The release of the much anticipated Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth is quickly approaching, and Square Enix is hyping it up. This time, Square Enix is creating a crossover event between the new game and Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis.

FFVII: Ever Crisis is a game released in 2023 that retells the stories of FFVII and FFVII: Crisis Core, along with a new story centered around everyone’s favorite one-winged angel, Sephiroth. It combines the old and new, bridging the old games and their remakes. The game has received mixed reviews since its release, but Square Enix doesn’t want to give up on it yet. It was announced that there will be a crossover event with the upcoming FFVII: Rebirth.

Related: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Editions: Should You Get Deluxe, Collector’s, or Standard?

When Is The Final Fantasy VII Rebirth & Ever Crisis Crossover Event

Players will be able to play the prologue chapter of FFVII: Rebirth, Fall of a Hero, in FFVII: Ever Crisis, but with a few gameplay tweaks. Play through the story of Cloud and Sephiroth investigating the Nibel Reactor. The crossover event was announced to launch on February 15 at 6:00 PM PST by the official Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis Twitter/X account. The event will last until March 3, 5:59 PM PST.

How to Participate in the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth & Ever Crisis Crossover Event

For those who don’t want to miss out on the Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth Demo but don’t have a PS5, then this is the perfect solution. Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis is a free-to-play game available on Steam and mobile devices. The Prologue chapter will be updated in the game via the Ver. 1.6.0 update. Download the game, and players will automatically have access to the demo once it has been updated into the game.

Players will be able to play through the story but with the combat and mechanics of FF7: Ever Crisis. Those who participate will be able to play through event-exclusive quests and receive exchangeable items such as Planet’s Blessing and Moogle Medal that can be traded for luxurious items at the exchange in the game.

Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII is full of emotionally expressive, insightful, and admittedly extra characters. Love them or hate them, there is no denying they would fit right in in Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department.

After Taylor Swift’s announcement of her upcoming album during the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, we’re officially back in Taylor Season. Set to hit on April 19, just a month after Final Fantasy VII Rebirth hits stores, it’s a cosmic collision. And the theme could not be more fitting, too: The Tortured Poets Department. Since neither TS nor FF are big on celebrity appearances or collaborations, I don’t expect we’ll be seeing any official crossover soon. Still, nothing is stopping us from having our own safe space to discuss which Final Fantasy VII characters would belong in Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department album.

Related: Who Cares How Cait Sith Is Pronounced, He’s The Worst FF7 Character

Barret: Some Kind of Loaded Gun

Barrett is the man with a gun arm and a fiery spirit. I wouldn’t blame you for disregarding him as a battle powerhouse. But you have to admit his strength as a character doesn’t come only from his ranged support. He’s impulsive and has a knack for propelling the story forward, all fueled by his outspoken hatred speeches against Shinra. But beneath the tough exterior lies a man haunted by a tragic past. 

Forget the eco-warrior facade; Barrett’s fighting a personal vendetta against Shinra, the jerks who wrecked his town and livelihood and offed his wife. He is living his reputation era, aflame with desires for revenge.

The way in which Barret pours out the pain, the anger, and the guilt in Final Fantasy VII would fit right in with Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department album. 

Yuffie Kisaragi: Fearless Era

If it weren’t for Taylor Swift’s redemption arc, we wouldn’t have her crowned 2023’s Person of the Year. Every day, Yuffie Kisaragi gets called annoying by some rude fanboy. If they could, they’d go up a stage in the Golden Saucer, interrupt her mid-cutscenes, and say, “Yo Yuffie, I’m really happy for you. I’ma let you finish, but Sephiroth just had one of the best cutscenes of all time.”

But should you give Yuffie a chance, you’ll watch her character unfold into a multi-layered tale of optimism, resourcefulness, and ninja shenanigans. Yuffie Kisaragi dances through the narrative with a mix of mischief and heroism, proving that beneath her thieving exterior lies a poetic tale waiting to be explored. There has never been a character more deserving of a spot in Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department.

Roche: “All’s fair in love and poetry.”

Roche is a motorcycle maverick in Final Fantasy VII Remake, but you likely don’t remember him as a speed demon. Instead, you probably remember how he constantly professed his love for Cloud and acted like their duel was a date in Olive Garden. 

