Square Enix stole the recent State of Play with the announcement ofIntergrade, the PS5 upgrade of FinalFantasy 7 Remakethat will include a Yuffie DLC. It also revealed a mobile battle royale game calledFinal Fantasy 7: The First Soldier, as well asFinal Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis.While the sequel to the highly successfulFinal Fantasy 7 Remakehas not been announced yet, fans of the series can still expect to return to Midgar very soon.Ever Crisisis probably the most mysterious announcement of the three due to a wide range of unique features that combine the nostalgia ofFinal Fantasy 7with the updated combat system from the remake.
Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisisis a mobile gamecoming in 2022 that will compile the entireFinal Fantasy 7timeline. That’s a lot of content; so far,Ever Crisisis confirmed to include the events of the originalFinal Fantasy 7, Advent Children, Before Crisis, Crisis Core,andDirge of Cerberus.It feels unlikely that Square Enix will release the entire timeline at once, however, simply due to the volume of content it needs to develop. Additional stories will probably be made available in updates or in-app purchases following the game’s launch.
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Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis Graphics
In the trailer showcased at the State of Play event, one of the most surprising features ofEver Crisisis the polygonal character design, which is reminiscent of the originalFinal Fantasy 7that introduced so many players to the world. In non-combat story and exploration sequences, the characters look like a combination of the updated models from the remake and the original game. Every character also has a 2D avatar that appears on the screen during dialogue, which appears to be text-only.
The combat was another big surprise. The new 2D avatars are still present on the screen, but the blocky character design switches tographics indistinguishable fromFinal Fantasy 7 Remake. The trailer showcased some of the combat against the Scorpion Sentinel, the first boss in the remake, and it looked almost identical to the remake. By combining an updated, but not a completely redesigned, original graphics with the updated graphics,Ever Crisispromises to balance nostalgia and newness in a way that the remake didn’t. This should be exciting for fans ofFinal Fantasy 7who felt like the remake took too many liberties.
Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis Might Have Party Selection Features
The biggest thing that seems to separateFinal Fantasy 7 Remakecombat fromEver Crisisis the possibility for party selection. In the remake, players only have access to up to 3 party members at one time (which means if Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, and Barret are all present, one will be excluded from player control) and party members are selected according to the plot. Tifa cannot join the party, for example, if Cloud is exploring Sector 5 with Aerith while Tifa is back in Sector 7.
This type of automatic party selection is different from what players of the originalFinal Fantasy 7experienced; party selection in the original game is complex but does allow for players to customize their party after reaching a certain point in the game. UnlikepreviousFinal Fantasygames, it doesn’t 100% depend on the needs of the plot.
Ever Crisisseems to be employing this latter method of party selection because Aerith is shown in the trailer fighting theScorpion Sentinel with Cloud and Barret. This is significant because Aerith wasn’t present for the Scorpion Sentinel battle in the remake and didn’t accompany AVALANCHE on their mission to blow up the Mako Reactor at the beginning of the story. Aerith’s presence could hint at customizable party selection inEver Crisis, allowing players to include characters from later in the story in whatever battles they choose.
Final Fantasy 7 Timeline: Crisis Core
As previously mentioned,Ever Crisiswill compile the entireFinal Fantasy 7timeline. The only major exclusion isThe First Soldier, the battle royale mobile game releasing this year.The First Soldiertakes place 30 years before the events ofFinal Fantasy 7and, as of now, is not included in theEver Crisistimeline.
Chronologically, the first game in the timeline isCrisis Core. Crisis Coretook place seven years beforeFinal Fantasy 7and focuses onZack Fair, a SOLDIER 2nd class. Zack is the original owner of the Buster Sword that Cloud carries inFinal Fantasy 7and the first love of Aerith Gainsborough. Thestory ofCrisis Corefollows Zackas he rises through the SOLDIER ranks, meets Aerith, battles Sephiroth, and eventually dies after fighting hundreds of Shinra soldiers with Cloud. It’s after this battle that Cloud inherits the Buster Sword and, plagued by insecurity, adopts Zack’s persona as his own.
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Final Fantasy 7 Timeline: Before Crisis
Before Crisisis the second game in the narrative timeline, taking place six years before the start ofFinal Fantasy 7.It focuses on the Shinra Company and the Investigation Division of the General Affairs Department, also known as the Turks. Theyare present in mostFinal Fantasy 7gamesand play a large role in the remake as well.
