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Years before the Final Fantasy VII Remake was announced, the story of Final Fantasy VII was being expanded through prequels and sequels. Consisting of games, movies, OVAs, and books, this series would be known as the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

In an interview with Famitsu (via GamingBolt), Tetsuya Nomura explained how the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII would influence the upcoming remake. “Certain elements from it are touched upon [in Final Fantasy VII Remake] in a certain way,” explained Nomura. “Moreover, it’s not part of Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, but there are characters from Nojima’s side-story novel Final Fantasy VII: The Kids Are Alright who appear in the game.”

To celebrate the upcoming release of the anticipated remake and shed some light on the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, we’ve prepared a listicle about the titles in the Compilation for your viewing pleasure.

Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII (2004)

A prequel to Final Fantasy VII, Before Crisis centers on the business-suit-wearing group called the Turks. They worked for the Shinra Corporation and were one of the enemies you faced in the original game. In Before Crisis, you play as one of the Turks’ new recruits.

The game features familiar characters like Rude, Reno, and Tseng. Cloud and Tifa, as well as the rebel group AVALANCHE, also show up, offering a look at their pasts.

In their 2004 preview of the game, IGN noted that the game had a “pseudo-action feel, with you moving your character around freely on a still background”. The game also made use of the phone’s features, as you could obtain Materia by taking pictures with it. The primary color of the picture affects the type of materia you get.

Sadly, Before Crisis was only released in Japan due to the phone specs needed. Producer Kosei Ito had told GameSpy that “Before Crisis requires the FOMA P900iv series, which is a really high-spec cellphone, even for Japan. If there are any phones that are the same standard, we might consider releasing it overseas”.

You can, however, play the free fan remake, which was made with RPG Maker.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005, Complete Version in 2009)

Directed by Tetsuya Nomura, Advent Children takes place two years after the events of Final Fantasy VII (but before its post-credits ending, which was also the opening scene for Advent Children). While the world is finding its feet again, three mysterious men show up with the intent of finding Jenova, while some illness called the Geostigma emerges. It’s up to Cloud and his allies to stop them.

As someone who was unfamiliar with the game, the story of Advent Children was confusing as heck (apparently the Complete version improves this with additional scenes). What the movie had going for it were the visuals and the stunning, over-the-top fight scenes.

Tifa’s hand-to-hand battle in Aerith’s church remains remarkable even today, and there’s also the series of fights that make up the movie’s climax. There’s an epic team-up against Bahamut SIN, an exhilarating motorbike chase and a final duel between Cloud and Sephiroth.

However, the fan reaction to Advent Children seems to lean towards the mixed side, although the Complete Edition was better received.

Last Order: Final Fantasy VII (2005)

Before Crisis Core came along, the Madhouse-produced Last Order OVA gave us another look at the Nibelheim incident shown in Final Fantasy VII via flashbacks. Here’s a brief synopsis via Anime News Network.

“After the destruction of Nibelheim at the hands of Sephiroth, Zack and Cloud are on the run from Shinra Inc. As they make their way back to Midgar, they recall the horrible events that happened at Nibelheim, as well as fight for survival against Shinra.”

Like Crisis Core, Last Order has some differences with the original game’s depiction of the incident. However, a notable Last Order change was how Sephiroth jumps into the mako pool in the Nibelheim reactor instead of being thrown in there by Cloud.

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