Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier

[Suzaku]

I don't remember what all was shown in the TGS trailer, but here's the noticeable stuff I picked up on, starting with a concrete timeline:

• [ μ ] – εγλ 1977
  • President Shinra approves the top secret SOLDIER Project, beginning with Project: 0.
• [ μ ] – εγλ 1977–1984
  • Shinra scientists, including Hojo, Hollander, and Lucrecia, carry out the Jenova Project.
• [ μ ] – εγλ 1985
  • Hojo murders Gast and captures Ifalna and Aerith.
• [ μ ] – εγλ 1988
  • Distinguished members of Shinra's Public Security Division are recruited as SOLDIER candidates.
• [ μ ] – εγλ 1989
  • SOLDIER candidates compete against each other in virtual battlefields.

The Security forces have different emblems on their pauldrons, perhaps indicating rank or combat role. SOLDIER Candidates have a red diamond emblem on their pauldrons. In the final shot of the trio leaping out of the helicopter, they have red SOLDIER emblems with the text "SOLDIER 1st" on their pauldrons.

 

[Suzaku]

FF7FS takes place in their 1988, 19 years before FF7 (the year 0007). Why the hell did the calendar roll back to 0000? Why not 2007? It seems unnecessary and confusing.

That's how the dates were always formatted, going all the way back to the timeline video included on the International bonus disc in 1997, which eventually became the inspiration for Before Crisis. Here's a thread I made about that timeline a while back.

They've never explained what the date formatting is supposed to mean, but especially in that original video, it's clear that they're meant to be pronounced "μ (Mu) Era" and "ν (Nu) Era."

As I discuss later in that thread, I think the most likely explanation is that Shinra instituted a Year One after winning the war with Wutai to commemorate becoming the world's sole superpower. The switch happens just after they declare victory. In such a case, they're probably meant to mean "New Era" and "無 (Mu) Era," literally "Null Era."

They could also be using the Greek characters to mean 12th Era and 13th Era, though that seems unlikely to me since it would imply tens of thousands of years of recorded history before Jenova arrived. But maybe the Cetra were around for a really long time and had some sort of 2000 year cyclical calendar that persists into the modern day.

 

[NaoyaShinota]

Can’t wait to play with you guys soon if you plan to play.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1456548757969850371

 

[Suzaku]

Well, if anything were to get me to play a BR game, it'd be this. Love the premise, and from what I've heard the beta was actually pretty fun. Just kind of hope the customization is good. Doesn't run on my tablet but I'll try it out with Bluestacks, I guess.

Don't know what to expect in terms of a story, but I hope it's at least got some sort of a narrative to stitch things together a la the Dirge of Cerberus multiplayer mode. I know they apparently plan to include it in Ever Crisis.

Would be really cool to see them gradually push forward through the timeline and maybe show us the early days of other characters.

 

[NaoyaShinota]

Hope we get to see some Before Crisis and Dirge of Cerberus content. Also seeing as how we are going up to FFVII, I will be curious to see people at the end using a P900iV. Because We should be leading up to the time line of Before Crisis. Also I know EC will feature story’s from this so that should be interesting.

 

[Shademp]

Don't know what to expect in terms of a story, but I hope it's at least got some sort of a narrative to stitch things together a la the Dirge of Cerberus multiplayer mode.

Going by Nomura's statement that TFS has no story mode, the impression is strong that TFS will have zero plot. Any plot in this part of the timeline will be included in Ever Crisis instead.

 

[OWA-2]

This may look like a nitpick of mine, but in these trailers we can see all the big ShinRa scientists from the Compilation: Hojo, Gast, Lucrecia, Hollander, and even Gillian. Sooo....... Where is Fuhito? He was a ShinRa scientist before joining Avalanche, right? So why leave him out of this?

 

[Odysseus]

Did he work on the JENOVA project?

 

[Makoeyes987]

Fuhito was not a Shinra scientist. He became interested in Planetology and studied under Bugenhagen, and was then inspired to "save" the Planet. Not sure where you heard he worked for Shinra.

 

[Suzaku]

So there's the new variant of the SOLDIER emblem used on their pauldrons. A bit different from the standard Compilation version, and maybe a bit less abstracted as a result.

Roughly this. I've always wondered if the symbol might have been based on a kanji, but now it really looks like it's just pixelated katakana.

Maybe even a mashup of the different strokes used in the katakana spelling of SOLDIER: ソルジャー

 

[Tetsujin]

I see Tetris blocks

 

[NaoyaShinota]

Going by Nomura's statement that TFS has no story mode, the impression is strong that TFS will have zero plot. Any plot in this part of the timeline will be included in Ever Crisis instead.

That makes more sense. Would at least like a little bit of story though. But I understand. This EC thing is strange. Probably won’t know more about it until 2022 at the earliest. Until then, this should satisfy my FFVII urges lol.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

FF7FS takes place in their 1988, 19 years before FF7 (the year 0007). Why the hell did the calendar roll back to 0000? Why not 2007? It seems unnecessary and confusing.

