At the time of this article, I think everyone has already played Final Fantasy VII Remake. Although as a social animal, my progress is still only in the fourth chapter, but from the new content currently added, this remake is indeed full of sincerity.
The popularity of Final Fantasy VII no longer requires me to depict and render it, and there is no doubt that this is a work that stands at the top of the JRPG. But in fact, if you rely on this PS game from 23 years ago, you can't actually reach this height today. This achievement is the result of the game and many spin-offs.
As the first Final Fantasy to evolve from 2D to 3D, Final Fantasy 7 has epoch-making significance, and the excellent plot and gameplay are still outdated even today, but these are not enough to sustain 23 years of popularity. Seven years after the release of the legend, in 2004, Final Fantasy VII ushered in another significant turning point – the large-scale project called "Compilation of FinalFntasy VII" was officially launched. The goal of this project is to create new games or video works with the same worldview and coherent timeline for a story that is not described in Final Fantasy VII.
These works do not necessarily have Claude as the protagonist, but will start from the perspective of other important characters, and complete the plot that took place before and after the final fantasy 7, making the story of Final Fantasy 7 more complete and the world view more extensive.
It proved to be a brilliant and successful project, and even though the serial number of final fantasy orthodox works has now reached 15, no series has ever reached the scale of Final Fantasy VII. So before returning to Midgard after 23 years, we might as well look back at the important spin-offs of the Final Fantasy VII series. For the convenience of understanding, I'll sort it in the order of the story timeline, not the order of the game's release time.
▌ Final Fantasy 7 Core Crisis
Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core (FF7 CC)
FF7 CC is the latest in the Final Fantasy 7 series, but the timeline of the story is the highest, telling and connecting with the story that took place seven years before the legend. Although Claude also appears, the protagonist is Zack, who has a special connection with him, and through this work, we can understand the beginning of all the stories.
Zacks is a shinra second-level warrior with a heroic dream, and in an operation to eliminate hostile forces, Geneses, one of the first-class warriors, led a large number of low-level Shinra soldiers to disappear en masse, which is the "mass loss of warriors". Zacks, as a candidate for Genesis, participates in the investigation with another first-class warrior, Angel, who is also his good friend, and meets Claude on the way, who aspires to become a Divine Warrior.
"FF7 CC" is a rather influential work, not only the plot is closely related to this part, but also because of its tragic ending - when Zacks fights with the swarming Shinra soldiers to the last moment in order to protect Crowder, and finally collapses with exhaustion, I don't know how many players are moved, and it can be said that it is the most classic bridge section of the entire series.
"FF7 CC" is a game on Sony's PSP handheld platform, because PSP is extremely popular in China, so it is also the first "Final Fantasy 7" related works that many players have come into contact with, and its influence may even exceed this biography. The time point of the game's launch coincided with the launch of the new model PSP2000, and the strong IP effect and excellent game quality injected a dose of cardiotonic agent into the slightly sluggish PSP at that time. When "Final Fantasy 7" switched from the Nintendo camp to the PS platform, it achieved its own achievement and Sony, and when "FF7 CC" was launched on the PSP, it more or less carried some of the visual sense of the past.
▌ Final Fantasy 7 before the crisis
《Final Fantasy 7 Before Crisis》（FF7 BC）
In FF7 BC, the player plays as a newcomer to the Special Work Force of Thera Corporation, "Tux", to perform various tasks to prevent the avalanche, and the game has a total of twenty-four chapters, plus two special chapters. The story begins six years ago, and the final chapter is related to the explosion of the No. 1 Magic Furnace at the beginning of this chapter.
As a mobile game, FF7 BC takes full advantage of the phone's operating features, such as players can receive "Magic Stone Support" emails from Tuckers members (other players) who are fighting, and Tuckers members who have been captured in captive shelters can also send emails to other players for help. This allows players to teleport their own magic stones to each other, or help each other with other players to rescue trapped Tuckers members, and even make magic stones with their phone cameras. The game design concept is quite advanced, and it is still very creative even today.
Since it only corresponds to mobile phone platforms in Japan, few players outside of Japan can actually experience this work. Although FF7 BC does not play too much weight in the entire series in terms of the importance of the plot, many players are curious about the Tuckers organization, especially the members with full personality. Although a few have appeared in other works, there is still too much room for excavation in their stories, and I hope that se can remake this work in the future.
▌ Final Fantasy VII Advent Son
《Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children》（FF7 AC）
FF7 AC is set two years after the end of the story in Final Fantasy VII, and after the meteorite disaster, a disease called "starmark syndrome" began to spread around the world, and Claude, who was full of regret and guilt about the battle two years ago, is living alone, but with the return of Sephiroth, Claude returns to the battlefield again.
