10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Final Fantasy VII

9. The First Plot Ideas Became Xenogears

Final Fantasy has been Square's premier series for some time now, though that hasn't stopped the company from experimenting with other RPG titles. Chrono Trigger is a great example of this; it was a brand new IP (though not wholly different from Final Fantasy) and it turned out amazingly well as it was allowed to distance itself from some of the typical Final Fantasy elements. A very similar title to this is Xenogears; a Squaresoft title released in 1998. Like Final Fantasy, it was a typical role-playing game with turn-based combat but it had more of a science-fiction feel with giant robots and Star Wars-esque six-part story (the original game is designated as Episode V). How does this tie-in? Well, the initial ideas that developed into Xenogears were originally pitched to become Final Fantasy VII; an executive within Square Enix decided that the ideas were too dark and complicated for the series, leading to development beginning on Xenogears. There's a reference to this origin within the game too. While Cloud is in his coma, he will mutter "Xeno... Gears...". Happily, two great games came out of this short spell within the company and perhaps that's for the best; Final Fantasy VII would definitely have been a lot more bizarre if all the characters climbed into Gundam-style robots to do battle.