Our long journey has finally taken us to the hidden text of Final Fantasy VII’s endgame. Translations are once again provided by hitoshura.
There is no point in further delay. Let’s mosey- I mean… Move out!
After Midgar Events (FSHIP_25)
Hojo has been stopped and the Shinra Company has fallen. Cloud and company assess the situation.
「セフィロスはメテオの到着と
Sephiroth ought to awaken
同時に目覚めるはずだ」
with the arrival of Meteor.
「メテオが来るまでにはあと２、３日……」
We’ve got 2 or 3 days before it hits.
The speaker of this unused line is unknown. The emphasis on Sephiroth “awakening” is not there in the final game, though in Junon Barret does say “Everyone knows Sephiroth sleeps in that big hole, protected by the barrier“.
Compare this with the final script, which greatly extends the amount of time left until Meteorfall.
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“Meteor’s gonna fall in about…”
「メテオが落ちてくるまであと……」
{Red XIII}
RED XIII
“Seven more days.
「あと７日って、じっちゃんが言ってた」
That’s what Grandfather said.”
By giving the party a week to defeat Sephiroth, instead of only 2 or 3 days, the sense of urgency is considerably lessened. Perhaps this choice was made to justify Cloud asking everybody to take their time to reflect on their reasons for fighting and whether or not they would follow into the final battle.
Cloud & Tifa Act 1 (HILL)
Location Name
ゆうやみの丘
Twilight Hill
{Tifa}
TIFA
“Yes…that’s right…”
「うん……そうだね……」
「それに、わたしたちの想いは……
Besides, I know our thoughts can reach them…
とどいてるよね、きっと……{PAUSE010}バ
AERITHにも……」
Aerith too…
“No…
「ああ……。{PAUSE020}バ
Yeah……
No it isn’t…”
きっと、な……」
I’m sure of it……
The scenes beneath the Highwind in the final version of the game does not make a single reference to Aeris.
Cloud & Tifa, Act 2 (HILL2)
HILL2 is employed for the brief nighttime scene between Cloud and Tifa, as well as the morning after.
Location Name
決戦前 ハイウインド
Highwind – Before the Decisive Battle
Cloud & Tifa, Extended Scene (FSHIP_4)
{Tifa}
TIFA
Tifa:
“What’s wrong with me?
「私は……どうなのかな。
I wonder… what about me.
I guess…I’m scared.”
やっぱり……恐いな」
I guess…I’m scared.
The above dialogue window exists both as a talk-to line, and as part of a longer dialogue between Cloud and Tifa. Presumably this represents the scene planners being indecisive about how the scene should play out.
{Tifa}
TIFA
“No one’s…back yet.”
「みんな……帰ってこないね」
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“That’s just the way it is {Tifa}.
「仕方がないよ、TIFA。
It was their choice to make.”
みんなが選んだ結果なんだから」
{Tifa}
TIFA
“What are you going to do, {Cloud}?”
「CLOUDはどうするの？」
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“I’m…a coward.
「俺は……いくじなしだからな。
I don’t even have the guts
ここでやめてしまう勇気がない」
to call it quits here.”
{Tifa}
TIFA
Tifa:
“What’s wrong with me?
「私は……どうなのかな。
I wonder… what about me.
I guess…I’m scared.”
やっぱり……恐いな」
I guess…I’m scared.
The way that Tifa doesn’t quite address Cloud’s previous statement gives the impression of a clumpsily written scene, or that Tifa response does not belong in the conversation. However when the scene is unlocked, the game code reveals that this is how the unused scene is meant to unfold.
{Tifa}
TIFA
“{Cloud}!
「ね、CLOUD！
Say everything’ll be fine!”
だいじょうぶって言って！」
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“Say everything’ll be fine!”
「だいじょうぶだよ、TIFA」
{Tifa}
TIFA
“Wow!”
「うわ～！」
{Tifa}
TIFA
Tifa:
“I don’t know why, but suddenly
「なんだか、もう、絶対に
For some reason, I felt like everything
I feel like everything’ll be fine.”
だいじょうぶって感じ、した」
was definitely going to be fine now.
for just the two of us.”
