There's no question that Sephiroth is an icon, striking fear into players even remotely familiar with the villain. Just the opening notes of his theme song, One Winged Angel, are enough to get the heart racing. But Sephiroth didn't make a name for himself with Final Fantasy alone. A particular Disney and Square Enix collaboration, Kingdom Hearts, introduced the villain to a new era of fans, and his appearances in that series are just as menacing, if not more so, than his Final Fantasy 7 presence.

If players missed out on Sephiroth's 1997 Final Fantasy 7 debut, it might be hard to discern why fans go gaga over the character. Heralding a planet-ending event and haunting protagonist Cloud Strife throughout FF7, Sephiroth presented himself as a fearsome villain from the get-go. However, for some of us, Sephiroth's anxiety-inducing encounter in Kingdom Hearts is what truly cemented him as a terror.

In 2002, found myself on the other end of Sin Harvest, and it was in this Disney amalgamation that the One-Winged Angel left an impression that still lingers. See, I wasn’t really old enough to get on the FF7 wave when it was hot, and it wouldn’t be until years later that I experienced the title. So, for me, Kingdom Hearts was the game that introduced Sephiroth. And man, what an?? introduction that was.

Sora's Platinum match

As players near the end of Kingdom Hearts, they can revisit the Olympus Collesuem to participate in new tournaments. One of these is t??he Platinum match, which sheds many of the boss fight conventions experienced up to that point. It pits Sora against Sephiroth in a fight most players will initially lose.

Until encountering the Platinum match, I barreled my way through enemies without much preparation. Sure, some grew a little tedious, but after retreading a few zones to nab a few easy levels, I cleared obstacles in a flash, though noth??ing prepared me for a fight requiring speed and quick-thinking to match a demigod. 

After starting the Platinum match, Sephiroth teleports into the arena and wordlessly readies his weapon as his theme song builds. The powerful villain doesn't sprint or enga??ge in a reckless assault. No. Much more hauntingly, Sephiroth slowly walks towards me as if to say, “Oh, are you here too?�as One Winged Angel blasts over the arena. This unabashed display of badassery sets the tone.

Thanks to his massive sword, Sephiroth could reach me from nearly anywhere, and his impossibly fast sword swipes met me whenever I faltered. If I tried to close the distance with a b??rute-force approach, he would completely ignite his surroundings in a fiery tempest. Alternatively, if I tried to play the backfield, Sephiroth could teleport and leap around the arena to line up an att??ack. There was no safe footing. 

By s?ome miracle, I was able to push the One-winged Angel enough to start taking me seriously. Then the big attacks came out, summoned meteor showers or, even worse, that Sin Harvest move that takes Sora down to one HP and zero MP in the blink of an eye. It’s all I can muster to stay alive through the assault, meekly chipping at his health here and there. All the while, it doesn't even look like Sephiroth breaks a swea?t.

Faster than I realize, it’s already over. Sephiroth catches me in the center of one of his fire attacks, and in my haste to heal, I stop right in front of his sword. The first time I lost the Platinum match, it felt unwinnable. But that’s precisely what drove me to throw myself?? at it again and again until I eventually scraped by.

Sephiroth's Dark Depths

While Kingdom Hearts might have led to me think I knew what to expect from Sephiroth, his second appearance continued to throw curveballs. The battle occurs in a rocky area with more room than the previous bout, but maneuverability worked against me. Throughout Kingdom Hearts 2, I unwisely neglected the painstakingly-slow-to-unlock movement and traversal abilities, and that made my Sephiroth rematch all the more imposing. The villain moves around a lot more in Kingdom Hearts 2, often teleporting behind or taking to the sky, and I had no means to defend?? against these hit-and-run tactics.

In stark contrast to his previous appearance, Sephiroth charges as soon as the fight starts with an attack that’s only avoidable via an unexpected quick-time event. This wasn’t the only time he tried to catch me off guard with the deadly strike, it randomly happens throughout the fight. It’s something I had to always stay on the lookout for, as the blow has the potential to end the match instantly. Without giving me a chance to counterattack??, Sephiroth moved back to familiar tactics, teleporting and leaping around, testing my defenses with his blade.

Difficulty felt exaggerated by the fact that nearly all of Sephiroth's attacks could bring me down to critical HP, and he'd unleash onslaughts back to back without care. This quickly backed me into a new game of attrition, with Sephiroth effortlessly whittl?ing away my health while I scrambled to keep my head above water. We danced around that arena for what felt like hours, with Sephiroth laying out one spectacular display of strength after another and me panic healing and scratching slices off his health with quick combos.

When I finally bested Sephiroth again, a scene shows him literally brushing some dirt off his armor like he’s brushing?? off our maddening encounter. In the ultimate insult to injury, Sephiroth concludes that only Cloud can offer him a real challenge before sending me off to fetch the ex-SOLDIER for him. Ouch man, that hurts.

Reintroducing Sephiroth

The Kingdom Hearts series offered Square Enix an opportunity to grow Sephiroth's fame and notability. The character was already a fearsome antagonist to those who first met him in FF7, but Kingdom Hearts? would open the door for the One-winged Angel to transcend his own universe. It would have been easy to use Sephiroth for a throwaway cameo like Tidus or Selphie, but the more substantive approach paid off.

Before Kingdom Hearts, Sephiroth only existed to me as an enigmatic legend I heard about from friends�older siblings or on online forums. But once Kingdom Hearts presented the terrifying foe, his reputation suddenly made sense. Going through the toils of preparation and practice to beat Sephiroth in these Disney games is forever cemented in my memory. It forced me out of my comfort zone and got me thinking in a game that primarily encouraged button mashing. And no doubt, whether players like the character or not, Kingdom Hearts ensured Sephiroth lived up to his hype.

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Squaresoft went all out in when they decided to grow Final Fantasy VII from a humble multimillion-selling game t??o a whole series.