His overzealous and flamboyant entrances are nothing short of dramatic. Each line seems meticulously crafted to sound like it came out of a play. Roche isn’t just a one-trick pony with a killer bike; he’s a two-wheeled poet at heart. 

RED XIII: A Cat Poet 

Red XIII is our four-legged philosopher, the unsung poet of the party in Final Fantasy VII. I know what you’re thinking, but let me assure you they’re not just here because of Taylor Swift’s obsession with felines.

Amidst the chaos of technocratic greed and Avalanche’s rebellion, Red XIII takes a chill pill and views the world with a more objective, humane lens. He’s the yin to Shinra’s yang, representing a spiritual Native American vibe, fighting against the invasive force of technology and modernity. 

In Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, there’s definitely a seat all saved up for Red XIII, the poetic beast with a philosophical feast.

Jessie Raspberry: Taking Romeo and Juliet to the Next Level

Jessie is a bomb-maker, an actress, and a go-getter in Final Fantasy VII. But mostly, she’s a hopeless romantic. From the first minute we meet her, she latches onto Cloud and tries to somehow make him fit into her idea of theatrical love. 

Just like Taylor Swift, she is the Mastermind behind most operations against Shinra, and in this love play, she has created for her and Cloud. I just know she would be part of Taylor’s Squad and most definitely earn her spot in the The Tortured Poets Department.

Vincent Valentine: A Daydream Dressed Like a Nightmare

Is there any character as unnecessarily edgy and overdramatic as Vincent Valentine? Crippled by guilt and torment, Vincent joins the party not as a chatterbox but as a silent observer. He speaks when it matters, making his contributions as measured as a haiku in a world of verbose soliloquies.

His brooding and mellow energy screams Evermore, but he’d make all the songs 10-minute versions for absolutely no reason. I’m sure Taylor Swift would love to welcome this walking anime trope into The Tortured Poets Department.

The FFVII: Ever Crisis train has been scooting along without a hitch since its release in early September. Why not add a little Final Fantasy IX to the mix to drum up excitement and earn some cool Vivi outfits?

As fans of Final Fantasy IX, it’s always a good time to hand out fan service rewards such as crossover outfits and weapons. Since FFVII: Ever Crisis release, we’ve been getting some neat stuff, from beach-filled summer events to young Sephiroth and Jack-o’-lanterns! Now it seems Square Enix is rolling up their sleeves and getting busy with more in-universe material featuring aircraft and black mages from the FFIX universe. Here’s what the studio has shared so far.

Related: Best FF7 Characters That Need To Be In Ever Crisis

What is FFVII: Ever-Crisis FFIX Crossover Event?

Square Enix announced this event to celebrate the collaboration between FFVII: Ever Crisis and FFIX. The developer also discounted Final Fantasy IX for a limited time on iOS and Android. During this event, Black Waltz will appear as a boss in FFVII: Ever Crisis, with characters sporting Final Fantasy IX gear. One of the incredible things showcased in the event’s release trailer was Cloud donning the iconic outfit of Zidane, the main hero from FFIX.

When Does The FFVII: Ever-Crisis FFIX Crossover Event Start?

FFIX Crossover Event for FFVII: Ever Crisis begins on November 9, 2023. Square Enix hasn’t announced the ending date for the event, so be sure to jump in soon to get your FFIX goodies. For those of you who’ve saved up some blue crystals until now, you are going to be in a great spot in terms of unlocking all the outfits and weapons.

How To Play The FFVII: Ever-Crisis FFIX Crossover Event

You can start the FFIX Crossover Event by navigating to the event tab on the main screen. It would only be a complete event in FFVII: Ever Crisis with the addition of more enemies. In this case, it’s the iconic Black Waltz bosses from FFIX. Yes, all three of them will be appearing, as per the details teased in the trailer. It makes sense, seeing as each of them brings unique abilities to the table.

The Black Waltz are a trio of manufactured Black Mages with powerful abilities and unique attributes for their kind. Black Waltz 1 has access to ice powers and can put anyone to sleep with its mysterious bell. Black Waltz 2 is the opposite of fire abilities and prefers to hypnotize opponents into doing its will. Lastly, Black Waltz 3 is the Lightning Master and considers itself invincible.

