're seeing more of him in Rebirth

"Boy oh boy, the price of freedom is steep." this dialogue alone made Zack as my favorite character till now, let alone his final conversation with Cloud.

It's interesting that they so specifically wanted to portray Zack in such a positive light, usually this leads to characters who are bland and uninteresting, but Zack manages to be great and his "nice guy" persona adds to that

Zack is hands down my favorite FF character. As of recent I replayed Crisis Core and man it hits a lot different than it did as a kid, and because of all the lore for FF 7 series that has released since then. Seeing the banter between Zack, Sephiroth, and Angeal is tear jerking to say the least. Such a bright positive character goes through so much tragedy and has so much put on his shoulders but he never sways or wavers. Zack very much so protected his honor as SOLDIER and I cannot WAIT for CC remake this winter and the development timeline in 7 Remake Part 2....

For me, I think one of the things that really spark the love for Zack IS what we learned about him from Cloud's pov. Zack wanted to be here. Zack was a hero. Zack wanted to be there and help. Zack did those things. Zack, aside from being Cloud's best, if not only, true friend, was also his hero. Seeing how significant an impact Zack had on Cloud's life shows through with how well he tries to be idea of "I'm living for Zack. But Im also me. Im...?" And that struggle back and forth of being true to himself, but trying to be Zack and live for his friend and hero.

Zack is my favorite character in any FF game since I played Crisis Core. He’s this too good for his own sake guy that has a tragic ending, keeping to his ideals throughout no matter how hard the world spits on him for it. Seeing him come out alive at the end of FF7: Remake was one of the best experiences in a videogame I had in years, so much so it brought tears to my eyes. I’m of the opinion FF7: Remake is a masterpiece on the way it was presented and executed. So yes, more Zack Fair please.

I really like how Zack's character has a completely different personality than Cloud. Zack is more lively and has a "playboy-esque" characterization as opposed to Cloud's gloomy and serious personality. You also grow up with Zack when experiencing his story, as when the game starts he's just a teenager ready to take on the world, and by the end he matures into a man capable of taking on the world. It's sort of a breath of fresh air, as most final fantasies I've personally played tend to provide us with serious characters and protagonists such as Squall, Cloud, Noctis, Lightning, etc. (which isn't a bad thing! Their character progression shows throughout their adventures with their party members and friends) that characters such as Vaan, Zidane, Tidus, Zack, etc. really embrace a more goofy and light hearted side to final fantasies that really make you enjoy playing the protagonist more, in my opinion at least. When playing Crisis Core, I loved Zack and Cloud's little brother to big brother dynamic and hopefully more people can grow to love Zack's character when his new game comes out!

Patiently awaiting the day I enter a boss fight with both cloud and Zack in the same party.

Growing up with Crisis Core being my first FF game, I remember loving it to bits. I think the character of Zack and his ideals definitely left an impact on me till this day.

I think reason why we love Zack so much is because of how Crisis Core immerses you in the past of FF7. Nothing makes you get drawn into a story when you character build properly. You get to be an ally of Sephiroth and be there for the downfall. And the ending was more heartbreaking for me than Aerith dying in 7. I knew what was coming yet i still was sad at the end.

I remember playing FF7 as a kid and was curious about Zack after Aerith and Tifa have such big reactions to meeting his parents. It made him seem important and definitely wasted hours hoping to find him somewhere like Vincent and Yuffie. When CRISIS CORE released I didn't put it down for months. It was amazing playing and replaying a game that finally gave attention to a character I had always been curious about and he was such a good character!!! I easily fell in love with Zack Fair and his dreams of being a hero. Then the way he is connected to Cloud makes him all the more interesting for people who fell in love with the reluctant hero of the original game. We find out that Cloud is alive because of Zack's care and that he was a hero to the end. I replay CRISIS CORE at least twice a year since release and I'm proud to say that Zack is easily my favorite Final Fantasy character. I love so many of them, but he will always hold a special place in my heart.