To that end, they created the "Final Fantasy VII Compilation," an ambitious collection of cross-media FFVII titles that would conquer the world. The initiative met a lukewarm response from the public, with the only very well-received title coming out of it being Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, a prequel to FFVII. However, many have forgotten that Compilation tried to set up a cha??racter who could replace Sephiroth in future games.

Where is Genesis Rhapsodos, Final Fantasy VII's new Sephiroth, now?

Crisis Core rocks. It int??roduces new,? more action-inspired mechanics and fleshes out Zack Fair, Cloud's pal and mentor, in his final days. It also introduces a guy called Genesis Rhapsodos as the main bad guy.

Genesis is a SOLDIER 1st class and a book nut who thinks he's one of the main characters from his favorite book, LOVELESS. From those two pieces of intel alone, you can gather he's in the same league as Sephiroth in terms of combat ability and being a quirky evil guy. Much like many other members of the SOLDIER program, ?he'd been subjected to JENOVA's cells, which led to him to getting sick and seeking revenge against Shinra.

You can also easily tell that Square really wanted to make Genesis a big thing. He? has Dante's clothes, a cool rapier that glows red, and he's modeled after and voiced by real-life Japanese rockstar Gackt.

I probably won't be creating much of a spoiler for people who didn't play Crisis Core by telling them that he's absent in the original VII or after that because he bites it in CC �but that's not really true. While Genesis is defeated at the end of Crisis Core, he shows up very much alive in a pre-?MCU style post-credits scene, setting him up as the big bad for whateve??r's next.

But he's been silent for nearly twenty years now. That's enough time to make Final Fantasy VII Remake five times, so he's either planning his revenge very carefully, or something must've gone very wr?ong for this man.

Genesis naturally showed up again in the Crisis Core Reunion remake, but that takes place before his last appearance. Even worse, things with that remake got weird because of Genesis. The Crisis Core remake took much longer to come out than many expected it would, which spawned theories claiming that the reason for the wait had something to do with Square Enix having trouble getting Gackt's image and voice rights. That was not it, as Tetsuya Nomura cleared that the only reason for the delay was the company's total focus on FFVII Remake.

The obvious reason he doesn't show up in the original VII is that the developers only came up with the idea for that character after the release of FFVII and then just put him in the prequel as if he'd always been part of the plan. Still, there are more reasons why Genesis has yet to make his return. The first possibility is that even though Crisis Core was a massive success, his last appearance was actually in Dirge of Cerberus, which failed to capture the hearts of fans.

It's not completely out of the cards to see Genesis making a return in Rebirth, but i??t's unlikely that such a thing will happen, considering how the remake? trilogy seems hard-focused on working with the elements present in the original game.

You can search for a Genesis cameo on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which is available now for PlayStation 5.

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Clou???d Strife's massive Buster Sword is just as much a fixture of the character as his spikey blonde hair. But how much would that immense weapon actually weigh?

Whether you are a fan of the RPG genre or not, if you follow gaming, you've likely heard of Cloud Strife. The stoic protagonist from Final Fantasy 7 has appeared in countless titles over the years, sometimes even with a new look?. However, one iconic detail of Cloud's attire is his Buster sword. While the sword?? looks wholly unwieldy, Cloud easily manipulates his Buster Sword like he's swinging around a whiffle ball bat. How feasible is this?

The best way to bring the Buster Sword into reality is to try to break it down into i?ts materials and parts. From there, it's just a matter of ty??ing in real-life weight.

Gigantic but not impossible

Fans have debated the Buster Sword's functionality for years, with popular YouTube series Man At Arms even creating an 80 lb version of the weapon. However, one YouTube channel, Vsauce3, sought to answer the question definitively. To this end, the video breaks down the m??aterials and composition of the?? weapon. 

By analyzing key artwork and comparing it to Cloud's originally given height of 5'7", the Buster Sword's total length is estimated at 70.5". The blade alone comes in at 54" and app?ears between a half-inch and an inch thick. Though that might seem far too big for practical use, it's noted that some European two-handed great swords, like the Zweihänder, have been known to reach 78" in size. 

While the size of the Buster Sword may fall into the realm of believability, weight is a whole other matter. From sizing, the? YouTuber estimates the sword's width at around 10", and that means a lot of metal. Assuming a standard 1 lb. handle for the weapon, the Buster Sword's total weight is estimated to reach around 60 lbs. if made from a typical metal like steel. That said, if it were made from a lightweight zinc-aluminum alloy instead,? the weight could drop down to around 20 lbs.

Square's unofficial answer

Questions about the Buster sword's weight have existed for as long as players have seen Cloud using the weapon. While Square Enix hasn't ever officially commented on realistic weight, the Final Fantasy publishe??r once inadvertently offered its own take.

A full-scale replica of Cloud's Buster Sword was shown off during the 2019 Tokyo Game Show to promote Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Undoubtedly tickling fans' interest in its colossal size, a sig?n noted the Buster Sword was just over 6' and weighed just under 15-and-a-ha?lf pounds.

While the replica's weight comes pretty close to the zinc-aluminum alloy estimates offered by Vsauce3, it's important to note that Square Enix's version was made with the intent of becoming a photo prop. As such, it was likely made of lighter facimilies of real materials to ensure it wasn't too heavy for attendees to weild while heaving their phot?o taken. Even at 15 pounds, a 6' s?word is no easy weapon ??to wield. However, it doesn't seem like the Buster Sword is as impossible as players once thought.

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Poncle has abruptly dropped a new update for Vampire Survivors with a trailer that includes some well-timed Final Fantasy references. Just a few. The Space54 update ??is available to??day.

Is the update at all related to Final Fantasy? Hmmm, no. It doesn’t look like it. However, for some reason, the team decided to release a trailer alongside it that is a shot-for-shot remake of the 1997 Final Fantasy VII trailer. Well, as shot-for-shot as they can manage with Vampire Survivors.

