I had to fight back the tears considering I beat the game while at work, but when I got home after it, boy did it hit me cause of the song "The Price of Freedom" is such a moving song for the final moments leading to Zack's final breath.

his final memory of cloud isnt cloud in a vegetable state its him giving cloud his honor and dreams if only he wouldave seen cloud reaching out to him when he went to fight all those bloody grunts. even tho i new he was going to die it still effected me because well you get attached to the characters those last few dmws were awsom to the max. so many things zack had left to do .. find out cissenes real name read those 88 letters and become a hero at least i will always look at zack as the true hero of the ff7 series cloud is a poser.... lol maybe not.

The whole final sequence (cutscene and actual play) is the best in gaming. Once Zack reads that letter and heads off towards Midgar the game was nearly impossible to play. But when Zack lays Cloud down and walks toward the army and then the DMW goes off... I had to pause the game because I could no longer hold the PSP steady.

When the battle is over and the cutscene begins, particularly with the rain and Aerith, it became even more emotional. It surprised me how much I was affected by all of this, especially since I knew what was going to happen since before the game was released, but Zack and his relationship with Aerith was so beautifully fleshed out that the ending was just so much more tragic than I ever thought.

The ending and the rest of the game was just perfect and I am surprised at how different now segments of the original play out. Knowing the relationship of Cloud/Zack/Aerith and even a deeper understanding to Sephiroth and Tseng really makes a couple of segments stand out that never did before (especially the hints Aerith drops about Zack up to Gongaga and the way she brushes his disappearance off). Crisis Core was beyond what I expected and has rekindled the faith that video games can still offer an intense and emotional connection to a character.

I cried, only the second time in any computer game. I couldn't hold the tears back, I've become so endeared to Zack and it's so painful seeing everything he goes through, just for things to end the way they did, it was genuinely tragic. I cried for Cloud too, he usually doesn't get to me but I really felt for him too, he'd been cared for by Zack all that time.

Can't say more, tears coming back...

i no what you mean one of the saddest video game endings ive ever seen and i new it was going to happen it just upsets me that square can manipulate theire fans into feeling so emotion over chars that we no are going to die for a fact. its insane but to be killed by grunts. truly sad. the price of freedom is truly high.

Despite my utter hatred for all of the Final Fantasy VII Compilation, I must say that I was actually getting a bit misty while watching that final FMV. It was simply a very well-executed and emotional scene that was easily a tear-jerker as far as I'm concerned. "The Price of Freedom" is all kinds of epic, and just goes perfectly with the hopeless battle that Square insisted on having us play through. Honestly, the worst part of it all was probably watching Zack fight off that endless swarm of ShinRa MPs and seeing his memories and ability to stay alive fading away through the DMW. Of course, Square added insult to injury by making us "fight" those last three ShinRa MPs (or try to, anyway), further demonstrating just how determined Zack was to protect his friend. Even when full of holes and exhausted to the point where he could hardly lift his weapon, he perseved. For as terrible as the rest of the Compilation is, this particular scene was incredibly moving for me.

I think the fact that you know it's coming makes it worse. Any FFVII fan knows from the very beginning of Crisis Core that it's eventually going to end with Zack's death. They're just playing through Zack's last years on the Planet, watching him grow and mature from the headstrong yet overly-optimistic young Second Class SOLDIER to the selfless hero we see in the final FMV, all the while waiting for the inevitable final battle. After the boss fight against Sephiroth at the Nibelheim Reactor, the player knows it's just a matter of time. Come the last chapter, it's perfectly reasonable to assume that significant emotional tension had already been built up, all of which is released as Zack makes his last stand.

Oh, and the fact that they were just a few more miles from Midgar really got me. Zack and Cloud had come incredibly far. Had they managed to flee for just a bit longer (or had the Turks not been so freakin' slow...), who knows how the story of Final Fantasy VII could've changed? It's just sad to think that Zack had almost made it, only to be gunned down at the last possible minute before making it "home free." He's a very likeable character, so despite knowing that his death is inevitable, I genuinely wanted to see him succeed.

So yeah, I wasn't crying endlessly or losing sleep over the whole thing, but needless to say, I did get quite emotional at the end of Crisis Core. I commend Square-Enix for actually producing something enjoyable in the FFVII Compilation.

The ending of the game was well done on squares part. I agree with The_Oathkeeper. Though i was not in tears or anything it was a very emotional ending to a game where i already knew the ending. Well done i square's part.