Cloud clearly has a sense of humor, though the quality of it may be called into question.
The unused conversation between Cloud and Tifa does not flow well into the script of the conversation that ended up used. We can surmise then that the unused scene was an alternate version and not an extension.
{Cloud}
CLOUD
Cloud:
“It’s moving…”
「動き出した……」
[It] started moving…
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“Let’s go {Tifa}.”
「行こう、TIFA」
Alternate Welcoming Back (FSHIP_25)
The field where Cloud and Tifa greet the returning party takes place in FSHIP_2. The data found in FSHIP_25 mostly represents a shorter, incomplete version of what takes place in the final game. The data for the scene choreography in FSHIP_25 is quite spartan, with very little present in terms of character animations and interactions.
The text tables showing used text below are from FSHIP_2, to act as comparisons with the unused text of FSHIP_25.
{Cloud}
CLOUD
Cloud:
「みんな！！」
You guys!!
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“{Barret}! {Cid}!”
「BARRET！ CID！」
BARRET
Barret:
「おう！」
Hey!
{Barret}
BARRET
Barret:
“O, oh…is that okay with you?”
「お、おう……もう、いいのか？」
H-hey… Is it [are you?] okay now?
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“{Red XIII}!”
「RED XIII！」
TIFA
Tifa:
「どうして声をかけてくれなかったの？」
Why didn’t you call us?
{Tifa}
TIFA
“Why didn’t you tell me!?”
「どうして声、かけてくれなかったの！？」
RED XIII
Red XIII:
「なんだかいいふんいきだったからさ」
It looked like you were enjoying yourselves.
{Red XIII}
RED XIII
“But, you know, {Cid}.”
「だって……ねえ、CID」
CID
Cid:
「CLOUDの背中がよう
Cloud’s back was saying to me,
邪魔するな、邪魔するなって言ってたぜ」
“don’t interrupt, don’t interrupt!”
{Cid}
CID
“Hey, {Red XIII}.”
「なあ、RED XIIIよう」
“If you butt in now, you never know
「邪魔しちゃ、あとでな～に言われっか
what they’ll say later…”
わかんねえもんなぁ……」
In the final game, Tifa will react to the party eavesdropping by saying either “…Were you watching?” or “…Were you listening?”. Neither of these responses are present in the unused data of FSHIP_25.
CLOUD
Cloud:
「VINCENT！」
Vincent!
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“{Vincent}!”
「VINCENT！」
VINCENT
Vincent:
「なんなのだ、その驚いた顔は。
Why the surprised look?
私が帰ってきてはいけなかったのか？」
Should I not have returned?
{Vincent}
VINCENT
Vincent:
“Why such a puzzled look?”
「なんだ、その驚いた顔は」
Why such a puzzled look?
“Don’t you want me to come?”
「私が来てはいけなかったのか？」
Should I not have come?
{Cloud}
CLOUD
Cloud:
「いつもさめてたから……」
You were always cold…
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“No, it’s just that you’re always
「いつもさめてたから……
so cool to what is happening
関係ないって顔してただろ？」
I thought you didn’t care.”
VINCENT
Vincent:
「さめて？」
Cold?
「フッ……私はそういう性格なのだ。
Hm… that’s just how I am.
悪かったな」
Sorry.
{Vincent}
“Cool?”
“Hmm…
I guess that’s just how I am, sorry.”
In Vincent’s example above, the Japanese text is identical between FSHIP_25 and FSHIP_2. This trend continues until after Red XIII points out that Yuffie is not present.
{Barret}
BARRET
“Well looky-here.
「帰ってきたみてえだな。
The Shinra Manager’s come back.”
神羅の部長さんがよ」
CAIT SITH
Cait Sith:
「あの～」
Um…
「ボクも、本体で来ようと思たんですけど
I was thinking of showing up in my
いろいろ、やらなあかんことがあって……」
real body, but I had things to do…!
「ほんで、ミッドガルの人たちですけど
Actually, I’m currently helping the
一応避難してもろてますのや」
people of Midgar evacuate.
{Cait Sith}
“Uh, excuse me but…”
“I wanted to come with the main group,
but I couldn’t get away…”
“So some people in Midgar took me in.”