What? Well, according to the press release I received, an insides says, “Because we had the original trailer on a PlayStation demo disk and watched it on loop so now it’s scored into our brains. Plus the team is extremely hyped for Rebirth. What better way to celebrate than with a trailer of our own?�/p>

As for the actual update, I don’t think you’re going to be seeing any buster swords. It looks to be more sci-f?i-themed. This is what Ponc??le has highlighted for the Space54 update:

7 New Achievements

2 New Characters:

• Bat Robbert â€?When falling below 20% health, he gains +16 MaxHP (max +400) and recovers 30% health. This ability recharges every time the character is fully healed.
• Space Dude â€?Every few seconds fires all weapons regardless of their Cooldown. The cooldown of this ability is affected by the Cooldown stat.

New Weapons:

• Pako Battiliar â€?May retaliate when losing health.
• Phas3r â€?Pew Pew! Generates thin damaging zones. High Amount scaling.

New Stage

• Space54 â€?A cosmic trek through horrors and delights.

New Relic

• Allows to enable random level up choices.

Vampire Survivors is available on basically everything at this point. The Space??54 update is free and will be arriving?? today.

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Final Fantasy VII was relea??sed in 1997 on PlayStation. In those days, the NES, despite Nint??endo only discontinuing it in 1995, was considered practically ancient. Things aged faster in the �0s.

By the time the PlayStation had passed into antiquity in the aughts, the denizens of Web 2.0 became aware of a Famicom/NES demake of Final Fantasy VII. Since Final Fantasy VII was still fondly remembered a??nd the retro gamer identity was reaching its maturity, this was a fascinating topic of conversation. Just hearing about it took your imagination to interesting places.

It was certainly fascinating to me. I didn’t know enough about the backend of video games to really have an idea for how this was possible; a 3-disc epic on a ?diminutive cartridge. What radica?l magic!

I never took the time to play it, however. At the time, I hadn’t spent much time with OG Final Fantasy VII, so I didn’t have any attachment to it. In the spirit of the coming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, I felt it was time to finally try? it. And try it, I did.

I tried what I could before it crashed.

The Final Fantasy VII Demake wasn’t strictly some fan endeavor; it’s a Chinese bootleg. While the breadth and qual??ity (compared to commo?n Chinese bootlegs) suggest that its creator(s) had some affection for the PS1 title, they either didn’t have the time or didn’t care enough to really make a convincing 8-bit facsimile.

Final Fantasy VII Demake, like so many other knock-offs, is made from the parts of other games. Music, sprites, the battle system; they’ve all been taken from other games. Typically these come from other games in the NES Final Fantasy trilogy, but some are pulled from a variety of other sources. One th??ing I hav??en’t been able to identify is an actually unique asset.

The game itself supposedly covers much of the PS1?? game’s story but is filled full of notabl??e omissions. I wouldn’t know for sure because it won’t let me precede past the part when you arrive in the Sector 7 slums. I can make it to 7th Heaven, but then the game freezes, often throwing the NES�typical garbage scramble into my face.

I thought this might be a one-off glitch, an issue with my hardware setup, or maybe just a corrupt version of the game, but no ma??tter how I approached it, the result was always the same. I ran through the opening section three times, and it still refused to allow me past the bar. I blame Tifa.

In my troubleshooting, I found other people having the same issue, so I know it’s just not me. In 2013, fans hacked the bootleg and replaced all the stolen assets with ones that actually resemble the original game. 10 will get you 20 that the newer patch wouldn’t have the?? same problem with crashing, but I feel like that defeats the purpose. Fans spending four years to make something better isn’t as interesting as some developer cobbling together a vague facsimile of a ?popular title to sell in an inconsistent market.

The Final Fantasy VII demake wasn’t technically for the Famicom. It was actually for a series of bootleg “Famiclones�that were produced under the Subor name. While Subor woul??d start making clones of more powerful hardware??, for a long time, they created different configurations of Nintendo’s famous 6502 console.

Final Fantasy VII wasn’t the only game to get demade for the bootleg market. The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap, Harvest Moon, Resident Evil, and Chrono Trigger are among the titles to get backported to the system.?? Beyond that, they’d mash things together or make sequels to games that never received one. Before you get too excited, however, most of them are of extremely shaky quality. Most of the assets are just recycled?? from other games, and there wasn’t a whole lot of quality control.

Still, it’s quite the rabbit hole that isn’t well documented outside high-profile discoveries like the Final Fantasy VII bootleg. Most Chinese bootleg games are just copies of existing games released in massive compilations. It can be an adventure. Just because it says 50-in-1 doesn’t mean that you’re getting 50 unique games, as often they’d just be duplicates with, if you’re lucky, the difficulty tweaked a smidge. It might have Super Mario 64 on the cover, but it’s probably just Super Mario Bros. 3 on the PCB. Other times, it will just bafflingly mix up art by having, say, Little Nemo: Dream Master on the cover with Pokémon written over top of it. Wild stuff.

For that matter, the Final Fantasy VII demake came on a cartridge labeled Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, which, if ?you’re not savvy, was the gam?e’s sequel movie. No, none of the movie’s story makes it into the game.

The part that I did play was a bizarre experience. The story, or at least the translation, is almost verbatim from the original. However, Midgar has a lot more brickwork than I remember. The?? environments are a mishmash of medieval fantasy tilesets. The Mako reactor that Avalanche blows up in the beginning is a dragon’s head. The slums look like an idyllic forest village rather than shanties cobbled together in a desolate, sun-deprived wasteland.

The monsters that show up in random battles are a similar mishmash. What’s worse is that the variety of them in just the first area is extensive and not balanced. One fight could be a group that goes down with a few swipes of Cloud’s lar?ge scimitar (the original bootleg had no buster sword), while the next could be a grueling battle against armored foes?? that have healing spells. The reactor boss itself isn’t much of an issue, but it’s all down to luck if you make it to them at all.

