Square Enix has filed a number of new trademarks that certainly look like they have a lot to do with the world of Final Fantasy VII.
The trademarks are registered in Japan for the titles’Ever crisis‘and’The first soldier‘. In addition, a trademark was also filed for the logo in the universe of FF7’s Shinra Electric Power Company. The trademarks were taken by the folks at Gematsu.
These three trademarks filed in the wake of the success of Final Fantasy VII Remake – the winner of RPG Site’s overall best of 2020 award – may not be too surprising. The trademark for the Shinra logo is simpler; after all, that logo is often used on branding and merchandise. But the titles in particular raise provocative questions, such as what they could actually be for.
Ever crisis is a project name with clear connotations. The Final Fantasy VII compilation includes titles in alphabetical order. There is FF7 spin-off movie Advent Children, Turkish mobile game Before Crisis, PSP prequel Crisis Core and PS2 sequel Dirge of Cerberus. Those are AC, BC, CC and DC – and now, with Ever Crisis, we trademarked what appears to be a new compilation of Final Fantasy VII title in EC.
Ever Crisis could of course be the subtitle for the second part of the FF7 Remake. But frankly, we think this is far from a certainty – especially since the ‘EC’ title makes it look and sound more like another item in the compilation. We now know that the remake is related to the compilation and even considered the fifth part of the compilation, so it is possible. The choice of the word “ever” in the name is interesting and immediately reminds us of something that is always present or eternal; it would be an ideal name for a multiplayer or service game in the setting of the FF7 universe.
There is another, slightly crazy alternative. The later stages of FF7 Remake reveal its true nature as a story that is not only a remake, but also a sequel to FF7. Upon its release, director Tetsuya Nomura called it the fifth entry in the Final Fantasy VII compilation. We know the game will be released on other platforms besides the PlayStation 4 once a one-year exclusivity period expires. Could that release of the game be subtitled ‘Ever Crisis’, a nod to its true nature now that the secret is out there?
Given the timing in addition to these other clearly FF7 related trademark filings, The first soldier is not the generic-sounding name, it seems, referring of course to Shinra’s Elite, genetically enhanced superhuman military group within the world of FF7. Based on the general meaning of SOLDIER as described in FF7, the identity of the ‘first’ SOLDIER is quite clear: it is Sephiroth. He was the first to be injected with Project Jenova’s cells.
However, in the lore of FF7, the SOLDIER program is mentioned in some form before Sephiroth – for example, the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania mentions SOLDIER troops used in the Wutai War and on other occasions before the Jenova Project existed. However, these same books are also clear that Sephiroth is the first Jenova enhanced SOLDIER in existence. Could this be a game, anime or other story that tells the origin of Sephiroth? Of course, only time will tell – and before then we have an as yet unannounced but inevitable next generation and PC version of FF7 Remake to look forward to first – hopefully in a few months.
In the meantime, fans can now feverishly speculate about what these trademark names could mean.
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However, if we were to make a prediction, it would probably be a new, unique FF7 compilation title, possibly multiplayer, coming out somewhere around FF7 Remake 2, and some sort of anime or CG movie that tells Sephiroth’s original story … but these are, strictly speaking, ideas we throw away. And now you can too!
What do you want this duo to be? Let us know in the comments below and consider our musings here as a starting point …