Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis was a role-playing video game developed by Applibot and Square Enix, who also publishes it for Android, iOS and Windows. It forms part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, a series of media spin-offs of the 1997 video game Final Fantasy VII.

It is a mobile gacha game that reimagines the timeline of Final Fantasy VII and the Compilation. It launched on September 7, 2023 for Android and iOS, followed by Windows via Steam on December 7 of the same year.

Content

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis is a mobile game. Planned to be released in monthly episodic installments, the game retells events from the 1997 video game Final Fantasy VII, and all canon titles in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII media franchise, including the film Advent Children and the video games Before Crisis, Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus. The game also features an original storyline set 15 years before Final Fantasy VII, focusing on Sephiroth's past and three new characters, Glenn, Matt, and Lucia. The game borrows several presentational elements from the Final Fantasy VII Remake series. Chapters can be freely selected from a timeline, allowing players to jump between different entries in the series. The battle system draws from the original game's Active Time Battle system. Character voices are only available in Japanese. The title is free to play, but offers loot boxes that include random selections of weapons and costumes.

Plot

Final Fantasy VII

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII

Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier

For The First Soldier storyline adaptation, since the source game had no story mode content, two original story seasons and one time-limited story event were exclusively developed and released for Ever Crisis, focusing on the past of Sephiroth, 15 years before the events of Final Fantasy VII.

Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier (Episode I)

In 1992, three Shinra SOLDIER Class P0's - consisting of Glenn Lodbrok, Lucia Lin, and Matt Winsord - are sent to the Rhadore Archipelago to conduct a survey of regional mako levels in order to determine future potential mako reactor sites. After being shot down by enemy Rhadoran forces, the three meet a youth named Rosen, who tells them of his role as the "Eye of Rhadore", a lifelong duty that involves him living alone on his island to keep watch and warn his people of the risk of natural disasters known as mana torrents. Feeling sympathetic towards the loneliness of this role, Glenn and his team grow to care for Rosen's well-being, before being sent off to the main Rhadoran island.

After finding a suitable site for mako reactor construction, the three are attacked once again by Rhadoran forces, before being rescued by a young SOLDIER named Sephiroth, who assumes control of the mission. After some initial infighting, Sephiroth confides in Glenn's team about not wanting to be a hero, wanting to live a normal life, and that this assignment was his first field mission. Later, Sephiroth further shares a photograph of his mother - Lucrecia Crescent (who he only knows to be named Jenova).

Pushing further on, the team finds a cavernous Rhadoran stronghold and eradicate the forces within. After splitting up and reuniting; Glenn, Lucia, and Matt witness Sephiroth killing all the Rhadoran children and elderly, stating that his training taught him that it's "kill or be killed". Glenn sympathizes with Sephiroth's hardened experiences and tells him that he doesn't need to prove his strength to them, and that he is capable of compassion.

10 days later, while Shinra engineers prepare the site for reactor construction, the team worries for Rosen - still alone on his island, unaware that all his people were killed. Meanwhile, after unsuccessfully helping Sephiroth search for his mother's photograph - lost during the earlier Rhadoran conflicts - Glenn and his team experience tremors all over the island, caused by Shinra explosives placed for site preparation. The explosions cause a disastrous chain reaction and trigger a mana torrent, destroying the main island.

Worrying for Rosen; Glenn, Lucia, and Matt decide to abandon their mission and attempt to rescue him. Sephiroth, despite being warned away by Glenn, decides to join as well and proceeds ahead of them. As they witness the destruction caused by Shinra. Glenn, Lucia, and Matt, each have a change of heart in their role and all decide to cut ties with the company once they return. Catching up to Rosen, Glenn confesses in having a hand in killing the Rhadorans. Grief-stricken, Rosen flees back to his post. Sephiroth catches up first, and Glenn's team watch in shock from a distance as he kills Rosen. After fighting off a giant creature summoned by the planet, Glenn expresses his surprise and betrayal at Sephiroth's actions; then, seeing the photograph of Sephiroth's mother nearby, Glenn kicks it into a nearby chasm in anger. The four of them leave as the Rhadore Archipelago is completely engulfed by the mana torrent.