FFVII: Ever-Crisis FFIX Crossover Event Rewards

Similar to FFVII: Ever Crisis events in the past, the rewards are primarily outfits and weapons associated with the event’s theme, in this case, FFIX. We have yet to get the reward list, but we will update this guide once that information becomes available.

We did get a quick shot of Tifa wearing Amarant’s outfit, who’s a member of Zidane’s party in the game. The main outfits we’re hoping to see are Dagger and Vivi’s attire as an optional banner reward for those who enjoy those characters. As long as we don’t have to see Steiner’s clunky armor set, we’re good!

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis has enjoyed a successful launch for a full month now. This is thanks to its great art style and fun, bite-sized adventures with all the characters we’ve grown to love over the years, along with a few new interesting faces. We’ve already seen quite a few banners, an ever-present beach event, and a meaty progression of the story in such a short period of time. It seems like all that’s left is more progression for the characters themselves.

Recently, Square Enix announced that a level increase is coming soon and that fans will have ample opportunity to strengthen their teams. We’ve been able to do that mostly by upgrading weapons and nodes so far, so this comes as a welcome change for those of us looking to progress beyond those options. It’s only a matter of time before we receive new characters that’ll join the lineups, so this new level increase will give players more to do in the future as well.

Related: Best FF7 Characters That Need To Be In Ever Crisis

Power Increase Initiated

The team at Square Enix has taken to Twitter to announce a small level increase from fifty to fifty-five. This comes off the heels of the recently released story continuation of The First Soldier, featuring a young Sephiroth and his new cohorts in Soldier Class P-0. The level increase plans to go into effect as of October 12 at 7:00 p.m. PDT. This gives players around the world the opportunity to jump in immediately and start grinding.

The response to this announcement has been mixed but generally positive, as some of the more worried players are struggling to level up all their characters already to the initial cap of level fifty. Others are happy for the big power boost it will offer for maxed characters, as some of the content is a bit difficult currently, thanks to the ever-increasing power requirements. Overall, this announcement seems to have increased the appetite for more characters like the bubbly ninja Yuffie and the mysterious gunslinging Vincent.

Related: Final Fantasy 7 Ever Crisis Gacha Ruins The Game

One thing’s for sure: players are not left wanting when it comes to progression, even if it is a little time-consuming with the low drop rates for materials and weapons. Hopefully, in the future, the team could look into addressing that system as well, as it’s sure to have an overall positive effect on the game. Then again, maybe they’re waiting for more characters to be added before nerfing some of the requirements for the current progression system.

FF7 Rebirth is continuing the story of the FF7 Remake series, which means that Cait Sith is due to appear as the Gold Saucer returns to the story. Cait Sith’s reappearance has kicked off a debate among the fans about his name, but it really shouldn’t have because his name is mud, as he’s the worst character in Final Fantasy VII.

We won’t get into FF7 spoilers here (that’ll happen further below), so to keep it brief and spoiler-free — Cait Sith is an animatronic cat robot that controls a massive Moogle doll, which it rides into battle. The party first encounters Cait Sith in the Gold Saucer, who offers to read their fortune as the party is tracking Sephiroth through the region. Cait Sith joins the party and fights alongside them in battle, with the cat and Moogle acting as one.

Related: FF7 Rebirth: Everything New in the Latest Trailer

Square Enix Dropped A Pronunciation Bomb On The Fanbase

FF7 was a PlayStation 1 game, so it lacked any voice acting, which meant that fans had to spend years interpreting the pronunciation of Cait Sith’s name. Cait Sith will be playable in FF7 Rebirth, so the characters must say his name, answering the debate once and for all. A recent post on the official Final Fantasy VII Twitter page finally clarified matters, as Cait Sith’s name is pronounced Kate Sihth.

This has led to arguments online about how Square Enix is wrong and Cait Sith should be pronounced in different ways. The concept of Cait Sith comes from a creature in Celtic folklore, which actually appeared in Final Fantasy games that came before FF7. This has led to arguments that the name should be pronounced using the original Celtic pronunciation, while others disagree, based on the fact that they’ve been saying something different for decades. For my part, I’ve been pronouncing it as Kate Sith since FF7 came out, but I’d change after playing FF7 Rebirth, much like how I eventually switched from Aeris to Aerith.