In the English game, as can be read above, the scene omits that Cait Sith has already begun the evacuation of Midgar.
{Cait Sith}
CAIT SITH
Cait Sith:
「すんませんけど、この作りモンのボディで
I’m sorry, but please allow me to do
がんばらせてもらいます」
what I can in this fabricated form!
{Cait Sith}
“I know I have a stuffed animal body,
but I’ll work really hard!”
{Barret}
BARRET
Barret:
「さて……全員そろったな」
Well… that’s all of us!
{Barret}
“I guess that’s everyone.”
RED XIII
Red XIII:
「YUFFIE、いないよ」
Yuffie isn’t here!
{Red XIII}
“No, {Yuffie}’s missing.”
BARRET
Barret:
「アイツは……来ねえだろ、きっと」
That girl… she ain’t gonna show!
「オレたちのマテリアを
Ain’t it good enough she
盗んでかなかっただけでも
didn’t manage to swipe
良かったんじゃねえのか？」
all of the damn materia?
{Barret}
BARRET
“She ain’t gonna show up.”
「アイツは……来ねえだろ、きっと」
“’Least this time she didn’t
「でもよ、オレたちのマテリアを盗んでいかなかった。
steal our Materia.
それだけでも良かったんじゃねえのか？」
Thank god for that.”
{Yuffie}
YUFFIE
Geez…that’s pretty lame.”
「おろ～っ……ひっどいなぁ」
{Yuffie}
YUFFIE
Yuffie:
“How could you say that!?”
「ひっどいな～！！」
That’s terrible [to say]!
{Yuffie}
YUFFIE
Yuffie:
I stuck in there even when I was
「船酔いに負けないで
I came this far, not letting
pukin’ from bein’ so seasick.
ここまで来たんだよ」
my airsickness get the best of me!
But if you think I stuck
「最後の最後に抜けちゃって
There’s absolutely no way I’d
through all this
おいしいところはぜ～んぶ持っていかれるなんて
skip out at the very end
just to make off with
絶対イヤだからね！」
and leave all the best parts to you!
everything when the time’s right,
forget it. That’s not my style.”
{Yuffie}
YUFFIE
“After I came this far with you,
「船酔いに負けないでここまで来たんだよ！」
even with my airsickness!”
{Yuffie}
YUFFIE
“I didn’t go through all that
「最後の最後に抜けちゃって、おいしいとこ
just to have you guys
ぜ～んぶ持ってかれるなんて絶対イヤだからね！」
have the best parts all to yourselves!”
Cloud welcoming Yuffie back and Yuffie responding to this is not present in the data of FSHIP_25.
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“Welcome back, {Yuffie}.”
「おかえり、YUFFIE」
{Yuffie}
YUFFIE
“Gee, {Cloud}…that’s so nice of you
「おろ～……CLOUDやさしいねえ。
to say that…You sick or somethin’?”
なんかあった？」
{Yuffie}
YUFFIE
“Well, whatever. I’m gonna be in my
「ま、いいか。じゃ、アタシは通路の指定席で
reserved seat in the hall…
待機……ウッ！……ウップ！」
waiting…upp…Urk!”
{Cloud}
CLOUD
Thanks, everyone.”
「みんな、ありがとう」
{Cloud}
“Thanks everyone.”
{Barret}
BARRET
Ain’t no one wanna be thanked by you!”
「おまえに感謝されてもよう」
{Barret}
BARRET
Barret:
“We didn’t come back for your
「おまえのために戻ってきた
We didn’t come back for you!
spikey-headed ass!”
わけじゃねえ！」
“I came back for Marlene.
「オレの大切なマリンのため。
It’s for my precious Marlene.
Guess it’s jus’ my…
それとおんなじくらい大切な
[And] my… my feelings… or something?
feelings or somethin’.”
オレの……オレの気持ち……ってのか？」
…that are just as precious.
“I, uh
「オレはよ…………
I, well…
I ain’t got no words now…”
今、ここにはいねえ……」
[She’s] not here now…
In FSHIP_2, what follows is Cloud and company remembering Aeris and the hope she left behind. This emotional part of the script does not exist in FSHIP_25.
