Compilation of Final Fantasy VII

40:00 The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII is the name Square Enix gave in 2003 to a set of games, a film and animation that expand the world of the 1997 game: Before Crisis, Advent Children, Last Order, Dirge of Cerberus and Crisis Core, with The First Soldier and Ever Crisis added much later. As Digital Foundry tells it at this moment, Advent Children was announced first and meant to be the first release, but the mobile game Before Crisis reached players first, in 2004. Final Fantasy VII Revelation, out Apr 8, 2027, ties back to all of them: director Naoki Hamaguchi told Anime News Network that the team "definitely added connections to Advent Children, Before Crisis, Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus". This page covers each title in brief, with Crisis Core and Ever Crisis on their own pages.

Quick facts

Every title in the Compilation

The "can you get it" column is ours, as of Nov 7, 2026. Half the Compilation can no longer be played, which is one reason, we think, that Square Enix is folding its stories into Revelation and its DLC rather than leaving them in games that have closed. The release order of the whole family is on Final Fantasy VII Games in Order.

Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII

40:40 Before Crisis was a game for Japanese mobile phones, released in 2004 and set six years before Final Fantasy VII. Players took the role of the Turks, Shinra's covert operatives, as Digital Foundry describes it here.

5:50 GameSpot's timeline adds that it takes place just after the Wutai war, while Shinra uses the war's aftermath to tighten its grip, and that, being a Japanese-only phone game nearly 20 years old, it is little known outside Japan. Its story finally reached a worldwide audience in Ever Crisis's last months in 2026 (Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis). Its Turk Cissnei appears in Revelation (Square Enix's Deep Dive trailer).

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

40:54 Advent Children is a CG film and the direct sequel to the original game. Digital Foundry explains here that it began as a short film by Visual Works, a studio that made pre-rendered CG movies for Square Enix games, grew into a feature, and was released straight to DVD in Japan in 2005. Its storytelling drew criticism; its visuals and score were praised.

27:46 The story is set two years after Final Fantasy VII, as GameSpot summarizes it here: the world is still recovering, a new disease called Geostigma is spreading, and Rufus Shinra, alive after all, asks the former members of Avalanche for help.

Last Order and On the Way to a Smile

42:50 Last Order: Final Fantasy VII is a short anime by Madhouse, released alongside Advent Children, that recreates key flashbacks of the original game with hand-drawn animation. On the Way to a Smile is a set of episodic stories first published on the Advent Children website, as Digital Foundry notes at this moment. Both fill gaps around the original rather than changing it.

Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII

43:48 Dirge of Cerberus is a third-person shooter for PS2 starring Vincent Valentine, announced in 2004 and released in 2006. Digital Foundry calls it "an interesting experiment": the team's first shooter, aiming for 60 frames per second and often missing, but playing "surprisingly well".

45:16 It visits places from Final Fantasy VII after the end of the original, such as the ruined Shinra building in Midgar, and its soundtrack is by Masashi Hamauzu, who later scored Final Fantasy VII Remake. The Japanese version had multiplayer that was removed for the Western release.

30:54 The plot, in GameSpot's summary here, opens during the original game's climax but mostly takes place three years after it, against Deepground, a hidden Shinra force that plans to awaken Omega, one of the planet's remaining Weapons, which would take the Lifestream away from the planet. That makes Dirge of Cerberus the one Compilation title with a Weapon at its center, and Weapons are a headline of Revelation (Final Fantasy VII Revelation Weapons).

Spoiler: 32:55 Dirge's secret ending, as GameSpot explains here, reveals that Deepground's soldiers were made from the cells of Genesis, the deserter of Crisis Core, who is shown waking up.

The Compilation in Revelation

7:00 Square Enix's Deep Dive trailer says it directly at this moment: Revelation "includes stories and characters from titles within the Final Fantasy VII compilation", with Cissnei as the first example and the promise of "more familiar faces". What is confirmed, what is hinted, and what is not, as of Nov 7, 2026:

Hamaguchi told Anime News Network that the team wanted to bring in all the Compilation titles, not only Dirge of Cerberus, and that the Deepground thread began with "Yuffie and the Deep Ground Soldiers" in INTERmission. He would not tell Inven Global whether Deepground and its Tsviets return.

3:59 Genesis VII expects the "Vincent & the Turks" DLC to draw on both Before Crisis and Dirge of Cerberus, and possibly to show the founding of Deepground, as he argues here in his Oct 2, 2026 video. We think he is right about the sources and that the DLC is set before the original game, in Vincent's years as a Turk; our prediction is on Predictions.

We think Advent Children's tie is the most interesting of the four, because Advent Children is a sequel. Hamaguchi says "Revelation is the conclusion of the series" and that there are no set plans after it, "depending on fan reaction, maybe there will be something". A deliberate nod to Advent Children at the end of the remake would leave that door open, and we expect one.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII?

The name for the spin-offs Square Enix began in 2003: Before Crisis, Advent Children, Last Order, Dirge of Cerberus and Crisis Core, later joined by The First Soldier and Ever Crisis.

Is the remake trilogy part of the Compilation?

Square Enix treats them separately, but Hamaguchi says Revelation adds connections to Advent Children, Before Crisis, Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus.

Do I need to watch Advent Children before Revelation?

No. It is a sequel to the original game, set two years after it. We suggest watching it after Revelation.

Is Deepground in Revelation?

Not confirmed as of Nov 7, 2026. Hamaguchi says the thread started in INTERmission but would not say whether Deepground returns.

Which Compilation titles can still be played?

Crisis Core (as Reunion) and Advent Children (as Advent Children Complete) are easy to get. Dirge of Cerberus has had no modern re-release, and Before Crisis, The First Soldier and Ever Crisis have all closed.

Sources

• Anime News Network, Sep 19, 2026: Final Fantasy VII Revelation and Beyond, an interview with director Naoki Hamaguchi
• Inven Global, Sep 10, 2026: Final Fantasy VII Revelation includes everything we wanted to tell
• Square Enix, Sep 3, 2026: Final Fantasy VII Revelation releases April 8, 2027
• Digital Foundry, Apr 26, 2020: DF Retro: Final Fantasy 7
• GameSpot, Mar 5, 2024: The Complete Final Fantasy 7 Timeline Explained
• Square Enix, Sep 3, 2026: Final Fantasy VII Revelation Combat and Exploration Deep Dive Trailer
• Genesis VII, Oct 2, 2026: FF7 Revelation DLC Might Be MUCH Bigger Than Expected