Eight years later, in Wutai, during the Shinra-Wutai war, Sephiroth meets with Glenn once again, the latter no longer affiliated with Shinra. After a brief skirmish, Glenn apologizes for his outburst years ago, while providing intel on an upcoming aerial assault on a nearby fort, giving Sephiroth an opportunity to heroically save a lot of lives. After fighting off a number of creatures, Wutai forces, and a massive behemoth, Sephiroth is hailed by fellow Shinra forces as a true hero to his people. Then, he suddenly flashes back to his years-earlier confrontation with Rosen, during which he recalls Rosen refusing to be saved, pleading for Sephiroth to kill him as a means of choosing who to save from the mana torrent: Glenn's team or Rosen. Glenn helplessly watches as Sephiroth makes his choice.

Sometime later, in an unknown space, Sephiroth somberly reflects on the events of his past.

Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier (Episode II)

A few months after the failed Rhadore operation, in September of 1992, Sephiroth and SOLDIER Second Class Angeal Hewley are dispatched to the Igara Forbidden Zone in Robio, on the southern tip of the Wutai region. They are joined by Shinra journalist Russ Bachman, who films the mission as a way to promote Shinra propaganda via Sephiroth's poster heroics. As they proceed, Angeal tasks the team with rescuing members of a previous SOLDIER unit, three of whom are soon discovered dead. The last team member, Active-type SOLDIER Alissa Goldie, is found to be alive but injured. Upon encountering her, Sephiroth notices her resemblance to his mother, and acts both hesitant and protective towards her.

As the four continue to investigate, tensions arise between Sephiroth and Angeal; the former being stand-offish and prioritizing the mission, the latter focusing on the safety of the group and looking for opportunities to bond. Further into the region, they are stalked and repeatedly attacked by a demonic swordsmith named Masamune, the namesake of his prized blade. Upon their encounter, Sephiroth begins to single-mindedly covet this weapon, much to Angeal's dismay.

Alissa explains that the Igara Forbidden Zone was named so by the Ancients for 2 key destructive events. The first event occurred over 1000 years earlier, and involved a rampaging entity that took 5 great heroes - led by Da Chao - to defeat it via fire magic that uncontrollably grew until it caused a forced evacuation. These fires raged on for three years, killing many, while the surviving population founded a nation to the north of the continent, Wutai. The second incident concerned an attempt to repopulate the area some 500 years later. At this time the local swordsmith, Masamune, felt an urge to produce a weapon of extraordinary power. Upon its completion, the local settlers began to covet the blade. They fought one another over its intended possession, and attempted to steal it for themselves.

This population eventually was wiped out via Masamune's own power and madness, and the village was razed to the ground. The truth of the events were covered-up and kept hidden. Seals were placed around the area to prevent Masamune's escape, and he had survived the centuries. Angeal's team witness flashes of the latter incident via spiritual motes of light around the land, which Alissa states as the reason she has this knowledge.

As the group rests, Bachman periodically recounts the journey up that point, Sephiroth seemingly has dreams of wishful interactions with his mother , and Angeal has recollections of his time at his hometown - in particular, his parents.

Journeying further, they come across a cavernous stone temple, wherein Bachman starts to experience the knowledge fed to him by the light motes. He and Alissa deduce them to be spiritual manifestations from the land itself. They find statues - placed by each of the five Ancient heroes - each with a seal, collectively containing the power of the Masamune blade. Sephiroth and the group perceive this series of challenges as a set of trials to determine his worthiness to wield the Masamune. Alissa and Bachman grow to simply accept the spiritual influence and encourage Sephiroth in his pursuit for the weapon, while Angeal grows more skeptical and rejecting, leading to further tensions between him and Sephiroth. After opening all seals, the group uncover a passageway leading to a chamber where the swordsmith Muramasa's demonic spirit challenges Sephiroth one final time. Defeating him, Sephiroth attempts to claim the blade, only for it to fade away, suggesting further trials ahead of him.