Cait Sith Is The Worst Character In FF7

As a huge fan of the original Final Fantasy VII, I’ve been dreading the return of Cait Sith simply because he’s the worst character in the game due to how out of place he feels. The FF7 party is full of these fantastic, iconic characters, with even the strangest among them (Red XIII) fitting the game’s overall vibe. Then, you have this giant teddy bear robot who stands out like the custom character in a cutscene every time he shows up.

NOTE: FF7 and Potential FF7 Rebirth/Future Remake Games Spoilers Below

Cait Sith also sticks out in different ways, as he’s actually a spy planted by the Shinra Executives, with Reeve from FF7 Remake piloting the cat robot. There’s never a good reason given for why the party keep him around initially, as they’re international terrorists who are on the run from the most powerful corporations in the world, yet they let this robot duo into their ranks just… because.

Cait Sith eventually betrays the party, but he does redeem himself toward the end of the game, but the damage is done. He then just hangs around for most of the game, save for giving updates from the Shinra & Midgar side.

I’ve replayed FF7 many times over the years, yet I’ve never done a playthrough where I’ve included Cait Sith in the party just because I dislike him so much. He looks stupid, his random chance Limit Breaks suck, and he’s nowhere near as entertaining as any other party members. I also anticipate hating him even more in FF7 Rebirth because at least the other characters looked rough in FF7 on the PS1 due to the limitations of the hardware. In FF7 Rebirth, Cait Sith will stand out even more than the realistic depiction of the FF7 party members.

Cait Sith Is Also Pretty Bad In The FF7 Spin-Offs

Cait Sith reappeared in the FF7 spinoffs that have been released over the years, but he hasn’t fared much better, thanks to the baffling choice to give him an annoying Scottish accent. That’s right: the version of Cait Sith in Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus sounds like a high-pitched Shrek, just in case you thought he couldn’t get any more appealing.

Dirge of Cerberus also has the cardinal sin of making Cait Sith playable during parts of the game. He plays the same role as Mary Jane in Marvel’s Spider-Man, as Cait Sith is all about stealth sections, which are as fun as they sound. This means that the fast-paced anime action game, where the awesome Vincent Valentine trades bullets with the members of the Deepground, has to grind to a halt, while a cartoon cat drags its backside between different barrels, while it hides from foes.

The only reason Cait Sith isn’t the worst character in the Compilation of FF7 is because some later heroes and villains managed to overtake him. Genesis from Crisis Core might be the worst, being the crimson Marty Stu he is, while the Remnants of Sephiroth constantly chirping about “Mother” in Advent Children aren’t far behind. Cait Sith’s diminished role in the spinoffs worked to his advantage, as he hasn’t been around enough to be hated.

Cait Sith Is Playable In FF7 Rebirth, But Vincent & Cid Won’t Be

Cait Sith is fully playable in FF7 Rebirth, but that comes at a cost, as both Vincent Valentine and Cid Highwind will be guest party members, similar to how Red XIII worked in FF7 Remake. This means you’ll be playing as Cait Sith in FF7 Rebirth, but those actually popular characters that people like are reduced to AI-controlled characters. Oh, joy!

Related: FF7 Rebirth Will End At Series’ Most Iconic Scene

Cait Sith’s appearance in FF7 Rebirth might be the thing that changes my opinion. After all, FF7 Remake made me appreciate FF7 characters like Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie a lot more, as well as the novel characters like Kyrie and Lester. Square Enix will have to perform a miracle to do this, as over twenty-five years of disdain won’t be easy to wash away. We finally know how Cait Sith’s name is pronounced, but will the developers make us care about him before the credits roll?

Mark your calendars – it will be a busy few months as the fall events start pouring in from around the gaming world. If there’s a game you’re interested in, it probably has an event that’s either upcoming or already out.

To keep you and ourselves updated on what’s going on with each popular title, we’ve compiled a list of events that are Halloween or fall season-related. That helps with keeping track of those pesky updates. In the meantime, get your candy basket and toothbrush ready.

