Final Fantasy VII Rebirth may have some notable returns from a spinoff you’ve never played. Read on to learn more about the forgotten spinoff and its connections to the upcoming sequel.
FF7 Rebirth May Have More Than Just Sephiroth
With the release of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, I can’t help but think about the inclusion of certain characters in the previous game’s DLC and how they may affect the upcoming game’s story. Let’s take a look at the inclusion of Weiss the Immaculate, Nero the Sable, and Deepground from the forgotten spinoff, Dirge of Cerberus Final Fantasy VII, in the Episode INTERmission DLC and how it could alter the game’s story moving forward.
SEVERAL STORY SPOILERS FOR SEVERAL GAMES IN THE FINAL FANTASY VII SERIES
Return of Deepground - Episode INTERmission
In the Final Fantasy VII Remake Episode INTERmission DLC, where you play as Materia Hunter Yuffie Kisaragi the return of Deepground was introduced. This was a secret military organization under Shinra and acted as the main antagonistic force for Dirge of Cerberus. Deepground is headed by the Tsviets, an elite group of humans within Deepground who were spliced with Genesis Rhapsodos’ genes.
For a brief recap, Genesis Rhapsodos is the main antagonist of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, the prequel to the first game of both the Original and Remake continuity. This is supported by the fact that in the epilogue of Crisis Core, Genesis’ body was taken by both Weiss and Nero who were still wearing their SOLDIER uniforms adorned with the Deepground crest.
Both Weiss and Nero made an appearance during Yuffie’s mission to infiltrate and steal a legendary materia in the possession of Shinra. The latter even being the climactic final boss of the DLC. Their appearances remain largely the same from their first appearance in Dirge of Cerberus, with Weiss having Super Saiyan-like spiky white hair and Nero locked in a straightjacket to contain his powers.
It’s interesting to note that Deepground was never mentioned nor seen in any past iterations of the games and was only introduced in Dirge of Cerberus.
How Does This All Link To The Remake Continuity?
Before we move forward, it’s important to note the full chronology of the original FF7 continuity. So the chronology is as follows: it starts with Crisis Core being the prequel to everything, the original Final Fantasy 7 game on the PlayStation back in 1997, followed by the CGI film sequel, Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children set two years after the events of the original game, and finally the third person shooter focused on Vincent Valentine’s story, Dirge of Cerberus, which happens a year after the film.
With Episode INTERmission being an obvious setup for the inclusion of Deepground, how could they link Deepground to the Remake continuity? Simple. Genesis’ fate is still a big question mark after all these years, as he was never confirmed to be dead but simply missing. The secret ending of Dirge of Cerberus, reveals that Genesis awakens after Vincent defeats Weiss at the end of the game. Take note, that Crisis Core did NOT exist at the time yet, which means that Genesis was still an unknown character at the time of Dirge of Cerberus’ release.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth seems to allude to multiple timelines converging and overlapping one another, and we could simply put Deepground in for the heck of it. This could all happen because Yuffie already made contact with one of the Tsviets, Nero, way before Dirge of Cerberus happens, as she also meets Nero in the spinoff in the penultimate chapter of the story. She’ll most definitely want revenge for what happened in the DLC, and I don’t think the devs are going to let it pass either.
Dirge of Cerberus Remake In The Works?
With the existence of Deepground in the Remake continuity, does this also confirm a remake for Dirge of Cerberus? It’s clear that Vincent’s story gets fully fleshed out in this specific spinoff and wasn’t explored in the events of the original game. Vincent is clearly a popular character in the FF7 community due to his mysterious background, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he does get a remake for this forgotten spinoff, as at the time, it wasn’t a great game with its clunky shooter mechanics.
Only time will tell if Vincent will get his own spinoff again, but one thing’s for certain – they’re looking to tie all the loose ends together in the Remake continuity, and I’m all for it.
