Summary
After promises made on the PS3, Square Enix finally delivered a remake ofFinal Fantasy 7in 2020. It was only part one though, and there is no telling how long fans will have to wait before all of these parts are finished. The next part,Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, is due out on July 03, 2025.
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While fans wait for that, Square Enix just launched a mobile game calledFinal Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis. Is it a new game? How does it tie into the ever-growingFinal Fantasy 7universe? How does it play? All of these questions and more will be explained about this latest free-to-play game.
8The Promise
Final Fantasy 7 Remake’srelease blew minds when it finally came out in 2020. Then, later on, Square Enix announcedFinal Fantasy 7: Ever Crisisas another series of remakes and the promise seems like a lofty one. The goal is to remake the entire universe of this sub-series as mobile games including the original game,Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children,Before Crisis: Final Fantasy 7,Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7,Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy 7, andFinal Fantasy 7: The First Soldier. There are some interesting outliers likeAdvent Childrenwhich was a movie and not a game. AndBefore Crisiswas a prequelabout The Turkswhich was never released outside of Japan.
7What You Can Play Right Now
The promise is mighty and once the project is done, like the console remakes, fans are going to be ecstatic. Unfortunately, the launch content for the storylines is minimal. Players can hop into the worlds of the original game,Crisis Core, andThe First Soldier. That’s only half of what was expected and even the games that are here at launch aren’t even the full products. For example,Final Fantasy 7stops right after the team escapes from Midgar.
6It’s Voiced, But In Japanese
One of the biggest upgrades, aside from the graphical changes, is the inclusion of voice acting. Not everything is voiced, but a decent majority of the story dialogue is in each game, or text bubbles are at least accompanied by sound effects.
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Dubs over subs anime fansare going to be disappointed to learn that the voice acting is in Japanese though. There are no language features in the options menu and it is unclear if English voices will ever be added. At least fans can be happy that the game was localized at all.
5The Battle System
One of the coolest things about theFinal Fantasy 7universe of games was that each one played differently.Dirge of Cerberuswas a third-person action shooter starring Vincent whileBefore Crisiswas a traditional turn-based RPG like the original game. InFinal Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis, all three games right now have the same battle system. Characters will attack automatically and players can touch a panel to use skills once a bar is filled. It’s a lot like the battle system inFinal Fantasy 13.
4Moving Around
Most missions in the game will be just about fending off three waves of enemies, or sometimes just one boss will appear. Other missions will allow players to move around. Players can controlcharacters like Cloudvia a touch-based analog stick on these missions. They can also just tap on a location and the character will move to that area automatically. It’s also worth mentioning that these free-roaming missions will have random encounters like in classic RPGs.
3Leveling Up Isn’t Everything
Traditionally, characters in RPGs will get stronger by collecting Experience Points, or EXP, which will then increase stats like HP or Defense. Characters level up inFinal Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis, but that’s not the main way characters can increase their strength.
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Every character has an overall power level sort of like the Light Levels inDestiny. Leveling up characters, giving them Materia and gear, and also using the skill tree will raise this overall number. It’s important to know that grinding levels through EXP will not do much as it’s all a delicate balance.
2Small Story Changes
LikeFinal Fantasy 7 Remake, the games inFinal Fantasy 7: Ever Crisisare not going to be one-to-one translations of the original materials. There are story changes and story omissions to better fit the mobile lifestyle. For example, one of the most iconic parts of the original game is in Wall Market wherein players had to dress Cloud up like a girl. That happens automatically and gameplay is all about battles here. Also, after Cloud and the others are caught, the sewer and train graveyard sequences are almost entirely skipped in favor of getting to the tower bombing in Sector 7 more quickly. Those are only a few examples, but it’s good for fans to know before going in that there will be differences.
1Mobile Game Basics
This isa gacha gamethrough and through meaning that Square Enix wants to encourage players to spend money. The nice thing aboutFinal Fantasy 7: Ever Crisisis that players don’t. The story missions are free to play, but there are side quests that require energy. Energy can be recharged with potions that the game will readily bestow upon players regularly, so it’s not a big deal. To get better weapons, players will need to use the Draw system that uses Blue Crystals. These materials can be earned easily in the game as well. So, no matter what, players should know they don’t have to spend any money because there is always a workaround given patience.
Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisiswas released on May 26, 2025 for iOS and Android devices.
