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Final Fantasy 7 may once have been a single title when it was released to adoring fans in 1997, but it became a video game monolith in later years. Thanks to spinoffs, Final Fantasy 7 has been able to offer expansive content within the Final Fantasy universe, before even exploring how they add to the FF7 timeline. Exploring this collection is challenging, but entertaining and a precious experience for diehard FF7 fans.
The Final Fantasy VII Timeline and Where The Spinoffs Fit
Final Fantasy 7 rapidly became a fixture in a growing universe surrounding its story. The original game now sits along the middle of an expansive timeline across the Compilation of FF7 across traditional console games, mobile games, anime, and feature films. The Remake trilogy, starting with its first installment released in 2020, is an elongated retelling of the original story with added content and modern visuals.
The timeline includes:
- Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier
- Before Crisis: Final Fantasy 7
- Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 (and Reunion)
- Last Order: Final Fantasy 7 (Anime OVA)
- Final Fantasy 7 (along with the Remake trilogy)
- Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children
- Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy 7
The interesting part is that these individual stories and games are different experiences from the original turn-based JRPG. The Remake series is even notably different in terms of gameplay, keeping its combat in real-time while retaining story elements and the classic aesthetic.
Are There Other Final Fantasy Spinoff Stories and Games?
Outside of these main stories, you can experience novels like On the Way to a Smile or Traces of Two Pasts which work nicely alongside your experience of the main story. Other spinoffs include Final Fantasy VII Snowboarding and Final Fantasy VII G-Bike which are essentially mobile ports of various mini-games lifted from the original title.
FF7 Timeline: Before Final Fantasy
The First Soldier was a mobile game that shut down in January 2023. This battle royale took place 18 years before the story of FF7. Meanwhile, an even older mobile game takes the second spot on the timeline with Before Crisis. Released in 2004, this title was playable on flip phones, and fittingly is a form of lost media as a result. There are currently no official ways to play either of these games in their original state.
Crisis Core was first only available on the PSP, making the prequel series largely mobile until its multiplatform Reunion release in 2022. Last Order is a fantastic OVA (original video animation) by Madhouse, the studio behind Hellsing Ultimate, Trigun, and Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. These two are still officially supported media you can get your hands on easily.
Post-Final Fantasy 7
Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children is one of the last spinoffs on the timeline, an exciting yet admittedly messy plot involving a plan to resurrect a foe thought to be defeated. It’s a decent character examination for Cloud as he comes to terms with particularly (spoiler-heavy) emotionally taxing events from FF7. It’s a CG film with exciting combat scenes and some decent emotional moments for the fans.
Dirge of Cerberus was a PlayStation 2 title for any Vincent Valentine fans in the house. It’s an ARPG with third-person shooter elements that introduced Genesis, a character who would feature prominently in Crisis Core. It’s a niche game with divisive reactions, but for fans wanting more Vincent, Yuffie, and Cait Sith, this might be a fun detour, even though it’s not gotten a proper re-release.