Related: Dead By Daylight Haunted By Daylight Event: Halloween 2023 Roadmap

List of Games and Events

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis will reach a much wider audience than it has now, as the game is coming to Steam in the future, with full cross-save support for the existing mobile versions. There’s a bigger audience on PC because that’s where the established Final Fantasy audience is, along with consoles, and not on mobile phones.

Ever Crisis is currently available on Android and iOS devices, which should give it access to a massive audience. The problem is that the game has already received a bad rap for its overabundance of gacha mechanics. While it has received a large initial download base, that doesn’t necessarily mean the game is successful due to its off-putting monetary system.

Related: Best FF7 Characters That Need To Be In Ever Crisis

Ever Crisis Is Coming To Steam In The Future

The people who want to experience the new iteration of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII won’t be restricted to mobile devices for much longer. Square Enix has announced that Ever Crisis is currently being developed for Steam, with cross-save functionality for people already playing it. There is currently no release window for the Steam release.

Hopefully, the Steam version will help Ever Crisis avoid the same problems that The First Soldier faced. Most of the Final Fantasy audience is on PC and consoles, not smart devices. Square Enix has had a mixed record regarding the survivability of its mobile games, with The First Soldier barely lasting a year before it was dropped.

Ever Crisis is intended for the diehard fans of FF7 and FF7 Remake, with tons of fanservice and lore deep dives, yet those games were successful on PC and consoles. Square Enix should have made the game available on PC, PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch to allow the people most interested in this aspect of the franchise to experience Ever Crisis’ new content.

Related: Final Fantasy 7 Ever Crisis Gacha Ruins The Game

It’s a shame that Ever Crisis wasn’t available on PC at launch, but at least it’s on the way. Many of the Ever Crisis YouTube videos are filled with comments from fans asking for a PC port, as they either don’t want to play on mobile devices or their phone cannot run the game. Hopefully, this will give Ever Crisis a much bigger audience than it has now and allow it to survive much longer than The First Soldier did.

Well, it’s finally here. After three plus years of waiting, Square Enix has finally released the much-anticipated re-remake of Final Fantasy VII, this time with the added bonus of multiple games and movies within the entire FF7 compilation. When it was initially announced, fans around the world, myself included, were confused about the final makeup of the game, its characters, and its monetization. Now that it’s here, we can now see what the vision is for the title, and it’s scary.

Before we get started, let me note that Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis itself is surprisingly fun to play. The gameplay is fast-paced and intuitive, and the animations are smooth and varied. The story sticks to the major beats of the original games, and the new stories are pretty well done overall. Customization is plentiful, and the options are pretty integral to the gameplay, so whether you succeed or fail is heavily tied to your build.

Related: Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis: Weapon Tier List

Square Enix Has Entered the Circle of Life

It’s a shame to see what Square Enix is trying to do with its beloved franchise. For Final Fantasy in particular, it looks like they’re falling into the same trap that Capcom did with the Resident Evil series around a decade ago. To go over it briefly, Capcom wanted to appeal to the FPS crowd, which was popular at the time, primarily thanks to the rise of Call of Duty. In order to compete, they decided to turn the upcoming Resident Evil games into a bunch of Call of Duty knockoffs, which ended up angering a lot of fans.

To tie it all back in with the topic, earlier in the lifespan of Final Fantasy VII Remake, the business suits at Square Enix thought it would be a great idea to expand the audience by introducing a “Battle Royale”-type spinoff. This spinoff, titled FFVII: The First Soldier, failed miserably and died within a year of its launch. Ironically, the game has been remade into a part of Ever Crisis, and weirdly, it’s kind of the main storyline of the game if you take into account the amount of effort it takes to complete all of the current story episodes. Needless to say, it was a pivot from the initial failure of the original battle royale incarnation.

So What About the Gacha?

Everything said thus far ties into the current mindset of how the gacha and overall monetization work. As the topic implies, the gacha in the game is pretty predatory in nature. Everything is designed to get you to invest in the product. While I do enjoy the gameplay aspect of the game, it’s painfully obvious that things were designed a certain way in order to hook you into the ecosystem and encourage you to spend more once you hit a wall.