{Cid}
CID
Cid:
So, what’s next.
「じゃ、なんだ。
So, what’s next.
Now that everyone’s here.
全員そろったところでCLOUDさんよ
Everyone’s here, so make a decision, Cloud.
What’re you going to do?”
いっちょう決めてくれ」
What’re you going to do?
{Cid}
CID
“All right, so what should I do?”
「じゃ、なんだ」
“You decide, {Cloud}.”
「CLOUDさんよ、いっちょ、決めてくれ」
{Cloud}
CLOUD
This is our last battle.
「俺たちの最後の戦いだ。
Our target is Sephiroth in
目標は北の大空洞のセフィロス！
the Northern Cave!
So…”
さあ……」
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“This is our last battle.”
「俺たちの最後の戦いだ！」
“Our target is the North Cave.
「目標は北の大空洞
Our enemy is…Sephiroth!”
敵は……セフィロス！！」
{Cloud}
CLOUD
Let’s do it. Come on, everyone!”
「行くぜ、みんな！」
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“So let’s move out!”
「行くぜ、みんな！」
The scene afterwards with the Highwind almost crashing and Cid getting back control with the help of the crew does not exist in FSHIP_25.
Deck, Final Disc 2 Scene (FSHIP_2)
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“I’m counting on you, {Cid}.”
「たのむ、CID」
{Cid}
CID
“Yeah, yeah…”
「ヘヘ……」
“These two levers have been
「ここに、ずっと気になってたレバーが
buggin’ me for a while…”
２本あるんだが……」
{Cid}
CID
“Let me try them out.”
「ちょっと試させてくれよな」
{Cloud}
CLOUD
Cloud:
“Do whatever you have to.”
「まかせるよ」
I’ll leave it up to you.
{Cid}
CID
Cid:
“Errrrggh!
「あががががが！
Errrrggh!
Some incredible force!
コントロールできねえ！
I can’t control it!
Losing…control…”
すげえエネルギーだ！」
Some incredible power!
“{Cid}.”
「CIDさん」
“Captain”
「艇長」
“Here, sir!”
「手伝いまっす！」
I’ll help you!
{Cid}
CID
“Get the hell outta here, flunkies!
「なんだ、てめえら！
Didn’t I tell you all to go home!?”
実家へ帰れって言ったじゃねえか！」
Omitted superfluous lines by the Highwind crew.
On Your Way to Sephiroth (FSHIP_25)
This map’s final secrets come in the form of what appears to be unused talk-to lines by Cait Sith and Cid, either before or after your arrival to the Northern Crater. FSHIP_25 is the map used for the Highwind deck on disc 3, so the unused text entries below exist adjacent to the used material.
[Cait Sith]
“So let’s get over it!
「さ、みなはん、スラムの方へ！
Now, everyone, to the slums!
We’ve got to hurry to the slums!”
急いで急いで！」
Hurry, hurry!
“Are you all right?
「あっ、おばあさん、だいじょぶでっか？
Oh, [old] ma’am, are you all right?
You say you lost your son?”
えっ？ 息子さんとはぐれた？」
Huh? Your son’s gotten lost?
{Cait Sith}
CAIT SITH
Cait Sith:
“Hey, {Cloud}!”
「あ、CLOUDさん、すいまへん！」
Ah, Cloud, excuse me!
“The people ought to just about be
「もうすぐ、み～んなスラムへ
Everyone will be evacuated
to safety in the slums by now.”
避難完了しますのや」
to the slums shortly.
“Maybe we were all just kidding ourselves.”
「……気休めかもしれまへんけどな」
… Though it might just be a temporary peace of mind.
{Cid}
CID
Cid:
“Well, I guess it’s time for Sephiroth.
「いよいよ、セフィロスだぜ。
Well, I guess it’s time for Sephiroth.
Are your hearts pounding?”
腕が鳴るってか？」
Are you itching to show what you can do?
In the final game Cid will speak about the play “LOVELESS” when you approach him on the deck in disc 3.