FF7 AC is not a game, but a CG movie. Many people have come into contact with and liked the Series "Final Fantasy 7", and it is precisely because of "FF7 AC" as an opportunity. After all, this game is old, and the outdated 3D graphics are difficult for new players to accept. But the movie is different, high-quality CG animation shows the handsomeness of Claude and Sapphiros to the fullest, and various cool mirrors also make the battle pleasing to the eye. Even if you have not played the original game, you can still intuitively feel the charm of the series.
In its original plan, FF7 AC was just a short film of about 20 minutes, with no action scenes. The battle plot was gradually added during the production process, and when it was officially announced in 2003, it was extended to about 60 minutes, and eventually expanded to become a 100-minute film. Although there is not much story content in the essence of the whole movie, and the audience who has not touched the original work is even more in the clouds, under the fight scene after fight scene, it does not matter.
The cold and sullen Claude, the domineering Side Leak Sapphiros and the Tifa who wants to be tall and have hands have all made the classic image deeply rooted in the minds of the audience through this movie.
After watching the movie, I fantasized about how good it would be if Final Fantasy 7 could also have a picture like "FF7 AC". At the time, it seemed to be an unrealistic fantasy, but it became a reality fifteen years later, and even the remake of the game screen has surpassed the expressiveness of CG movies at that time.
▌ Final Fantasy 7 The Elegy of the Hellhounds
《Final Fantasy 7 Dirge of Cerberus》（FF7 DC）
FF7 DC is set three years after the end of the story and features Vincent. Three years after the meteorite disaster, the world is slowly beginning to show signs of revival. At this time, various places were suddenly attacked by mysterious armed groups calling themselves "DG fighters". As one of the heroes who once saved the planet, Vincent took the initiative to fight against DG and finally learned the secrets about his body.
The game was released a year after the release of FF7 AC, corresponding to PS2. It is reasonable to say that driven by the popularity of the movie, coupled with the fact that PS2 was the most popular game console at that time, "FF7 DC" could not be a big seller.
- But not.....
The story of the game is set after the movie, and it is reasonable to say that the plot can be connected, but the biggest problem is that "FF7 DC" is too extravagant and not closely related to this part. Although Vincent's popularity is also good, he is even more prominent in the movie. However, with a tragic life and uncertain whereabouts, he is actually more suitable for leaving a certain sense of mystery, as a protagonist, there is obviously a big gap in weight compared to Claude.
Most players actually care more about the "love-hate love and hatred" between Claude and Sapphiros, and the plot of "FF7 DC" is more like an indispensable supplement to the entire series, Claude, Tifa and other important characters just cameo a bit, and the addition of a large number of original characters dilutes their original small roles, not to mention those who have only entered the pit through the movie, even if they are old players of the series, "FF7 DC" has no reason to play. This, coupled with the maverick combat system design and repetitive processes, further reduces the game's rating among players (although I personally like it).
Of course, "FF7 DC" still buried some important small foreshadowings, such as hinting at the existence of the mysterious character "Genesis", which is also one of the most important characters in the later "FF7 CC", which is directly related to the origin of the series of stories.
It is worth mentioning that "FF7 DC" has also launched a spin-off work "The Elegy of the Hellhound, The Lost Movement" on the mobile phone platform. The plot is between the fourth and fifth chapters of "FF7 DC", although it is a mobile game, the graphics are very good, and with the bold voice, it presents a rather wonderful story for the player at the time.
The game is played from a first-person perspective, completely subverting the gameplay of the PS2 version, and the operation is very much in line with the characteristics of the mobile platform at that time, so that players can quickly become familiar with and devote themselves to combat. However, it is a pity that like "FF7 BC", it is a special system limited to Japanese mobile phones, so there are not many players who have experienced this game. If SE can remake "FF7 DC" in the future, it may make up for this short story.
▌ Conclusion
Four important Final Fantasy 7 spin-offs, the abbreviations correspond to AC, BC, CC, DC, only by understanding all the works, can we really understand the whole picture of the "FF7" story. However, from the current situation, "Final Fantasy Remake" has added a lot of new plots and new elements, although the story timeline of AC and DC works takes place after the end of this part, it is reasonable to say that the overall plot direction is difficult to change much. However, the various clues in the remake seem to imply that SE is ready to "make a big news" in the plot, and even most likely overturn some of the original SETTINGs in AC and DC.
Although I would like to say "wait and see", the thought of the remake being launched in chapters, and the follow-up will be divided into several large chapters, and when it will be launched, is unknown. This is destined to be a long wait...