Welcome back.

Yes, I was really emotional as well at the ending of Crisis Core. I knew that there was going to be a sad ending, because of the secret scene in FFVII. The one that happens when you go back to the basement of the Shinra Manor on the 3rd disk.

I think what really got me tore up inside was after Zack passed on his Buster sword to Cloud. Cloud lets out a pained cry, and it was just something that I thought really made the scene that much more powerful.

As for the final battle against the Shinra Army, I knew Zack was ultimately going to lose, but I made sure to take as many of those grunts down before it happened. Like you, I wasn't letting Zack go down without a fight.

The fight against Genesis was a little too easy for me as well, but that was on Normal mode. I tried to defeat him on Hard, with my New Game+ file, and well...he was hard. I still can't beat him.

Overall, I thought this game was an excellent entry to the compilation of FFVII. It really showed Zack, who was just a minor character in FFVII, as really a great main character. Some people may have been put-off by his happy-go-lucky attitude, but I think it was refreshing to see it.