Bugenhagen’s Alternate “Death” Scene (BUGIN2)
When you enter Bugenhagen’s house the game checks if the PPV is equal to or greater than 1610: A condition that is met on the third disc. If Red XIII is in your party at that point, his final moments with Bugenhagen will be shown.
Disable either of these conditions (the PPV check and/or the Red XIII check) and the normal scene won’t trigger. Instead, the player will be free to roam the house and trigger a scene with Bugenhagen by simply walking up to and talking to him. Unlike the final version of this scene, Cloud and the second party member stick around to both observe and hear this emotional exchange.
At first the scene plays out very similar to the final version, using the same text entries, but after the line “use your eyes…your ears…” the two scenes take different routes.
“So please, Nanaki…
「だから、ナナキよ……
Go with {Cloud}…
CLOUDと行け……
And use your eyes…your ears…”
その目で……耳で……」
This is when Bugenhagen would say that Nanaki must roam the world and that he may even find his life’s mate. Instead we get…
“Ho Ho…”
「ホーホー……」
{Red XIII}
RED XIII
“Grandfather!?
「じっちゃん！？
Grandfather!!!”
じっちゃん！！」
ブーゲンハーゲン
Bugenhagen:
“…oh yes.
「……ああ、そうそう。
…oh yes.
This is for you.”
おまえにわたすものがあった」
This is for you.
{Red XIII}
RED XIII
“…
「トトト……
Don’t scare me like that, Grandfather!”
おどかさないでよ、じっちゃん！」
Bugenhagen
ブーゲンハーゲン
“What? You surprised yourself.
「なに言うとるんじゃ。
Now take this.”
自分で勝手におどろいたくせに。
ホラ、持っていくといい」
Received “Limited Moon”!
『リミテッドムーン』を手にいれた！
Bugenhagen
ブーゲンハーゲン
Bugenhagen:
“Ho Ho…Hoooo.
「ホーホー……ホウ。
Ho Ho…Hoooo.
Do not worry about me.
わしのことは心配するな。
Do not worry about me.
I’ll be watching the future of the Planet.”
星の未来をみつめるのじゃ」
Fix your gaze on the future of the Planet.
Bugenhagen will also have the above as a talk-to line once the scene is over.
You read that correctly. The unused version of this scene does not end with Bugenhagen dying but instead jokes that he only appeared to die. Bugenhagen will still disappear from the game once you leave his house, but this prompt might not have been there before the final scene was choreographed. We can’t tell for certain.
The impression one can get here is that Bugenhagen’s death in this scene wasn’t always set in stone. The scenario planners experimented with at least two variations, deciding whether to feign seriousness or to go all the way with a sad goodbye. As we all know they ultimately went with the latter.
The final game only adds the Limited Moon to your inventory during the scene at Cosmo Candle. The alternate version of Bugenhagen’s “death” does not include a follow-up scene at Cosmo Canyon’s central fireplace and so the Limited Moon is received at that point instead.
Northern Crater, Surface (LAS0_3)
Received “Potion”!
『ポーション』を手にいれた！
Received “Hi-Potion”!
『ハイポーション』を手にいれた！
Received “Ether”!
『エーテル』を手にいれた！
Received “Turbo Ether”!
『エーテルターボ』を手にいれた！
Received “Phoenix Down”!
『フェニックスの尾』を手にいれた！
Given the tiny spaces of this map, it seems likely that the above treasure would all be contained in one or two treasure objects on the screen. The presence of the Potion is somewhat humorous, given how useless its low restoration value will be at this late stage in the game.
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“Looks like we can only slide down.”
「すべり降りるしかなさそうだな」
☞ Alright, let’s go!
☞ よし、行くぞ！
☞ Let’s get ready first
☞ 準備をしてからにしよう
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“Looks like we can get back to the Highwind.”
「ハイウインドへ戻れそうだな」
☞ Let’s go back to the Highwind
☞ ハイウインドへ戻ろう
☞ Let’s get off again
☞ もう一度降りてみよう
In the final game Cloud can climb back up to the Highwind without a text prompt.
