Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is the direct sequel to Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but anyone familiar with the Final Fantasy 7saga knows there’s much more to the story beyond these two games, not to mention the original Playstation 1 game, of course.
Final Fantasy 7 has become a true saga, with several chapters split across other games and even other media. Today, I bring you the chronological order of all the games in the Final Fantasy 7 Saga.
Two Paths
Before we begin, it’s important to clarify that we have kind of two different timelines going on here.
The first revolves around the original Final Fantasy 7, while the second timeline is that of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Project, which we already know will be a trilogy. But before the events of the original game or the remakes, there are some happenings that we see in the other games.
Final Fantasy 7 The First Soldier
Chronologically speaking, the first game that comes into play here would be Final Fantasy 7 The First Soldier, which takes place about 15 years before the original game.
In it, the Soldier Project was initiated, and several Soldiers begin to participate in tests to become the first Soldiers. The story of Final Fantasy 7 The First Soldier is merely conceptual, as the focus was on gameplay because the game was a Battle Royale. However, the game would have a story that ended up not being told, because the game was discontinued.
But the story of Final Fantasy 7 The First Soldier ended up surviving in the game Final Fantasy 7 Ever Crisis.
Final Fantasy 7 Ever Crisis
Well, for those who don’t know, the proposal of Final Fantasy 7 Ever Crisis is, in principle, to retell the events of all the Final Fantasy 7 titles, from the original game to the most recent ones, including Final Fantasy 7 The First Soldier.
But since Final Fantasy 7 The First Soldier was discontinued, the material related to it became a new story, starring three of Shinra’s first Soldiers, named Glenn, Lucia, and Matt, who embarked on a mission in the Wutai region, at the time when the nation of Wutai was at war against Shinra.
In this story, we also meet a young Sephiroth. About eight years after Final Fantasy 7 Ever Crisis, the events of two games that happen more or less simultaneously occur. They are Final Fantasy 7 Before Crisis and Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core.
Final Fantasy 7 Before Crisis / Crisis Core
Before Crisis focuses on the adventure of the Turks, who faced Avalanche. But not Barrett’s Avalanche, a cell of Avalanche that existed before Barrett joined the faction.
Meanwhile, in Crisis Core, we follow the First-Class Soldier Zack, along with Sephiroth himself, facing off against deserter Soldiers led by the First-Class Soldier Genesis.
The events, both of Before Crisis and Crisis Core, occur at the same time, even having a very similar timeskip, since in the midst of these events happens the Nibelheim incident. That same incident where Sephiroth discovers his origins and turns against humanity. After this incident, Cloud and Zack become experiments of Hojo and remain unconscious for 4 years.
Not long after, in Before Crisis, the battle between the Turks and Avalanche resulted in the explosion of the Corel reactor. And because of these events, the protagonist of the game ended up in a coma. From there, we jump to the final events of both games, which take place moments before the original game.
In this case, the story ends with the death of Zack and Cloud returning to Midgar with his mind all twisted, to the point of repressing much of his past and believing that he himself was a Soldier. The events involving the Nibelheim incident and Zack and Cloud’s escape are also portrayed in an anime called Final Fantasy 7 The Last Order. The story is essentially the same but with a larger role for the Turks.
Final Fantasy 7
Finally, we arrive at the events of the original Final Fantasy 7. The entire original plot of Final Fantasy 7 that goes from Cloud, still believing he was a Soldier, and helping Avalanche led by Barrett to blow up the Midgar reactors. Sephiroth’s return and becoming a threat to everyone and, of course, the entire adventure that ends in the final battle against Sephiroth in the North Crater.
These events are also promised to be told throughout the trilogy of the so-called Remake Project. Final Fantasy 7 Remake covers just the Midgar arc, while Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth continues from there. And the third game, which as of the date of this video’s publication has not yet been revealed but has been announced, promises to show the end of this story.
Now, folks, there are some specific narrative differences between the Remakes and the original game. For example, some characters get more spotlight, some events unfold a bit differently, and so on, but overall, it’s the same story.
Moreover, within the continuity of the Remakes, there’s also a book that takes place before the events of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake and, consequently, of the original game as well.
This book is called Trace of Two Pasts, which covers the stories of Tifa and Aerith up to the point where they are at the beginning of the classic story. Oh, and there’s one thing we have to highlight here.
The last scene of the original Final Fantasy 7 takes place 500 years in the future, showing an older Red 13 with his pups in front of a ruined Midgar.
But before those 500-year future events, we’ve got more to show.
More Books
After the original game and the Remakes, we jump two years because that’s when the events of the movie Advent Children happen. But, between the original Final Fantasy 7 and Advent Children, there are events from three different books.
The first never left Japan, but it’s translated by fans as The Maiden Who Travels the Planet. This book tells the story of Aerith within the Lifestream, from the moment she dies until the final events of the original game.
The second book is called The Kids Are Alright: A Turkside Story, which tells a tale involving the Turks, just before the events of Advent Children.
Finally, we have the most famous book of the three, On the Way to a Smile, which aims precisely to bridge the gap and show what happened to the characters during the two-year interval between the original Final Fantasy 7 and Advent Children.
The book is divided into chapters, each focusing on a character, and one of these chapters even received an anime adaptation called Episode Denzel, focusing on the character Denzel, whom we meet in the movie.
Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children
Now, folks, we’ve finally arrived at Advent Children, which depicts the world still suffering the aftermath of the battle against Sephiroth, manifested through the Geostigma disease.
Sephiroth’s remnants appear and begin their quest to revive Jenova once more, forcing the heroes to unite again to confront this threat.
Final Fantasy 7: Dirge of Cerberus
Finally, we have the events of Dirge of Cerberus, a Playstation 2 game set three years after the original game, and one year after Advent Children. The story focuses on Vincent, who becomes embroiled in the battle against Deep Ground, a secret division of SOLDIER hidden in the deepest areas of Shinra’s laboratories.
During the events of Dirge of Cerberus, we also have the events of Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode, which, as the name suggests, is a lost episode of the Playstation 2 game’s story but was released as a separate mobile game.
Now, folks, the most curious thing is that at the end of Dirge of Cerberus, we have a scene showing Genesis’s return. This scene is a massive cliffhanger, hinting at a possible continuation of these events.
Maybe a new game, featuring Genesis as the protagonist, but at least for now, it has never happened. We’ll have to wait and see if Square Enix plans to do anything after releasing the remakes.
Guys, it’s a lot, and with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, it seems they’ve managed to make this story and timeline even more complicated.
But that’s a conversation for another day. Now, your participation is crucial, so please answer my question in the comments.
We created a mini-series explaining key points at the end of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. I’ll drop the links in case you’re interested!
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