154-486: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a 2024 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix . The game is a sequel to Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020) and the second in a planned trilogy of games remaking the 1997 PlayStation game Final Fantasy VII . Like its predecessor, the gameplay of Rebirth combines real-time action with strategic and role-playing elements. Set immediately after Remake 's events, players control mercenary Cloud Strife and
308-578: A party of characters principally comprising the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE , who embark on a journey across the Planet to prevent the megacorporation Shinra from exploiting its life essence, the Lifestream, as an energy source, and defeat former elite SOLDIER Sephiroth , who seeks to unite with the Planet to achieve greater power. Rebirth entered production in November 2019 prior to Remake 's release, and
462-557: A "Sephiroth-clone" named Marco. In the final hours, Sephiroth appears in the Shinra building, showcasing his goal to summon Meteor destroying Midgar; and killing President Shinra before fleeing. After the group escapes Shinra's troops, Sephiroth awaits them at the end of the Midgar Expressway, where he acts as the final boss . Defeated, Sephiroth spares Cloud and gives him "seven seconds until the end" before disappearing, leaving behind only
616-417: A "massive undertaking to reconstruct Final Fantasy VII from the ground up with the current technology" as the reason why a remake was not possible for some time. He went on to elaborate that fully remaking its content in a single installment would necessitate cutting various elements to suit the target hardware and gameplay design, by which point a remake would be considered pointless. He additionally expressed
770-421: A "more mature and cool" individual, as "intriguing", though not unusual as a pairing. Nomura wanted Sephiroth to appear early on in the game, and then have the plot deal with the protagonists following him, so that gamers would not meet the final boss until extremely late in the game. Sephiroth was initially going to be Aerith Gainsborough 's sibling, as indicated by their similar hairstyles. Later, however, he
924-446: A "role-playing shooter" due to the heavy RPG elements within the game, such as quest-based gameplay and also its character traits and leveling system. Half-Minute Hero (2009) is an RPG shooter featuring self-referential humour and a 30-second time limit for each level and boss encounter. Other action role-playing games with shooter elements include the 2010 titles Alpha Protocol by Obsidian Entertainment and The 3rd Birthday ,
1078-577: A 1991 issue of Computer Gaming World criticized several computer role-playing games for using "arcade" or "Nintendo-style" action combat, including Ys , Sorcerian, Times of Lore, and Prophecy . In 1991, Square released Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden , also known as Final Fantasy Adventure or Mystic Quest in the West, for the Game Boy . Like Crystalis , the action in Seiken Densetsu bore
1232-502: A Cetra ritual to thwart Sephiroth's plans, but he ambushes her. Although Cloud blocks his sword and disarms him, reality distorts into one where he succeeds in killing Aerith as the White Materia falls into the water. As the party battle Jenova, Cloud is separated from the others, his reality converging with that of an alternate Zack. Sephiroth banishes Zack back to his timeline, only for an alternate Aerith to arrive to aid Cloud. Sephiroth
1386-487: A Sephiroth-style ring outfit with a "One-Winged-Angel" entrance at Wrestle Kingdom 17 , and additionally sported the attire as part of a downloadable content bundle in the 2023 remake of the 2014 game Like a Dragon: Ishin! . Adi Shankar cites Sephiroth as an artistic and stylistic influence. A reader's choice poll organized by GameSpot placed Sephiroth as the best boss of all time, receiving five times more votes than Bowser , who finished in second place; most of
1540-568: A bartender at the 7th Heaven in Midgar and is a practicing martial artist. They are joined by Aerith Gainsborough (Briana White / Maaya Sakamoto ), a flower merchant who previously lived in Midgar's Sector 5 Slums and is the sole survivor of the ancient Cetra; Red XIII ( Max Mittelman / Kappei Yamaguchi ), an intelligent quadruped from Cosmo Canyon who Shinra held captive as a lab rat; and Yuffie Kisaragi ( Suzie Yeung / Yumi Kakazu ), an expert Materia thief and ninja from Wutai who resolves to join
1694-717: A boss in the Kingdom Hearts series, Square Enix decided he would not return in Kingdom Hearts III , as it would be redundant. Sephiroth also appears in the Itadaki Street games Special and Portable as an unlockable playable character. Sephiroth was also the representative villain of Final Fantasy VII in Dissidia Final Fantasy , and is featured in his FFVII guise, while an alternative outfit features his "Safer Sephiroth" form. His fight against Cloud in
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#17328452204541848-550: A boss. Executive producer Yoshinori Kitase was pleased with Sephiroth's role in Crisis Core , feeling that he was given a more human side. Sephiroth appears in Final Fantasy VII Remake as the main antagonist. While his role as a presumed dead Shinra SOLDIER retain similar, Sephiroth now appears into the early hours in the game as an illusion to taunt Cloud and warn him to leave the Planet. He also projects himself as
2002-458: A childhood friend of Barret from Mt. Corel and the biological father of his adopted daughter Marlene; and Elena ( Piper Reese / Megumi Toyoguchi ), a new recruit of the Turks who seeks to apprehend Cloud and his allies. Following the events of the previous game , Zack Fair reaches Midgar with a comatose Cloud, and it is revealed that he resides in a timeline where the end of the world is imminent as
2156-403: A collectible statue of Sephiroth and downloadable content (DLC) keys for additional in-game items. The game was one of the first major video game releases to release on Leap Day . The Collector's Edition of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth includes access keys for downloadable content (DLC) items that can be equipped on the party earlier in the game. These include a Summon Materia DLC pack unlocking
2310-458: A desire to expand on the original game's depiction of Midgar for one game, wanting players to explore various areas that were previously inaccessible in the original, with heightened detail due to the increased power of newer generation hardware. While Nomura understood the nostalgia behind the original game's story, he envisioned Remake as a reimagining that would "get the fans of the original version excited". Producer Yoshinori Kitase likened
2464-543: A fallen black feather. In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth , Sephiroth appears as a playable character and party member in the game's first chapter "Fall of a Hero", which depicts their survey for the Nibelheim's reactor, and his villainous origins with the infamous Nibelheim incident. In the present time, Sephiroth taunts Cloud again with illusions. He is then pursued by Cloud and the party, where they encounter Sephiroth-clones as well. Sephiroth later manipulates Cloud into giving him
2618-441: A few mentioned that the open-world design occasionally detracts from the main narrative's focus. In Japan, the game was the highest-selling new release during its first week, selling over 260,000 units. The game failed to meet Square Enix's sales expectations. Action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG ) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both
2772-416: A few years later, Sephiroth reappears, determined to continue with his mission. His plan to become a god is based upon his belief that he can merge with the Planet's Lifestream , taking control of it and the Planet itself. To do so, he must summon Meteor, a destructive meteorite entity from outer space capable of catastrophically damaging the Planet. At this point, the Lifestream will flow to attempt to heal
2926-483: A game set one year after Advent Children , in which his biological mother, Lucrecia Crescent , discusses the experiments which gave birth to him. He is one of the main characters in the Final Fantasy VII prequel Crisis Core , in which he and protagonist Zack Fair search for two missing SOLDIERs, Genesis Rhapsodos and Angeal Hewley, This game also depicts the Nibelheim incident, where Sephiroth appears as
3080-737: A god amidst the destruction. Sephiroth's background and role in the story are expanded upon in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII . Additionally, he appears as a guest character in other video games and media, such as a recurring boss in the Kingdom Hearts series and as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate . Character designer Tetsuya Nomura conceived and designed Sephiroth as an antagonist and foil to Cloud, as he rejects his identity in order to fulfill what he believes to be his destiny, while Cloud re-affirms his self-worth amidst