All these maps, including the one for the Mog minigame of the Gold Saucer, share the same author: Takashi Tokita. The fact that MOGU_1 shares text with these maps from the final dungeon is thus probably just a result of them being handled by the same staff member.
The previous “Crater Duplicate Group” has Hiroki Chiba as its author.
Location Name
012345678901234
０１２３４５６７８９０１２３４
Each of the Northern Crater maps are assigned their own, used location name. Only MOGU_1 doesn’t have a used location name, so “012345678901234” might be a placeholder name typed in for MOGU_1.
Received “X-Potion”!
『エクスポーション』を手にいれた！
Received “Turbo Ether”!
『エーテルターボ』を手にいれた！
Received “Elixir”!
『エリクサー』を手にいれた！
Push [OK] to jump down.
【決定ボタン】で
飛び降ります
Push [OK] to jump.
【決定ボタン】で
ジャンプします
LAS0_6 makes use of the text entry above.
Left or Right? LAS0_8
{Cloud}
CLOUD
Cloud:
“Well,
「さて
Now,
which way?”
どっちに行こう……」
which way shall we go…
☞ Left
☞ 左
☞ Left
☞ Right
☞ 右
☞ Right
In LAS0_8, you choose which path each playable character will take. Cloud’s unused line is odd because it asks which way “we” should go, as in what direction a preset group should take instead of choosing the path for one character at a time.
In some of the text entries below, the official translation phrases the question with “we” instead of “you” just like Cloud’s unused entry. However this is a mistranslation and none of those lines are written in Japanese with “we” conjugations.
{Barret}
BARRET
Barret:
“{Cloud},
「CLOUD
Cloud,
which way you goin’?”
おまえは、どっちを選ぶんだ？」
which you gonna pick?
☞ Left
☞ 左
☞ Left
☞ Right
☞ 右
☞ Right
{Tifa}
TIFA
“{Cloud},
「CLOUD
which way should we go?”
どっちに行く？」
☞ Left
☞ 左
☞ Right
☞ 右
{Red XIII}
RED XIII
“Which way are we going,
「どっちに行くんだい
{Cloud}?”
CLOUD？」
☞ Left
☞ 左
☞ Right
☞ 右
{Yuffie}
YUFFIE
“{Cloud},
「CLOUD、あんたは
which way are you goin’?”
どっち行くの？」
☞ Left
☞ 左
☞ Right
☞ 右
{Cait Sith}
CAIT SITH
“What do we do now,
「CLOUDさん
{Cloud}?”
どないします？」
☞ Left
☞ 左
☞ Right
☞ 右
{Vincent}
VINCENT
“What are you going to do,
「どうするんだ
{Cloud}?”
CLOUD……？」
☞ Left
☞ 左
☞ Right
☞ 右
{Cid}
CID
“Which you gonna choose,
「どっちにすんだい
{CLOUD}?”
{CLOUD}？」
☞ Left
☞ 左
☞ Right
☞ 右
Regardless of party formation, the path selection always begins with Cid asking which way Cloud will go. Thus the unused lines, apart from possibly Cloud’s, are an artifact from when party formation or some other mechanic influenced who would ask which path Cloud will take.
Right Path (LAS1_2)
In LAS1_2, a chest is visible that you technically never get to open. Before you can reach the treasure, a gateway takes you to LAS1_3 where a chest with the same flag and content can be opened. Whether you open the chest in LAS1_3, or the normally inaccessible one in LAS1_2, once either one is opened the other one will be as well.
Received “Speed Source”!
『スピードアップ』を手にいれた！
Used treasure chest in LAS1_3
Left-Down Path (LAS3_1)
Empty!
からっぽ！
None of the three treasure chests in LAS3_1 will trigger the text “Empty!” if you approach them.
Penultimate Bottom (LAS4_1)
If Cloud went Left-Up and sent one or more people Left-Down, a tiny event is available at LAS4_1. Walk up to the cave opening at the top right and Cloud will ask where the others are. An invisible blockade is activated, so the player can’t move through the opening, which is where the Left-Down team will eventually arrive through.