I do think that Zacks story should be expressed more in the remake but I think that it shouldn’t overshadow the story of the game itself. I’m also on the fence on Zack being alive during these events now. If there isn’t a reason for it, it won’t make sense for him to be there other than for fan service. I suppose we have yet to see that reason.

i liked zack and FF7 crisis core because this game gave me meaning in life back when i was studying for college i had no ambition in life i was only following what my parents want me to become to pleases them , even though it is a game zack quote "embrace your dream if you wanna became a hero you need to have a dream" hit me and gave me purpose in life , because of this i was able choose a job that i really want at first my parents where furious about it but then after time they accept what i choose and decided to support me, now im having fun with my job and living my life to the fullest thats why crisis core had a especial meaning in my lfe

Zack is my favorite character in video gaming. He stuck to his ideals til death, and followed his dreams. He believed in his comrades to a fault. He did everything he could to get back to Aerith. The end of Remake made me cry, I'll admit it. And if he is surviving, I can only hope to get an extension to his story. Embrace your dreams, and whatever happens protect your honor.... as SOLDIER

As a level 99 Aeris simp since 1997 and as a guy named Zack, I have always enjoyed Zack as a character even before the new games. It's nice to know that even non-Zacks found the character somewhat interesting as well.

This "Price of Freedom" cover is incredible!

This was a MUCH deeper dive outside of Zack and covered a bunch of things I didn’t realize I wanted to know, excellent work

They hype behind sephoroth. Caused me to watch advent child, which led me to play crisis core, and i haven't looked back since. No matter what game I play and how much, I enjoy it im constantly looking forward to more Zack games. Hands down my favorite character over the franchise

I remember playing Final Fantasy VII when it was still new - how the Cloud in the Nibelheim Incident story was so different than the Cloud I got to know in Midgar. I had attributed it to Cloud maturing over time. But this stark difference in personality makes much more sense when you realize he was emulating Zack. There’s no denying that Zack has a powerful effect on Cloud. Cloud joined SOLDIER wanting to be more like Sephiroth. But I think once he met Zack, Zack became Cloud's true idol. In fact, in the entirety of the Final Fantasy VII compilation, the only time Cloud ever seems to enjoy himself is around Zack. Cloud is gloomy in the later parts and after FFVII because he is purposefully trying to distance himself from his psychosis. He doesn't want to "steal" the personality of his idol and friend, but he never really knew himself when Zack wasn’t there. I always hear about how Cloud is a moody and brooding protagonist. And to some extent that is true. But I think people are too quick to forget that these are not Cloud’s defining traits - they are the result of a person experiencing great trauma and who lacks identity, direction, and resolution. This is why we only ever see Cloud smile at the very end - during Advent Children, when he’s finally found healing and direction. Cloud’s real defining trait is (ironically) resolve. He will see through his objectives to the end no matter what it takes. This is a trait that both Zack and Cloud share, but is also the one trait Cloud can claim as his own as he embodied it even before he met Zack - back in Nibelheim when he saved Tifa when they were children, and again when he resolved to join SOLDIER. And this is why it’s so hard for Cloud to piece together his own identity outside of Zack. There is so little of himself that that he likes which wasn’t influenced by Zack. It takes until the events in Advent Children before Cloud finally accepts himself as is rather than trying to be someone else, whether by emulation or avoidance.

I had no idea who the heck Zack was when I sat down to watch Advent Children with my brother, and by the time we'd finished the movie, he was all kinds of fired up about that fact, haha! So I ended up spending much of the rest of that summer watching him play through Crisis Core and yammering on and on about how great Zack was, and so on and so forth. For that single summer's worth of nice memories I'll always be interested to hear more about Mr. Fair!

I’m tickled to get more Zack. By nature, he will never overshadow Cloud or his story. That’s not his role. His place is the heroic support, the friendly hand. And that seems to be what the developers have in mind.

I'd really like to see how they could expand on Zack. REMAKE proved that he lives, and REBIRTH could very easily expand on both Cloud's and Aerith's backstory, and hopefully, he appears as a playable character, if not in REBIRTH, then at least in Part 3

I absolutely adore Zack. He became my favorite ff character after CC. I just love his bright personality so much. He is like the Sun who can light up the entire room when he’s present.