You need a combination of extreme patience, a good imagination, and extensive knowledge of the original to really appreciate the Final Fantasy VII Demake. With no real cutscenes, memorable moments are kind of glossed over or omitted entirely. This is something that only existing fans would re??ally appreciate. That, and people who don’t have access to the PS1 version.

This is just how some children in China experienced video games growing up, so many have nostalgia for the bootleg games and consoles th??at they had access to. It’s a unique way? to experience the industry; chewed up and provided in whatever way they could manage. I’m almost envious.

When the Final Fantasy VII bootleg was discovered and proliferated across the internet, some considered it an incredible achievement for the NES. On some parts of that, I disagree. The cartridge used a large PRG ROM to store everything, then moved CHR data to RAM. This is pretty much exactly how the Famicom version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as well as some other titles, did it. The scale of the game is also not much more impressive than something like Dragon Quest IV.

However, what was impressive is that a bootleg developer known mostly for hack jobs went to the effort of such an extensive remake. Demakes are a bit more prevalent today, with games like Bloodborne and Dead Space getting the PS1 treatment. Even then, those?? efforts usually just stop after a small, reimagined portion. Shenzhen Nanjing Technology probably could have done Midgar and called it a day, but to actually go beyond that shows some dedication beyond just wanting to fill a cartridge with a recognizable knock-off. That’s a weird sort of respect to s??how when you’re cobbling something together from stolen assets.

For previous Weekly Kusoge, check this link!

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Many of us grew to know most parts of the original Final Fantasy VII by heart, and that's both awesome and heartbreaking. But how many of us are aware of the full extent of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII ??extended universe that Square Enix kickstarted in the mid-aughts, in celebration of its seventh anniversary?

I sure w?asn't for a long while, but now I feel like I'm ready to talk about this wackily ambitious attempt at multiplatform, multi-genre, multi-generational storytelling?.

Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier: Thirty years before FF7

Even though The First Soldier takes place long before every??thing else in the series, it only came out in 2021, seemingly in an attempt to make bank on the battle royale craze.

Yeah, you got that right. First Soldier is a battle royale title where 75 wannabe members of SOLDIER fought it out for the big job. Boy, if Cloud feels like a fraud sometimes, imagine how the SOLDIERs must feel if this is how they ended up getting the job. Though The First Soldier featured some cool ideas such as getting to ride Chocobos and, well, not much else, it failed to gain traction and Square Enix canned the thing a little over a year after release.

Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis: Sephiroth's episode, 15 years before FF7

This is a gacha-style game that mostly retells the events of the OG FFVII and ?other related media, but it also has a prequel segment dedicated to Sephir??oth who, at 14, was already a total murder machine.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7: Seven years before FF7

Crisis Core is the crown jewel of the Final Fantasy VII compilation, as it's both the game that began experimenting around with the kind of gameplay we'd later see in more actiony FF titles, and also because it's a prequel that tells a story fans act??ually want to see.

Crisis Core shows us the life and times of Zack, Cloud's mentor and protector. If you prefer other media, Last Order is an anime that takes place during the same time, but also focuses on some other events and tells the events of Crisis Core differently.

Before Crisis: Six years before FF7

Ok, it's strange that the game called Before Crisis takes place after the one whose name suggests it takes place at the very core of the crisis. Still, maybe that was just Square Enix getting us ready for the clashing timelines it would introduce with Final Fantasy 7: Remake.

Before Crisis is a mobile game? that puts players in control of the Turks, the known bunch of crooks who work for Shinra as the company sets in motion the campaign of environmental destruction that leads to AVALANCHE's pushback, and the start of the original game.

If you play Before Crisis, then I must warn you that you're canonically responsible for most of the problems in the world of FF7. Congrats.

Final Fantsy 7, and also Remake and Rebirth

Ok, you probably know the gist of the plot of the original Final Fantasy 7. A simple mission against a megacorp turns into a fight against an alien deity and a vile super-SOLDIER named Sephiroth who wants to destroy the world. Spoilers, if you haven't played the original yet, but our heroes kick Sephiroth's ass and manage to save th??e world in the nick of time. Pretty straightforward.

Things only get really complicated when you realize Remake and, I assume, Rebirth, don't simply take place at the same time or rehash the same exact events. Remake makes it pretty clear that it's not just a remake, as it creates a completely new chain of events that might, at some point, completely diverge from everything we'd expect to happen. Rebirth could change things even further, too.

Be re?ady for the new trilogy to ca?use wrinkles for this list, canon-wise.

Advent Children

Advent Children is the direct, CGI-animated film sequel to the original FF7. It has Cloud and co. dealing not just with a new virus that's wre??aking havoc among the population, but also with a bunch of Sephiroth acolytes who try and actually manage to resurrect the man for one last(?) fight against Cloud.

Advent Children is an absolute blast when it comes to action, but it feels like a completely unnecessary addition to the plot. If you want my advice, enjoy the original version and ignore Advent Children Complete, as it adds little more than irritating exposition and cheap ??drama to the whol?e thing.

Dirge Of Cerberus: Three years after FF7

Cloud is seemingly on vacation as Vincent takes the role of the protagonist in Dirge Of Cerberus. The idea seemed grea??t, as he's the edgiest character of the bunch, but this game wound up being a bit divisive among fans.

Even though it puts on a Devil May Cry impersonation with shooting and the FF character that most resembles Dante, Dirge winds up being a lesser plot about a B-tier threat for Vincent. If Dirge Of Cerberus were an anime, it would be 100% filler.

The original Final Fantasy 7's ending cutscene

Ok, this might be cheating because this is just a cutscene and not a game, but let's not end this on Dirge of Cerberus. Insead, let's hop back to the original FF7.