3234-517: A grizzled pilot from Rocket Town and an ex-Shinra rocket scientist who is dedicated to achieving spaceflight. Other characters include Bugenhagen (Frank Todaro / Yōhei Tadano ), the elder of Cosmo Canyon; AVALANCHE member Biggs ( Gideon Emery / Shūhei Sakaguchi ), who, unlike in the original game, survives the Sector 7 Plate's collapse in Midgar and now seeks revenge against Shinra for the deaths of his friends; Dyne ( Dave B. Mitchell / Kenjiro Tsuda ),
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#17328452204543388-641: A heart monitor to represent the player's Attack Power and Armor Class statistics. Another controversial aspect of the game involved taking drugs (instead of potions) that increase/decrease attributes, but with side effects such as heart-rate increase/decrease or death. Origin Systems , the developer of the Ultima series, also released an action RPG in 1988, titled Times of Lore , which was inspired by various NES titles, particularly The Legend of Zelda . Times of Lore inspired several later titles by Origin Systems, such as
3542-509: A lot of popularity on the 2010s with titles such as Warframe (2013), Destiny (2014) and Destiny 2 (2017), The Division (2016) and The Division 2 (2019). Sephiroth (Final Fantasy) Sephiroth ( Japanese : セフィロス , Hepburn : Sefirosu ) is a character from the Final Fantasy video game series developed by Square (now Square Enix ), appearing as the main antagonist of Final Fantasy VII . A former soldier of
3696-413: A menu while gameplay is suspended around them. The "Synergized" mechanic, first introduced in the downloadable content (DLC) "Episode INTERmission" campaign for Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade (2021), returns, allowing party members to synchronize their attacks. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth continues the overarching narrative first introduced in Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020), which reimagines
3850-528: A mission system and role-playing game mechanics, as well as MMORPGs with real-time combat systems. Allgame listed the following games released prior to 1984 as action RPGs: Temple of Apshai (1979) and its sequel Gateway to Apshai (1983), Beneath the Pyramids for the Apple II (1980), Bokosuka Wars (1983), and Sword of Fargoal (1983). Jeremy Parish of USgamer claimed that Adventure (1980)
4004-973: A more dialogue-heavy experience akin to the Baldurs Gate games and even older series like Falcom's Dragon Slayer/Xanadu series had its outing Xanadu Next with similar Diablo influences. The influences also come full circle when the first Diablo game was inspired by rogue-likes Umoria and Angband and in more recent years many games in the rogue-like genre are inspired by more classic dungeon crawler ARPGs that Diablo helped spawn. In this sub genre there are such recent titles as Path of Exile (2013), Grim Dawn (2016), Zenonia S: Rifts In Time (2015), Book of Demons (2018), Shadows: Awakening (2018), Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl Gold (2017), Titan Quest: Anniversary Edition (2016) and its expansions Titan Quest: Ragnarök (2017) and Titan Quest: Atlantis (2019), Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem (2020) and Minecraft Dungeons (2020). The prominence of Diablo 2 in
4158-483: A more traditional RPG-esque system, including experience points and levels with action game elements. Unlike its predecessor, Zelda II more closely fits the definition of an action RPG. Another Metroidvania -style action RPG released that year was System Sacom 's Sharp X1 computer game Euphory , which was possibly the only Metroidvania -style multiplayer action RPG produced, allowing two-player cooperative gameplay. The fifth Dragon Slayer title, Sorcerian ,
4312-403: A primary reason for their lack of clarification on how many parts the remake would have. Kitase explained that this was due to the difficulties in determining development scheduling due to the lack of understanding regarding the project's overall scope. The follow-up to Remake had begun active development by November 2019 prior to the game's initial release on PlayStation 4 . According to Nomura,
4466-573: A result of the Planet's mako having been depleted entirely. Shinra has captured Barret and Tifa, while Red XIII sacrificed himself to free a comatose Aerith. Zack takes Cloud and Aerith to Aerith's mother Elmyra's house to hide out and tracks down Biggs, the last survivor of Avalanche, who is revealed to be from the original timeline, having been transported to Zack's timeline due to the Whispers' intervention. After Shinra troops kill Biggs and Marlene gives an ominous prophecy that Sephiroth will kill Aerith, Zack
4620-712: A similar crisis of identity. In Japanese, Sephiroth has been voiced by voice actor Toshiyuki Morikawa in the majority of his appearances. He was voiced by Shin-ichiro Miki in Ehrgeiz and Yūichirō Umehara as a young Sephiroth in Ever Crisis . In English, Sephiroth has been voiced by Lance Bass in Kingdom Hearts (2002), and by George Newbern in Kingdom Hearts II (2005) and the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII metaseries (2004–present). In Final Fantasy VII Remake , he
4774-580: A strong resemblance to that of Legend of Zelda , but added more RPG elements. It was one of the first action RPGs to allow players to kill townspeople, though later Mana games removed this feature. Arcus Odyssey by Wolf Team (now Namco Tales Studio ) was an action RPG that featured an isometric perspective and co-operative multiplayer gameplay. In 1993, the second Seiken Densetsu game, Secret of Mana , received considerable acclaim, for its innovative pausable real-time action battle system , and its innovative cooperative multiplayer gameplay, where
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4928-545: A version of Sephiroth drawn in a super deformed style was featured in the first two volumes of a promotional collection. Products not connected to the release of games or films have also been produced. These include a figure as part of the Final Fantasy Trading Arts Vol. 1 series, a set as part of the Square Minimum Collection alongside Cloud, and a rare figure of "Safer Sephiroth" as part of
5082-552: A weapon, which was designed as a single black wing, referencing Sephiroth's appearance during the final battle of Final Fantasy VII . Sephiroth was included as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate , as the third fighter in Fighters Pass Vol. 2. Despite being officially released on December 22, 2020, he was made available five days prior for a limited time via an event called the Sephiroth Challenge, in which
5236-453: A young Sephiroth drew praise from fans. Sephiroth being playable in Rebirth also attracted positive response due to his friendlier relationship with Cloud during their visit to Nibelheim. Several writers also noted Sephiroth's overpowered nature as a Kingdom Hearts boss, noting that, regardless of the player's skill, "walking away from this match unscathed" is not possible, and stating that
5390-480: Is Cloud Strife ( Cody Christian / Takahiro Sakurai ), a former member of SOLDIER's 1st Class who now works as a mercenary assisting the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE, which opposes Shinra's exploitation of the Planet and its resources. Accompanying him are two of its members: Barret Wallace (John Eric Bentley / Masato Funaki), its brazen but empathetic leader, and Tifa Lockhart ( Britt Baron / Ayumi Ito ), Cloud's compassionate but shy childhood friend who works as
5544-571: Is "One-Winged Angel" ( 片翼の天使 , Katayoku no Tenshi , lit. "An Angel With a Wing on One Side") which is played during the final confrontation with Sephiroth. It contains Latin lyrics taken from sections of the Carmina Burana . In an interview featured on G4 's Game Makers (formerly Icons ), Uematsu revealed that the piece was designed to be a fusion of the musical styles of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky and rock musician Jimi Hendrix . The song revolves around his character, as this
5698-516: Is also a fourth version titled "Vengeance on the World", which plays in Crisis Core . Sephiroth is the main antagonist in Final Fantasy VII , who first appears after assassinating President Shinra. It is revealed over the course of the game that Sephiroth was once the most powerful member of SOLDIER, Shinra's elite military division, who was celebrated as a heroic veteran of the Shinra-Wutai war. After
5852-572: Is also the focus of the On the Way to a Smile novella "Case of the Lifestream — Black and White". The story is set after the end of Final Fantasy VII but prior to the events of Advent Children , and centers on Aerith and Sephiroth's journeys through the Lifestream and Sephiroth's creation of Geostigma , a disease that infects anyone who came into contact with the tainted Lifestream. He is mentioned in Dirge of Cerberus ,