If only one person was sent down here, Cloud will ask where that person is. If more than one person was sent the Left-Down path, Cloud will ask where this characters “and the others” are. In this check, the game uses a ladder system when deciding on which character Cloud should refer to. Because Vincent is last in this check, he can never be referenced if he went along with one or more people in the Left-Down path.
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“Where’s {Vincent} and the others?”
「VINCENTたちは……？」
When reaching the border to the lower left in this scenario, a character will appear walking out from the cave opening. Similarly, if Vincent did not go alone, he can never be the one who walks out of there.
Normally, this is where you’d be teleported to final, point-of-no-return field of LAS4_0. But if you deactivate the borders that lead you there, you can trigger something neat. It is actually possible to jump down to LAS4_2, using the floating rock steps from the perspective of LAS4_1.
Although the party members can be visible here, they are not solid and have no talk-to script.
Point of No Return (LAS4_0)
{Tifa}
TIFA
“Sephiroth is beyond here?’”
「この先にセフィロスが？」
In the final game she simply says “This is it“.
When you reach LAS4_0, the characters who did not follow the same path as Cloud can hand over items they found on the way. If Yuffie went the Left-Up path, then she will have picked up the Counter support materia. However she will not admit to holding it unless another character went the same path as her and remarks that she did indeed find something.
Received “W Magic” Materia!
『Ｗまほう』のマテリアを手にいれた！
The Left-Up path also holds the W-Magic materia, which Yuffie can pick up and hand over in an unused scenario. The reason this never happens in the final game is due to some really weird programming choices. Before the game chooses if Yuffie picked up the Counter or W-Magic materia, a check sees if any characters went the same path as Yuffie did. If they did so then a certain variable, which has to stay at a value of zero in order for Yuffie to hand over W-Magic, will increase by a value of +1 thus making her hand over Counter.
This is contradictory not only because Yuffie will refuse to hand anything over if she went alone, but also because the game checks if Yuffie went the same path as herself. No matter what you do, the variable will have an increase in value and so you can only hope to get the Counter materia, never W-Magic.
A simple way to fix this is to choose one or more characters which, if they did follow the same path as Yuffie, makes the variable stay at a value of zero, thus allowing the W-Magic scenario.
Inside the Planet, More Jumping (LAS4_2)
When entering this field, the three characters look at one another, nod, then the party fuses with Cloud and trek down continues. Placeholders exist for text here, but none was ever written aside from the character name and empty rows. Sometimes no words are necessary.
{Cloud}
CLOUD
{Tifa}
TIFA
{Yuffie}
YUFFIE
{Barret}
BARRET
{Red XIII}
RED XIII
{Vincent}
VINCENT
{Cid}
CID
{Red XIII}
CAIT SITH
Jenova Field, Final (LAS4_4)
The location name is the same here as in the previous fields after the point of no return.
Location Name
Inside the planet
星の体内
After the battle with Jenova, you are instantly transferred to the visually identical field of LAS4_42, where an FMV plays and you then end up in LASTMAP.
???? (LASTMAP)
Depending on your earlier party setup, it will be either Barret, Tifa or Cid who speak once everybody turn up here. After either of the three characters say a line to the effect of ‘So everyone is back together again‘, that is where Barret’s unused line fits and should be implemented in a mod. Strangely, the first command in this script is to make text boxes impossible to click past, so to prevent the game from freezing that command must simply be deleted.
{Barret}
BARRET
Barret:
“…And, where the hell’s that?”
「……それで、いったい
… So, where the
どこにいやがるんだ？
hell is [he]?
あの……」
That…
Like the retranslation entails, Barret is in fact referring to Sephiroth. Right after this, Sephiroth suspends everyone in the air with his telekinesis.
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“Sephi…roth!
「セフィ……ロス……！
Not yet…
まだだ……
I’m not…Uuuuraagh!”
まだ俺は……ウァァアア！」
{Cloud}
CLOUD
“G…ugh…”
「クッ……」
Cloud never shows such a hesitant attitude here in the final game.
