Hiya!

I’m a huge Final Fantasy VII Remake fangirl. I love it so much that I’ve played and finished it several times, which is amazing since I’m more of a “one and done” it kind of girl when it comes to most video games. I even said I would make it my Game of the Year for 2020. So you would think I would be over the moon when Square Enix opened the floodgate of future content all connected with Final Fantasy VII Remake!

There was a lot of stuff they showed. They were making additional content for the actual Final Fantasy VII Remake with a brand new chapter featuring Wutai member Yuffie and her travels in Midgar. Final Fantasy VII Remake: Intergrade, which is what Square Enix is calling it (because it needs a fancy name) may be PlayStation 5 locked. This is unfortunate as I don’t have Sony’s new console yet, but it does make me want to get the system just for this game. That’s a testament to how much I love Final Fantasy VII Remake as I’m willing to get a spend a good chunk of change just to play additional DLC!

That wasn’t the only thing they announced, though. Square Enix made it known they weren’t only working on the next part of Final Fantasy VII Remake and the Yuffie DLC. They’re putting a whole lot of content revolving around the game. I’m not talking about just a couple of games here. No, they’re really going whole hog at it as they’re actually going to go through the gamut of everything related to Final Fantasy VII! While this may seem like a dream come true for a fangirl like me, it has had the opposite effect as now I’m worried Square Enix might be doing too much with the property!

Now, I may like Final Fantasy VII Remake but I still have to truly touch on the original game. Honestly, I don’t think I should even attempt to play it because, even though I have a good idea of where the story is headed because, well, Final Fantasy VII’s original story is legendary. Remake has indeed shown they may be steering the ship through a different course but I just don’t want to risk being spoiled of the impact all the reveals. So I should be really appreciative of all the new content Square Enix has for me down the line. However, at a certain point, it feels like they may be revealing a little too much.

Take Final Fantasy VII: The First SOLDIER. It’s a battle royale type game coming out sometime this year for mobile devices and, based on the title, I’m assuming it will delve into the selection of who would be the most qualified to become Shinra’s initial guinea pig, I mean, their first SOLDIER. It’s a mobile battle royale shooter so I’ll definitely be skipping this one. However, I sort of like the mystery regarding who officially the first SOLDIER. Of course, I’m not naive and I’m sure Square Enix saw the success of games like Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds so they decided to create their own battle royale and slap the Final Fantasy VII title on it to get a lot of eyes on it. However, they’re still rolling it into the continuity, possibly making whatever story they have for it canon.

Do we really need to know how Shinra formed SOLDIER? Isn’t it much better to leave it as some force they created because they wanted to create troops who were as strong as, well, the actual first SOLDIER, Sephiroth? Squishing the entire battle royale thing seems unnecessary.

Speaking of Sephiroth, it’s been strongly hinted we’ll get to see his earlier days during Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis. Now, Ever Crisis, despite being another mobile game, does have me intrigued because of all the content it’s supposed to have. Not only will they be making another remake of Final Fantasy VII, they’ll also be remaking practically every bit of Final Fantasy VII content they’ve released before! This will include remakes of Advent Children, Before Crisis, Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus. The Advent Children version really piqued my interest because it wasn’t even a game! It was a movie Square Enix made! The other entries are no slouches either as they all had different game mechanics so it really makes me wonder how they’ll make Ever Crisis balance all of these mechanics to make them all work together to feel cohesive.

Additionally, Ever Crisis will dive into content I’m utterly unfamiliar with. I haven’t watched Advent Children yet. I know Before Crisis was a very old mobile game featuring the Turks (who I adore, by the way!). Crisis Core is pretty much the direct prequel to the events of Final Fantasy VII as it features Zack Fair and a fledgling Cloud Strife before he got his big sword. Dirge of Cerberus is, from what I know, is best forgotten in the annals of time. Ever Crisis is supposed to pack all of this in one package? That’s too good to pass up!

I’m not all that concerns about the amount of gaming content Ever Crisis will pack in, actually. I’m more worried about what they said about how it’ll handle Sephiroth. They mentioned you’ll probably see Sephiroth during his early days, before he became the all-powerful one winged angel we saw in Final Fantasy VII. I know you get a brief introduction to how strong he is early on in the original game as well as in Crisis Core. What I’m worried is Ever Crisis will show him when he’s not the badass he is now.

I strangely do not want to see Sephiroth before he was infused with his godlike powers. I do not want to see a toddler version of Sephiroth who, for example, didn’t want to become a weapon or just wanting to play because he’s a kid. I do not want to see Shirna and, more specifically, Hojo performing experiments on him or him just wanting to be a happy child. I do not want to see him questioning why he has to be a propaganda tool for Shina or question why he has to fight against Wutai.

Why? Because this would destroy the mystery behind Sephiroth. We do know his story somewhat, thanks to Crisis Core and other things fleshing out his backstory. However, it’s great we never actually see his origin as it leaves a whole lot of mystery behind the character. I fear, if we know too much or Square Enix tries to make us empathize with him, we’ll also lose the reason why he’s become an iconic character. We don’t really need to know a whole lot about him!

I’m also concerned Square Enix is pumping too much Final Fantasy VII adjacent content in a short span of time. Strangely enough, I’m not afraid they can’t split up their workforce in such a way that each game will play well. No, I’m more worried fans will get Final Fantasy VII fatigue! Just think, by next year, Square Enix will have 3 simultaneous Final Fantasy VII games out! They’ll be polishing up Final Fantasy VII Remake Part II, putting the first stages on Part III, developing new content for First SOLDIER as releasing the first batch of chapters for Ever Crisis! It just seems like too much for gamers to keep track!

I do get why Square Enix is doing all this, though. They have to strike while the iron is hot. Final Fantasy VII Remake is definitely white hot right now as fans are eagerly awaiting the next entry. They realize it’s a cash cow and they want to milk it for everything its worth. I’m just fearful they’ll milk Final Fantasy VII dry.

Byee!

What do you think of all the Final Fantasy VII stuff Square Enix is making? Let me know in the comments section below!