6006-564: Is called Bizarro Sephiroth, which is known as Libath Sephiroth ( リバース・セフィロス , Ribāsu Sefirosu ) in the original Japanese version, meaning "The Core of Sephiroth" or "Sephiroth's Core" in Hebrew (ליבת ספירות). The second is called Safer Sephiroth, which is known as Seifa Sephiroth ( セーファ・セフィロス , Sēfa Sefirosu ) in the original Japanese version, meaning "Final Sephiroth" or "The Last Part of Sephiroth" in Hebrew (סיפא ספירות). After his defeat, Sephiroth reappears only to Cloud as an apparition, and
6160-544: Is considered the first example of an immersive sim , a genre that combines elements from other genres to create a game with strong player agency and emergent gameplay, and has influenced many games since its release. The engine was re-used and enhanced for Ultima Underworld ' s 1993 sequel, Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds . Looking Glass Studios planned to create a third Ultima Underworld , but Origin rejected their pitches. After Electronic Arts (EA) rejected Arkane Studios ' pitch for Ultima Underworld III ,
6314-403: Is defeated and retreats as Zack is confident that he and Cloud will cross paths again. Meanwhile, Rufus realizes that Sephiroth caused the recent tensions between Shinra and Wutai to distract him as more black robes congregate in Nibelheim. The party is left despondent by Aerith's death, with Cloud seemingly unaware that he is the only one who can perceive her, though Red XIII briefly senses her. As
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6468-524: Is featured in the rhythm game Theatrhythm Final Fantasy and its sequel, Curtain Call , as an unlockable character, representing Final Fantasy VII . He appears in the puzzle-platform game LittleBigPlanet , and its sequel as a character model; Media Molecule 's Alex Evans felt "honored" that Sephiroth was allowed to appear in the games. He also appeared as a cameo in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate as
6622-611: Is left conflicted on whether to focus on saving Cloud or Aerith. Back in the original timeline, Cloud and his friends rest in Kalm, and he tells them about his past with Sephiroth. Five years earlier, Cloud and Sephiroth were posted to Cloud and Tifa's hometown of Nibelheim to investigate its mako reactor. There, Sephiroth went insane after discovering that he was actually an artificial being created from Jenova's cells and set fire to Nibelheim, then murdered many of its inhabitants, including Cloud's mother and Tifa's father. Cloud pursued Sephiroth to
6776-425: Is presented as a hero. The black wing that Sephiroth and the other Shinra expermients Angeal and Genesis show act as a sign of corruption. For Final Fantasy VII Remake , Yoshinori Kitase wanted Sephiroth to have more scenes than in the original game due to his popularity, and compared him with the build of the film Jaws . In the climax of the remake, Cloud encounters Sephiroth once again, and his words following
6930-490: Is the focus of two pieces of music written by series composer Nobuo Uematsu . His primary theme is "Those Chosen by the Planet" ( 星に選ばれし者 , Hoshi ni Erabareshi Mono ) , a piece utilizing bells, low drums, and a deep chorus, which accompanies his appearances throughout the game. In the final battle, "Birth of a God" ( 神の誕生 , Kami no Tanjō ) plays while the player fights Sephiroth's first form, "Bizarro Sephiroth", also known as "Reverse Sephiroth". The most well-known piece
7084-414: Is unable to due to past trauma. They compared this to how the team behind Final Fantasy VII and its fans are still attached to it and unable to move on. Kotaku saw the focus on Midgar's ruins as a parallel with psychological trauma due to how its survivors are suffering from Geostigma, a disease that cannot be fought physically, in contrast to Cloud's fights with Sephiroth. Yoshinori Kitase stated that
7238-837: The Princess Crown series, including Odin Sphere and Muramasa: The Demon Blade . Princess Crown had a more cartoon-like visual appeal. It still had quality visuals due to the George Kamitani style. LandStalker's 1997 spiritual successor Alundra is considered "one of the finest examples of action/RPG gaming", combining platforming elements and challenging puzzles with an innovative storyline revolving around entering people's dreams and dealing with mature themes. Ultima Underworld ' s influence has been found in BioShock (2007), and that game's designer, Ken Levine , has stated that "all
7392-601: The Dragon's Crown Artworks foreword: "The motif within Dragon's Crown is all the fantasy works that has affected me until now: the PC RPG Wizardry that I first came into contact with as a student; Ian Livingstone 's gamebooks; games like Tower of Druaga , Golden Axe and The King of Dragons ." He also cites his early 20s work on Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom as "truly something that I had aspired for". Dragon's Crown
7546-666: The Final Fantasy Creatures series (Chromium). "Reverse Sephiroth" was also released as a normal figure in volume 2. A figure based on his appearances in the Kingdom Hearts games was released in the second series of the Play Arts Kingdom Hearts sub-line. Some replica weapon companies have produced replicas of Sephiroth's sword, the Masamune, as a 6-foot-long (1.8 m) katana with a stainless steel unsharpened blade. A statue at Kyoto University depicting Sephiroth
7700-488: The Final Fantasy VII saga, there can't be anyone else", and regards him as an enemy from a previous generation, in contrast to his " Remnants " who appear in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children . For Advent Children , the film sequel to Final Fantasy VII , scriptwriter Kazushige Nojima thought that the film's plot would be less entertaining without Sephiroth. His revival in the film was introduced in
7854-776: The MMO vehicular combat game Auto Assault (2006) by NetDevil and NCsoft . Other action RPGs featured both hack and slash and shooting elements, with the use of both guns (or in some cases, bow and arrow or aerial combat ) and melee weapons, including Cavia 's flight-based Drakengard series (2003 to 2005), and Level-5 's Rogue Galaxy (2005). Other RPS games include the Mass Effect series (2007 onwards), Fallout 3 and subsequent Fallout titles (2008 onwards), White Gold: War in Paradise (2008), and Borderlands (2009). Borderlands developer Gearbox Software has dubbed it as
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#17328452204548008-524: The Steam version of Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade , in June 2022 during the Final Fantasy VII 25th Anniversary Celebration livestream. In June 2023, the official social media handles for the game began posting a series of developer messages. Game director Naoki Hamaguchi promised that Rebirth would feature a "wide and multifaceted world with a high degree of freedom" with multiple story routes, in comparison to
8162-648: The XIII trilogy. He also anticipated each game in the Remake series to be approximately as long as one of the Final Fantasy XIII games. Kitase would subsequently reveal the Final Fantasy VII Remake project to encompass a trilogy, between Remake , its sequel, and a third, final entry. The development team had initially conceived of remaking it across two games rather than three, citing the indecision on direction as
8316-498: The action game and role-playing genre. Action role-playing games emphasize real-time combat where the player has direct control over the characters as opposed to turn or menu -based combat while still having a focus on character's stats in order to determine relative strength and abilities. These games often use action game combat systems similar to hack and slash or shooter games . The term "action role-playing game" may also describe action-adventure games , which include
8470-498: The first installment of its Ys series in 1987. While not very popular in the West, the long-running Ys series has performed strongly in the Japanese market, with many sequels, remakes and ports in the decades that followed its release. Besides Falcom's own Dragon Slayer series, Ys was also influenced by Hydlide , from which it borrowed certain mechanics such as health-regeneration. The Faery Tale Adventure offered one of
8624-464: The "Black Materia" to summon Meteor. When Aerith attempts to stop him by summoning Cloud into an alternate reality, Sephiroth appears behind and swiftly kills her, prompting the party to avenge her. However, Sephiroth transforms as "Sephiroth Reborn" and upon defeat, flees in the northern regions. Sephiroth's first appearance outside Final Fantasy VII was as a selectable character in the fighting game Ehrgeiz . A redesigned Sephiroth also appears in
8778-435: The "King of Overrated Characters" during its villain feature for Dissidia Final Fantasy , arguing that gamers were impressed by him only because of his design and him murdering Aerith. Critics have also commented on Sephiroth's role in works. Destructoid noted there was a message within the writing of the film regarding the characters' lives in Midgar, as the people of Midgar are able to move on with their lives, but Cloud
