FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS Producer talks Bahamut, Costumes and what’s to come in Year 2
Shoichi Ichikawa, the Producer of FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS reflects on the first year of the game, the story of Sephiroth, future content and much more.FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS is currently enjoying its first-year anniversary in a big way! There’s a new event, focused on Bahamut and the Cetra, some eye-catching new gear and outfits, free draws and much more for players. You can get the full list of activities here:
We recently had the opportunity to put some questions to the game’s Producer Shoichi Ichikawa about the first year of FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS and its story of Sephiroth, the new story event, the challenges of making gear, and what’s still to come.
We hope you enjoy reading it!
Hello Ichikawa-san! So, how does it feel to reach the first anniversary for FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS?
To be honest, one year went by in a flash! But looking back, there were various events, so I feel that it was a very fulfilling year.
The one-year anniversary began on September 7, but we’ve been preparing and considering for this since more than half a year ago. Now that we’re able to deliver this to all of our players, it feels very real that we’ve reached the one-year mark.
The first year of the game has shed new light on Sephiroth. What was the appeal of focusing on the early years of the character?
That was actually Tetsuya Nomura’s idea.
Early on, we’d been planning a story in which we shine a light on Glenn and the P0 SOLDIERS, but he wanted Sephiroth to appear along with them. Now that I look back on it, by depicting the younger days of the Hero, Sephiroth, he may have aimed to add another level of depth to the FINAL FANTASY VII remake series.
I still remember when I saw the brand-new illustration, and the impact it had on me!
Some of the gear and costumes in the game are extremely beautiful. But what’s the most challenging thing about designing the gear?
Ensuring Cloud and his cohorts can wear them.
When we need to come up with ideas for Christmas or Halloween outfits for example, there are lots of things to consider, such as their personality or characteristics - like, “if Cloud would wear this, it would need to change like this…”.
At the same time, we need to maintain the flavor of the seasonal event, which makes the process quite challenging.
That said, there aren’t very many titles that give us the freedom to play around with Cloud and company to the extent that EVER CRISIS does, so the development team tackles the challenge in very good spirits. It’s a lot of fun!
The new Anniversary content focuses on Bahamut. Why did you make the decision to use the iconic summon?
There are many Summons in FINAL FANTASY VII, but among them, Bahamut has multiple different forms. Plus, it’s a special summon in the realm of FINAL FANTASY VII. From that perspective, we believed Bahamut would be the perfect choice to commemorate the first anniversary.
But the Event Story focuses doesn’t merely focus on Bahamut, but also the people of Cetra. They’ve been rarely talked about, including in the original game, so, I believe this is going to be a really interesting from a story perspective as well.
What can we expect from Year 2 of the game? Can you give us some hints?
First of all, I would like to convey my gratitude to all the players that continued to play FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS. With that, we the development team are already making preparations for 1.5-year and 2-year anniversaries!
It goes without saying that we’ll bring new seasonal events, but we are considering crossovers with several FINAL FANTASY series titles, so I’d love for you all to look forward to future updates!
Many thanks to Ichikawa-san for answering our questions. FINAL FANTASY VII EVER CRISIS is available to download for free on iOS, Android, and PC via Steam.
The first-year celebrations are still underway, with new gear for Aerith available now!
To stay up to date with news and information about the game, be sure to follow the team on social media: