- CHANGE.TXT (1/1) FF7 Changes FAQ - Impressions/comments?
Kao Megura
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Final Fantasy VII Changes FAQ v0.1
by K. Megura <cg...@hooked.net>
for the Sony PlayStation
Feel free to do anything you want with this FAQ as long as you don't
use it for profitable/promotional purposes or use it to get prizes or
recognition from game magazines, contests, etc. Please give credit
where it is due should you use part or all of this FAQ in a guide of
your own (published or not) or use it in any way not mentioned here.
The Final Fantasy series is (c) SquareSoft and (c) Sony Entertainment
of America. Everything else in this FAQ is (c) respectively; all
copyrights/trademarks are acknowledged. If you have a question
concerning this disclaimer, e-mail me--I have the right to do whatever
I want if someone ignores the disclaimer. :)
NOTE: Everything in this document is MY OPINION. Therefore, there's
no point in flaming me as I'm not saying that this document is
the 'final word' on FF7 or that it is all 100% truth. :) Also,
this document is chock full of spoilers, both small and large,
so don't read it if you haven't beaten the game yet.
-----------------
table of contents
-----------------
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Why a 'Changes' FAQ?
1.2 So this covers rumors and secrets, too?
2. GENERAL INFORMATION
2.1 How many releases of Final Fantasy VII were/are there?
2.2 In what formats is it available?
3. CHANGES MADE TO FINAL FANTASY VII
3.1 What changes were made to each release?
3.2 Why make these changes?
3.3 What about the Japanese to English translation?
4. EARLY DEVELOPMENT / DISABLED AND UNFINISHED FEATURES
4.1 How was this game created?
4.2 Anything that wasn't implemented into the final version?
... Was anything that was incomplete added to later releases?
5. RUMORS AND SPECULATION
5.1 Any rumors concerning Final Fantasy VII?
5.2 Are they true or false?
... Is there any basis for these rumors anyhow?
6. APPENDIX
6.1 What resources did you use when writing this FAQ?
7. AFTERWORD
7.1 Special Thanks
7.2 Author's Note
=========================================================================
1 . 0 INTRODUCTION
=========================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 . 1 Why a 'Changes' FAQ?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, partially because none of the Final Fantasy 7 releases are exactly
alike. The other reason is that there is a lot of misinformation
spreading around the 'Net about this game and I want to make a guide that
is (hopefully) accurate and correct.
However, this FAQ is more about changes, it's also about rumors,
disabled and unused stuff, the creation of the game, and other aspects
of Final Fantasy VII. This FAQ focuses on all the information that
you wouldn't hear about elsewhere.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 . 2 So this covers secrets and rumors, too?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes! I've taken the time to research and address all of the rumors
surrounding FF7, and have tried to uncover secrets and little-known
information about the game itself. In no way is this a single-topic
FAQ; it covers a broad range of topics that I'd like to expand upon as
time goes on. If you can help at all, please contact me at:
<cg...@hooked.net>, as I'd love to hear from you. My only request is
that your information be PROVABLE, otherwise, I can't add it to the
FAQ.
=========================================================================
2 . 0 GENERAL INFORMATION
=========================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 . 1 How many releases of Final Fantasy VII were/are there?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
As of this writing (10/97), there are two versions of Final Fantasy VII,
the Japanese version sold in Japan (released on January 31st, 1996), and
the American version, sold in the US (released on September 3rd, 1997,
although the official release date was September 7th, 1997). This
'English-text' version will not be available in Europe and other
countries for some time.
There is also a third version, planned for the home computer. It will
presumably run under Windows '95. Other than that, information about
this forthcoming release is vague, as the porting process has just begun
and it is unknown whether the game will be released in Japan, in America,
or both. Square has stated that it will be available by next December
or later, but that seems a little unlikely given how little of the game
has been ported to the PC so far.
Finally, there are two Final Fantasy VII demos, short playable versions
of the beginning of the game. They are:
- Final Fantasy VII Sampler Disc. Packaged along with Tobal No. 1
A Japanese-only release.
- Final Fantasy VII Sampler Disc. Packaged along with Tobal No. 1
The same demo disc as above, released in the US. They are basically
the same, however, the Japanese text was translated into English.
- Final Fantasy VII Demo Disc. Part of the Sony Underground club, and
sold as a bonus to those who pre-ordered the US release of FF7.
This disc still contained the same, playable version of FF7, but
characters were replaced, the dialogue re-done, and new items,
materia, and other things were added to the game, all taken from the
full version of the US game, still unreleased at the time.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 . 2 In what formats is it available?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Currently, Final Fantasy is only available for the Sony PlayStation.
- To play the Japanese version, you need a Japanese PlayStation, or
an older American PlayStation (disk swap), or a 'modified' PSX
(a chip is installed into the system).
- To play the American version, you need an American PlayStation.
I have no idea if Japanese PlayStations can use the 'disk swap'
trick or be modified via a chip.
Alternately, if you own a Sony Yaroze PlayStation (a hobbyist kit),
then you can play either version of FF7, as the only protection a
Yaroze has is against non-Sony games.
As stated before, Square plans to release FF7 for (presumably) Windows
'95. While it has been confirmed that they will release the game
eventually, futher details are unknown.
=========================================================================
3 . 0 CHANGES MADE TO FINAL FANTASY VII
=========================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 . 1 What changes were made to each release?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes listed in chronological order:
Japanese Final Fantasy VII Sampler Disc --
No changes, being the first version, after all :)
American Final Fantasy VII Sampler Disc --
All the Japanese text was translated into English. Otherwise, this
disc was the same, at least in terms of the FF7 playable demo.
Japanese Final Fantasy VII (Complete Game) --
In terms of changes from the Japanese Sampler Disc, a lot of stuff
was redone, character portraits, the music, graphics, camera angles,
and so on. In comparing the beginning of this game to the game on
the Sampler Disc, while they are for all practical purposes mostly
similar, in terms of acutal differences, they're like two completely
new games.
American Final Fantasy VII Demo Disc --
This demo disc is based mostly on the as-yet-unreleased US version.
The dialogue is the same, the portraits, graphics and music are the
same, and there are few differences between it and the US release.
American Final Fantasy VII (Complete Game) --
Compared to the Japanese Final Fantasy VII, there are a lot of
changes. A brief listing includes:
- All text changed from Japanese to English.
- Item names changed from the American FF7 Demo Disc.
- Of the 6 disabled Materia in the Japanese release, five were
altered slightly (not named, either), and the other one was made
into a real Materia (Underwater).
- In the beta version, there were two new Key Items (Ruby Fragment
and Emerald Fragment), similar to the mementos your recieved when
you killed Shinryu or Omega in FF5j (in other words, no real use).
These were removed and replaced with the Desert Rose and Earth
Harp, below.
- Three new Items were added (Guide Book, Desert Rose, Earth Harp)
- A new weapon was added: the Rising Sun (for Yuffie). Technically,
this isn't a new weapon, as it was in the Japanese version, but
wasn't normally available in the game (for the life of me, I don't
know why--but I'd bet anything it was an oversight.)
- One of the Weapon Monsters was turned into a boss (Diamond Weapon).
- Two optional Weapon Monsters were added to the game (Emerald and
Ruby). This also resulted in a small scenario/changes being built
around these two new bosses.
- A new FMV sequence was added showcasing the new Weapon monsters.
- Minor graphical changes were made, clearing up exisiting areas or
simply adding more to the background to create a more detailed game.
However, these changes were very small and the game is not that
graphically different from the Japanese version.
- The number of letters available for naming your character was
changed from 6 to 9 spaces.
- Apparently, one enemy, 'Test Zero' was removed. This enemy was simply
a battle-testing opponent (it looks like Dark Nation), that had no
purpose in the game and was left in by mistake (or as a joke by the
programmers, as it gives you lots of EXP, or so I'm told).
- Some of the spells have been altered. For instance, Chocobuckle
does damage according to the number of times you've run away from
a battle, instead of that _multiplied_ by the skill users' EXP
level.
- Mr. DeLucas notes that at least one area was made easier to access;
the Chocobo Barn. In the Japanese version, you appeared closer to
the outside pen than you do in the US version.
- The difficulty was altered.*
* The exact statement from Mr. Hironobu Sakaguchi was "The enemy
encounter rates have also been adjusted so that the story line and
battles are more balanced. Also at certain points you'll have
bosses with weaknesses that are hard to work out, and we've added
hint messages to aid the player."
This may just be me, but from my personal experience with both games,
this doesn't seem to be true. The enemy encounter rate is just the
same as it was in the Japanese version. What Mr. Sakaguchi doesn't
mention is that several of the enemies have been made easier, in
terms of tactics they use against you (the Bloat Floats near the
Corel Reactor for one thing), but this isn't a widespread change.
Furthermore, in regards to his 'hint messages' statement, this
doesn't seem to be true. The only message I can think of is the
one that Reno gives when you fight him at the support pillar in
Sector 7 about breaking his Pyramid attack.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 . 2 Why make these changes?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The changes made during the Demo Discs are not of noteworthy importance.
The need to translate the game is obvious, while other changes, like
graphic additions and so forth, simply reflect Square putting finishing
touches on their game. In a similar vein, the American Demo Disc (the
one offered by the Sony Underground) has more things in it and a more
'complete' game primarily to entice people into buying it who perhaps
already own the by then outdated FF7 Sampler Disc. The only change of
any interest are the Item, Key Item, and Materia names in the FF7 Demo
Disc--all of these (and more, like the Menu screen) could be read if you
searched through the CD's memory (they were not available normally).
Those names were changed in the final version because only so many
characters can be alloted for an item name, and some of these (like
Marlboro Tentacles), not only went over the limit of spaces, but were
misspelled (in this case, Square'd probably get sued as well!) In case
you're wondering, the final name was 'M-Tentacles'.
The changes made between the Japanese release of FF7 and the American
release of FF7 are another story entirely. Many of these are last
minute changes made as a result of beta testing (apparently, people
were more familar with the name 'Aeris', so while her name was 'Aerith'
in the US _beta_ copy, the final version was changed to Aeris), while
others were not actually changes but additions, things that Square
wanted to add to the game to improve it (although whether the additions
were planned but never added to the Japanese version is unknown. This
seems probable, though, since [for example] the Underwater materia was
in the Japanese version of this game).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 . 3 What about the Japanese to English translation?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a very interesting subject. Previously, many people were
concerned over the translations of RPGs. Both Sony and Square simply
said that the game would be translated to the best of their abilities
(I don't have the actual quote), and most people left it at that.
However, the translation is _terrible_.
Most noticeable are the simple spelling mistakes and grammatical
errors, such as "Touph Ring" or this conversation:
(text not added yet)
However, what's really noticeable are the badly mangled conversations,
some of which seem to make no sense whatsoever, even when you consider
the context they are in. For instance, here's a sequence with Cloud
and Aeris chatting outside the Honeybee Inn:
(text not added yet)
This sort of thing is more or less prevalent throughout the game. A
bad translation will come as no surprise to people who have had
previous experience with Square games, but many people assumed that
Sony would do a good job, this being such a popular game, and that
ended up not being the case. What's really annoying is that many of
the names were changed apparently for no good reason (many names that
could have 'fit' in the game even when spelled in English were
changed):
'Gold Needle' became 'Soft'
'Twin Head' became 'Schizzo'
'Gravity' became 'Demi'
'Heavy Shot' became 'Big Shot'
'Satan Impact' became 'Satan Slam'
and so on. Those of you who are interested can find a list of (my
translations of) the Japanese names in my 'FF7 Japanese FAQ Part 2:
Extra Stuff You Should Know' document, available at my homepage and
elsewhere (look at the bottom of this FAQ).
=========================================================================
4 . 0 EARLY DEVELOPMENT / DISABLED AND UNFINISHED FEATURES
=========================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 . 1 How was this game created?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Work began on Final Fantasy VII in early 1996, developing from the plot
that had been created earlier. FF7 was produced by many of the same
members who worked on previous FF games, with the notable exception of
Square artist Amano Yoshitaka, who's normal job of character designs
and publicity artwork was given to Nomura Tetsuya. Mr. Yoshitaka was
instead asked to design the maps and world graphics for FF7.
In terms of internal game creation, it was quite rushed and subject
to change. For instance, Tifa, who is one of the main characters of
FF7, had not yet been added to the game when the original story was
written. And Sephiroth wasn't publicly revealed as being involved
in the FF7 storyline until much later. The game itself was to be a
2-disc set, but at a very late date (Fall of '96, I believe) it was
expanded to three discs. FF7's projected release meant that Square
had less time to make this game than they did previous FFs, and as
the American version of this game shows, they could have used the
extra time. :)
Most notable is that this game was not designed only by Japanese
people, but by many experienced American game desingers, too. FF7 was
also the first game to have been fashioned using the equipment and
talent found at Square USA (formerly Square LA), a new division of
Square. This is because Square USA also focuses on the use of computer
graphics in video games, and one need only look at the extensive FMV
and rendered backdrops in FF7 to see why it was worked on here in the
States as well as in Japan (keep in mind that Square USA is also a
game-making faction of Square, too--they're working on the upcoming
'Parasite Eve' game). Much of FF7 was created using high-power
computers and other high-tech electronics, unlike the previous Final
Fantasy games.
Later, Square opened another branch in Honolulu, Hawaii. While this
division of Square apparently had no involvement with the Japanese
version of FF7, it was here where Square programmers retooled the US
release.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 . 2 Is there anything that wasn't implemented in the final version?
. . . Was anything that was incomplete added to later releases?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is debatable. In the final version of the Japanese game, there
are several things that seem to not really go anywhere/have any use,
such as the Underwater materia, Aerith's ghost in the church, the
entire submarine sequence, and so on. In the American version, many
of these so-called 'incomplete' events where altered (the Underwater
materia became a real item, there was a new boss to fight in the sub.
sequence, etc.). However, these could just be additions made by Square
and not 'fixes' to unfinished parts of the Japanese FF7.
That being said, obviously, Square added everything that they felt
should have been added to the US version, including a general tightening
and clarifying of the storyline (which was very vague in the Japanese
version, from what I could read of it).
Last and least, there are obviously all of Square's ideas and plans that
were never even put into the game itself, such as multiple endings, and
elements that were never used (disabled) during the game's creation (the
extra Materia and the 'Kakutou' ability [Sabin/Mash's martial arts
techniques from FF3/FF6j])
=========================================================================
5 . 0 RUMORS AND SPECULATION
=========================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 . 1 Any rumors concerning Final Fantasy VII?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes! Far too many to count. The most prevalent ones are:
* It was possible to revive Aeris after her death in Disc 1.
* ...and that Square added a quest allowing you to do so in the
US release of this game.
* The game has multiple endings.
* (Proto) Cloud, Sephiroth, and the Chocobo are all playable
characters.
* There is a character named Boxer who you can meet and who will
join your party.
* There are many extra materia in the game, and more Master Materia.
* Every character has an extra set of hidden limit breaks.
* You can breed a chocobo which can go underwater or into space.
And so on. Many of these were created back when the Japanese game came
out, but more showed up when the American release was made available.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 . 2 Are they true or false?
. . . Is there any basis for these rumors anyhow?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
All of these are basically false, but they all have a solid base, at
the least. So while there is basis for these rumors, that doesn't
make them true. Here's a detailed explanation:
* It was possible to revive Aeris after her death in Disc 1.
This is all thoroughly explained in a post by Ben Lansing, who claimed
to be a worker at Square USA during the creation of the Japanese game.
In a nutshell:
- The 'Underwater' materia that he said could be used to revive
Aeris is purple, not yellow. Furthermore, it has no effect in
the Japanese game.
- The 'Key to Sector 5' item isn't available in Disc 1, as he says,
but even with it in your inventory, you could still not return to
Midgar (the door doesn't open, plain and simple).
- The ending of the game is composed of one multi-part file with
three sections for the three corresponding parts of the game's
one ending. There are no 'extra' movie files in any of the CDs.
- Mr. Lansing claimed that there was an extra area in the
Forgotten Captial, but no such area has been found.
- He also said that meeting Aeris' ghost in Midgar was a mistake
made by the Square programmers, but that they covered it up by
changing the dialogue given to you by two children nearby. Even
assuming the rumor was true, none of the changes that Square
supposedly made directly affect the main game, so this rumored
alteration seems highly questionable.
- A main character has died in just about every Final Fantasy game,
so that's a good indicator that someone was meant to die in this
game.
- Finally, most of the unanswered questions in Lansing's explanation
are put to rest in the American version: the scene with the dying
man in Midgar, the use of the Underwater materia, etc.
Even if you decide that the rumor is true, there's no way to revive
Aeris in the final versions of either the Japanese or US versions of
the game, and sticking her back in your party with a GameShark has
shown that there are no other sequences with her/ways that she is
involved with your party, aside from 'general character' quotes.
* ...and that Square added a quest allowing you to do so in the
US release of this game.
When people found out that there was an Underwater Materia in the game
and that new FMV had been added to the game, the general assumption
that was Mr. Lansing was right, as these fit in with his explanation.
However, the Underwater materia is used only in the fight against the
Emerald Weapon, and the new FMV sequence is simply a short clip showing
off the Weapons.
* The game has multiple endings.
The ending (which is the same in both the Japanese and English versions)
is surprisingly short and seemingly incomplete, plus it obscurely
refers to Aeris in the last few seconds. Furthermore, Vincent and
Yuffie are nowhere to be seen in the ending sequences. This led a lot
of people to believe that there must be other endings that were
complete/that had Vincent and Yuffie/or that corresponded to the Aeris
rumor. Also, the ending move file is in fact divided into three sub
files, leading people to believe that there was not just one extra
ending, but maybe two or more.
In fact, the ending is three parts (escape from the final dungeon,
the halt of Meteo, the credits and Red 13 in the future), because the
ending movie has three major scenes. Some people found fault with
what Nomura Tetsuya said in an interview with GameFan magazine:
'Because to have included [Yuffie and Vincent], we would have to
to make four different endings and we were constrained by the space
on the CD, so we decided not to include them.'
The argument being that, in FF3, sequences would not be shown if you
didn't have a certain character, but they would be shown if you did,
so why not have short FMV clips with Vincent and Yuffie that would be
interjected into the ending? However, what Mr. Nomura says is true;
as the entire FF7 game is on each disc (not including FMV), the added
FMV for Disc 3 would leave scant space for added FMV sequences.
* (Proto) Cloud, Sephiroth, and the Chocobo are all playable
characters.
Well, (Proto) Cloud and Sephiroth are playable during Cloud's
recounting of the Nibleheim mission in Disc 1, but even then, Sephiroth
is controlled by the computer. And, there is a portrait for chocobos
just as their is for the characters in your group. This having been
said, you can put Cloud and Seph in your party using a GameShark, but
the game will crash if they are involved/talk with anything (and since
a GameShark can only alter exisiting memory and not 'create' something
new, if they were playable, a code that sticks them in your party would
work perfectly as well). Even with the code, Seph is still computer-
controlled. About the Chocobo: a GameShark code doesn't make it
playable either (there's not even any graphics or stats. for it), but
the portrait has a legitimate use anyway; it's used when you name a
caught chocobo in Disc 2.
* There is a character named Boxer who you can meet and who will
join your party.
It goes like this: there is a hidden character named 'Baakusa' ('Boxer'
in Japanese), who was going to be put in the game, but wasn't at the
last moment (according to the rumor). He would be a friendly version of
those Goblins you can fight at the Goblin and Round Islands.
Well, there _are_ two extra portraits in the game that are unused (they
spell out 'Now Printing' in Japanese kana, and the file name is 'kali'
or 'temporary'). Furthermore, in the Japanese version of FF7 (at
least), you could continually save and delete files, then check out the
little faces of the FF7 save file names in your PSX's memory, and there
would be a chance of you seeing a face of a character not in the game
who was supposedly the Boxer goblin. This is true, but just because
there is a face doesn't mean that the character was playable, as there
are pictures of the Turks and other non-playable figures in the game.
Furthermore, there are no weapons or items in the game for Boxer to use.
Since there's no way to play with Boxer in any version of FF7 anyway,
this rumor is a little pointless, even if it is true.
* There are many extra materia in the game, and more Master Materia.
Again, this rumor is partially true. In the Japanese game, there were
several disabled materia:
Housoku (Law)
A Command materia (yellow). It has 2 levels. It lets you use Coin
Toss and Throw (unmentioned in the description).
Booster
A Combination materia (blue). It has 5 levels. It also has no
description, and apparently has no effect in terms of gameplay, either.
SuichuuKokyuu (Underwater Breath/Respiration)
An Independant materia (purple). It has 1 level. It also has no
description, and apparently had no effect in terms of gameplay in the
Japanese version. For the US release, this was made into the
'Underwater' materia that is used to nullify the time limit when
fighting the Emerald Weapon.
MBarrier
A Magic materia (green). It has 3 levels, and lets you cast the
MBarrier spell at each level.
Reflect
A Magic materia (green). It has 4 levels, and lets you cast the
Reflect and Wall spells.
Rifuabu (no translation, but has something to do with 'reflect')
A Magic materia (green). It has 3 levels, and lets you cast the Wall
spell after it reaches 2nd level.
In the case of the three Magic materia, they would affect your stats.
as so when equipped: Strength -02, Magic +02, MaxHP -05%, Vitality -01,
Magic def +01, MaxMP +05%.
As you can see, none of these materia had any new functions. The only
exception is the Booster materia, but whatever purpose it was supposed
to have (some have speculated that it was going to be a materia that
increased the amount of AP you got in a battle, like EXP Plus or Gil
Plus, but that it was removed when this function was instead assigned
to weapons) was deleted from the final version.
Note that these materia still exist in the US version (although the
SuichuuKokyuu materia is now a real, working materia [Underwater]).
However, they haven't been translated, as there was no need to since
they aren't actually in the game. They also seem to be a little less
functional than before, but that could just be my GameShark ^_^;
In the story itself, there is Sephiroth's Black Materia that he uses to
cast Meteo, and Aeris' White Materia that is used to cast Holy, but
these materia aren't real, usable items (the Black Materia is an
unsusable Key Item).
* Every character has an extra set of hidden limit breaks.
This rumor has a good basis; there is enough space for every character
to have three limit breaks per level. However, there aren't any extra
breaks (check for yourself if you have a GameShark), and those
characters who have less than 7 breaks (Vincent and Cait Sith), can't
get any more than what is normally available to them.
* You can breed a chocobo which can go underwater or into space.
Apparently, there was a picture floating around a while back which
depicted a chocobo walking around underwater. When the Underwater
materia was discovered, people suggested that perhaps it was to be
used in conjuction with a chocobo to go underwater (and in fact, it
was originally said that chocobos would be able to travel beneath
the sea, to boot). Also, with the submarine, there is only a small
area of the world's ocean that you can explore, further adding
credence to this rumor. As it is, there are no extra types of
Chocobos that can be bred (again, this has been proven using a
GameShark), and none of the available ones can go under the ocean.
However, it does seem fair to say that this was originally going
to be implemented back when FF7 was still being created.
=========================================================================
6 . 0 APPENDIX
=========================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 . 2 What resources did you use when writing this FAQ?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Right off the bat, I'd like to say that NONE of these documents are
100% correct (maybe even my own document?) So please don't take what's
written here as the truth since it will only mess you up in the long
run.
In any case, I referred to these sources:
GameFan Magazine, Volume 5, Issue 7
- Interview with Square members about the US release of FF7.
GameFan Magazine, Volume 4, Issue 5
- Preview of the forthcoming Japanese release of FF7.
Newsgroup: alt.games.final-fantasy
- Various information.
A lot of this info. also comes from my own personal experience and use
of a GameShark and Comms Link. I've used the GameShark and Comms Link
to see disabled/hidden info. in every currently available version of
Final Fantasy VII, save the Japanese Sampler Disc.
Documents used in the writing of this FAQ:
________________________________________________________________________
Here's a quick write-up I did of the differences between the American
FF7 Sampler Disc and the Japanese release of FF7 some time ago:
________________________________________________________________________
Apparently the characters were to be more detailed in the 'walkabout'
mode. However, they still retained the same graphics as the 'battle'
figures.
You may also notice that _all_ the sprites for the heroes are
different than the ones in the final version!
Aside from obvious changes like the names (Aeris instead of Aerith,
Barret instead of Barett), the 'victory' portraits for Aerith and
Barett are different. And the Cloud portrait is actually the 'Young
Cloud' one!
Game wise, the camera will pan across the enemies at the start of the
round, something it doesn't do in the final version. In terms of
spells, some (like Fire 2) 'expand' depending on the size of the
enemy, which it doesn't do in the finished version. (Barett's 'Demi'
will kill the Deenglows, which doesn't work in the finished version,
either). The Ice spell was also different in appearance (Ice 2, to
be exact).
Also, using L1/R1 to move Cloud resulted in him turning it tight
circles rather than a general turn.
In terms of battles, you couldn't run away, the item screen had only
six spaces, and if you used the 'Change' option, it was permanent
(whereas in FF7, you had to change from the main menu for it to
permanently affect future battles). Also, the MP cost/amount of
damage/etc. was completely changed for the demo version.
Plus, the graphics were re-rendered in the final version and music was
performed with different instruments. The battle graphic was also
different, and it didn't change during any part of the demo.
_________________________________________________________________________
This original document below was located at Miranda's Cafe (now non-
existant). It is a slightly-altered version of the post by Ben Lansing
that started all of these rumors in the first place.
_________________________________________________________________________
Aerith's Ressurection
NOTICE
A) You *cannot* ressurect Aerith
B) We do not have the required Game Shark Codes to revive her
C) We have NO FURTHER INFORMATION regarding her revival
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The True Aeris Story
This was posted on the FF Discussion Group by Lansing, a temp worker
for Square who did some of the translations. It lays to rest (finally)
the rumors of Aerith's ressurection:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh no. They did it. I wouldn't have known, because I had access to the
full set of FF7 info... but they did. I guess this means that I should
have actually played through things to see if anything had changed,
instead of getting tired of the game after translation purposes. I
think everyone is gonna kill me for my insolence, because I really
should have played through the game more fully before I said anything
to make sure it was still possible.
Throughout the past few weeks, I, myself, have been wondering why
people were having such a hard time reviving Aeris, because according
to everything I saw through the scenario translation process, it could
be done fairly easily. Here's the Aeris revival process, in full.
First off, throughout the game, you must make the logical choice of
things to say to Aeris to indicate that you like her. You must never
hurt her in any way by choice. What happens in scenarios, however,
cannot be avoided (Aeris' beating by Cloud, for instance). Also, with
the sick man. There is no medicine, but you could have Aeris tend to
him and make him feel better, by learning about her heritage and
returning to Midgar in the first CD. By doing this, the "GENERAL" as
people call him, would trust you, and request you go buy his dying
friend something from the store. A simple quest. After doing so, the
GENERAL would tell you thanks, and that if there was anything else you
need ever, to ask him for help. You then see a scene with his friend
dying. A sad scene. :(
Now, continue through the game as normal, and after Aeris dies, go on
to the second CD. Once here, return to Midgar with the key from CD1,
and the GENERAL will ask you where the nice girl (Aeris) is. You
explain that she has died, by Sephiros, and that there is no hope in
reviving her. There would be a chance, but only if you could go deep
under the waters of the floating castle (where Aeris died). The
GENERAL would tell you that he thinks he may be able to help, and to
come back later. After this meeting, you were to go on to Aeris'
church, where there would be a long scene with her spirit. If you had
been nice to her, she would express a desire to return to help you.
After doing this, return to the GENERAL, who would provide you with a
Yellow materia that allowed the entire group to travel through water.
With this, you could return to the floating palace, go up to Mr. Fish,
and once you touched him, you would be transported under water, to a
cavern, where, at the end, lay Aeris' orb/life essence. With this orb,
Bugen Hagen could complete the ress process, and you could move on to
a happier life with a neater ending.
Well, the FMVs were all completed on time, but a lot of coding was not.
They then delayed the games release by a month (Dec -> Jan). However,
it seemed that even by late December, the coding STILL wasn't finished,
so Square told production to wrap it up quickly. In order to get the
game out on time, SqJP sacrificed what could have been a miraculously
better game than FF7... The main coding that was not finished dealt
with manipulating the transparent polygon of Aeris' spirit in the
church. Since they were forced to wrap production up to meet the many-
delayed deadline, they had to stop with the Aeris process unfinished.
So, to keep things from ever happening, they simply removed the one
item that allowed any hint of the process to take place... The Key to
Midgar, from the first CD. This completely stopped the ability to
ressurect Aeris. HOWEVER, they left out the removal of one thing, and
that was the split-second of seeing the ghost of Aeris once you return
to the church. Unforunately, this, along with the insanely big size of
the ending MOV, are the only hints to Aeris' existence that we have.
Other than the original FF7 scriptline, from which all the above
information came.
I ran across this info while talking to John H. (another temp like me)
trying to get some US script from him for our channel's page. Also,
Seph wanted it. I asked him if it would be alright for me to release
the script info in an altered form, and to release info on gameplay,
such as Aeris' death/ress. Then he told me the deadline story, and I
almost had a heartattack. He said that the process can still be done
to its completion, sans a couple of scenes, with the Game Shark, but
until someone develops a MOV player that handles multiple sector
files, the true ending will not be seen.
Oh, and about the ending... There were supposed to be scenes with the
hidden characters, but things got cut short, so they weren't added,
and the end of the ending was terrible, without even the typical "THE
END" in the stars.
_________________________________________________________________________
This is part of an email sent to me from James Smith:
_________________________________________________________________________
First of all, the game is 'unfinished'. You may have heard rumors of
thos, but I can swear they are true. The major thing removed was a
large scenario by which you can revive Aerith. In December, when the
game development was being finished, Square got a bit lazy and as a
result just pulled the whole revival process. In fact, the movie files
and code for the revival all exist on the discs, but a small part where
you could get the key to Midgar in disc 1 was removed, making the whole
process impossible. Game Shark allows the parts with her alive again on
disc 2 and 3 possible, but the two other endings are inaccessible..
(Yes, there are two endings, one in which Aerith commits suicide)
Removing the revival also removed the possibility of getting another
secret character, and imp, which I believe you had on your list as
KanjiMaru (I've not seen anything much regarding the char, but that he
had only 1 limit etc.) and strangely, I had heard nothing of 'Kanjimaru
2'. The chocobo part is another secret in the game. Interestingly, from
what I've gathered this part may still be accessible, but I'm not yet
sure. Basically it's a materia that lets you control your chocobos,
which I've been told is not a very large deal anyway.
_________________________________________________________________________
Mr. Smith's second message is:
_________________________________________________________________________
In response to your question <KM's note - I had asked how Mr. Smith
knew Mr. Lansing>, we met about three months or so ago only, (online).
Because of his relation to Square, he could not reveal the method to
get Aerith back, that is until he left Square at the end of March.
Well, the end of March came, and he left Square. Before he did, he was
talking with a friend about getting some scripts and the full method in
perfect steps for all the secrets, when his friend told him about the
whole removal of it. I think it was in your FAQ the bit about seeing
the ghost of Aerith in the church. Ever noticed how fast the ghost
dissapears? It doesn't fade, and it's not even there for long. It was
at this point that an Video sequence was supposed to start. But Square
just deleted the key, and several parts hinting at her death, but they
did forget the ghost. Yes, the game will freeze in parts of the second
disc, but you have noticed that she does in fact have dialog. But there
is no real point in the discussing the matter. It's impossible in the
Japanese version, because even with the Gameshark it cannot be viewed
in it's entirety. And having discussed it with Lansing, it will not be
fixed for American release anyway. (Or, it is not scheduled to, which
is unlikely to change) If you'd like to know more about it, I can
basically tell you pretty much everything you want. The other two
endings you recieved if:
1. You revive Aerith and were nice to her through decisions throughout
the game.
2. You revive Aerith and were mean to here through decisions throughout
the game.
Come to think of it, why isn't Bakuusa's portrait displayed with those
others? Hmm, that too is a question I need to get some help on. BTW,
Lansing said that another thing that was 'forgotten' was a portrait of
Bakuusa on the save game files. The portrait is supposed to appear
randomly of a 1 in 30 chance, so clearing a slot and saving/deleting
should find it pretty easily. I'll try to find out more so as to clear
the confusion. <KM's note - 'Bakuusa' is the name of the imp/kappa,
I believe, that was mentioned in the first message.>
_________________________________________________________________________
Here's some more info. from Mr. Smith:
_________________________________________________________________________
Hi, it's been a while since I've talked to you, and I've gained a
little information on the whole revival process. I hope you will put it
in your next FAQ, as it clears a few things up and makes me look less
like I'm just 'spreading rumors' :)
Lansing left the web permanently. I tried to contact him, but he
is gone. For those who believe that Aerith was never meant to be
revived, I do pass along this: Lansing insisted that the second and
third endings were on the disc. Yet, by using PSXVideo you can plainly
see that only three ending files (The 'trip' to last boss, the ending,
and Red XIII segment.) So in at least one place there is no validity to
his statements. Yet I could be wrong here too. And what of the 'Chocobo
control' materia? This is not so clear either-- I truthfully don't have
much knowledge past what anyone else knows--that it's a rumor without
basis. Additionally, the secret endings, as Lansing said, were that
Aerith and Tifa argue over Cloud, Aerith attempts suicide, when in the
mad rush Cloud accidentally kills her. How much does this sound like a
Square ending? I'm really not so sure. I do however believe strongly
that Aerith was intended to be revived, and that Kappa/Bakuusa was
indeed supposed to be there. Does it not make sense? But I think
perhaps there is true proof that she was intended to be revived. Why
the so sudden dissapearance in the Church? Why does she have dialog at
points after her death, but in contrast, why does she only have dialog
in certain spots? I think we will truly never know-- Square will never
tell. Yet I believe that in early pictures a 'breathing underwater'
materia was in fact shown, though you as a reader can verify this just
as much as any other rumor. Laid to rest, I don't think we'll find much
more than we now know. <KM's note - the 'Chocobo control' materia was
supposedly an item that you could use to make a chocobo join your party
that you could control in battle sequences.>
_________________________________________________________________________
Here's Andrew Vestal's take on the whole Aerith rumor:
_________________________________________________________________________
Why Final Fantasy VII is Complete
Many have written me, concerned:
Aerith dies. You can't bring her back.
You ask that I start a petition--after all, my first one worked! Square
rushed the game, you say, and released it before it was finished.
Originally, you could bring her back! Make Square give us the TRUE
Final Fantasy VII!
And I smile and politely go about my day's business. But, lately, I
have received too many of these letters to ignore them, and I must I
make my views known.
Square is a video game publisher: they make games. Why? To make money.
But, then, why are movies made? TV shows aired? Books published?
Magazines written? Newspapers produced? For the same reason: to make
money. Only a fool, however, would argue that no important movie or
book had ever been made. Rightful works of art have appeared in each
medium. And Square has done more than any other video game publisher
to move video games out of the realm of mere children's entertainment
and into their rightful place alongside other media.
Square delayed the release of Final Fantasy VII by a full month. They
have also delayed the release of Final Fantasy Tactics, SaGa Frontier,
Bushido Blade, and Tobal 2. Every Playstation game announced to date!
Their profits for the year took a serious hit. Their stock value
wavered. Yet the games were delayed because a substandard product
would not be worthy of the Square name.
But Square, sadly, can't delay games forever. Final Fantasy VI's
ending was originally to have an Amano sketch for each character, but
cartridge limitations demanded they be cut. Chrono Trigger's End of
Time was to be majestic and crystalline. Characters such as Janus and
Schala were, tragically, cut at the last moment. And who knows what
other parts of Square's games never made the final cut? Square cannot
always put everything they want into a game; eventually, they must say
"the game is finished" and release it.
Some still insist the game is unfinished. I should start a petition to
demand the game be "fixed," they say. These people misunderstand the
power of the petition.
The Final Fantasy VII Translation Petition asked for fair and
equitable treatment. It asked that the game not be censored or cut;
that it remain in its original form; that Americans receive, finally, a
Final Fantasy game the way it was written. The petition was succesful,
and I am proud to have supported it, because it asked for justice.
A petition to demand the insertion of Aerith's ressurection, however,
would ask for preferencial treatment. It would selfishly demand more
than others have already received. It would ask Square to retouch a
finished product at gamers' whims. It would ask for these things out of
greed, and I cannot support it.
Square offers you the Venus de Milo, and you would send it back because
it has no arms.
There are rumors that an alternative, superior ending exists,
unaccessible because of Aerith's permanent death. Those rumors are
nothing but LIES. The ending you see is the ending Square originally
intended: the largest movie file on the third disc. The ending, as
well, is perfectly satisfactory; there's nothing "lackluster" about it.
A "better" ending (with Aerith ressurected) is an impossibility. If she
had been ressurected, then she would commit suicide before the end.
This is true! Cloud would try to stop her and fail, for her death is
inevitable. Aerith knew her death was absolutely necessary. Do not
presume to know more than she.
And most importantly . . . Aerith should stay dead.
A dying man needs to die, as a sleepy man needs to sleep, and
there comes a time when it is wrong, as well as useless, to resist.
- Steward Alsop
Aerith's death is a tragedy. I truly do believe this. So was Tellah's.
So was General Leo's. So was the death of every person who ever
sacrificed themselves for a greater cause. But unlike deaths in
previous Square games, Aerith's death carries long-lasting
repercussions that echo long after her passing. For Aerith did not die
senselessly. Aerith meant to die.
Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live.
- Henry Van Dyke
Aerith knew her actions would mean her end. But she faced death anyway,
aware that only in death could she avert the coming disaster and save
her world. She gave her life intentionally, purposefully, and with full
knowledge of the consequences. No one ever, EVER forgets that; the
tragedy of her loss is what keeps the small party together.
Do not go gentle into that good night
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
- Dylan Thomas
Even in death her presence is felt. Her memory guides and leads the
party on its quest. Her spirit appears in silent reminder of her
selfless act. Aerith died. She died! And she died honorably.
Dear, beauteous death, the jewel of the just!
- Henry Vaughan
If Prince Hamlet came back from the dead, would his indecision be
meaningful? If King Lear recovered, would we learn from his folly? And
if Aerith were disinterred mere hours after her death, would her
sacrifice have any importance? Square should be honored that the death
of a character brings about this outcry. It is touching testament to
the games' power: the characters are truly loved. And grief is a
natural reaction to the death of a loved one. As is denial. Now,
Square fans must proceed to the next stage: acceptance.
Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sun on ripened grain. I am the soothing, gentle rain.
When you awake in morning hush, I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the stars that shine at
night. Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there. I did not
die.
- Anonymous
Aerith Gainsborough gave her life so that the world might live. May she
rest in peace.
. . . she smiled, in the end.
- Cloud Strife
_________________________________________________________________________
Finally, here's some speculation about the 'disabled' Materia Orbs and
the Aerith rumor from Ian Kelley:
_________________________________________________________________________
Materia
11. Suichu Kokyu
16. Booster
???? I have no clue whatsoever what the hell either of these Materia
do. My best guess is that they were materias thought up very early in
the gamemaking process, and were scrapped very early on, since neither
of them seems to have abilities that make any sense whatsoever. I was a
little intrigued by the Suichu Kokyu one so I did a little
investigation on that using my computer...I'll talk about it later.
26. Housoku
This is great! I cracked up when I saw this one. It's a joke materia
put in by the programmers. "Housoku" means "Law" in the sense of what
lawyers do. The skill given was "Zeninage" (Throw money) so I guess the
programmers are trying to say you have to throw away your money if you
want to hire a lawyer. Hehehe...^_^
3F Mabarrier
42 Reflek
43 Refuab(???)
These were all pretty interesting. It gives you insight onto how the
programmers initially intended to make the Barrier type spells. The
first teahces you "Mabarrier" 3 times...obviously not a finished
Materia, like Booster. The description says it allows you to cast
"Mabarrier."
Reflek teaches you "Reflek" and "Wall," and Refuab (whatever the hell
that's supposed to be) teaches you Wall.
My best guess is this: When they first started programming the game,
they wanted to have all of the spells on the "Barrier" Materia that is
actually used on separate Materia. Then they decided to put Reflek and
Wall together on one materia, then just gave up and put Barrier,
Mabarrier, Reflek, and Wall all on one Materia, the one we see in the
game itself. If you do a little searching I bet you will find a Materia
with just "Barrier" on it, and maybe a Materia with Barrier + Mabarrier
on it.