Currently, the game has gacha shops for weapons and outfits and battle passes with various rewards, mostly pertaining to crafting. It takes one ticket, or one hundred crystals, to pull from these pools, but of course, the crystals can be substituted by a real-money-only counterpart called red crystals. Red crystals have their own exclusive gacha that guarantees five-star weapons, and once again, these can only be obtained with real money. One extra thing that they added was the stamp card, which “rewards” you with extra loot and ingredients by giving you stamps at random after you spend a certain amount of currency.

It took me a while to realize it, admittedly, but the plan became painfully obvious after I reached the final chapter of the “First Soldier” story. Everything is monetized, and I mean everything, from progress to crafting to stats on outfits as well as the weapons. It’s all over the place, and although they’re being very generous at the moment, everyone can clearly see what the future holds once the honeymoon is over. It’s not very smart to lock progress behind gambling, and Square Enix will find this out as soon as they pull back on the rewards.

I foresee that in the future, players will only come back to do events, and instead of spending money on gachas, they’ll wait for possible giveaways and milestones. Only the whales will be able to complete the hardest challenges, and players will quickly run out of things to do. The haves and have-nots will not have a problem until they realize how much time they spend keeping up with FOTM. For a game with this much potential, that would be tragic and wasteful of what looks like a genuine effort.

Related: FF7 Ever Crisis Is Repeating The Same Mistakes As The First Soldier

Let’s hope that the team sees the cracks early and makes the necessary changes quickly. The game has a lot of potential to make money, but the monetization has to be a bit more fair due to the randomization that a gacha system introduces. There could be a point where the playerbase is pulling all three and four stars, and eventually, yeah, they’ll level up the weapons, but that’s not taking into account the different strengths and weaknesses of each option. It just doesn’t work with these types of games, and the sooner someone realizes it, the better off this sub-genre will be.

Another day, another Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis Tier List! This time, we’re looking at the weapons that are available for each character in the game. It’s no secret that the current endgame is the weapons and, to a lesser degree, the outfits. Every character has loads of weapons that can be brought up to any level of rarity, depending on the materials you collect, so the selection may seem a lot bigger than originally advertised.

To go with each weapon’s rarity, the skills and abilities you can use are also unique to each weapon. This is very important when coming up with builds. A certain enemy may be susceptible to a certain skill or ability, while that same ability may be useless against that same enemy. We’ll be taking into account the overall strength of each weapon, along with their usefulness for certain content.

Related: Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis: Beach Event Guide

Cloud’s Weapon Tier List in FFVII: Ever Crisis

For Cloud, the combination of Murasame and the Apocalypse is good for builds that are tailored for major bosses. The Buster Sword is a great classic weapon, and the braver ability is great for destroying sigils on tough enemies. The Hardedge has some good debuffs and decent DPS, but it may be situational compared to the others. Overall, every other weapon is pretty normal, so you can avoid them if you want.

Tifa’s Weapon Tier List

Tifa has a much smaller repertoire of great weapons compared to the others. It’s not difficult to build her arsenal, as she’s an easy character to build correctly. Her Leather Gloves and Sonic Strikers are amazing for building up damage on enemies, with the Sonic Strikers having the highest non-elemental modifiers in the game so far. Motor drive is also perfect for wind-based attacks.

Barrett’s Weapon Tier List

Barrett is lucky when it comes to having good weaponry. His W-Machine is apparently short for win machine, as it is a great defense debuffer if you have a well-balanced team. It’s the best support weapon next to the assault gun, which is more useful for balanced play. Both the enemy launcher and flame projector are good for AOE damage, and all the other weapons are situational at best.

Aerith’s Weapon Tier List

The build for Aerith is quite simple compared to her counterparts. The Fairy Tale is the best weapon available; ergo, it is Aerith’s best weapon to equip. Its unique ability allows Aerith to add some damage to her support abilities without sacrificing much potency. The Mythril Rod is pretty good, and the buffing ability on that weapon may be handy in a bind.

Red XIII’s Weapon Tier List

Red is not the conventional character when it comes to making a build. His weapon synergy is the most important of the lineup, and the slots you place them in are very important to how he works. For example, the Sleek and Rubber Collars work well with the Gold Collar, and the Platinum Collar has great AOE C-ability. His other collars can be viable if combined with the S-tier weapons.