As the four of them rest, Angeal comes to realize the memories he's been having recently are falsely modified representations of his past, sometimes presenting him with scenarios he would idealize, and others that singularly shame him. In his determination, he notes the inconsistency between these manifestations against what he knows of his family, and is able to wake himself up from whatever delusional states the spirits place him in.

Soon, the group hear the voice of Glenn Lodbrok, calling out to Sephiroth, apologizing to him for throwing the bracelet, and claiming to be searching for Rosen. This shakes Sephiroth, leading him to reveal the truth behind the previous Rhadoran operation's failure, his deep attachment to Glenn and his team, and his killing of Rosen. Sephiroth also begins to have further recollections of his time on Rhadore , during which Glenn's team note Sephiroth's similarity to Rosen, and anticipate their meeting. Further recollections reveal that the reason he desires the Masamune blade was to honor a desire of Glenn's: that Sephiroth obtain a weapon truly worthy of the hero he's meant to be. Confiding these points to others causes Sephiroth to become slightly more open to making new connections.

As the trials continue, the surrounding land transforms into illusory representations of Igara prior to its destruction. This sight causes Sephiroth to recall one final memory of Glenn's team. After the Rhadore operation, Sephiroth was commended for his actions, and as the group celebrated, Matt shared a photograph of the beautiful Igaran landscape along with his hopes of taking on a mission in that region. Shortly after, Glenn, Matt, and Lucia were called in to face a tribunal for their insubordination and operational failure, with Refu - Rosen's dog - left in Sephiroth's care. After a week of refusing to eat, Refu disappears. And soon, Sephiroth overhears talk of Glenn and his team leaving Shinra, and leaving Sephiroth behind, further adding to his trauma from the overall incident. He vowed to fight off personal connections, and use it to further his own prowess.

Presently, Sephiroth would be advised by Alissa to not ignore the past, suggesting that his experiences and connections make him who he is, and to continue to leave room for new connections going forward, which Angeal agrees.

Sephiroth, Angeal and the others come across a chamber, where apparitions of Matt and Lucia are held in the grip of a monstrous creature. Here, Sephiroth is told to choose who to save. After doing so, the saved apparition transforms into the creature, and attacks him and Angeal. Defeating it, they proceed to the next trial, with a similar choice - this time between Glenn or Rosen. After choosing, and facing off the creature once again, the spirits commend Sephiroth's abilities and deem him ready to obtain the sword, and that it would help "free him from the burdens of making choices".

The more the group rest, the more times Sephiroth and Angeal are confronted by more dream-like encounters. With Sephiroth, he faces his guilt for Rosen's death and his resolved to protect his imagined mother from the world. With Angeal, he comes to accept his own faults in whatever hometown hardships he caused as a result of him leaving to become a SOLDIER, including his father's debt and eventual death; using his father's words of inspiration to further strengthen his own resolve and determination.

Returning to Masamune's trial chamber, Sephiroth finally claims the Masamune as his own. He displays its unique powers fueled by the spirits, in that it can grow in length, and materialize in and out of existence in place of needing a scabbard.

As they leave, the group are shown a final series of illusory environments, showing grand Igaran celebrations congratulating Sephiroth for his accomplishment and heroics, further encouraged by Bachman and Alissa much to Angeal's frustrations.

Once the illusions end, the four leave the stone temple. As they exit, Alissa and Angeal are captured by the monstrous creature as a final "true" trial for Sephiroth to make his choice. Not willing to be denied a say in his fate, Angeal breaks free on his own. Alissa is then corrupted and transformed into a monstrous version of herself , and attacks them. Sephiroth hesitates as sword seems to have a spiritual will of its own. But he is saved by Angeal. In witnessing Angeal's strength of will, and hearing his words of inspiration, Sephiroth finally shows an affinity toward him and overcomes the sword's will with his own, as the two SOLDIERs fight and kill the transformed Alissa.