8932-497: The "Masamune" ( 正宗 ) , which has been featured in numerous Final Fantasy titles, is an elongated nodachi that he learned to use during his days in SOLDIER. The Masamune is named after the famous Japanese swordsmith Goro Nyudo Masamune , whose blades are considered national treasures in Japan. When designing Cloud and Sephiroth, Nomura was influenced by his view of their rivalry mirroring
9086-414: The 1990 games Bad Blood (another action RPG based on the same engine) and Ultima VI: The False Prophet , based on the same interface. Also in 1989, the enhanced remake Ys I & II was one of the first video games to use CD-ROM , which was utilized to provide enhanced graphics, animated cut scenes, a Red Book CD soundtrack, and voice acting. Its English localization was also one of
9240-519: The 1997 PlayStation game Final Fantasy VII . It begins after the events of Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020), following the party's escape from the metropolis of Midgar . Players primarily control Cloud Strife , a former Shinra soldier who joins the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE to fight Shinra, who has been draining the Planet's life energy, and is drawn into a conflict with the legendary SOLDIER Sephiroth , who has returned after being presumed dead. Like Remake , Rebirth reimagines elements of
9394-526: The Arbiter of Fate, allowing him to carry out "Reunion" by forcibly fusing them into one world to create the paradise he seeks to rule over. Aerith finds that the Whispers have depleted her ancestral White Materia, which can counter the Black Materia. An alternate Aerith summons Cloud to her world, where she confesses her feelings for him and gives him her White Materia as a replacement. Aerith attempts to perform
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#17328452204549548-489: The Moogle Trio and Magic Pot Summons for use in battle, and various accessories and equipment for the characters such as a Reclaimant Choker and Orchid Bracelet armor set. Additional Summon Materia are available as early unlocks to players who have save data from either Final Fantasy VII Remake on PlayStation 4 or Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade on their PS5 console when launching Rebirth . Players with save data from
9702-534: The North American and European versions of Kingdom Hearts as an optional boss character in Olympus Coliseum. Lance Bass voiced Sephiroth in the game, while in subsequent titles he was replaced by George Newbern . In the Japanese re-release of the game, Final Mix , an additional scene was added in which Sephiroth fights Cloud, although the result of the fight is not revealed. Sephiroth was not included in
9856-590: The PC-8801 computer in September 1984, it abandoned the command-based battles of earlier role-playing games in favor of real-time hack-and-slash combat that required direct input from the player, alongside puzzle-solving elements. In contrast to earlier turn-based roguelikes , Dragon Slayer was a dungeon-crawl role-playing game using real-time, action-oriented combat, combined with traditional role-playing mechanics. Dragon Slayer's overhead action role-playing formula
10010-505: The Planet 2,000 years ago, he decided to follow in her footsteps and become a god who would rule over the Planet. He burnt down Nibelheim, resulting in the deaths of many people, but was assumed dead after a confrontation with Cloud inside a nearby Mako reactor; this event came to be known as the Nibelheim incident. However, Cloud does not believe he killed Sephiroth, since his skill and might dwarfs his, and acknowledges Sephiroth most likely had won, but spared him for unknown reasons. However,
10164-624: The Shinra-occupied port city of Junon, the resort city of Costa del Sol, Barret's hometown of Corel, the Gold Saucer amusement park, Zack's hometown of Gongaga, Red XIII's hometown of Cosmo Canyon, where they learn Red XIII's real name is Nanaki, and a rebuilt Nibelheim. They also meet and recruit new members into their party: Wutai ninja Yuffie Kisaragi, remote-controlled fortune-telling robot cat Cait Sith, freelance pilot Cid Highwind, and ex-Turk supersoldier Vincent Valentine. During their journey,
10318-552: The aforementioned games can unlock the Leviathan Summon Materia from the start of the game, while players on PS5 with save data from the "Episode INTERmission" story DLC for Intergrade also have access to the Ramuh Summon Materia. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic . OpenCritic reported that 99% of critic reviews recommended
10472-513: The battle system for Rebirth and its sequel, remarking on its potential to multitask between physical attack techniques and magic casting, while expressing a desire to surpass the 'gambit' system used for non-controlled party members in Final Fantasy XII (2006). Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was announced by Square Enix as the third installment of the Final Fantasy VII Remake project, alongside Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion and
10626-555: The best video game bosses, and best villains from both the Final Fantasy series and in video games. Dave Smith of IGN called him the "heavyweight champion of Final Fantasy villains", and praised his appearance and backstory. Sephiroth was also named the 14th-best character of all time in Dengeki PlayStation ' s retrospective awards feature about the original PlayStation . Professional wrestler Kenny Omega wore
10780-531: The camera to some degree. As such, these are often grouped with other "isometric RPGs". The popularity of the Diablo series spawned such franchises like Divinity , Torchlight , Dungeon Siege and Sacred . Commonly, these games used a fixed-camera isometric view of the game world, a necessity of the limitations of 2D graphics of early computers; The Diablo series spawned many terms like being referred to as "dungeon crawler" "slasher RPG" "hack and slasher",
10934-647: The cause for this characterization. It was also noted that Sephiroth may come across as lost in his own insanity, he is also intelligent and cunning. In the book The World of Final Fantasy VII: Essays on the Game and Its Legacy , it is stated that Sephiroth's realization of his connection with Jenova and his descent into villainy caused him to lose his humanity makes him comparable to Satan. Like Satan, Sephiroth claims he will never die, most notably in Advent Children , as upon being defeated by Cloud, he tells him "I will never be
11088-477: The cells of the extraterrestrial life-form JENOVA ; Cait Sith (Paul Tinto / Hideo Ishikawa ), a robotic cat remotely controlled by Shinra's Head of Urban Development Reeve Tuesti (Jon Root/ Banjō Ginga ); Vincent Valentine ( Matthew Mercer / Shōgo Suzuki ), a former member of the Turks who Professor Hojo ( James Sie / Shigeru Chiba ) experimented on; and Cid Highwind ( J. Michael Tatum / Kazuhiro Yamaji ),
11242-451: The characters, setting the standard for first-person computer RPGs for several years. It inspired many other developers to make real-time dungeon crawlers, such as Eye of the Beholder and Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos . Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss , released in 1992, has been cited as the first RPG to feature first-person action in a 3D environment. Ultima Underworld
11396-520: The comments noted the difficulty of the final fight against him, as well as its distinctive elements when compared to other games. His boss battle appeared in 1UP ' s "25 More of the Most Badass Boss Fights Ever" in which the staff praised how the original battle from Final Fantasy VII was expanded in the title. AnimeFringe called him "the most notorious villain in the entire Final Fantasy series" and "quintessential bishōnen in
11550-451: The early stages of development, but the official decision as to how to bring him back was not reached until later. Nomura originally planned to have him appear from the start, but as it took the staff two years to develop his design, the idea of his presence throughout the film was scrapped, and it was decided instead to have him only appear onscreen for a short time. Sephiroth was designed for the film to emphasize his other-worldliness, such as
11704-528: The eco-terrorist organization AVALANCHE . The Nibelheim incident is also featured in the game. The OVA Last Order also depicts the Nibelheim incident. Sephiroth also appears in Advent Children , a CGI film set two years after Final Fantasy VII . In the film, Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo, his "Remnants", try to reincarnate him. Although Kadaj eventually succeeds, Cloud once again defeats Sephiroth, whose body changes back to Kadaj's upon his defeat. Sephiroth