The tragic king 😔 "Me? Gongaga"

Wow!!! This was so much more informative and in-depth than I was expecting when I clicked on this video. Subscribed!!

I definitely believe this gives Cloud an opportunity to decide what would have helped his life suck less. It would be to have Zack be beside him, which in turn caused him to deal with his seizure like flashbacks on his own...

I absolutely love Zack. He has been my favorite character for years. His rise in popularity only makes me love him more. Guess its time for that Zack tattoo!

Easily the best Final Fantasy channel.

I liked Zack as a minor character. It give him a more heroic mystic. But I also like the idea of the remake been diffrent and we not getting the same game twice so I am open to him getting a bigger role.

Love how they've expanded on my boy Zack. I love how we feel so passionately about Zack cuz someone else might feel this passionate about Kain from final fantasy 4. We all have our favorites but I think that's what brings us together I love this community.

Even in smaller instances of Final Fantasy like Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia, Zack is still one of the most liked characters.

I've played through the fan made crisis core upscale project and it's absolutely incredible

Zack is one of my favorite game characters ever made and I'm so happy to see him live in rebirth

Dude I really need more of Angeal, Genesis, And Sephiroth together

I'll always remember sitting in my friends room back in high school getting to the ending on the psp and swearing I wasn't gonna cry. Not only did I cry, but I launched the disk out the window, came to my senses, and got it back. Then I played it again, thinking I'd never see zack again for the rest of my life. Seeing him at the ending of remake, was the most emotional I'd felt at the ending of a game since then, and I cried again. No shame

As someone who’s only played the original PS1 version, I barely even remember the guy. Wild how popular he got after SE decided to shove FF7 down our throats all these years later.

Crisis Core has a special place in my heart. It was my entry point into the Final Fantasy games. I still remember shedding a tear at the end of the story. My Dad also saw the I was playing final fantasy then told me how he would play the original FF7 when I was a baby. I then played FF7 and have been obsessed with the story ever since. “The price of freedom is steep”

Zack Fair was my first introduction to mainline Final Fantasy. I had a PSP when I was young, and I loved Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions. Eventually I got my hands on Crisis Core. First fictional character I cried over

Yes! 3:20 i just brought this up on your FF7 Easter Egg video. I know it was brought up long ago on another one of your videos. I kind of did like this concept.

It would be even more interesting if Square made choices that didn't revolve around profits.

Zack's wish to becoming a hero came true, he saved Final Fantasy VII for being another good FF game

Zack and Angeal became my favorite FF7 characters when Crisis Core came out, though Remake Cloud gives them a run for their money, lol. I love the adorakable ones 😅

Zack Fair is my all time favorite video game character. Can't wait to see what happens!

Another thing worth noting adding to his popularity was his cameo appearance at the Olympus Coliseum in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep! His personality was in full swing there and definitely introduced him to a whole wing of fans coming from the KH side of things!

Another brilliant video

Square died when sakaguchi left. Heart and soul of the company replaced by a corporate stooge.

Thank you for all the final fantasy content. Especially the FF7 content 🙏🏽 this game is one of few things that genuinely makes me happy and escape this world. So it really means a lot to me and I’m sure for many other FF fans

ZACK'S BACK! YEAH! This time...Things will go differently.

I really love the changes! Zack being alive and in the same timeline will open so many opportunities. It always broke my heart to play through CC just to see that he got chased by the turks and in the end being killed of by shinra. That brutal betrail. Also when he had to kill his Mentor Angeal. That game was pure tragic....i just hope they will make an mind-blowing new story in the next two parts!! I mean the end of the first part already blew my mind!

I was always kind of drawn to Zack and wanted to know more of his story since FF7 first came out but once I played Crises Core he became my favourite FF character. Can't wait for more Zack content whether they're just trying to ride the popularity or not! The better it does, the more chance we get more!

