Few antagonistic groups in Final Fantasy are as iconic as Final Fantasy VII’s Turks. Punch clock villains through and through, the Turks accomplish some of the most sinister deeds in the game, but always with a professional sheen and never with any personal feelings behind their acts. This doesn’t absolve them from the truly heinous things they do, but there’s a reason the Turks are so well regarded by fans.
Taking note of how popular the Turks were, Square actually developed a Final Fantasy VII prequel focusing on them– Before Crisis. Setting up the events of the main game while fleshing out FFVII’s lore considerably, Before Crisis was the first domino in the chain reaction that would inevitably lead to Final Fantasy VII Remake.
10 The Start Of The Compilation Of Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII Remake being episodic isn't actually new for the metaseries. In fact, the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII formally opens with an episodic game– Before Crisis. A prequel set during the six years leading into the events of Final Fantasy VII, Before Crisis was a cellphone where players could pick one of many Turks and then help set up the events of the main game proper.
Over Before Crisis' 28 episodes, the Turks intersect with the main party members, get a glimpse of lore the player wasn't privy to in the original FFVII, and help set up the rest of the Compilation– fleshing out just about every imaginable detail in Final Fantasy VII for better or worse.
9 Interest Was Shown In A 3DS Remake
Along with being the first official entry in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, it's also the only one that never released outside of Japan– a pity as it was widely considered to be one of the greatest cellphone games ever made, if not something of a gold standard. Naturally, fans have been clamoring for a remake for years, but it's seems the closest that idea came to fruition was in 2010
Hajime Tabata, Before Crisis and Crisis Core's director, expressed direct interest in remaking the game for the 3DS. As that was a full decade ago and nothing has come out of Before Crisis since, this obviously never came into fruition and it's unlikely Before Crisis will see a rerelease or a modern remake at this point.
8 The Game Has Been Unplayable Since 2018
Perhaps the greatest tragedy of Before Crisis isn't the fact it was never localized, it's the fact it's straight up unplayable now. The servers which allowed players to swap between the 28 episodes unfortunately went down in 2018, permanently locking anyone out of the game. It was only a matter of time, really, but it shines a spotlight on the dangers of abandonware.
Before Crisis was not only considered an extremely good cellphone game upon release, it's also very important to understanding the greater workings of Final Fantasy VII's world, especially in regards to AVALANCHE, the Turks, and Shinra as organizations. That's unfortunately all lost now.
7 Elfe, The Leader Of AVALANCHE
The original Final Fantasy VII makes it clear through ancillary dialogue that there was more to AVALANCHE than just Barret's faction (and eventually just Barret himself,) but the implication seems to be that AVALANCHE is really just him by the end of the game. Before Crisis fleshes out AVALANCHE considerably, actually centering them as the chief antagonists for quite a while.
Although not their founder, Elfe is AVALANCHE's leader at the time of Before Crisis. Elfe was essentially indoctrinated by Elfe, found as an amnesiac and raised into the role of leader. In truth, she's actually the daughter of the Tseng's predecessor, Veld.
6 Veld, The Leader Of The Turks
Veld, also known as Verdot in some translations of Compilation material, is Tseng's direct predecessor and the leader of the Turks at the start of Before Crisis. Unlike Tseng who has a friendlier demeanor with his fellow Turks (albeit a very professional one,) Veld's Turks are outright intimidated by him due to how little he tolerates failure within the Turks.
All the same, this fear of Veld ends up creating a fierce loyalty in his Turks which result in them defecting en masse at the end of Before Crisis, leaving Tseng with simply Reno and Rude. Discovering Elfe is his estranged daughter, Veld likewise resigns from the Turks, dedicating his life to her.
5 Rufus’ Coup
Rufus is a major antagonist in Final Fantasy VII, one who very much wants to kill the party, but his goals do align with humanity's best interests. The thing is, Final Fantasy VII makes the case that it's not alright for humanity to continuously put ourselves before the planet. All the same, it's a complex, layered scenario which makes it easy to read Rufus in a semi-heroic light.
Especially when one takes his Before Crisis backstory into consideration. Rufus was secretly bankrolling AVALANCHE the entire time as a means to discredit his father and steal the company out from underneath him. President Shinra discovers this, but he is essentially forced to peacefully & silently exile Rufus without punishment as the public knowledge of Shinra funding AVALANCHE would destroy their reputation.
4 Crisis Core's Cissnei Is A Before Crisis Character
Final Fantasy VII's PSP exclusive prequel, Crisis Core focuses on Zack Fair's life leading up to his death as depicted in Final Fantasy VII. Kind of. As emotional as Crisis Core is, it also makes a lot of major retcons to FFVII's story while fleshing Zack Fair out. Although Aerith mentioned in the original game that he was something of a ladies man, Cissnei's inclusion in Crisis Core almost posits that Zack had two loves of his life. (Something the game does reject, admittedly.)
Still, the sheer chemistry Cissnei and Zack share make her a very memorable inclusion in Crisis Core, all the more so because she was actually a playable character in Before Crisis– Shuriken (Female.) It should be pointed out that the Turks in BC all follow the same naming convention: Name (Gender.)
3 The Evacuation Of Midgar
Although the majority of Before Crisis is a prequel primarily setting up the events of Final Fantasy VII (while also chipping away at AVALANCHE and the Turks as organizations,) the last two episodes actually take place during Meteor's impact, explaining what the Turks were doing as Meteor was hitting Midgar.
As Reno, Rude, Elena, and Tseng try to evacuate Midgar as best they can, Veld and the playable Turks all band together one last time to help evacuate and protect the citizens of Midgar from Meteor. In a game all about the Turks, spanning years of history, ending on a note of solidarity is sound.
2 Jade WEAPON
The WEAPON bosses are some of the most iconic in the original Final Fantasy VII, ancient beasts beckoned to wreak havoc on the planet Earth as punishment. Between Diamond, Sapphire, Ultimate, Emerald, and Ruby WEAPON, Final Fantasy VII has a nice roster going for it. Which makes it all the more surprising that Before Crisis added another WEAPON.
Deemed far too dangerous to be alive, the Turks have a celestial target painted on their back as Jade WEAPON awakens to hunt them down. Interestingly, where in the world of Final Fantasy VII the fight against Jade WEAPON took place was actually based on the player's real world location.
1 The RPG Maker Remake
Unfortunately, anyone who wants to play Before Crisis is completely out of luck. As of 2020, there is no way to legally play Before Crisis whatsoever, even in Japan. That said, a Brazilian RPGMaker user by the name of richterw actually developed a full remake of Before Crisis in RPG Tsukuru 2003. While there are translation issues, along with only one playable character, it is a solid enough remake.
It's also the closest way of getting the Before Crisis experience right now. No, it isn't perfect nor does it capture exactly what made the game so interesting, but it's a great RPGMaker game that should be played by anyone even remotely curious about BC's story.
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