Translations

Scanlation of FFVII Official Establishment File Now Available!

by cold_spirit May 19, 2023 0 comments

The grandfather of all Final Fantasy VII guidebooks. Mysterious in its origin and content, the Official Establishment File has been “scanlated” by the good folks over at the Shinra Archaeology Department, making it available in English for the first time!

So what makes the Official Establishment File mysterious? What if I told you that Vincent can only go out during the day? Or that Gast was Sephiroth’s father? These proclamations are preposterous to us today, but back in ‘97, this was how some Japanese speaking fans were introduced to the world of FFVII. The Official Establishment File states these characterizations with gusto.

It’s unknown whether these inaccuracies were once a part of FFVII’s scenario, or if they were invented by a rogue Famitsu writer (who published the book), but whatever the case, it’s always interesting to get a peak behind the development curtain and speculate on what could’ve been.

Beyond the inaccurate characterizations, the Official Establishment File also provides a beautiful assortment of character and environmental art, as well as some decent prose. Look carefully and you may even find a few early romanizations of the character’s names, such as Leno instead of Reno (which the editors choose to retain for this release).

Download here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B3K9cxAcexqbezrf5CciF_SFN4vUtMC0/view

For more scanlations and other tidbits, follow the Shinra Archaeology Department on Twitter!

Credits:

• Shinra Archaeology Department, Twitter: @ShinraArch
• Edited by Odysseus, Twitter: @TheStrifeIsRife
• Translated by TurquoiseHammer, Twitter: @TurquoiseHammer