Now for the stuff on the Suichu Kokyu Materia...
This interested me, cause for a moment I actually thought that Square
was being stupid enough at some point to actually be thinking about
having Aerith be ressurectable. Therefore, I booted up my Disk Block
Editor on my computer, and since I have Japanese system software on my
computer, I converted the ASCII values of each of the blocks to
Japanese fonts so I could read the dialogue. And this is what I found
that is *really* interesting:
It took me an hour, but I eventually found the section where
Bugenhargen is in the place where Aerith died. Around that area, I
found some lines of dialogue that I don't remember before.
(I am paraphrasing this cause I don't remember the lines verbatim)
1. "But at the floor of the ocean is impossible..."
The middle of this sentence started at the beginning of a sector but
the previous sector did not have the first part of the sentence...
possibly this could be if that the Ascii values for a single character
get split in half it turns the first part into garble, and it might
have split the character in the sector before. Either that, or the
beginning of the sentence is stored in another sector. Anyhow, this
came just like 2 sectors before the sentence where they talked about
whatever the hell it was you needed at the bottom of the ocean.
2. "[The] White Materia is necessary", literally.
This was about 10 sectors or so after the first line I don't remember.
Since this could mean anything, it might have been there before and I
just don't remember.
<KM's note - He actually says something like this in the game, I think,
although mind you that I don't know much Japanese.>
Anyhow, after seeing this, I have some possible theories for the
purpose of the Suichu Kokyu Materia. There's not a hell of a lot of
evidence, but my guess is that either:
1) The materia is needed to leave the submarine to get the key or
whatever the hell it was underwater that you needed to get. Either
that, or the programmers initially intended for you to go underwater
some way other than the sub to get that key.
2) The materia is needed to get at the White Materia that dropped into
the Water right after Aerith gets killed.
I think the first theory makes more sense, since I found no dialogue
evidence towards a search or subquest for the White Materia, but it
does seem awfully strange that during that FMV sequence they show us in
minute detail whatis happening to the White Materia, when you would
think that they would be focusing on Aerith, who is in the process of
dying. ^_^ My best bet though is that that Materia would be needed to
let you get out of the sub, either to retrieve the key or whatever, or
enter the sunken plane. It does make sense...after all, the monsters
in the sunken plane are stronger than most of the monsters in the last
dungeon, yet you get access to that place towards the beginning of Disk
2. If there was supposed to be some key to getting in there that you
could only get *after* getting the sub, it might make sense, and the
Suichu Kokyu Materia would be a prime contender IMO for that key, if
such a situation really were to exist. Of course, this is all just
conjecture. It is really interesting though, and I plan to do more
research...including finding the exact address values of any fishy
dialogue I see. It's cool, with those earlier Barrier Materias, you can
see how the programmers planned the game mechanics to go one way, then
changed their minds. It's a waste of space though to leave stuff like
that in; they should have just deleted it.
And oh yeah, one other thing...a search for the ascii values of
the word "Fukkatsu" (Revive, bring back to life, etc.) turned up
nothing that had anything to do with Aerith...I guess the rumor about
her ressurection being possible in any way, shape, or form was just
some guy jumping to conclusions. Oh well, I guess it's more dramatic
anyway to have her die and stay dead anyway. And it wouldn't make sense
to have Square revive a dead character in one of their games, that's
not like them anyway. The closest they came to that was in Chrono
Trigger, but that was less a revival and more of a "jump in time + grab
him before he gets killed" kind of thing.
_________________________________________________________________________
(All the information below is from PSX Power <www.psxpower.com> except
where mentioned)
_________________________________________________________________________
- 'The overall difficulty setting during battle sequences will be
balanced.'
- 'The interface with the Materia exchange will be improved, allowing
gamers more choices during gameplay.'
- 'Additional "Weapon" monsters have been added.'
- 'A few select scenes have been augmented to clarify the storyline.'
- You will now have 10 spaces to enter a character's name instead of
six (this info comes from the UnOfficial Squaresoft Homepage).
=========================================================================
7 . 0 AFTERWORD
=========================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
7 . 1 Special Thanks
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'd like to thank the following people for their contributions:
Ian Kelley <ike...@mail.sas.upenn.edu>
[http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~ikelley/]
James Smith <xtr...@mlode.com>
Andrew Vestal <and...@nkn.net>
[http://www.square.net/]
Ignacio Lucas <del...@hotmail.com>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
7 . 2 Author's Note
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, that was an interesting ride, wasn't it? Maybe this will stop the
rampant rumors (right)! In any case, if you have any corrections,
comments, additions, or complaints, lob them to <cg...@hooked.net>.
Remember, that e-mail address isn't mine, though, so if you feel like
sending me 500 copies of the same e-mail, don't. You can check out my
shiny 'new car smell' homepage at:
www.fortunecity.com/bally/orange/25/
Where you can find all my FAQs and more. A quick note to people who
want to know:
I _have_ a Final Fantasy 7 American/English FAQ! It's not this one!
Go to my homepage, www.gamefaqs.com, or www.square.net if you want it!
My FF7 Japanese FAQ is split into two parts: Complete Walkthrough and
Extra Stuff You Should Know. See how it says 'Japanese' in the title?
That means that you shouldn't use it along with your US copy of FF7!
Don't bother sending me corrections for it as I won't be updating it
any time soon (c'mon folks, it's practically a Meg in size now--it's
done, don't you think?)
Finally, this Changes FAQ will in no way help you with gameplay, so
if you need help playing this game, please refer to one of my FAQs.
----------------------------------------------------
"What can I do for you?" "Hehe, thank you!"
- Master Librarian, Castlevania: SotN
----------------------------------------------------
FINAL FANTASY VII: CHANGES FAQ v0.0 (c) K. Megura 1997