‘Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis’ brings comprehensive ‘FFVII’ timeline to mobile

Square Enix is leaving audiences with large surprises after announcing two mobile titles in the works coming from the popular Final Fantasy VII franchise. One is a battle royale title, The First Soldier, while another will bring the entire FFVII timeline in episodic releases, Ever Crisis. Both titles give fruition to the previously rumored global trademark by Square Enix.

Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis will be a complete re-telling of FFVII, encompassing mainline title, spinoffs, and CG movie. This includes previous releases like Before Crisis, Crisis Core, Final Fantasy VII, Dirge of Cerberus, and Advent Children. Subsequently giving hardcore fans access to the game’s complete timeline, considering Before Crisis’ exclusivity in Japan.

Following a monthly subscription service on particular phone models, Final Fantasy VII Before Crisis ceased for Western release due to alleged stiff hardware requirement. At the time, it works only on NTT DoCoMo’s FOMA 900i line. Prevailing rumor states that a device of similar specifications wasn’t found in any Sprint mobile phones in the United States. Sprint is an exclusive partner for overseas launch.

Bonus contents

More than just giving players a comprehensive trip back to established lores, Ever Crisis will also feature new content. More specifically, it will tie in new tales that explore the events around the “origins of SOLDIER”. Final Fantasy VII Remake’s writer, Kazushige Nojima, will pen the fresh contents. Which does make for an interesting notion considering the creative twists he’s put in the recent remake.

Furthermore, a younger version of Sephiroth will also make for a highlight, as per Tetsuya Nomura’s interview by Famitsu. He also claims that the game will see monthly installments and will feature a materia combat system akin to the original.

An early look

As per trailer, the mobile rendition of the entire timeline will share an art style similar to the pocket version of Final Fantasy XV. This means a “chibi” version of every character as they appear across the game’s expansive storyline. Keen audiences could also draw a comparison with the original PlayStation version of FFVII’s graphics, albeit more elaborate, cleaner-looking, and smoother by distinction.

Combat, however, shows a turn-based gameplay with a visual fidelity that seems to push mobile devices to their limits. Which is indeed the kind of eye-candy any fan of the JRPG genre could easily get into, aesthetics-wise.

Final Fantasy Ever Crisis is currently in development and will see a launch in 2022 for Android and iOS.