was an action role-playing video game developed by Square Enix and originally released for the FOMA mobile service on September 24, 2004. It was later released for SoftBank Mobile and EZweb in 2007. Before Crisis is a prequel to the 1997 video game Final Fantasy VII and forms part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, a metaseries expanding on and continuing the story established in Final Fantasy VII. It takes place six years prior to the events of Final Fantasy VII and focuses on the adventures of the Turks, a group of covert operatives working for the Shinra Electric Power Company, and their fights against both rebel group AVALANCHE and their corrupt employers.

As the first major Final Fantasy game for mobile devices, Before Crisis was designed as a gameplay and multiplayer experience unique to the platform. It is the first major project directed by Hajime Tabata, who created the initial concept at the request of Tetsuya Nomura for a game that had the Turks as protagonists. The music was composed by Takeharu Ishimoto, originally a sound arranger at Square Enix. It was highly successful upon release, registering 200,000 users and being accessed over one million times. Western critics have generally praised the title, but due to issues involving the capacity of mobile devices in the west, it has not been released outside Japan. The game was eventually shut down in 2018.

Portions of the game's story were retold as a part of the mobile gacha game Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis.

Gameplay

Before Crisis is a real-time action role-playing game featuring 2D graphics as the player moves along in a side-scrolling manner. The player begins the game by selecting their character, which can be a man or a woman, along with their name. Gameplay is divided up between several modes of play. "Episode Mode" involves the player playing through the game's main storyline, completing various objectives in order to continue on in the game. "Free Mode" allows players to roam towns and speak with the population. Players can also play extra missions to gain experience points and items, some of which are exclusive to "Free Mode". Characters have hit points and magic points, and can level up upon acquisition of experience, at which point they can equip new weapons and armor. Players can choose to manually attack an enemy during combat or press the action key to automatically attack the nearest enemy.

The "Materia Generation System" allows players to acquire Materia, objects tied to the game's magic system, by taking a picture with their camera phone. The game synthesizes the picture down to its base color. Depending upon the dominant color, lighting, and other factors, the game produces a Materia of a certain type. For example, a dark green picture results in a Bio Materia, while a blue picture results in a Cure Materia. Once acquired, Materia can be leveled up as in Final Fantasy VII. Under certain circumstances, assistance in the form of summoned monsters, recurring figures in the Final Fantasy series, can be called in via the Materia system to deal damage to multiple enemies. Rank Points are awarded during the completion of objectives in all three modes of play. After a certain number of Rank Points have been acquired, special bonuses are unlocked, such as stronger armor and weapons, and extra Materia slots. The player is also given a rank, based upon how long they have been playing the game. The higher their rank, the better the bonuses the player gets.

The game uses an ad hoc online multiplayer feature that enables various actions between players, including trading Materia via email. Players can summon a friend to cast magic by filling the "Materia aid" meter. Up to three players can team up at any one time. "Rescue Mode" is activated if the player is defeated during "Episode Mode", at which point they have the option to restart and lose points, or allow themselves to be imprisoned and wait for other players to rescue them. The player can be rescued while their phone is powered down.

Additions were made after the initial release. In 2006, a fighting arena dubbed "Battle Square" was added. In the "Battle Square", players can either fight other players or AI-controlled enemy units. Victory is determined by which side defeated the other and damage taken during combat. In "Battle Tournament" mode, players can choose to use a handicap: the handicap is determined randomly by a materia slot. Two extra difficulty settings were also added, with players able to switch between these and the normal difficulty in the game menu. "Easy Mode" was released in 2006 and allows the player to auto-evade incoming attacks and reduce damage taken, while "Hard Mode", released in 2007 and meant for advanced users, increases the damage dealt by enemy attacks.

Synopsis Setting and characters

Before Crisis is set six years prior to the events of Final Fantasy VII. The world on which Before Crisis is set, called "the Planet" in-game and "Gaia" by game staff, is divided into multiple regions run by a megacorporation called the Shinra Electric Power Company. Shinra uses the energy of the Planet, known as the Lifestream, to power the world, and as such is endangering the Planet and its people. The events of Before Crisis frequently overlap with those of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. The exact setting is shortly after the end of a war between Shinra and the people of Wutai. With Wutai defeated, and the people of the world now dependent on Shinra's energy, the company becomes the dominant economic, military, and political power in the world. Rising against them is AVALANCHE, a rebel group who rightly believe that Shinra's energy extraction is slowly killing the planet.