The true final ending of FF7 takes place 500 years after we st??op Sephiroth and the meteor. We see that the once-industrially corrupted landscape has been replaced by s??ome lush fields of green, which is code for "happy ending."

Honorable mention: Final Fantasy 7 G-Bike

I didn't have G-Bike on any specific point in the timelin?e, because I like to believe that Cloud just gets to ta?ke it for a ride whenever the hell he wants to.

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth comes out on February 29 for the PlayStation 5.

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The hype train for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth already left the station with the surprise launch of a demo earlier this month. Before pulling into the final station on February 29, 2024, Square Enix is making a quick stop for Valentine's Day. After all, what says love like subconsciously stealing the identity of a girl's dead, but now not de??ad, boyfriend while also being oblivious to the affec?tions of your childhood friend?

Who are you inviting to the Gold Saucer with these Final Fantasy 7 Valentine's cards?

In a February 13, 2024, post on X (formerly Twitter), the Final Fantasy VII account made a series of Valentine's cards available. Each card features one of the nine party members with an obligatory appearance by everyone's favorite villai?n with mommy issues, Sephiroth.

The cards themselves harken back to a time when I would purchase a box of Batman or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cards to hand out in elementary school. Each of the 10 cards features a high-quality render of the character wit??h a delightful pun professing your ?adoration for the recipient. Suddenly I'm wondering who would get each character and which card best describes my feelings for my real crush. I suppose it doesn't matter as a nearly 40-year-old man who will just print them all out and dump them on my wife's desk.

Feel free to click on any of the images above to download whichever strikes your fancy. Even if you won't be handing them out i?n class, you can always set them as a phone wallpaper to celebrate the holiday and remind you why you need to save the planet from Sephiroth.

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Want to dive into Cloud and co.'s post-Midgar adventures early? You’re in luck. Announced at the State of Play today, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is ?getting a demo, a?nd it's out today on the PlayStation Store. 

The demo will get you access to the first chapter of Rebirth, with a party of Cloud and Sephiroth in the game's opening. Sometime between today and the release of Rebirth, the demo will also be updated to extend to Cloud, ??Aerith, Tifa, Barrett, and Red XII??I in Junon. There was no mention of whether save progress would carry over or not.

Pizza in the Sky

Final Fantasy games have been consistently getting demos lately. Last year, we got the fantastic Final Fantasy XVI demo and, before that, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins. In fact, in 2020, Square Enix released a demo for Final Fantasy 7 Remake which covered the first chapter. 

News of this new Rebirth demo leaked a little ahead of schedule last night, via the Explore page.

As a fan of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, I’ve been hyped about Rebirth for a while. Plus, I just finished Crisis Core Reunion, so I’m up-to-date on whatever craziness Tetsuya Nomura and the team have in store. I’m way too curious as to why a certain black-haired SOLDIER is still alive and squatting.

The demo should be available today on the PlayStation store for players to plunge their swords into, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth releases on February 28 on PlayStation 5.

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Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is right around the corner on February 29, so Square Enix is capitalizing on the thirst for more Cloud and Sephiroth with special screenings of the CG-animated Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children film a week ahead of launch. 

Originally released nearly two decades ago in 2005, the Tetsuya Nomura-directed feature is a characteristically over-the-top look at the world of Final Fantasy VII two years after the events of the original game. The film's return to theaters is the result of a collaboration between Square Enix, Fathom Events, and Sony Pictures. It will mark the first time for the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete director's cut version to hit cinemas.

The screenings will be in theaters for just two days. Those who want to see Cloud's Buster Sword in the largest format possible can check out the English-dubbed version on February 21, followed by the subtitled version on February 22. The director's cut is a whopping 26 minutes longer than the theatrical release, packing in various visual improvements and aroun?d a thousand updated scenes. The story finds a mysterious new illness spreading quickly throughout the world, bringing old enemies back out of the woodwork and forcing Cloud to pick up his impossibly heavy blade and get back into action. 

If you do decide to head to the theater for this one next month, Square Enix wants you to prepare for a history lesson before the lights dim. Folks who show up early will be treated to exclusive introductory content like the history of Final Fantasy VII, how it connects to Advent Children, interviews with Tetsuya Nomura and Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi, and more. 

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As Final Fantasy 7's release date draws nearer, Square Enix has been revealing more information about the highly anticipated game. In a recent Tweet, we f??ound out more about Chocobo customization and Chocobo races.

As the Tweet reveals, you'll be able to visit Chocobo ranches, and here you'll find Chocoboutiques where you can customize and recolor your bird's equipment. These options aren't available solely for aesthetic reasons, as the gear you throw on will affect your bird's per??formance in Chocobo races.

In an interview with IGN, director Naoki Hamaguchi explained a bit more about what you can expect from Chocobos in FF7 Rebirth. There's no Chocobo breeding this time around, though there's still plenty to do with the birds. Hamaguchi revealed that you'll get to enjoy an "enhanced ?new Chocobo capturing feature" to acquire the birds that you can then use for traversal.

He also spoke about the Chocobo races, highlighting that there will be several different tracks and varied courses available. Hence, you'll be able to spend hours just racing the birds. Though all Final Fantasy numbered titles are mostly self-contained, some recurring elements are present in several games, including Chocobos. ??They have been depicted in different ways, though they're always adorable.

You'll get to enjoy the big birds once again when Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth launches on February 29, 2024, on PS5.

