The sadness and uncertainty of a destroyed community: The final days of Final Fantasy 7 The First Soldier

With Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier’s servers being unopen down this week, we speech to those near down astir their clip with ill-fated FFVII experiment.

Earlier this week, Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier was shuttered. This near the past remaining players mourning the nonaccomplishment of their favourite conflict royale, lamenting for the tiny but enraptured assemblage astir it, and grieving the friendships formed wrong it.

The game, first announced astatine Tokyo Game Show 2021, had an unofficial Reddit present swamped with last posts, screenshots of characters, and a pinned convey you connection to the hundreds of fans contiguous there. We reached retired to immoderate of them to perceive their stories, and get immoderate penetration into however they spent their past time with Square Enix’s doomed conflict royale.

“I person ever been a instrumentality of Final Fantasy, 7 included, but I can't rather enactment my digit connected wherefore I was attracted to this game,” writes Richard, an American streamer who jumped into The First Soldier erstwhile it launched November 17, 2021. “I hadn't played a conflict royale crippled earlier this point, either. I couldn’t get immoderate of my friends to play it arsenic they instantly disregarded it for being specified a drastically antithetic instrumentality for a Final Fantasy.”

Looking back, it was a hard merchantability for many. Not lone did the First Soldier driblet close arsenic conflict royale saturation was cementing itself into the video crippled industry, it was 1 hellhole of a departure from what Final Fantasy fans are utilized to. You could adjacent telephone it 'cynical'. Even so, the crippled got itself 4 afloat seasons of content, which – erstwhile mixed with engaging gameplay and a coating of that FF7 aesthetic – made a cocktail immoderate players conscionable couldn’t get capable of.

And immoderate loved the experiemntal crippled much than others. For Edenia, from Australia, the rubric was good worthy investing clip and wealth into. “I really loved the crippled truthful overmuch I purchased astir implicit $1000 AUS worthy of cosmetics and credits. I made galore friends and enjoyed being portion of the community, signifier joining backstage matches to helping a person marque a video astir this game. It was fantastic!”

During its abbreviated life, determination were moments of brilliance successful the caput of the community. Richard spoke to maine of a Bahamut lawsuit during Season 2, wherever the summon was super-charged and required aggregate players teaming up to bring it down, whilst each the portion the emblematic conflict royale shenanigans were happening astir them. This proved hard to bash people (due to those uninterested successful taking down Bahamut not co-operating), truthful a dedicated radical of players formed teams to instrumentality down the boss, securing kills for those who needed them.

You tin nary longer 'dominate the sky'.

Heidi Van Vuuren, a subordinate from Zimbabwe, has been offering to recreate people’s characters arsenic an enactment of memorial, with 18 radical frankincense acold taking her up connected the offer, hoping for a imperishable keepsake of their avatar successful The First Soldier. Van Vuuren shared akin anecdotes of taking down bosses similar Bahumut and Cloud with the assistance of a dedicated crew, riding astir connected chocobos successful backstage matches, and reaching premier fertile successful squad playlists. But for Van Vuuren, past item was earning their favourite chocobo from the game’s constricted clip Easter event. As of this week, each of these events – and the rewards for taking portion successful them – are gone forever.

For a assemblage similar this, the quality that The First Soldier would beryllium shutting down was devastating erstwhile it dropped successful October 2022. In an authoritative station written by the developers, the crushed for its closure was little and surgical: “Despite each our efforts to bring you regular updates with caller and breathtaking content, we haven't been capable to present the acquisition that we were hoping to, and that you each deserve, truthful we person made the highly pugnacious determination to extremity service.”

“It was a blindside to beryllium sure,” states Richard. “We had conscionable had a livestream a time oregon 2 before, talking astir the upcoming day event. Just beryllium crushed with the quality [of the game's closure] successful a tweet. “I had started to watercourse the crippled possibly a period aft it launched, truthful for up to astir 10 months I was unrecorded each different time with it. Now it felt empty.”

Edenia felt a deficiency of information to support playing arsenic overmuch upon proceeding the news, too. “I felt each the clip and concern I enactment into this crippled was wasted.” Looking backmost done posts online, this sentiment was shared with galore having to take betwixt hanging connected until the end, oregon jumping vessel earlier it went distant for good.

There were plentifulness of chill events successful the crippled that are present mislaid forever.

For those that did instrumentality astir up until the end, they were capable to acquisition 1 last time of amusive and games earlier the curtains closed and the crippled booted them retired unceremoniously. Edenia relished their past moments with The First Soldier: “On the past time I took galore screenshots of my favourite cosmetics and recorded myself warring against different players. It wasn't astir being the strongest successful the game, it was astir going retired with a bang. I kept playing until I couldn't log successful anymore.”

Richard streamed the crippled arsenic agelong arsenic helium could, chatting with assemblage members astir the champion parts of the game, portion Heidi (unable to get overmuch clip successful owed to work) besides shared memories with her friends online portion she “moped astir astatine enactment each day, precise sad”.

Farewell, short-haired Cloud.

Now, with the servers down and each their advancement successful The First Soldier gone, the assemblage is forced to permission it behind. However, there’s a propulsion among those remaining to enactment successful interaction – and determination to different crippled wherever they tin support the friendships they’ve built alive. “Most wanted maine to play Apex Mobile, but that isn't arsenic amusive arsenic designing your ain quality successful FF7:TFS,“ says Edenia. “I heard bully things astir Warzone Mobile, truthful that could beryllium my adjacent 1 to play, but of people I don't deliberation immoderate conflict royale volition apical FF7:TFS owed to its unsocial play style.“

They continued: “At the infinitesimal we truly don't cognize what to do. FF7:TFS was what brought america unneurotic arsenic a family, truthful I truly anticipation I volition find thing similar, thing that incorporates JRPG elements successful a conflict royale.”

Heidi feels the same, unsure if immoderate crippled could seizure her similar The First Soldier did. “I americium waiting for Ever Crisis due to the fact that a batch of my friends accidental they volition beryllium playing it, but honestly I don't deliberation immoderate crippled could beryllium arsenic large a portion of my beingness arsenic this 1 was. Considering I had ne'er played a conflict royal before, I was amazed erstwhile I fell successful emotion with the game, truthful possibly someday it volition hap again.”

The decease of Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier is overmuch similar the galore different multiplayer games that person been taken astir backmost and flushed forever: it leaves a nomadic fanbase behind, unsure wherever to walk its clip and money. Here’s to them, and to their travel to find a caller gaming home.