For anyone who's been playing Final Fantasy VII Remake and is curious to experience more games, movies, and books that take place within the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, the animated movies Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and Last Order: Final Fantasy VII could feel like required viewing before FF7 Remake Part 2 launches.
If you're looking to expand your knowledge of the Final Fantasy VII's universe here's how you can experience these films
How to watch Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
What is it? Advent Children is a CGI animated movie released by Square Enix in 2005 and serves as a direct sequel to the original PS1 game. A virus called Geostigma has emerged in the wake of the Meteor disaster, and even Cloud is infected by it. The film follows Cloud and several other characters from Final Fantasy VII as they attempt to stop a mysterious trio with connections to Sephiroth who are kidnapping children with Geostigma.
The film has both Japanese and English dubs, with the English version of Advent Children featuring actors like Steve Burton and Rachael Leigh Cook. The film received middling reviews and sits at 33 percent on Rotten Tomatoes for the critics' score, but the audience score of 84 percent holds the film in much higher regard.
Advent Children isn't a perfect film, and if you've only played FF7 Remake, you won't recognize all of the characters, but it's still worth watching as it will give some clearer context for the universe these games take place in.
Where can I watch it? If you want to watch Advent Children but don't want to pick up the Blu-ray, you have a few options. It's available for purchase on most platforms that stream video like YouTube, Amazon, and the Google Play Store. It's even in the video section of the PS4's Store for $2.99.
If you want to watch it for free without pirating it, you only have one option: Sony Crackle. It's not the best streaming service, but Crackle is free to use and has some other Final Fantasy and video game-related content on it.
Last Order: Final Fantasy VII
What is it? Last Order is a prequel anime to Final Fantasy VII released in 2005 that features Cloud, Tifa, Zack Fair, and Sephiroth, and follows a battle at Nibelheim, Tifa and Cloud's hometown. It's a place that will almost certainly be a major setting of FF7 Remake Part 2. It's only voiced in Japanese and clocks in at a mere 25 minutes, but Last Order gives much-needed context for these characters' backstories, especially for anyone who hasn't played the original game.
Square Enix Executive Producer Yoshinori Kitase revealed to IGN during a 2007 interview that "there was considerable negative feedback in regard to changing a part of the story that they considered integral to the whole lore." Despite some story differences that jeopardize some other canonical details, Last Order is worth watching for fans who want more context to the events of Final Fantasy VII.
Where can I watch it? Last Order is much harder to watch compared to Advent Children as it has kind of been forgotten. Officially, the only real way to get it is in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children's Limited Edition Collector's Set. The whole thing, however, has been ripped to YouTube with subtitles, so that's the best way to watch it for free.