Great video! Interesting to think that if Zack lived, none of this ever happens. Or, Zack ends up being the protector of Cloud from an emerging Sephiroth/Jenova threat with Aerith being around to translate. I agree that without Zack dying, the stakes and emotions are diminished, but him being alive also drastically changes everyone’s role in Remake. It works either way IMO. Kill Zack, and everyone has something internal to fight for. Keep him alive and chaos follows.

I think what partially made Zack such a rising Character. Was because of the original 7 plot. When seven first came out no one really knew much about Zack other than what Cloud and Tifa talk about and Cloud's Memory affected by Geo-Stigma. Once Crisis Core Came out on the PSP which sadly I know many didn't get to experience. The story expanded and broadened around Before Crisis. The Loveless Series and After Crisis. Zack will always be my Favorite being the first to be passed the Buster Sword by Angeal. Zack had more emotion and really wanted to save those suffering by Shinra's hand. "Boy oh Boy the price of freedom is steep."

These rankings, my best boy! I binged CC-FFVII- hard back on a borrowed PSP-1001, incurring what feels like lifelong wrist pains. Like, damn, if that doesn't say something (aside from impaired executive functions).

You have to give a hand to the marketing genius at SquareEnix for Zack’s increased media representation. They wanted to squeeze the money out of us and yes they did. Frankly, the only time I saw Zack outside of the original FF7 is from Advent Children, Kingdom Hearts BBS, and Crisis Core, but boy oh boy his role in Crisis Core sold me as the real hero of FF7. Sure, the true hero is Cloud but he’s carrying Zack’s legacy. And in Remake when they changed the outcome and made him alive, absolutely thrilled me to what’s to come. I can’t wait to see how this new timeline and current timeline will collide. Like what will happen to Cloud, the Hero, most of all. He’s living in two world where Zack is dead and alive, and with events that has happened and has not. Remake is an awesome game for not throwing away the event of original game but basically giving us a new timeline. I really hope we get something more about Angeal, because he was the mentor of Zack, and Zack carried his traditions.

I didn't think anything of him after playing FFVII, and I was even confused by who he was in Advent Children at the time. I got a PSP in around 2013/2014, and then heard Crisis Core was good and got that - oh boy did he become my favorite! To me, he had the coolness of Cloud, but instead of being some broody, edgy-sounding teen, he was positive, I liked being around him, and he was skilled! He was so likable and his end was super well done, that when I saw him again at the end of remake I all but lost it!

Very nice video! Zack is my favourite FF hero😊

Sakaguchi is such a legend

What a great piano version of the price of freedom, where can I find It? Great video btw! ☺️

I think that is cool actually. Taking the time with the stories. I get to see it from this vid on where Sephiroth fits in connection to Aerith. In which it didn't fit. So that is cool to see. Good insight for me if I ever did an anime. As sometimes stories change along the way to make it all fit and become perfect.

Zack is my favorite character of all time no one can or will ever match him if nothing else he is a hero to me and I do look up to him even if I don't always take what he said or did into my own life he is still an inspiration

Would love to see a break down of Squall and his popularity. I loved ff8

I love crisis core. It is my entrance to final fantasy (I was born in 2000 and grew up on Nintendo, didn’t go to PlayStation/xbox until the 2008-2010 era. I got a psp with crisis core bought alongside it. This game was my childhood, and it was also very amazing to me. Zack is a character I relate to and very much look up to (I mean, it’s obvious, I’m a Zach too) When reunion came out, I played it for a few days but life got too busy and it doesn’t seem like it aged too well on ps5 other than graphics. however, I discovered the switch port recently, and I’ve been reliving my handheld childhood with 25 hours sunk into it the past two days. It’s crazy to me that I was a kid when I started playing this, looking up to Zack and in a way imprinting my onto him and copying his personality in some ways (I get called a puppy/ golden retriever a LOT), and also longing for a relationship like Zack had with aerith. With Zack back, years and years later, I have grown into someone around his age, and I have found my aerith that I’m getting married to next month. In a way, crisis core changed my life and made me see that you can still be positive even when life gets hard. Zack’s character had brought me through a lot. I am so glad he’s back, and I am very happy with the remake not being a simple remake, but a continuation of the story. The original game was perfect, so I can see why they wanted to continue rather than try to strike lightning in a bottle again by remastering the original. I love where the VII compilation is, and I am so so happy to play rebirth 3 weeks before my wedding :). So sorry for the long message, just wanted to express my love for this character.