11858-429: The end of the development cycle, many team members were done with their work and helped to test the game as much as possible. Greenberg spent nearly 24 hours playtesting battle during development. Since his transformation into Safer Sephiroth in the game's final battle, Sephiroth has had a single black wing on his back, referencing his theme song "One Winged Angel". Nomura has called Sephiroth "the ultimate antagonist in
12012-499: The exhausted duo fight once again. Cloud eventually wins the fight and kills Sephiroth with his sword. With Sephiroth dead, Aerith's prior magic manages to deflect the meteor towards only Midgar, shielding the rest of the world from its impact. Many years later, Midgar is shown to be healing, possibly being able to be saved in the years to come. Sephiroth makes several cameo appearances in the Final Fantasy VII prequel, Before Crisis , in which he supports Shinra in their battle against
12166-482: The eyes of many fans -- male and female", comparing him with Kefka and praising his complexity. According to Inside Games, Sephiroth stands out from previous Final Fantasy games because his humanity and heroic nature is early explored which draws parallels to famous figures like Sasaki Kojiro or the lead character from Vampire Hunter D . The scene in which Sephiroth kills Aerith has also prompted much commentary. GamesRadar+ called him "the biggest cock blocker in
12320-416: The fact that he is never seen blinking or breathing, and his voice is always monotone and calm. In the film, the staff stated that his strength had considerably increased, to the point that he had "ascended to a new level of existence". Despite initially encountering problems as to who would voice him, Nomura said that once Toshiyuki Morikawa auditioned for the role, they knew they had their actor. Morikawa
12474-408: The fight was more difficult than the entirety of Final Fantasy VII . AnimeFringe stated that only advanced gamers would be able to defeat Kingdom Hearts ' s Sephiroth, as the player has no backup and his "devastating attacks can kill in seconds". After the addition of Sephiroth to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Masahiro Sakurai acknowledged the belief that there are too many sword fighters in
12628-445: The fight were kept as ambiguous. While Remake and Rebirth focus on the adult Sephiroth, the mobile phone Ever Crisis and First SOLDIER instead focus on Sephiroth's childhood where he was given a more sensitive characterization as he interacts with other characters related to SOLDIER. Nomura reworked the design to fit properly, focusing more on his shorter hair. Yuichiro Umehara was shocked upon being cast for Sephiroth's role in
12782-429: The figure was one of their best-selling items. With the release of the film, Sephiroth was also included in a series of promotional material, primarily consisting of posters. Kotobukiya has included the character in numerous merchandise, including a series of cold casts based on his appearance in both the original game and the film sequel. As part of promotional campaigns organized in Japan by Square Enix and Coca-Cola ,
12936-530: The first to use voice dubbing . The game received the Game of the Year award from OMNI Magazine in 1990, as well as other prizes. Another 1989 release, Activision 's Prophecy: The Fall of Trinadon , attempted to introduce "Nintendo-style" action combat to North American computer role-playing games. Action RPGs were far more common on consoles than computers, due to gamepads being better suited to real-time action than
13090-448: The game is played from a third-person perspective. Players can customize their player character , which learns to cast spells, brew potions, and master combat abilities, eventually developing their own special combat style. In late 1987, FTL Games released Dungeon Master , a dungeon crawler that had a real-time game world and some real-time combat elements (akin to Active Time Battle ), requiring players to quickly issue orders to
13244-661: The game was based on their fights from Final Fantasy VII and Advent Children . Along with the rest of the VII characters in Dissidia , Sephiroth appears in the prequel Dissidia 012 . The game includes a slightly altered Final Fantasy VII form for Sephiroth, as well as his Kingdom Hearts form. Sephiroth returns as a playable character opposite Cloud in the third entry, Dissidia NT . His form from Final Fantasy VII Remake also appeared in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius . He
13398-457: The game was designed with newcomers in mind. Nomura later stated in July 2020 that the intent was to produce a higher quality game than its predecessor, while also ensuring it was released "as quickly as possible". In regards to the technical improvements made in Remake 's enhanced 2021 port, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade , Nomura noted that while environmental effects such as fog were added to
13552-409: The game's mouse-based combat were mixed. In 1997 Blizzard's Diablo was released and became massively successful. It was an action RPG that used a mouse oriented point-and-click interface and offered gamers a free online service to play with others that maintained the same rules and gameplay. Diablo ' s effect on the market was significant, inspiring many imitators. Its impact was such that
13706-512: The game's release date of February 29, 2024. A new trailer was revealed at The Game Awards 2023 , which showcased the song "No Promises to Keep" by Loren Allred , as well as new gameplay footage, including Vincent Valentine and Cid Highwind . Also revealed at The Game Awards was a collaboration with Apex Legends . Rebirth was released for the PlayStation 5 on February 29, 2024, as a timed console exclusive for at least 3 months. Alongside
13860-419: The game, Sephiroth represents Cloud's dark side, in contrast to Tifa Lockhart , who represents his light side. Although Sephiroth does not appear in the prequel Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep , he is mentioned as a hero that Zack Fair aspires to be. The staff, however, did not know if they would portray him as a being of darkness like he was depicted as in other titles. Due to Sephiroth's many appearances as
14014-399: The game, pressured due to how Morikawa already established Sephiroth's popularity in previous installments. He was influenced by Morikawa's presence when recording for the game to the point he feared Sephiroth did not sound as young as requested by the demands. As a result, he often talked with the director and the rest of the staff about how he should sound. In Final Fantasy VII , Sephiroth
14168-437: The game. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is an action-RPG that builds on the success of Final Fantasy VII Remake . Critics have praised the game's expansive open world, enhanced combat mechanics, and nostalgic recreation of key moments from the original. The story continues to engage players emotionally, though some critics found pacing issues and a tendency to include unnecessary content. The game's sheer size impressed many, though
14322-577: The gaming market and its influence on the MMORPG genre later popularized the strongly used mouse-oriented point and click combat. While in the Diablo series this type of combat does not have a lock-on key, World of Warcraft and most MMO games uses some kind of key to target an enemy, usually TAB, to lock into it, usually referred to as "tab-target". In tab-target combat the player's character automatic do attack animations with some kind of regular attack, while
14476-559: The gaming world", as writer Shane Patterson found Aerith's character to be appealing, and due to the fact Sephiroth killed her, players were no longer able to use her. Also referring to the scene as a shocking moment, GameSpot suggested that the FMV sequence of Sephiroth appearing in front of the Nibelheim fire "might be one of the most recognizable cutscenes ever to grace video games". However, some game editors have criticized Sephiroth's character. IGN ' s Smith has stated that "Sephiroth
14630-503: The injury, allowing Sephiroth to merge with it and its Spirit Energy. Despite appearing multiple times throughout the game, it is revealed that Sephiroth's physical body is actually sealed in the Northern Crater. The Sephiroth Cloud and his allies fought were parts of Jenova's body taking on his appearance and remotely controlled by Sephiroth from the Planet's core. In the game's final battle, Sephiroth takes on two final forms. The first
14784-513: The keyboard and mouse. Though there were attempts at creating action-oriented computer RPGs during the late 1980s and early 1990s, very few saw any success. Times of Lore was one of the more successful attempts in the American computer market, where there was a generally negative attitude towards combining genres in this way and more of an emphasis on preserving the purity of the RPG genre. For example,
