JRPG preservationists are resurrecting a 19-year-old Final Fantasy 7 prequel that’s been lost media since 2018
Game preservationists are in the midst of making a Japan-only prequel to Final Fantasy 7 more accessible than it’s ever been, despite the action RPG shutting down good and proper over 6 years ago.
As the name suggests, Before Crisis Final Fantasy 7 is set years before the events of the iconic JRPG and focuses on the Turks. Square Enix released the mobile game in Japan in 2004 and intended to bring it over to the West, though plans were scrapped. That makes Before Crisis somewhat infamous as the only Compilation of Final Fantasy 7 game not to be released outside of Square Enix’s home country.
The action RPG’s last episode was released on April 1, 2006, bringing the total to 25, including a special chapter set prior to Before Crisis that focuses on Tseng’s past. It wouldn’t be until 2018, though, that the game shut down alongside some of Square Enix’s older mobile services.
In short, it wasn’t all that accessible to begin with, and it certainly hasn’t gotten any better. As ever, that’s where fans step in. One game preservationist named Yuvi, who focuses on “making unknown and obscure games more accessible,” has been putting in the hours to get Before Crisis back up and running. Looking through their Twitter page reveals several milestones they’ve hit so far, and it’s been neat seeing everything come together bit by bit.
Today was a massive day of progress for BeforeCrisis.Player Rank, and Training menu are now fully working. All items have been put in the shop! This was a huge undertaking, reverse engineering the format needed for all those packets to fill out the Shop was intense. pic.twitter.com/05kWSDTyV9July 29, 2024
For tonight’s update. We have gotten Gravity and Water Materia to work! These effects looks pretty good! More to come 😁 pic.twitter.com/VPY4lXp04YJuly 17, 2024
As a bonus treat, here’s another, separate effort to get Final Fantasy 7’s snowboarding game back up and running.
Thanks to @YuviApp, FFVII Snowboarding’s online leaderboards are now functional! Partake in three time trials and upload your scores to see who’s the best i-mode snowboarder! This is only the second i-mode game with restored online functionality (Rockman.EXE PoN was the first). pic.twitter.com/XRNtjl3xstJuly 29, 2024
While Square Enix has considered bringing Before Crisis to the likes of Nintendo 3DS, these days your best bet regarding official releases is another mobile game called Final Fantasy 7 Ever Crisis. The gacha RPG is essentially a periodical retelling of all canon titles in the Compilation of Final Fantasy 7 franchise, which includes Before Crisis. You’re not getting the game, per se, but you’ll get the story eventually. If you want something more authentic, a separate fan project has given Before Crisis a full-on remake you can play right on your PC.