Review

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis fails due to gacha and pay-to-win mechanics

15.9.2023

Translation: Patrik Stainbrook

With the mobile game Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis, Square Enix is promising the entire Final Fantasy VII experience in one package. The game itself is great, the gacha mechanics less so.

I love Final Fantasy. The seventh instalment is my absolute favourite. It’s received various spin-offs since its release in 1997. Ever Crisis aims to unite them all for the first time. To start with, Crisis Core, The First Soldier and the original Final Fantasy VII are included. In the former, you play the young Zack Fair, who wants to become a first-class soldier. The First Soldier takes place 18 years before the events of the main game and goes into the beginnings of the elite Soldier fighting force. In time, Before Crisis, Dirge of Cerberus and Advent Children come into play.

Ever Crisis is the perfect casual Final Fantasy fix

The three previously released stories aren’t yet fully included in Ever Crisis. They’re told in chapters, with new ones to be added monthly. The plot is basically the same as in the original games, but deviates slightly in insignificant places.

I like the new hand-drawn character portraits.
Source: Kevin Hofer

Square Enix and development studio Applibot use existing character models from Final Fantasy VII Remake, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion and more. In addition, there are hand-drawn character portraits in text boxes and Chibi characters in dungeons, as in the original Final Fantasy VII. The music is also taken directly from the original games. As a long-time resident, I feel right at home.

The chapters are split into short subparts. Perfect for anyone with little time to game – let alone a 26-year-old game that demands around 40 hours of play. But this also has a downside: the flow of the game is often interrupted. If you want a longer session, interruptions such as returning to the menu and selecting a mission are annoying. The pacing is also much faster than in the originals. Instead of two hours in front of the console, the average passage lasts for fifteen minutes on your smartphone.

Each chapter is split into multiple parts.
Source: Kevin Hofer

Gameplay tuned for mobile devices

Ever Crisis plays more like an interactive story. You don’t control the characters through dungeons much, which is good for a mobile game. You interact mainly in battles. This is where the Active Time Battle system comes into play. An activity bar fills up, once that’s done you can choose from various commands. In addition, you’ll be able to pick between characters and attack or defence positions.

This way, the battle system is a mix of the original Final Fantasy VII and the remake. Most of the battles are so short that I hardly have anything to do. Only in boss fights do I give more than one or two commands. Here the mobile battles are actually fun. If you don’t want to fight at all, you can simply activate Auto Battle mode.

Not really Final Fantasy VII any more, but not Final Fantasy VII: Remake either.
Source: Kevin Hofer

At the end of battles, you get experience points and resulting level ups, as is usual for Final Fantasy. Of course, you’ll also receive items. This is where gacha mechanics come into play.

Confusing menus and pay to win

You can experience the stories in Ever Crisis for free. However, weapons that’ll make you progress in the story effectively have to be bought. You can gain the different currencies needed in the game or buy them with real money.

Ever Crisis relies on gacha mechanics. In this case, this means that the same weapons can have different rarity levels and vary in strength. So, like the lottery, you have to be lucky and you don’t know exactly what you’re going to get. In addition, there are various currencies used to level up weapons. I’m not a fan of this mechanic. To me it’s nothing but gambling. I’m the type of person who doesn’t ~~spend~~ waste money in Las Vegas. So I don’t want to do that in my games either.

A selection of advertisements assault my eyes within minutes.
Source: Kevin Hofer

Still, it’s not so bad at the beginning. So far, I’m still doing well with what the game gives me. But that’s usually the case with games of this kind. I have no doubt that at some point I’ll have to invest money. Personally, I prefer spending a fixed amount. I’d gladly pay 15 to 20 francs for Ever Crisis. Then I wouldn’t have to endure all the ads suggesting what else I could buy. If I don’t open the game for a day, I have to click through unending advertising banners before I can play. That’s annoying.

In addition, the menu navigation is so confusing I’d need a manual for it. All those menus in turn have even more submenus. And I constantly have to keep downloading new game files.

The menu is so cluttered I don’t know where to look.
Source: Kevin Hofer

Pretty fun in truth, but…

The main idea of Ever Crisis appeals to me as a long-time Final Fantasy fan. Since becoming a dad, I don’t have the time for epic long role-playing games. Ever Crisis promises a short fix in between and will include the entire Final Fantasy VII compilation in the future.

The story is implemented quite successfully. Music, character models, atmosphere – I immediately feel at home. However, the flow of the game is constantly interrupted by pay-to-win and gacha mechanics. That’s annoying. I’d rather have a fixed-price model than engage in gambling. So I don’t know if I’ll continue to play the game.

If that doesn’t bother you, I can recommend Ever Crisis. If you love the Final Fantasy VII universe, you’ll feel right at home in the game. It’s also suitable for anyone wanting to catch up on the series. The narrative progresses at a faster pace, but still remains faithful to the originals.

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis has been available since 7 September for Android and iOS

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Kevin Hofer

Senior Editor

kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.ch

From big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.

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