14938-448: The largest worlds at the time, with over 17,000 computer screens without loading times. In 1988, Telenet Japan 's Exile series debuted, and was controversial due to its plot, which revolves around a time-traveling Crusades-era Syrian assassin who assassinates various religious/historical figures as well as 20th-century political leaders, The gameplay of Exile included both overhead exploration and side-scrolling combat, and featured
15092-403: The legendary animosity between Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojirō , with Cloud and Sephiroth being Musashi and Kojirō respectively. Sephiroth's look was defined as " kakkoii ", a Japanese term combining good looks with coolness. Yoshitaka Amano , who had handled character illustrations for previous Final Fantasy titles, noted a contrast between Cloud, a "young, passionate boy", and Sephiroth,
15246-509: The main reasons for the game's popularity. His name was derived from the Kabbalah , in which the ten sephirot on the Tree of life represent the ten attributes through which God reveals himself. His character and role as main antagonist existed from the earliest stages of development, as originally, Nomura thought that the game's plot would deal exclusively with Cloud Strife pursuing him. His weapon,
15400-455: The megacorporation Shinra and the coworker of Zack Fair and superior of Cloud Strife , he possesses superhuman physiology as a result of an experiment in which Shinra injected him with cells from the extraterrestrial lifeform Jenova when he was still a fetus. Upon discovering this, Sephiroth becomes consumed by rage and decides to take control of the Planet by harnessing its life force and annihilating all life on it in order to become
15554-437: The more structured, linear progression throughout Midgar in Remake . A gameplay trailer was presented on June 9 during that year's Summer Game Fest live show hosted by Geoff Keighley , unveiling the game's exploration and combat mechanics, teasing various story elements, as well as detailing characters set to appear in the game. Another trailer premiered during PlayStation's State of Play presentation held in September revealing
15708-405: The next game, as he felt they made for a "different feel in battle strategy". Rebirth was revealed alongside Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion , a remaster of Crisis Core for modern platforms using Unreal Engine 4 which implements quality-of-life improvements to gameplay and presentation to bring the game in line with Remake . This includes Remake 's English voice cast, who replace
15862-450: The original actors from other media in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII . Reunion was part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake project and served as a prequel to the main trilogy, with the remaster designed to familiarize players with the story of Zack Fair ahead of his appearance in Rebirth , where he would play a more significant role. Lead battle programmer Satoru Koyama spoke on the potential of incorporating improved party A.I. in
16016-407: The original game while expanding upon character development and the overall narrative structure. The game features real-time exploration and combat, with a more open-ended overworld compared to the linear progression of Remake 's Midgar . Objective markers appear in the heads-up display, highlighting main story quests and sidequests to complete along with their respective distances from the party in
16170-554: The overworld. In addition to walking on foot, the party can ride on Chocobos as a faster means of traversal. Rebirth expands on the hybrid of action-focused melee combat and the Active-Time Battle (ATB) system introduced in Remake , in which the player takes control of a party of characters that can be freely switched between during gameplay. During combat, characters use both physical attacks and magic, and can consume items for offensive, defensive and resuscitative purposes from
16324-459: The party discovers that Sephiroth's ultimate plan is to use the Black Materia to summon Meteor to destroy the Planet. The party races Shinra to a mystical fortress (known to Shinra as the "Temple of the Ancients") and obtains the Black Materia, only for Sephiroth to mind-control Cloud into handing it over. He tells Cloud and Aerith that countless alternate worlds were created following the destruction of
16478-592: The party discovers that the Planet has manifested its guardians, the Weapons, to protect itself, and that with the absence of the Arbiter of Fate, a schism has formed between the Whispers, with one side aiding Sephiroth and the other trying to protect the Planet. Rufus is inaugurated as Shinra's new president and continues the company's search for the Promised Land in a bid to surpass his father, as diplomatic relations between Shinra and Wutai worsen, threatening war. Eventually,
16632-615: The party prepares to pursue Sephiroth further north, Cloud fuses the Black Materia into the Buster Sword and parts ways with the alternate Aerith, who says she will stay behind to find a way to stop the Meteor. During the promotion of Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020), Square Enix confirmed that it would not cover the original 's complete story, but rather act as a standalone first game in "a multi-part series, with each entry providing its own unique experience". Game director Tetsuya Nomura cited
16786-741: The player can focus on activating other skills and items by pressing other keys. Usually this type of combat is not heavily based on aiming or hit boxes thus the player can hit enemies from different distances and even from a far. Some tab-target MMOs have other targeting options such as an "Action mode". Shooter-based action RPGs include Strife (1996), System Shock 2 (1999), the Deus Ex series (2000 onwards) by Ion Storm , Bungie 's Destiny (2014), Irem 's Steambot Chronicles (2005), Square Enix's third-person shooter RPG Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (2006), which introduced an over-the-shoulder perspective similar to Resident Evil 4 , and
16940-493: The player must defeat him in a Final Fantasy -themed stamina match. Sephiroth has served as the basis for several types of merchandise, such as the "Extra Knights" action figures first published by Bandai in Japan in 1997. A different model was released as part of the Play Arts collection, following the release of Advent Children . At the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con , Kanji Tashiro, Square Enix's manager of merchandise, said that
17094-426: The player's stats, or as a currency to purchase items, and penalizing player deaths without imposing an outright failure state. It also incorporated online features allowing players to leave messages in the overworld that can be read by other players, to temporarily join other players' sessions to assist them cooperatively, or "invade" another player's session to engage in player versus player combat. Especially after
17248-496: The plot, world, and cast of the original Final Fantasy VII (1997). The game takes place on "The Planet" and centers on the journey of the main characters as they seek to end the tyranny of the Shinra Electric Power Company , which controls the megalopolis of Midgar by weaponizing the Lifestream, and defeat Sephiroth ( Tyler Hoechlin / Toshiyuki Morikawa ), a legendary veteran of Shinra's elite SOLDIER unit who
17402-435: The popularity of the fight between Cloud and Sephiroth caused Japanese gamers to do a remake of it for Dissidia Final Fantasy and expected that Western fans would also emulate it. In relation to Crisis Core , IGN AU said that "even Sephiroth gets his moments in the sun", praising the depth in his backstory, which would later make his boss battle more entertaining. IGN UK had a similar sentiment, stating that his character
17556-533: The port in order to, "further enhance the sense of realism and immersion in the world", he advised fans to wait for future entries that would take proper advantage of the PS5's hardware and features in both gameplay and graphics. Game director Naoki Hamaguchi separately expressed a desire to leverage the new gameplay and battle mechanics introduced in the downloadable content (DLC) episode INTERmission , such as team-up attacks performed by Yuffie Kisaragi and Sonon Kusakabe, in
17710-585: The reactor where Jenova's body was stored but has no memory of what happened afterward. Later, Tifa confides in Aerith that while the events five years ago did occur, she has no recollection of Cloud being present for them. The next day, Shinra forces raid Kalm in search of the party, forcing them to flee. They decide to follow the trail of the mysterious "black robes," former Shinra test subjects who Cloud believes are congregating towards Sephiroth's location. The party follows their trail through various locations, including
17864-514: The release of its spiritual successor Dark Souls (2011) and its sequels, other action RPGs emerged in the 2010s that incorporated mechanics influenced by those of Demon's Souls , which have been popularly referred to as " Soulslike " games. In 2013, Vanillaware released the fantasy beat 'em up ARPG Dragon's Crown , a spiritual successor to Princess Crown and a "deeply moving product" of Vanillaware director George Kamitani. Kamitani cites many classic RPGs as his inspiration, stating in