Zack was like mew was for early Pokémon. You heard rumors about him on the playground and when he popped up on that square fighting game at the arcade, kids went ape shit. He was always popular, color swaps on the main guy just worked back then, since Ken/Ryu, Subzero/Scorpion, Mario/Luigi etc

I definitely love light hearted protagonists in Final Fantasy. My very first favourite was Zidane and when I played Crisis Core, Zack quickly became a favourite too. They're so loveable and adorable. When at point in their story they experience heartbreaking moments (Zidane finding out his origin and entering a mental breakdown and depression, Zack needing to kill his mentor and best friend and dying in the end), it's such a contrast to their initial happy-go-lucky personality. I can't sync well with cool and distant characters like Cloud, Squall, Noctis. At one point in my life I liked Lightning cuz of her badassery but as I grew older the more I came to not like that trope. No judgement to those who like the trope.

Everything they said about changing loading screens and such so it doesn't feel like a ported psp game, makes me feel like they're implementing FF7R's Midgar into Crisis Core Reunion

I think CCFF7 has the best graphic arts on psp and still amazed how it looks on it these days

Of all games it was Energez that made me fall in love with Zack. First game that I think he was ever playable in now I think about it.

HEY YOU LISTENED TO ME I JUST COMMENTED ON THE PREVIOUS VIDEO YESTERDAY AND HERE YOU ARE AND POSTED THIS! THANKS FINAL FANTASY UNION

I'm really ok with Zack as a background character to build history. It fits the story of shinra experiments where Zack died and Cloud somehow survived. The "profits above anything else" is how Zack got resurrected and they got in bed with Disney. It's the old soap opera nonsense of "last season was all just a comma dream of a character you haven't seen yet".

Just as Cloud wouldn't be who he is without Zack, the same could be said in return. Zack wouldn't matter without Cloud and remake Cloud has set the bar pretty high imo

for anyone that didnt know, the legend akira toriyama did the art for chrono trigger

Ever since i beated crisis core almost 10 years ago,Zack has been my favorite character of all times,i introduced myself in the ff brand in a more proper way with Crisis Core and hell even if the game has its flaws on the gameplay part,the story was so magical to me,im so glad i started FF7 story with crisis core cuz i didnt know anything about the game asides from meeting cloud on KH and Dissidia,and Zack is such a damn good character,the thing that makes him such a lovable character for me is that he is constantly painted as a non-perfect character,he is optimistic but lack attention to important things some times,he is strong and have combat experience but even then he have problems trying to remain focus or he just get overconfident,the game shows us a descent number of times where zack is saved by luck or by a friend (such as Angeal and Sephiroth in Tamblin forth) im so glad he gained the deserved popularity that he has nowadays,and that we will be able to see him shine in a new game with better gameplay mechanics and brand new models im so eager to reach over 500+ hours in Reunion 💀

i just beat crisis core reunion. i never played the psp one. and i vaguely already knew the story and that he was a fan favorite but now i really appreciate his story. and the psp one is so dated now it seems like a chore to delve into. reunion really makes the gameplay feel...good

I love this channel

Zack became popular because he's literally THE Gigachad of Final Fantasy franchise. Handsome, Strong, Honorable, Loyal, Heroic. He's literally peak male performance in every way.

For me Zack was a mystery in that I wanted to know more about him in the original game. Then getting crisis core Zack was done so well. I lovehis Japanese voice actor and its cool him and Aeiths Japanese voice actor are married. Love their chemistry which was a highlight of gundam seed destiny

Rick Gomez is the one voice actor that NEEDED to be brought back

Might need to review what you said at 3:41 as you say shifted from Aerith being Sephiroths brother :P

Detective Joe. Sounds like a 90s Saturday Morning cartoon if I ever saw one

Was that party in focus strike?