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The conversation surrounding Cait Sith, one of the most contested names within the Final Fantasy 7 ??extended universe, has taken a dramatic turn. ??On the social media website that I insist on calling Twitter, Square Enix posted the following clarification:

“In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Cait Sith is pronounced ‘Kate Sihth.’�/p>

For some Final Fantasy fans, this statement may read along the lines of calling water wet. In fact, I imagine many who played Final Fantasy 7 back in 1997 naturally pronounced the name like that. However, many (naturally) believe the name “Cait Sith�to be a reference to the corresponding Celtic folklore creature �a ?href="//en??.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat-s%C3%ACth" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Cait Sidhe.�strong> This is typically pronounced like “Ket-Shee,�which some ??have since app??lied to the remote-controlled Shinra machination. But with Square Enix's clarification, it appears that in an effort to be as correct as possible, some fans have argued themselves into an incorrect pronunciation instead.

Note that Square Enix specifically says that Cait Sith is pronounced this way in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Clearly, this opens the door to pronouncing Cait Sith as “Ket-Shee�in the original Final Fantasy 7, since the post offers no clarification on that f?ront. I’m not team “Ket-Shee,�I just? enjoy chaos.

Easily in the top 5 of most controversial pronunciations in Final Fantasy 7

Honestly, arguing over how to pronounce things in Final Fantasy 7 is a time-honored tradition at this ?point. If you were on a message board during the mid-2000s, saying “Aeris�?instead of “Aerith�was tantamount to saying that you hated everyone with three or more toes.

Also, calling Tifa “tih-fuh�instead of “tee-fuh�could start wars. At some point, I caught the “tih-fuh�bug and still say that even though I know “tee-fuh�is correct. I have been nearly punched in the face at least once for this reason. No, hearing it pronounced in Final Fantasy VII Remake has not helped.

So, as silly as it may seem, Square Enix’s clarification here does have context. And while the voice acted script of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth would naturally answer this question, at least we can put this one to rest early. Now we just need Square Enix to clarify whether "Safer Sephiroth" should actually be "Sefer Sephiroth" or "Savior Sephiroth" to?? sate fans once and for all.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth launches on February 29, 2024 on PlayStation 5.

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In a year of critically acclaimed games, Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis is certifiably a mobile title that came out. Billed as “another possibility for a remake,�Square Enix hyped up the game's PSX Final Fantasy nostalgia while kind of hiding the fact that it was, in fact, just a gacha game. For presumably that reason, many Final Fantasy fans vocalized their wish to see Ever Crisis on PC and consoles, and it loo?k?s like they’ll get some of what they asked for.

Square Enix announced via social media that a Steam version of Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis is in development. While details are sparse, we do have confirmation that data will transfer between mobile and PC versions of the game. Otherwise, we don’t have much to go off of here. Square Enix hosted a live stream ??that showed?? a shot of Cloud and Aerith on a PC screen (pictured above), which is something, I suppose.

Don’t make me cry, sis

Honestly, seeing this news this morning filled me with such deep confusion. There are free-to-play mobile games where a PC/console port makes sense, like Another Eden. However, as someone reviewed this thing, I can say Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis does not fit that environment. It is a title that, at best, works as something you kind of pay attention to while you kill time. O??utside of incredibly specific niches, like someone who livestreams the game, I don’t know who this PC port is for.

I do understand that, leading up to release, many fans wanted this one absolved of mobile exclusivity. But that was also when many believed this was more of a straightforward remake and not just a gacha game. It’s cer??tainly not a title that benefits from busting out a controller, I’ll say that much.

Admittedly, Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis is an easy game to clown on. Even outside of gacha or pay-to-win arguments, competing games like Honkai: Star Rail are just wholesale better. However, it isn’t enough of a disaster-piece to be interesting for that reason, either. Making a weird, convoluted, auto-play MMORPG out of Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim? Now there’s a mess. Ever Crisis just feels like something that will live and die with less fanfare than its fallen brethren like Mobius Final Fantasy.

Anyway, I digress. For those who enjoy Ever Crisis and still want that PC port, I ho??pe this version of the game sates you. No release window has been revealed at this time.

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It is an undeniable fact that almost all games are, to some extent, commercial products. If we were not willing to spend our money on video games, then companies would not make them. With all-time classic titles like Final Fantasy 7, I often don’t think about this. Instead, I’m so swept up in the story, music, and gameplay that I forget about the cash I spent. It’s only when games like Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis come? along that I remember that the eternal wheel of capitalism lurks behind even my most precious gaming memories.

Look, I’m not above the experience that Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis offers. In my review-in-progress, I explained my robust experience with gacha games. Because lest you forget, Ever Crisis really is just a gacha game. It goes through the same motions as any title in this space does, and its gameplay mostly devolves into consuming Stamina and watching numbers go up. In my spicy opinion, games like this can still be fun. As long as there’s a substantive core drivi??ng the experience, I can enjoy incremental grinds like these.

Well, I speak to you now as someone who has spent roughly 27 hours in Ever Crisis. I’ve cleared the main story, seen all its modes, and raised my team’s power level to roughly 60,000. Admittedly, this is only about a third of the way towards challenging the hardest content available in the game. But even if there’s an amazing? experience hiding here, I’ve played enough to say that the Mako just ain??’t worth the squeeze.

Disclaimer: All scree??nshots have been cropped to fit on the page. Some shots may not be fully reflective of the game.

[caption id="attachment_403810" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis (iOS [reviewed], Android)
Developer: Square Enix, Applibot
Publisher: Square Enix
Released: September 7, 2023
MSRP: Free-to-play with microtransactions

The First Soldier, the second time

I'm going to gloss over the basics of Ever Crisis, as I covered that in my review-in-progress. In that article, I discussed how Ever Crisis smashes Final Fantasy 7 with the “Compilation of�stories together in a frankly incohesive way. However, I didn't really cover The First Solider content, which functionally serves as Ever Crisis�“o??r?iginal�story. Unfortunately, I can’t say this did much for me.

For the most part, it revolves around introducing us to the new characters Glenn, Matt, and Lucia. It makes sense for this arc to take this angle, since it presumably lays the foundation for future updates. I just never found myself invested in this party or their mission. It adds some supplemental lore, sure, but I didn't find it interesting either in the scope of Final Fantasy 7 or on?? its own. It's not that it was terrible, it was just kind? of boring.