18018-410: The remake's "multi-part" structure to Final Fantasy XIII (2009) being followed by Final Fantasy XIII-2 (2011) and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (2013). He stated that Remake 's structure would differ from that of XIII 's due to its nature as a remake of a pre-existing narrative centered on a central protagonist, Cloud Strife , as opposed to the multiple perspectives focused on across
18172-414: The roster, stating that "Well, even if it is another sword fighter, it will be fine as long as we balance them properly". Chris Carter of Destructoid and Ethan Gach of Kotaku both praised the addition of Sephiroth. In Reverse Design: Final Fantasy VII , it was noted that Sephiroth's desire for world domination makes him come across as simpleminded, but the lack of humanity in his background serves as
18326-558: The same year. Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com argues that Japanese developers created a new brand of action role-playing game; these new Japanese games combined the role-playing genre with arcade-style action and action-adventure elements. Shaun Musgrave of TouchArcade also traces the genre's roots to Japan, noting that the "Western game industry of the time had a tendency to treat action games and RPGs as separate things for separate demographics". Jeremy Parish argues that action RPGs were popularized in Japan by The Tower of Druaga . It
18480-459: The second or third players could drop in and out of the game at any time, rather than players having to join the game at the same time. The game has remained influential through to the present day, with its ring menu system still used in modern games and its cooperative multiplayer mentioned as an influence on games such as Dungeon Siege III (2011). Most other such games, however, used a side-scrolling perspective typical of beat 'em ups, such as
18634-527: The sequel Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories , as director Tetsuya Nomura could not give him a storyline related to Cloud, and feared negative fan response if Sephiroth did not have a notable role in the story. He reappears as an optional boss in Kingdom Hearts II , where he is first encountered by the series' protagonist, Sora , and then Cloud, who is pursuing him. When Sephiroth battles Cloud, both of them disappear, with Sora believing that they went somewhere else to continue their fight. Nomura said that in
18788-411: The series was also heavily criticized by players and media for not being a proper RPG due to it being focused more on fighting enemies and creating character builds than following a proper narrative and dialogue-heavy journey. After its success many other games tried to mix its influences with different structures and narratives, there are multiple games like Divine Divinity that were an attempt to have
18942-459: The standard edition, a physical Deluxe Edition was available to purchase from participating retailers, while a Collector's Edition was distributed in limited quantities exclusively through the Square Enix Store. Both editions bundle the game with a special steelbook case for the game discs, a mini-soundtrack CD and an artbook. The Collector's Edition includes the aforementioned content alongside
19096-499: The studio instead created a spiritual successor : Arx Fatalis . Toby Gard stated that, when designing Tomb Raider , he "was a big fan of ... Ultima Underworld and I wanted to mix that type of game with the sort of polygon characters that were just being showcased in Virtua Fighter ". Ultima Underworld was also the basis for Looking Glass Technologies' later System Shock . The 1988 Origin Systems title Times of Lore
19250-405: The team to realize Shinra's downfall after losing her partner Sonon Kusakabe in a failed attempt to extract the "Ultimate Materia" from their headquarters. Supporting characters play roles throughout the story, including Zack Fair (Caleb Pierce / Kenichi Suzumura ), Aerith's former boyfriend and the previous wielder of the Buster Sword, who escaped with Cloud after Shinra experimented on them using
19404-620: The template for many future action RPGs, even though it does not strictly fit the definition of later action RPGs. In contrast to previous action RPGs, such as Dragon Slayer and Hydlide, which required the player to bump into enemies in order to attack them, The Legend of Zelda featured an attack button that animates a sword swing or projectile attack on the screen. It was also an early example of open-world, nonlinear gameplay , and introduced new features such as battery backup saving. These elements have been used in many action RPGs since. In 1987, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link implemented
19558-427: The temples to refuse to level him up. Xanadu Scenario II , released in 1986, was an expansion pack , created to expand the content of Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu . Hydlide II: Shine of Darkness (1985) also featured a morality system. Eurogamer cites Fairlight (1985) as an early action RPG. An important influence on the action RPG genre was the 1986 action-adventure The Legend of Zelda , which served as
19712-468: The term "action RPG" has come to be more commonly used for Diablo -style games, with The Legend of Zelda itself slowly recategorized as an action-adventure. Very commonly, these games used a fixed-camera isometric view of the game world, a necessity of the limitations of 2D graphics of early computers; even with 3D graphic engines, such point-and-click games are still presented from a similar isometric view, though providing options to rotate, pan, and zoom
19866-713: The things that I wanted to do and all the games that I ended up working on came out of the inspiration I took from [ Ultima Underworld ]". Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski also cited it as an early influence, stating that it had "far more impact on me than Doom ". Other games influenced by Ultima Underworld include The Elder Scrolls: Arena , Deus Ex , Deus Ex: Invisible War , Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines , and Half-Life 2 . FromSoftware 's Demon's Souls (2009) emphasized unforgiving enemies and environments, combined with risk-and-reward mechanics such as limited checkpoints, collecting "souls" that can be consumed as experience points to increase
20020-547: The third game in the Parasite Eve series, features a unique blend of action RPG, real-time tactical RPG, survival horror and third-person tactical shooter elements. Shooter-based RPGs include Imageepoch 's post-apocalyptic Black Rock Shooter (2011) , which employs both first-person and third-person shooter elements, and Square Enix's Final Fantasy XV (2016) , which features both hack and slash and third-person shooter elements. The online live service version gained
20174-469: The title. Siliconera described this incarnation of Sephiroth as haunting, due to how he often appears within Cloud's hallucinations across the plot. Electronic Gaming Monthly felt the remake's depiction of Sephiroth was more menacing than in the original due to his constant threats towards Cloud. Tyler Hoechlin 's work as Sephiroth was the subject of praise. Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis 's depiction of
20328-494: The war, Sephiroth was sent on a mission to the village of Nibelheim, where he discovered that he was the product of a biological experiment that combined a human fetus with tissue from the extraterrestrial lifeform Jenova. Upon discovering the truth of his origins and the experiments that created him, Sephiroth developed an intense hatred for Shinra, which developed into hatred for all life. After learning that Jenova, who he comes to consider his "mother", attempted to take control of
20482-409: The world should be and how it should change. The conflict between them is clearer in the Remake , the idea of multiple possibilities and worlds that could happen, which will become clear in later installment. Looking at the villain, he was a heroic SOLDIER operative just like Cloud was, more experienced, and Sephiroth was an idol to the people. A character like that turning evil was the kind of appeal he
20636-433: The world throughout his chaos will reach the Promised Land, which is the opposite of what Cloud's group wants. Sephiroth was designed by Final Fantasy VII ' s character designer Tetsuya Nomura. Nomura has stated that Sephiroth was made to be a contrast to the game's main protagonist, Cloud, who was originally designed to have slicked-back, black hair. Kitase believes Sephiroth's role in Final Fantasy VII to be one of
