O FINAL FANTASY VII Part 1
Time Line: Final Fantasy VII
From Advent Children to Dirge of Cerberus, here's everything you need to know about FFVII - in chronological order!
So who is this dark-haired hero, star of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII? Recognize him from the original Final Fantasy VII? Remember him from that shiny movie, Advent Children? No?
Well then, youve been missing out on Square Enixs Final Fantasy VII Compilation, a series of games and movies that serve as a sort of official fanfiction for the beloved Final Fantasy VII.
The Final Fantasy VII Compilation was first conceived by Square Enix as a way to shift the company towards "polymorphic content." What that means is that Square wants to cash in on FFVIIs enormous popularity without having to 1) remake the game for the PS3 or 2) make an actual sequel (hey, we all saw what happened with FF X-2).
At first, the idea was to create a gorgeous CGI film and a prequel game that could only be played on Japanese cell phones. But somewhere around the twentieth plot twist, it occurred to Square that two spin-offs werent enough to cover the entire scope of Final Fantasy VIIs moody, techno-punk world - so they made more spin-offs and another animated feature.
In all, there are five games, two animated features and some random literary works that make up the compilation and round out the backstory of Final Fantasy VII. In case youre not clear on how these sanctioned spin-offs fit into the FFVII world, we've came up with this handy timeline to help you out.
Above: Somehow he's more creepy when he's smiling...
1) Kingdom Hearts (PS2, 2002 - ? years before FFVII)
What?! Thats not part of the compilation. Wait, did Squall say something about Cloud being born in Hollow Bastion? Never mind. Moving on…
2) Before Crisis: FFVII (Cell phone)
Before Crisis: FFVII is set six years before the start of Final Fantasy VII. At this point in the story, the monolithic Shinra Corporation has just wrapped up its war with the nation of Wutai and has a monopoly on mako, the energy that powers
all its cool technopunk technology. An insurgent organization called AVALANCHE starts to rebel against Shinra, and the Turks - a shadowy group of elite agents in smart business suits - are called upon to put down the rebellion. At this point, AVALACHE is a bunch of no-names (the cool people don't join up until FFVII), but Tseng the Turk is around, and the game introduces a couple of original characters that appear in other compilation sections.
Through a series of downloadable episodes, the games story runs up until the starting point of FFVII, and it raises more questions than it answers about FFVIIs plot.
3) Crisis Core: FFVII (PSP, 2008 - 5 years and 1 year before FFVII)
Heres where you can get your plot fix. Instead of starring second-tier characters, all our FFVII favorites are to the fore of the events of the game: Sephiroth, Cloud, Aerith, etc. The story covers most of the events that take place immediately before FFVII starts, as well as laying some groundwork for how Shinras mako obsession goes downhill. We cant tell you too much more about the plot just yet (be sure to keep your eyes peeled for our review later this month), but we appeal to your sense of logic:
In this picture, we see the games main character, Zack Fair, holding the iconic huge sword that Cloud carries in FFVII. Now, logically, that sword has to wind up with Cloud and Zack has to magically disappear before FFVII starts. So while we won't actually tell you what happens (Wikipedia will), we can tell you that theres a 99.9999 percent chance that Crisis Core will end in tears.
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