Kupo Chronicle #3 - The Forgotten Soldier & Other International Quirks
A SOLDIER, a ninja, and a spy walk into a mako reactor...
Welcome to the Kupo Chronicle, the premium edition of the Wark Digest newsletter, where we explore the Final Fantasy universe in long-form and drill down into unique moments of the series’ history. I’m Chris, aka Hoogathy, and in this installment we’re investigating the Final Fantasy VII we almost didn’t play, and how some last-minute changes (and in some cases, post-launch changes) now endure as some of the games’ most beloved legacies.
This week’s newsletter is 3096 words, a 15-minute read.
Final Fantasy VII International
As we recently observed, Final Fantasy VII originally launched on January 31, 1997 in Japan, on September 7 in North America, and November 17 in PAL regions. However, between those latter two dates, on October 6, the game was re-released in Japan—as Final Fantasy VII International. This version was the same released as simply Final Fantasy VII outside of Japan, incorporating some new scenes, fixing some mechanics under the hood, and adding the optional secret bosses, Emerald Weapon and Ruby Weapon.
(It worked a lot like the “day one” patches we get for modern games—just released nine months later as a separate purchase.)
As the International version formed the basis for the vast majority1 of players’ first experiences with FFVII, it’s hard to imagine a version of this game without some of the elements it incorporated. The quality-of-life changes alone—slightly altering certain maps to make paths clearer, adding the red and green pointers to the optional assist mode, and easier inter-party materia swapping, to name a few—make FFVII a much better, polished experience. (Plus, look at how lifeless Super Nova used to be! They must’ve spent most of those nine months re-animating it.)
Yet, one of the biggest parts of the International version’s living legacy is that of Zack. Without the expanded scenes, the story of Cloud and Zack would be merely a fragment of its former self.
In the same vein, FFVII’s optional characters, Yuffie and Vincent, have taken on much bigger roles and places in fans’ hearts than their initial involvement in the game would suggest. We came close to not meeting them at all, if their content had been fully cut. So, let’s dive a little deeper into the hidden details of a very different Final-Fantasy-VII-That-Almost-Was.
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