It's only at the end of The First Soldier that we finally get to see young Sephiroth, who Square Enix teased prior to launch. However, without spoiling too much, I’ll say that clearly any intriguing content here is still being wi??thheld. The game's launch teaser trailer states “we still don’t know Sephiroth,�and that remains true for me after playing.

Fortunately, Ever Crisis does let you choose which story to progress past a certain point. However, this winds up revealing just how little story content there is. The Final Fantasy 7 arc currently ends after Midgar, which I guess lines up with what assets the game could use from Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Meanwhile, Crisis Core ends after the first Ifrit fight. Stuff like Dirge of Cerberus or Advent Children has no representation in the game so far, despite appearing in the game's debut trailer.

[caption id="attachment_403811" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Systems of a Phoenix Down

As far as the actual play experience, I noted in my review-in-progress that I've kept auto battle on since it was unlocked. That never changed, though Ever Crisis does try to add depth in very small ways.

The crunchiest option here is the Criterion Dungeons, which task you with repeating the game's occasional dungeons with boss fights that escalate in challenge. This does introduce very, very lite roguelite-style mechanics where you can select certain stat buffs after each fight. However, these are ridiculously basic, like choosing whether to boost physical or magical attack. Many gacha games have experimented with these types of mechanics, and Ever Crisis doesn't compete in any meaningful way here. To their credit, Criterion Dungeons do try to incorporate some item management. But I ??found this offered nothing more than "heal between battles?? and use buff items before the final boss."

The other substantive option, which I imagine has the most strategic depth, is co-op. As of writing, teams can link up to take down three different bosses at several different difficulty levels, with a limited-time event boss also joining the mix as of writing. Given the way the battle system works, you could theoretically coordinate some neat strategies here. In single player, you must automate two party member??s even with manual play turned on. Co-op technically lays the foundation to let players w?ork together as dedicated attackers, healers, stat buffers, etc.

However, in practice, co-op quickly become just another thing to use auto bat??tle on. My Cloud would join two identical Clouds to take down baddies, and given that we all changed our attack stances at identical ?times, I assume that everyone else was just auto-farming too. There could be a worthwhile experience at the top level, I’m just not seeing it now.

[caption id="attachment_403812" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

I am not a Materia girl

As far as progression itself, it really does stay firmly in that “grind for grinding sake�mentali??ty. More upgrade systems unlock as you progress, but they all boil down to the same loop. Identify what you should upgrade, spot the resource you need, and then run the appropriate stage until you're done. Sure, it’s neat that characters earn mild skill trees to climb. But these systems don't mix up the gameplay in any meaningful way.

The one exception, however, is the Materia system. And unfortunately, I don't mean that in a good way. Materia is essential, since it’s the easiest way to slap the elemental cover??age on your team without performing more gacha pulls. However, crafting Mat??eria takes real-world time, and you can only craft up to five at once. Additionally, each Materia is treated like a unique item, since they all wind up with randomized stats and rarity levels. In other words, it's a gacha inside your gacha.

None of this is bad on paper, but tr?eating each Materia as its own unique item quickly becomes a UI nightmare. If I just want to figure out which Materia I should optimally craft, I have to do a ridiculous amount of cross-referencing. Do I have enough of this element for my team to equip? Which type of Materia could use a better variant? How much time am I willing to spend chasing a few extra stats?

Additionally, strengthening Materia requires sacrificing your spare pieces? as level-up materials. I can see the logic here, since you’re rolling the dice ??on Materia over and over again to find ones with good stats anyway. However, again, this requires micromanaging to make sure you aren’t chucking Materia you might need by accident. None of this is impossible, but it’s just so tedious to repeat this process ever few hours that I stopped trying to optimize it.

[caption id="attachment_403813" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Rain in the desert

Now, credit where credit’s due, if there’s one thing I do genuinely like about Ever Crisis, it’s the character stories.

These unlock quite a ways into the game, and I assume they’re linked to your characters' levels. I only really used Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith, and those were the stories I had the option to experience. These are, no joke, quite good! They fill in implied gaps in Final Fantasy 7’s main story that are fun to see, even if they're kind of unnecessary. For example, Cloud’s story details his reconnecting with Tifa and explaining how, exactly, he became involved with Avalanche. ??The writing and cutscenes feel authentic to the original game, as if they were long-lost deleted scenes.

It's not just the character stories either. Even the silly beach event that went live as I type this features some decently charming writing with the Final Fantasy 7 cast. It’s 100% filler content, but I like seeing the game have fun with its cast and put them in whimsical situations. Honestly, if the game just wholly focused on original stories like these, it’d make a much stronger case for itself. I know that The First Soldier technically is trying to do this, I just really don’t care about the characters there like I do fo?r the original cast.

Sadly, these bits are over way too quickly. You'll finish each tale in a handful of minutes, which pales in comparison to the hours of grinding you’d need to do to get there. I couldn’t even complete Tifa’s story, since it abruptly jumps from a recommended power level of 45,000 to 70,000 in one mission. It’s a bummer that FF7 fans who just want to see content like this will hit walls?? like these. Especially if it causes them to pay to climb over those ?walls faster.

[caption id="attachment_403815" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Draw a line in the Ruby Weapon’s sand

It’s tempting to look at Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis and say that because it’s a gacha, it's therefore garbage. I bet at least one person will look at the score below and say that I rated this too highly. However, I don’t think that’s necessarily fair. There is a market for these casual, long-term grinds, and Ever Crisis does meet that bare minimum. It looks and sounds great, generally runs well, and, occasionally, does deliver feelings of playing PSX Final Fantasy 7 again. I think Ever Crisis successfully accomplishes everything it sets out to do. It's just that the bar it wanted to clear is exceptionally low.