Zack’s Weapon Tier List

Zack’s Zweihander is the easiest one to get, as it’s a reward from the pre-registration event. It’s a decent weapon for single-target damage, but combined with the Cutlass, it’s a real damage dealer. The arc sword serves two purposes: to deal great damage and debuff the enemy at the same time. The Enhanced Sword is good for its elemental damage, but as a whole, it’s a little more situational than the S-tier options.

Glen’s Weapon Tier List

Glen is a powerhouse in every sense of the word, with his giant axes and fire-based abilities. Apology In Hell is Glen’s “main” weapon, as it’s his go-to for great damage. Rest in Piece is the perfect secondary weapon, thanks to its C-Ability, which boosts the raw stats for your setup. The others are really good for their elemental damage.

Related: Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis: Character Tier List

Lucia’s Weapon Tier List

Lucia is great at many things, and the weapons similar to Red XIII are vital for how you want to play her. In this instance, her Serpent Eater is great for critical hit damage, while the Mad Minute has great debuffs. The Black Rifle has a pretty powerful silence ability, which is really powerful in Ever Crisis because many bosses use wipe-inducing spells. The V39 is great for AOE if you’re looking to build her in that way.

Matt’s Weapon Tier List

Matt is one of the best characters in FFVII: Ever Crisis. A lot of that has to do with the weapon abilities he has access to. Prime Number and Killer Hornet, when used together, are a chef’s kiss of damage and healing that’s welcomed at any party. Stingray is great for magic and debuffing, while Broadway Axis is great for extra elemental damage.

It’s no surprise that a Final Fantasy game is full of complicated gearing and leveling systems, but it can still be exasperating for players nonetheless. We’re not sure if gating the gearing behind progression is good or not, but the way it’s handled in-game is confusing, to say the least.

Thankfully, we have a good grasp on how it works and the method behind having multiple options available for each character. If you have a busload of weapons sitting in your inventory screen, we’ll help you get started on turning that clutter into an awesome build.

Related: FFVII: Ever Crisis – Best Way To Spend Blue Crystals

What To Look For In A Build

If you look at the image above, you’ll see that the butterfly edge is great for defensive play. Its Boost HP ability and Boost Limit Break Protection are great for fights that involve attrition. In a theoretical defensive build, you would combine this with other weapons with similar abilities if you wanted to make a tank. Cloud is great for that role and pretty much everything else in the game, along with other characters like Glenn and Barret.

When coming up with a build, you should always look for the R and C abilities for each weapon. R. Abilities can be unlocked and upgraded by boosting the rarity and level of each weapon. Pay attention to the abilities, as this can affect the performance of your character, whether it be their attack or support abilities. Also, the rarity of the weapon can be boosted when you pull copies, so don’t stress too much about manually doing it through ingredients.

How Do I Go About Equipping Gear?

Equipping gear is simple enough, but there are a lot of hidden menus that you may have missed. In this example, Cloud has his Murasame and Buster Sword equipped in his main and secondary slots, respectively. These two weapons determine his special weapon abilities in combat. When deciding what abilities you need in a certain fight, these are the most important, along with materia and the bonuses that come with them.

Now, as for the sub-weapons, you’ll be pleased to know that these slots are pretty much open to every weapon in your inventory, even if they aren’t typically wearable for certain characters. For example, Cloud is able to have Tifa’s Sonic Strikers in his sub slot, along with their R-abilities, at half the effectiveness. The C-abilities, like the Sonic Strikers’ Divekick, would not be usable for obvious reasons. We’d advise you to avoid the auto-equip option if you’re struggling with certain fights, as it tends to take only the base stats into account.

Related: FFVII: Ever Crisis – How To Find Cactuar in Mako Reactor 1

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis is surprisingly fluid when it comes to customizing your team of fighters. Most of the gear is easy to get (for now), and all the characters are given to you immediately at the start. All you have to watch out for is gear and making sure you build some of the higher-tier characters for the tougher challenges. Still, whaling is always an option for those with deeper pockets and plenty of free time.