The playable characters and main protagonists are the Turks, a group of covert operatives working for Shinra. The playable characters in-game are eleven new Turks: ten of them are designated by their weapon or fighting style and their gender, while the eleventh is known as Legend (Male). Their name can be selected by the player. One of the characters, Shuriken (Female), later appears in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII under the name "Cissnei". The Turks are led by Verdot, a veteran of the group, and later Tseng, a character who plays an important role in other Final Fantasy VII stories. Their primary antagonists all belong to AVALANCHE. The three important AVALANCHE characters are Elfé, the leader of AVALANCHE and Verdot's daughter; Fuhito, a scientist who acts as the planner for the group; and Shears, AVALANCHE's second-in-command. Multiple characters from Final Fantasy VII make appearances either as cameos or supporting characters, such as protagonists Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, Aerith Gainsborough, and supporting character Zack Fair, as well as antagonists Rufus Shinra, son of the company president, and Sephiroth, a SOLDIER who would go rogue.

Plot Before Crisis opens with the trainee Turks on a mission in the city of Midgar to investigate AVALANCHE activities. With help from Reno, AVALANCHE retreat. However, the attack proves to be a diversion for a greater strike at the town of Junon, where President Shinra is set to give a speech. President Shinra is shot, but survives, and calls in Sephiroth. However, it transpires that even the attack on the President was a diversion, and AVALANCHE's real target was a weapon called the Mako Cannon, which they planned to fire at Midgar, destroying the city. Elfé and Sephiroth do battle at the cannon, but the fight ends inconclusively, and AVALANCHE withdraw. AVALANCHE next target Rayleigh, a professor carrying data on the SOLDIER members and their creation. The Turks are sent to protect Rayleigh, accompanied by several Shinra guards, including Cloud. Fuhito, a scientist working for AVALANCHE, is able to corrupt Rayleigh's data when the Turks disobey orders and save Rayleigh instead of protecting the information. Using the SOLDIER data, Fuhito develops an elite unit known as the Ravens, using them to capture two SOLDIERs, Essai and Sebastian. The Turks succeed in rescuing the pair, and are then sent to destroy AVALANCHE, accompanied by Zack. Essai and Sebastian, however, are captured once again, and turned into Ravens. Even though Zack is able to bring them back to their senses, he is unable to save them.

Meanwhile, President Shinra becomes suspicious of the Turks' activities, believing that someone within the organization is leaking sensitive information. He concludes that it must be Verdot, and removes him from command, instead placing the company's security leader Heidegger in charge. In his first operation however, Heidegger nearly destroys Junon, and the President reinstates Verdot. In his first mission back in command, Verdot plans to defeat AVALANCHE. An assault is launched at a Mako Reactor, during which Rufus Shinra is revealed to be the traitor supporting AVALANCHE. He is captured by the Turks and placed under house arrest. At the same time, Shears defects to the Turks in an effort to save the gravely ill Elfé. Verdot discovers that Elfé is his daughter Felicia, whom he thought dead in a botched Shinra operation, and resigns from the Turks. With Elfé continuing to weaken, Fuhito takes over the command of AVALANCHE. It is revealed that a Materia owned by Elfé is Zirconiade, an ancient and powerful summoned monster that Fuhito intends to use to destroy humanity and stop them harming the planet. However, the Materia is broken, and is slowly draining Elfé's life energy. To save her, the four Support Materia must be found. Fuhito holds one, and the Turks and Shears hold another.

Meanwhile, not wanting Rufus' betrayal become known, the President orders the Turks' destruction. Despite this imminent threat, the Turks manage to find two more Support Materia. Under Fuhito's control, the remainder of AVALANCHE is turned into a vicious army of uncontrollable Ravens, and he manages to steal all the materia needed. In the final battle, Fuhito summons Zirconiade, fusing the summon with his own body, and Shears sacrifices himself to save Elfé. Fuhito transforms into a monster, but he is defeated by the Turks. After the battle, Tseng falsely claims that both Verdot and Elfé are dead, so as to protect them from being hunted by Shinra. The Turks are then reorganized, with Tseng reinstated as their immediate leader, but they are now sworn to loyalty to Shinra as part of the bargain for their survival. The original Turks find new lives for themselves in hiding, and are later seen helping in the evacuation of Midgar during the events of Final Fantasy VII.

Development