Outside the Final Fantasy 7 branding, there just isn't anything notable or remarkable here. For as much as I talked about just leaving the game on auto battle, I have no interest in meaningfully interacting with the core systems at this point. The menuing is so clunky that I don’t even want to build my team, which is typically the best part of gacha games. It’s somehow both too shallow to be interesting and too convoluted to be engaging, which is below par even by mobile game standards. In my review-in-progress, I compared gacha games to ordering a Big Mac. Ever Crisis is a Big Mac made by?? a team who completely fo??rgot to add any special sauce.

Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis is just a gacha game. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever seen, and it does offer adequate fanservice for those who love Cloud and friends. But otherwise, Ever Crisis doesn't do anything that other free mobile games already do better. Maybe it’s worth a download for bored Final Fantasy fans, but otherwise, you can spend both ?your time and money better elsew?here.

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In the vast world of Square Enix gacha games, Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis is undoubtedly one of them. The Final Fantasy VII mobile spinof??f has attracted ample curiosity since its original announcement, given that it aims to functionally remake the original game alongside the �a href="//en.wikipe?dia.org/wiki/Compilation_of_Final_Fantasy_VII" target="_blank" rel="noopener">compilation of�titles. But with Ever Crisis�/em> latest trailer, Square Enix reminds us that the upcoming?? RPG will add some new lore too.

It's a full remaster of the PSP exclusive

Square Enix is remastering Crisis Core, and it's arriving pretty soon. Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion is a remaster of the 2007 prequel to Final Fantasy VII, and it's coming to PC and consoles this winter.

The news was announced during today's Final Fantasy VII 25th Anniversary Celebration showcase. The original Crisis Core is a prequel story to Final Fantasy VII proper, following Zack Fair's mission to find missing SOLDIER Genesis Rhapsodos. This ne?w version looks to follow the same story, but with an updated look and feel.

Square Enix is calling it a full remaster. Reunion will have HD graphics and all 3D mode??ls r??efreshed. Dialogue will be fully voice-acted, and there's a new soundtrack arrangement as well.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRBiRFM2k0I

Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion is planned to launch on both PC and ??modern consoles. That means PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox S??eries X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. No news on a firm date just yet.

All's Fair in love and remasters

According to Square Enix, you won't need to have played Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy VII Remake in order to play Crisis Core Reunion. It also w?orks as a standalone story, with its own adventure that unfolds.

That said, the expanded universe stuff is really all about seeing it all come together. And considering how Zack seems to be playing a big part in the also-announced Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, this might be a good bit of homework to do before?? next winter.

The big question is, obviously, will any of the story content change? Zack Fair's status in the Remake continuum is clearly quite different from the original. Remake also seems to be linked to the original series, in a very Rebuild of Evangelion manner. Things ar??e about to get wacky and wild with the timeline and deeper lore questions. Hopefully we get some answers this winter.

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Ever Crisis' closed beta is on the way

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis is something we've been looking forward to for a while -- initially announced last year, this new title will bring the entirety of the Final Fantasy VII timeline to mobile platforms as a single-player, episodic experience. That's right, we're getting the story of the original Final Fantasy VII game, as well as all of its companion titles in one little package, as well as some new story elements surrounding the foundation of SOLDIER, as written by Kazu?shige Nojima. How fun!

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=G53XnZSzRRU

During the Final Fantasy VII 25th Anniversary stream today, Square Enix announced that Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis is getting a?? closed beta sometime this year. The game will be free-to-play with in-game purchase??s.

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Our favorite remake is headed to Steam

Final Fantasy VII is considered one of the best games of all time, and as we celebrate its 25th anniversary, this game is the gift that keeps on giving. An enhanced and expanded version of the remake, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, is already available on the PS5 and the Epic Games Store. We learned today during the Final Fantasy VII 25th Anniversary Celebration stream that the Intergrade version is also going to be on Steam as of June 17, and the game will be playable on the Steam ?Deck as well.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4t1OFONu10

Intergrade comes bundled with INTERmission, which is new story content for the game?? featuring Yuffie as the main character. There are other new gameplay and content features, including Fort Condor, as part of the game as well.

Similar to the PC launch of Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade on the Epic Games Store, t??he Steam version costs $69.99 �but there's a discount knocking it down to $49.69 unti?l July 7.

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More on the horizon for Cloud and pals?

We could be hearing more about Square Enix's plans for Final Fantasy VII fairly soon. Final Fantasy VII Remake director Tetsuya Nomura says that some FFVII news is in store for next month.

During a Japanese-language livestream about battle royale Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, Nomura said news is on the way regarding the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII for June, next month. (Translation via VGC and @aitaikimochi on Twitter.)

The comment doesn't seem to have any more specifics, in terms of what this means related to Final Fantasy VII. Hopes would be high that this signals some news about Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2, but there could a?lso be other projects in ??the works.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge73iBqc7o8

Change your fate

The first installment of Final Fantasy VII Remake landed in 2020, after a long wait for its eventual drop. And the interstitial update Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade landed a year later, adding some extra Yuffie content t?o the fold.

Wherever Part 2 of Final Fantasy VII Remake is, chances are good it's still in the works. Some confirmation of what's coming though, and especially how the team plans to tackle the story after Cloud and the gang leave Midgar, would be interesting to see.

It sounds like a decent chunk of Final Fantasy XVI news is on the way. Producer Naoki Yoshida recently said a new trailer is on the way for the next big numbered installment in Final Fantasy.

With Summer Game Fest just around the corner, chances of some Final Fantasy news showing up seem high. Square Enix hasn't announced any of its own plans as of this writing, nor has Sony or Nintendo. Xbox and Bethesda are hosting their joint showcase on June 12. Geoff Ke?ighley's Summer Game ??Fest Live stream kicks off on June 9.

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