8 Final Fantasy 7 Concepts Square Enix Abandoned

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Few video games have had as big an impact – and received as much attention – as Final Fantasy 7. When it was released, this groundbreaking Japanese role-playing game revolutionized the industry, and the incredible excitement surrounding it remains unmatched. It’s unlikely we’ll ever see a game generate that level of buzz again.

So, getting Final Fantasy 7 made was a wild ride, apparently! It took about two years to develop, and a lot changed during that time. Hironobu Sakaguchi, the guy who started the whole Final Fantasy thing, actually finished the first draft of the story way back in the mid-90s. But getting that script into the game we all know and love? It was full of ideas they ended up cutting and completely rethinking. A lot of stuff hit the cutting room floor, it sounds like!

Even now, nearly three decades after its release and with the remake trilogy coming to a close, Final Fantasy 7 remains a captivating game to revisit. Its complex development and constantly changing story resulted in many ideas being left out, and I’ll explore some of the most interesting abandoned concepts in this article.

This information is based on interviews with developers and details found in the Final Fantasy Ultimania guides.

8. An Entirely Rejected Concept Became Xenogears

The Death of One Idea Spawned an Entirely New Game

When Final Fantasy 7 was first being planned, Tetsuya Takahashi and Soraya Saga – a husband and wife team – presented their idea for the game. It was a gritty, intricate science fiction story with religious undertones and explored the nature of oppressive rule. Square, the game’s publisher, appreciated the concept but ultimately felt it didn’t quite fit the Final Fantasy style.

So, this idea almost got scrapped like a lot of other things at Square! But thankfully, instead of just disappearing, they decided to give it another look. They handed it over to Takahashi and Saga, and asked them to really develop it into a full game, which was amazing!

As a huge fan, I remember being so excited when Xenogears finally came out in 1998, just a year after Final Fantasy 7! It’s a bit sad to hear that the game was really rushed near the end – they had to cut a whole second disc and turn it into a movie instead. But even with those limitations, it feels so connected to Final Fantasy 7 in some really interesting ways, and that makes it special to me.

7. Sibling Rivalry

The Roles and Relationships Changed Rapidly

Several beloved characters from Final Fantasy 7 underwent many revisions during development, with some experiencing major changes. An especially fascinating scrapped idea involved Tifa, who was originally planned to be Sephiroth’s sister.

Her name appears to come from “Tiferet,” a concept from the Hebrew Tree of Life found in ancient Kabbalah. Early plans for Final Fantasy VII, as detailed in the Ultimania Archive, suggest she was originally meant to be Sephiroth’s sister and fulfill the role Aerith ultimately took – a being with a connection to ancient deities.

The final version of Tifa’s character was much stronger than if they’d focused on making her Cloud’s sister. Developing her as Cloud’s childhood friend gave her character more personality and heart, and it was a better choice overall.

6. Vincent Valentine Has A Complicated History

I Wanna be a Detective! No, Wait! A Chemist! No, a Horror Writer!

Vincent Valentine is a fan-favorite secret character in Final Fantasy 7, but he underwent more revisions during development than any other character in the game.

Originally, the character was envisioned as a horror author, then shifted to being a research scientist, detective, and chemist. Eventually, Square decided to abandon all these ideas, ultimately establishing Vincent as an ex-member of the Turks.

Interestingly, the final design of the character Vincent actually included parts that were originally created for an earlier, abandoned version of Sephiroth. This highlights how resourceful Square has always been, consistently finding ways to reuse ideas instead of letting them go to waste.

5. The True Purpose Of The Ancient Forest

What Secrets Did the Ancient Forest Hold?

Okay, so in Final Fantasy 7, the Ancient Forest is totally optional – you don’t need to go there to beat the game. Honestly, it’s kind of a pain. The puzzles in there are super weird and frustrating, and it doesn’t really feel like there’s a good reason to bother, except to snag some really rare stuff like Cloud’s Apocalypse and the Slash-All Materia. It’s a bit of a side quest rabbit hole, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Early versions of Final Fantasy 7 featured the Ancient Forest as a more important location on the way to the Forgotten Capital. The game’s programming actually placed its map data between the Sleeping Forest and Corel Valley – the area where you find the City of the Ancients.

Many fans believe the Ancient Forest was originally designed as a complete dungeon, meant to lead directly to the Forgotten Capital. The presence of unusable, mysterious vines in the background has sparked a lot of theories about the Forest’s role in the larger Final Fantasy VII story.

4. Hot-Blooded Detective Joe

We Were Robbed of a Timeline Where Hot-Blooded Joe Exists

It’s surprising, but the main character of Final Fantasy 7, Cloud Strife, almost didn’t exist. Originally, the game’s creator, Hironobu Sakaguchi, planned for the hero to be a detective named Joe.

He was chasing after AVALANCHE following their attack on Midgar, and early ideas for the group suggested they would have been much more hostile than they ultimately were in the game. This initial version of Final Fantasy VII is interesting for many reasons, and the character Detective Joe is a key part of what makes it so unique.

As the story for Final Fantasy VII developed, Tetsuya Nomura, one of the writers, wanted to include a dynamic chase sequence with a constantly moving goal – an idea that remained from the very beginning of the game’s creation. Though Cloud Strife became a hugely popular character, it’s fun to imagine what could have happened if they’d gone with the original protagonist, Hot-Blooded Detective Joe.

3. A New York State Of Mind

New York, New York

So, get this – when Hironobu Sakaguchi first started planning Final Fantasy 7, it wasn’t set in Midgar at all! He actually envisioned the game taking place in New York City. There was even a detective character, named Joe, who was going to be a big part of the story. Can you imagine FF7 as a detective game in the Big Apple? It’s wild to think how different things could have been!

Midgar began as an idea that Joe would have pursued AVALANCHE through. However, the developers at Square felt the environment was too bleak and intricate for a Final Fantasy game, so they ultimately redesigned it and named the new setting Gaia.

Edea, a powerful sorceress with a mysterious connection to Joe, was originally created for a different game. That initial concept, featuring a detective in New York City, later became the basis for Parasite Eve. Edea herself was then reimagined as the primary villain in Final Fantasy 8.

2. Lovers To Enemies

A Tale as Old as Time

Sephiroth and Aerith underwent significant transformations during the creation of Final Fantasy 7. The final versions of these characters are quite different from the original concepts.

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Throughout the story, Aerith and Tifa’s roles were sometimes switched, with each taking on parts originally meant for the other. For example, early ideas included a romantic connection between Aerith and Sephiroth.

Aerith and Sephiroth share a deeply intertwined history within the Final Fantasy 7 story. Originally, their connection was planned to be even more complicated than what players ultimately experienced.

1. Final Fantasy 7 Almost Had A Red Wedding Moment

Everybody Dies

Final Fantasy 7 delves into significant themes like life and death. The game’s creator, Sakaguchi, was personally affected by his mother’s passing, and this experience strongly shaped the story’s exploration of death and the grieving process.

The game’s creators, Tetsuya Nomura and Yoshinori Kitase, once considered a surprisingly dark twist: completely wiping out the player’s entire party. It was a daring idea that, had it been implemented, could have fundamentally changed the landscape of video games.

Fortunately, Kitase and Nomura chose a different approach. Aerith’s death was so powerful because it felt meaningful, and excessive destruction would have ruined that emotional impact.

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2026-01-11 17:41