Sephiroth’s Monologue (BLACKBGE)
BLACKBGE is an unused field we encountered at the end of Part 8 in this series when we found an unused prompt to switch to the second disc. The second secret of this unused map is that it contains a villainous monologue by Sephiroth which was meant to trigger right before you battle Safer Sephiroth. This stands in contrast with the final game, where Sephiroth does not speak at all on the third disc. Both LASTMAP and BLACKBGE have Jun Akiyama as their author, so the assigned event planner here is consistent as both maps are about initiating a battle with the “final” boss.
…over…
……終わった……
It’s all over…
終わったんだ……
…everything…
……なにもかも……
Everyone…everything…
なにも……かも……
all finished…
終わりをつげ……
Now everything
そしてこの私から
will begin anew…with me!!
すべてがはじまる！！
Was it a conscious decision by the FFVII staff to have Sephiroth stay silent in the final draft? We can only speculate. Unlocking the full monologue requires some modding, as normally all you will trigger is the FMV and then the Safer Sephiroth battle.
There is no leftover jump to BLACKBGE in the game code, not even in the debug rooms. The only way to get here is to use cheat codes and/or modding tools that send you to field ID#106. What happens when you arrive depend on the disc you are currently playing on.
If on disc 3, all you’ll get is a black screen where nothing happens. This is because the game is searching for an FMV it can’t find. Without additional modding, you’ll have to enter the first or second disc to unlock the other events. If on disc 1, the FMV “ONTRAIN“, where Cloud jumps onto the Midgar train, will play. If on disc 2, the FMV “C_SCENE3“, where Cloud hands over the Black Materia to Sephiroth, will play. In either case, this is instantly followed by a “battle start” sound effect, whereupon you jump to a battle with Safer Sephiroth. Surprisingly, your party will always consist of three Cloud battlers. This is because the game code states that your battle party is completely empty, but you can’t have a battle without playable characters so each character slot jumps to the closest adjacent one in the code: Cloud.
There is no music in BLACKBGE, apart from the silent music track specifically designed to initiate silence upon entering the map. Defeating Safer Sephiroth here transfers you to the bottom of the Northern Cave, LAS4_0, just like in the final game. The game’s Plot Progression Value won’t be automatically adjusted though, so unless your PPV is already high enough then after Safer Sephiroth’s defeat the game will act as though you haven’t gone past the Point of No Return in LAS4_0 yet.
These BLACKBGE events are clearly intended for disc 3, but what FMV is then intended to play right before the Safer Sephiroth battle?
Just like Japanese kanji got displaced in the unused parts of the Honey Bee Inn due to changes to the game’s kanji table, it is possible that the correct FMV is no longer called in BLACKBGE due to shifts in the FMV ID table.
By reading the FMV list, we find an FMV adjacent to the empty spot that BLACKBGE tries to call for on disc 3: “LASTFLOR”. This is the FMV where LASTMAP is sucked into a vortex and the screen turns black, acting as a nice transition to Sephiroth’s unused monologue.
Based on these findings, I think it possible that the LASTFLOR FMV was intended as a transition to the Safer Sephiroth battle, instead of the Bizarro Sephiroth battle as it is in the final game. This transition would actually add a greater consistency between the Field map and the Battle map, since in the final game LASTMAP disappears inside a vortex, only to be fully restored again when you battle Bizarro Sephiroth.
It would also be appropriate to couple Sephiroth’s unused monologue with the start of the One Winged Angel theme, since the monologue happens right before the Safer Sephiroth battle.
Roll the Final Clips! (LAS4_0)
At whatever point the event debugging was at, these notes were to appear at the very end in place of the actual movies being played. This could both have been because the movies had not been finalized yet and because the event planner didn’t want to get stuck watching the movies over and over again while debugging.
“Sephiroth!!”
ムービー「セフィロス！！」
Movie: Sephiroth!!
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エンディング
Ending
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スタッフロール
Staff Roll
シメムービー
End Movie
Thusly, our main quest through the unused text of Final Fantasy VII reaches its end. What sidequests might there be waiting for us? The biggest one is most definitely the Debug Rooms which we still haven’t explored in their entirety. Whether or not these articles will ever see fruition is unknown. Time will tell.
For now, let’s take a moment to reflect on how far we have come on the epic journey through the hidden contents of this classical J-RPG. To aid in the reflection, please enjoy this montage video.