I blame Zack Fair for my exercise routine. If he never existed, I wouldn’t have been doing 100 squats every day. (Thanks to him, I got me a GYATT)

Wish I could’ve played crisis core on my psp when I had one, but I’m glad they remade it for the consoles

So 2 things. Was just watching your videos earlier today, and then saw that whilst at work, you uploaded this video...about my favorite FF character of all time....as well as my intro to the world of FF7. Thank you!

Iwada is every inch the Company Exec I imagined them to be

It would've been cool if they added Zack in Smash bros as either an alternate costume or Echo fighter for Cloud. Which is kinda funny if you think about it since story wise it would technically be the other way around.

When I first played Crisis Core I was a kid so I didn't really like the idea of not getting to play as Cloud. After playing Crisis Core, Zack took the top spot as my favorite FF7 Character and maybe even my favorite of all time, at least in terms of how I felt about him. I was still a kid and could not fully understand all that was happening in FF7 so that may have played a part. However, after playing 7 again, Reunion, and replaying Remake, my adult self can confidently say he really is my favorite character.

Despite the insurmountable odds, Zack Fair stood tall.

Thanks!

I wonder if FFVII CC Reunion will have a voice acting other than japanese and English, like for XIV, XV and VIIR

I love that they expanded on that part of the background lore. It was such an integral part of clouds story and seeing it fleshed out was nice. I wish they would have done an actual just remaster of ff7 with updated graphics and switched it over to the FFX battle system, but sadly they turned it into an action RPG which just doesn't appeal to me.

Just beat Crisis Core for the first time. Zack has some of the best character growth in the entire FF series.

There's a lot more SOLDIER interplay and comradery in crisis core. Zack has a heroic father figure in Angeal, and the process of him growing up, becoming a 1st and seeing his other heroes like previously accomplished 1sts (aka Genesis and Sephiroth) falter and go a little insane - forces him to grow as a character and keep having to choose responsibility. He's loyal to a fault even to Shinra for awhile, but he does it in the right way, in that he focuses on the people that make it good (Cissnei, Tseng even, and various other military). In the end his desire to try and save Genesis shows him as a very different character to Cloud. Zack's ego is relatively harmless, he grows out of it quickly and he's more carefree. When Cloud gets all serious about being ex-SOLDIER it comes from a place of inadequacy which actually makes him more of a threat, more destructive, and have more potential to be manipulated or corrupted. Couple that with the JENOVA cells he gets after being experimented on and he can literally sabotage everything by handing over the black materia. If it weren't for the experiences and spirit of Zack, which helps tie Cloud to his new friends, it could've gone much worse than it did. He was essentially turned into a SOLDIER via the treatment / experimentation without ever having to be properly trained in the way that Zack was. All he has is what he picked up from Zack while conscious and subconsciously hanging around him via osmosis.

I remember back in 2000 or so hearing about glitch / cheat to get Zack in ff7, obviously it was bs bout just the rumor made me more interested in the character im glad Zack is more attention and detail can't wait to see what's next

To be fair, you do see him get shot in the face at point blank at the end of the remake... in first person.

I’m very excited for crisis core reunion to come out in winter this year as I can’t wait to play it.

Since we got the crisis core remake I want a dirge of Cerberus one

Call me weird, but I can't help but think of Zack as the "Roxas" to Cloud's "Sora"....

i would love to see the refreshed game, but tbh, i'm not too keen on hearing different voices. would be too jarring for me, having the originals (from the psp) as canon. i hope they are able to bring the majority of the original VAs back for it

I think it would make sense that since everythings changed Zack showing up could cause a mental break in cloud that Gives Sephiroth the edge he needs to control Cloud at the temple of the ancients which could cause Cloud to leave the party and here comes Zach Tifa knows him can vouch for him Aerith is alive and could vouch for him. Maybe if not there then the city of the ancients when Cloud almost kills Aerith Zack steps in and saves her from Sephiroth and then cloud leaves? Either way having by the end fight you'll have two parts. Each consisting of a Melee Sword, Materia Mage, Ranged Attack, and your Ninja/martial artist.

Zack Strife and Cloud Fair, pretty much it.