As they wait for rescue, Sephiroth warns Bachman - and entrusts Angeal - not to reveal the true spiritual nature of the Masamune to anyone. As Sephiroth and Angeal finally bond on the way back to Midgar, Bachman shares with them the footage of Alissa to remember her by. Sephiroth is shocked to see the footage revealing her face to look completely different, and that he was previously seeing an illusory form of his mother in her place. He chooses not to share what he saw.

Sometime later, Bachman returns to Igara, and theorizes that what they presumed were spirits in the land were in fact manifestations of Jenova's will.

The Three Ex-SOLDIERs

During the Shinra-Wutai war; Glenn, Matt and Lucia form an uneasy alliance with Rufus Shinra with the goal of overthrowing the Shinra organization.

Character Stories

In addition to major narrative storylines, 5 short character stories give insight into the journeys of their respective characters prior to the events of Final Fantasy VII.

Cloud - Memories Anew

Cloud's arrival in Midgar shortly after Zack's death, his reunion with Tifa, his memories actively changing due to Jenova's influence, and his acceptance of a job in bombing a Mako Reactor.

Barret - A Dad's Struggles

Barret's journey from Corel, following the Corel Mako Reactor explosion, his newfound belief in Planetology, and his motivation to protect Marlene by joining with Avalanche against Shinra.

Tifa - A Fated Encounter

Tifa's recovery after the Nibelheim incident, her arrival in Midgar, her friendship with Jessie, Biggs and Wedge, and her joining-up with Avalanche.

Aerith - A Dream Picnic

A story of Aerith's attempts to have a picnic, including memories of her childhood in the Shinra building and her connection with her mother, and her being watched over by Tseng.

Zack - My Hero

Zack's early days in SOLDIER, his rapport with Kunsel, and his first meeting with Angeal Hewley.

Development

Ever Crisis forms part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, a collection of media which expands the universe and narrative of Final Fantasy VII. Ever Crisis is developed by Applibot and Square Enix who also publish it.

Its staff features Shoichi Ichikawa as producer, Kazushige Nojima as story & scenario writer, Yoshinori Kitase as executive producer, Tetsuya Nomura as creative director, Motomu Toriyama as director, Shintaro Takai as graphics & vfx director, Lisa Fujise as character illustrator, Yuji Abe as game design director, Sachie Hirano as lead scenario writer, Toshiaki Watanabe as lead character artist and Nobuyuki Matsuoka as battle designer.

The Compilation originally only included four official titles, concluding with Crisis Core in 2007. Beginning with the 2020 remake, Kitase revived the Compilation and put multiple spin-off projects into production, including Ever Crisis.

Nomura described Ever Crisis as an alternate remake of Final Fantasy VII. In addition to remaking the original storylines, original scenario writer Kazushige Nojima incorporated new material including the backstory of Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier and stories from the childhoods of various Final Fantasy VII characters.

The graphics were described by Square Enix as a "nostalgic visual twist" on the super-deformed or "chibi" graphical style of Final Fantasy VII. Nomura originally wanted the character portraits to be 3D rendered moving portraits, but technical constraints forced the team to use 2D artwork. These portraits and other character artwork were created by Lisa Fujise. Voice acting was under consideration, with the mobile platform's technical limitations needing to be taken into account. Nomura also noted that the games vary widely in technology, style, and mechanics, and this title allows the games to be presented in a unified package. The music also features new arrangements. It marks the Western debut of Before Crisis, which was previously exclusive to Japan.

Ever Crisis was first hinted at in January 2021 with trademark registrations of the title in Japan, North America, Europe and Australia. The title followed naming conventions for the Compilation. The game was later unveiled in February alongside the PlayStation 5 version of Final Fantasy VII Remake, known as Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, and the battle royale mobile spin-off title Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier. It was planned for worldwide release, excluding mainland China & SEA, starting with a closed beta version in 2022, but was later delayed to summer 2023. A closed beta test ran from July 6 to 13. Ever Crisis was released on September 7, 2023, followed by a Windows release on December 7 of the same year.

On July 7, 2026, Square Enix announced that Ever Crisis will shutdown on October 6.

Reception