Today, concurrent with the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade announcement, Square Enix revealed Final Fantasy 7 Ever Crisis. Ever Crisis is described as a chapter-based, single-player experience that covers the entirety of Compilation of Final Fantasy 7 with some new story elements. Sounds great, right? Well, there’s a catch. It’s coming to iOS and Android only, even though it’d be perfect for a console release or PC port.
Why is Final Fantasy 7 Ever Crisis not getting a console or PC release?
If I have to guess, Final Fantasy Ever Crisis will be released similarly to Final Fantasy 15 Pocket Edition. Each of the titles it’ll retell, Before Crisis, Crisis Core, Final Fantasy 7, Dirge of Cerebus, and Advent Children, will be broken into chapters and likely sell for $0.99 to $3.99 with some discount for purchasing them all together. If Square follows the same pattern, it will eventually be released on consoles and PC as a single purchase.
I’m not sure why Square Enix decided to release Final Fantasy 7 Ever Crisis on iOS and Android instead of console or PC. Out of all the titles in the Compilation of Final Fantasy 7, only Before Crisis debuted on a phone. It seems like those most interested in Ever Crisis would prefer to play it on a dedicated gaming device. In fact, it’d be perfect for the Switch since that console doesn’t have strong enough hardware to ever handle a port of Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
I’m not anti-mobile gaming, but iOS and Android aren’t my top picks when thinking of a platform to play through a JRPG. Even if the games are abridged, just getting the basic story of each of them will result in a lengthy playtime that seems like fans would better experience it on a TV or monitor.
I’m excited to play Final Fantasy 7 Ever Crisis, especially since it’ll contain the first official English version of Before Crisis. I’m just skeptical of how enjoyable the experience will be on mobile.