20790-427: Was also intended to manipulate Cloud into believing that he was a creation of his will, but this aspect of the story was later abandoned. In another cut scene, when Sephiroth's physical body is first seen in the Northern Crater, it was to be female. Jason Greenberg, the only artist working on the original PC port, recalled a crash bug that happened during Sephiroth's Super Nova ( スーパーノヴァ , Sūpānova ) technique. Near
20944-609: Was also made. Sephiroth received an amiibo figurine for use in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate , which was released in January 2022. The OLED update to the Steam Deck , which was announced in 2023, replaces the system's accelerated processing unit (APU), built using 7 nm processing and nicknamed Aerith, with a newer 6 nm-based APU named Sephiroth. On multiple occasions, numerous gaming magazines, including Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition , described Sephiroth as one of
21098-478: Was also one of the earliest action RPGs. Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu , released in 1985 (billed as a "new type of real-time role-playing game"), was an action role-playing game including many character stats and a large quest. It also incorporated a side-scrolling view during exploration and an overhead view during battle, and an early "Karma" morality system where the character's Karma meter will rise if he commits sin (killing "good" enemies), which in turn causes
21252-508: Was also released that year. It was a party-based action RPG, with the player controlling a party of four characters at the same time in a side-scrolling view. The game also featured character creation, highly customizable characters, class-based puzzles, and a new scenario system, allowing players to choose from 15 scenarios, or quests , to play through in the order of their choice. It was also an episodic video game , with expansion disks later released offering more scenarios. Falcom also released
21406-567: Was also the subject of analysis as a Final Fantasy villain who lost his humanity upon learning of his alien heritage, and how he attempts to corrupt Cloud by exploiting his mental weaknesses. Sephiroth was a collaborative effort between Yoshinori Kitase , Tetsuya Nomura , and scenario writer Kazushige Nojima . Going into the third he designed, Kitase says back when he was designing Sephiroth you had villains like Darth Vader and Thanos who were absolute evil powers. All of these different characters have these different ideals about where they think
21560-433: Was an action RPG with an icon-based point-and-click interface. Bad Blood , another Origin Systems game from 1990, would use the same interface. The designers were inspired by console titles, particularly The Legend of Zelda , to make their interface more accessible. The 1994 title Ultima VIII used mouse controls and attempted to add precision jumping sequences reminiscent of a Mario platform game, though reactions to
21714-603: Was an action RPG. Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton claimed that the Intellivision games Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1982) and Treasure of Tarmin (1983) were action RPGs. Shaun Musgrave of TouchArcade notes that Adventure lacked RPG mechanics such as experience points and permanent character growth, and argues that Gateway to Apshai is "the earliest game I'd feel comfortable calling an action-RPG" but notes that "it doesn't fit neatly into our modern genre classifications", though came closer than Bokosuka Wars released
21868-476: Was an ongoing rivalry developing between the Dragon Slayer and Hydlide series over the years. The Tower of Druaga , Dragon Slayer and Hydlide were influential in Japan, where they influenced later action RPGs such as Ys , as well as The Legend of Zelda . Falcom's Dragon Slayer , created by Yoshio Kiya, is "the very first action-RPG ever made" according to GameSetWatch. Originally released for
22022-425: Was announced in June 2022. All of the previous game's lead staff return in the same positions, but with Tetsuya Nomura as creative director instead of director, and Naoki Hamaguchi as director instead of co-director. Rebirth was released for the PlayStation 5 on February 29, 2024. Upon release, the game was critically acclaimed. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the second in a planned trilogy of games remaking
22176-514: Was certainly a good-looking fellow, but his motivations were about as clear as mud". When comparing Sephiroth with the Final Fantasy VI villain, Kefka Palazzo , GamesRadar commented that he "seems as interesting as a dead accountant painted brown", while Screen Rant said that "Sephiroth is an iconic character, but not the most interesting villain to emerge from the Final Fantasy franchise". GameSpy editor Ryan Scott called Sephiroth
22330-428: Was changed to Aerith's past love, whom she would remember upon meeting Cloud. This character was then changed to Zack Fair , and Sephiroth's prior relationship with Aerith was dropped. In early drafts of the game, Sephiroth's personality was brutal and cruel, with a strong-willed and calm ego. He was to suffer from Mako addiction, resulting in a semi-conscious state as a result of high exposure to Mako energy. Sephiroth
22484-404: Was going for. Kitase believes the inspirations for Sephiroth came from a lot of different places. Kitase further said Sephiroth is not a copy of one character, but taking different aspects and merging them together resulted in the character shown in the game. In regards to his characterization, the character does not see himself as an evil being but instead a chosen man to accomplish a goal; changing
22638-462: Was granted "a more human dimension" and enjoying the events from before his descent into villainy. Though Meristation found Sephiroth to be more friendly in the prequel, his relationship with Genesis was criticized for influencing his decisions rather than him acting of his own will. The idea that there are four characters with Sephiroth's name led VG247 to note the remake still had its own mysteries that original players would not understand while
22792-439: Was instructed by the staff to speak all of Sephiroth's dialogue as if he felt superior to every other character in the film. The voice director and Morikawa agreed to make Sephiroth's voice sound calm to the point that he believes he cannot lose to Cloud, suggesting to Morikawa that he may reappear at some point in the future. In the prequel Crisis Core , Morikawa portrayed Sephiroth in a charismatic fashion, as early on Sephiroth
22946-462: Was presumed dead and seeks to summon Meteor to wound the Planet, enabling him to attain godhood by uniting with the Lifestream. Rebirth spans the events from leaving Midgar to the Forgotten Capital; however, the order in which locations are explored is changed from the original game. For example, the visit to Wutai will be saved for the third installment. The protagonist and leader of the party
23100-562: Was re-released with a PS4 "Pro" edition in 2018. Assassin's Creed , a long-running Ubisoft franchise, also shifted towards the action RPG formula, inspired by the successes of The Witcher 3 and the Dark Souls series, with its titles Origins (2017), Odyssey (2018) and Valhalla (2020). Avalanche Software released Hogwarts Legacy in 2023. Set in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and its surrounding areas,
23254-403: Was released for arcades in June 1984, and was intended as a "fantasy version of Pac-Man , with puzzles to solve, monsters to battle, and hidden treasure to find". Its success in Japan inspired the development of Dragon Slayer (1984) and Hydlide (1984). Dragon Slayer , Hydlide and Courageous Perseus (1984) "vie for position as genre precedent" according to John Szczepaniak, and there
23408-562: Was used in many later games. T&E Soft 's Hydlide , released in December 1984, was created by Tokihiro Naito, who was influenced by The Tower of Druaga . It was the first action RPG with an overworld . The game was immensely popular in Japan, selling 2 million copies across all platforms. According to John Szczepaniak, it "cannot be overstated how influential Hydlide was on the ARPGs which followed it". The same year, Courageous Perseus
23562-417: Was voiced by Tyler Hoechlin , a role he reprises in the remastered Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion (2022), replacing Newbern's English performance in the original release. Sephiroth has been well-received within the video game community and is highly ranked on many lists of the best video game villains and Final Fantasy characters based on his role in the narrative and his high challenge level. He
23716-464: Was what Uematsu was thinking about when writing it. Two official covers have been done of the song. The first is an orchestration used in Kingdom Hearts , arranged by the series' composer Yoko Shimomura . The second is used in Advent Children , which plays throughout the battle between Cloud and Sephiroth and features the progressive metal stylings of Nobuo Uematsu's former band The Black Mages , as well as orchestral elements and new lyrics. There
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