Before Crisisalso explains the rise of AVALANCHE, the eco-terrorist organization opposed to Shinra’s consumption of Mako energy. Players take control of eleven Turk members fighting against AVALANCHE, leading up to the start ofFinal Fantasy 7.Before Crisisprovides a lot of insight into the Turks, including characters like Reno, Rude, and Tseng, as well as new information about the formation of AVALANCHE and the inner workings of the Shinra Company.
Final Fantasy 7 Timeline: Final Fantasy 7 (1997)
Chronologically, the third game is theoriginalFinal Fantasy 7. Final Fantasy 7 Remakewill eventually tell the complete story of this installment, but players will also be able to experience the full narrative inEver Crisis. Final Fantasy 7focuses on Cloud Strife, an ex-SOLDIER with a bad case of mistaken identity as he works with AVALANCHE to overthrow Shinra, discover the truth about his past, and defeat Sephiroth.
Final Fantasy 7is an incredibly nostalgic game for a lot of gamers who experienced it on the PlayStation console in 1997. It was one of the first video games to tell a fantasy epic of its scale and remains one of the best and most complex stories ever told through a video game. The impact of the originalFinal Fantasy 7has obviously not been forgotten, as it was the starting point for all the games being released today. Most of theEver Crisisfootage featured scenes fromFinal Fantasy 7,and it will probably be the first narrative featured in the mobile game.
Final Fantasy 7 Timeline: Advent Children
Unlike the other installments in theFinal Fantasy 7metaseries,Advent Childrenis an animated moviethat takes place two years after the events ofFinal Fantasy 7.Sephiroth was defeated, but remnants of him remain in the world with the mission to find Jenova and resurrect Sephiroth’s full form. The Remnants of Sephiroth are the primary antagonists inAdvent Children, with the primary characters being the main cast ofFinal Fantasy 7. As they work to prevent Sepiroth’s return, Cloud is seen still recovering from the traumatic events of the original game.
Advent Childrenbeing included inFinal Fantasy 7: Ever Crisisis an especially big deal because it was originally a movie, not a video game. It will be the first time players can interact with the story, unlike the others which have all been told in video game format.Advent Childrenwas criticized for having an overly complex plot, which isn’t hard to do when it comes toFinal Fantasy 7,so maybe spreading out the story in a game format will help provide some clarity.
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Final Fantasy 7 Timeline: Dirge of Cerberus
The last game in the timeline included inEver CrisisisDirge of Cerberus,which takes place three years afterFinal Fantasy 7.This story centers around Vincent Valentine and is more of aspinoff than a sequel, similar toBefore Crisis.
As a victim of Professor Hojo’s experiments, Vincent has a dark and mysterious past. In addition to being experimented on, he’s also a former Turk and wields a handgun called Cerberus. Unlike other games in theFinal Fantasy 7universe,Dirge of Cerberusis a third-person shooter. The story has Vincent being hunted by the Deepground organization, which is looking to awaken the superweapon Omega. If successful, Omega could destroy the planet.
Dirge of Cerberusis the last majorFinal Fantasy 7spinoff and the last existing story being remade inEver Crisis.Altogether, these five stories make up the entire narrative of theFinal Fantasy 7universe. IfEver Crisisis successful, it’s entirely possible Square Enix will add even more original stories to the lineup.
Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis Release
With so muchFinal Fantasy 7content going intoEver Crisis,it will be exciting to be able to experience every story in one place and to see how Square Enix updates the other games.Final Fantasy 7 Remakeintroduced players to an exciting, fast-paced new combat system and beautiful graphics that should translate well to the other stories, and the exploration system that looks so similar toFinal Fantasy 7should be a great trip down memory lane.
For fans who didn’t like the new direction Square Enix went withFinal Fantasy 7 Remake, Ever Crisiscould also prove to be a more pleasing alternative.Ever Crisishas the potential to tell theFinal Fantasy 7story in a way that’s more faithful to the original while the remake goes in a different direction.Ever Crisismight look more like the remake many were hoping for.
Fans are already wondering whether there will be a Nintendo Switch version ofEver Crisis,which seems like a no-brainer and has become common for mobile games, but so far it has only been announced for iOS and Android devices. Ever Crisis will be free to play, but it will have in-app purchases. Right now, it’s unclear what those in-app purchases consist of. Many details still remain unknown and there’s a long wait ahead, butFinal Fantasyfans will definitely be following the development ofEver Crisisand anticipating a nostalgic reunion with their favorite characters and stories.
Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisiswill be available on Android and iOS mobile devices in 2022.
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