Since Shin-Ra was selling the end of the Wutai War as the beginning of a new era of peace and prosperity, a new calendar was probably an effective symbolic piece in that propaganda.

 

[Makoeyes987]

I just realized something.

The top secret project to create augmented super soldiers for Shinra was called Project: 0.

..... Those mutated Behemoths in Deepground are called Type 0 Behemoths.

Shinra was trying to create militarized experimental Behemoths! That's why they carry that name!

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

[ μ ] – εγλ 1977–1984

• Shinra scientists, including Hojo, Hollander, and Lucrecia, carry out the Jenova Project.

The Jenova Project should have already ended around 1977, though, since Genesis, Angeal, and Seph were born around 30 years before the main FFVII. Project: 0 and 1977-1984 is, per the prior trailer, the period in which Shin-Ra experimented on "countless casualties" to develop SOLDIER.

 

[SilverArrow20XX]

The Jenova Project should have already ended around 1977, though, since Genesis, Angeal, and Seph were born around 30 years before the main FFVII. Project: 0 and 1977-1984 is, per the prior trailer, the period in which Shin-Ra experimented on "countless casualties" to develop SOLDIER.

I thought 30 years ago was when they STARTED the project.
So it'd be maybe a few months of research after that, and then a full term of pregnancy before they started being born.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Even if that's so, the wide time period under the microscope there is for Project: 0 and its unfortunate test subjects.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

As a recruiting video, the opening movie would be pretty effective, minus the lab scenes.
Was that Bahamut she was fighting?

 

[NejXVII]

The Jenova Project should have already ended around 1977, though, since Genesis, Angeal, and Seph were born around 30 years before the main FFVII. Project: 0 and 1977-1984 is, per the prior trailer, the period in which Shin-Ra experimented on "countless casualties" to develop SOLDIER.

That was one thing that was confusing me. It would make sense if Project 0 was the Project that came directly after Sephiroth being declared a success in 1977. But the 1977-1984 time period is showing Hojo, Hollander, and Lucrecia all working together. If the J-Project had been finished in 1977, shouldn't Lucrecia have already disappeared to the crystal cave? Why would she continue working with Hojo after all the stuff with Vincent and not being allowed to see Sephiroth?

 

[Shademp]

Was that Bahamut she was fighting?

First half of video: Infantrymen plus infantrywoman at the end fighting Type-0 Behemoth, an enemy that showed up in FF7R though here the beast is dressed up a bit more. The golden earring thingies and the body paintings/stripes are new.

Spoiler

Second half of video: SOLDIER (no woman SOLDIER in sight) fighting in a virtual environment. This includes a fight against Bahamut.

Spoiler

 

[cold_spirit]

Don't know what to expect in terms of a story, but I hope it's at least got some sort of a narrative to stitch things together a la the Dirge of Cerberus multiplayer mode. I know they apparently plan to include it in Ever Crisis.

Would be really cool to see them gradually push forward through the timeline and maybe show us the early days of other characters.

Just to add to this quick, the story of First Soldier in Ever Crisis will focus on the three characters who jump out of the helicopter at the end of the cinematic trailer. No word on the story's content beyond that. Looks like they confront the Behemoth earlier in the trailer as well.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

That was one thing that was confusing me. It would make sense if Project 0 was the Project that came directly after Sephiroth being declared a success in 1977. But the 1977-1984 time period is showing Hojo, Hollander, and Lucrecia all working together. If the J-Project had been finished in 1977, shouldn't Lucrecia have already disappeared to the crystal cave? Why would she continue working with Hojo after all the stuff with Vincent and not being allowed to see Sephiroth?

Good observation. I can only figure the footage of Lucrecia would be between Genesis's birth and Sephiroth's, since we previously knew a) Genesis and Angeal were born before Seph, but also b) that Genesis's birth was a turning point in terms of the extent of experimentation on other personnel.

 

[NejXVII]

Good observation. I can only figure the footage of Lucrecia would be between Genesis's birth and Sephiroth's, since we previously knew a) Genesis and Angeal were born before Seph, but also b) that Genesis's birth was a turning point in terms of the extent of experimentation on other personnel.

Thanks, I only noticed as I am trying to work out Sephiroth's birth year. Most evidence prior to this pointed to 1977. So it very much interested me that they chose that year for this new Project-0 lore.

I am just finding it hard to accept that Pro-0 was started before Sephiroth's birth, when I had assumed that his birth would've been what started it and not the other way around. But that's just my headcanon, I guess. Them appearing to be in Remake's DG lab certainly supports your idea of it having to do with Genesis birth and not Sephiroth's.

Hopefully, Ever Crisis will confuse me even more give us a clearer picture.

 

[waw]

I may be late to this party but I haven't seen it stated:

I no longer think "First soldier" refers to the singular first soldier of the program. This whole time I thought it meant sephiroth or someone before him. Rather I think it's referring to the first incarnation of SOLDIER, so multiple members. It makes sense if our helicopter trio are getting names and EC story that they're the precursors for Seph, Gen and Ang.

*coughTrinitySaintscough*

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I just hope they don't have dumb names.

I hope they're called Janet, Trevor, and Nigel.