How Is Final Fantasy VII And X-2 Connected?

The Final Fantasy series has notoriously maintained its tradition of producing games for its mainline run that never shares continuity with previous entries. This closes the door on your favorite character, storyline, or locations from reappearing in another game; however, Easter Eggs are a common way for developer Square Enix to still honor those games.

A seemingly innocuous Easter Egg which appeared in Final Fantasy VII Remake has sparked new debate online about whether the original game and Final Fantasy X-2 have more in common than just an Easter Egg. We'll be discussing why the mainline Final Fantasy series never produced sequels or interconnecting stories, what this specific Easter Egg entails, and how it could have enormous implications for the series, including future releases.

Why Are Final Fantasy Games Disconnected From Each Other?

From the release of the first game in the acclaimed series in 1987 to its current release, Final Fantasy XV, in 2016, Square Enix delivers exceptional storytelling, marvelous world-building, and innovative gameplay mechanics. Each entry in the mainline series is numbered in Roman numerals, and those unfamiliar with the series would think each game is interconnected narrative-wise.

Unfortunately, this isn't the case, as the developer made each game entry a self-contained or standalone story and the meaning behind each Roman numeral refers to a volume instead of it being a sequel. However, this can be an advantage to dedicated and new players as choosing a game to start with is less intimidating without having to play through years worth of story content.

But they reuse themes, gameplay elements, and mechanics, such as the famed turn-based combat system, between the games, yet it never hampers the game experience. However, Square Enix tends to leave a few Easter Eggs neatly hidden in Final Fantasy games, which takes time to locate and determine their meaning.

As fan theories continue to run wild online on the meaning behind these Easter Eggs, Square Enix have gone out of their way to confirm various fan theories, which have delighted its player base. Nevertheless, one slightly controversial Easter Egg has divided the community arguing over its possible legitimacy: are Final Fantasy VII and X-2 connected?

The Great Final Fantasy X Easter Egg Debate In Final Fantasy VII

Following the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake in 2020, Square Enix planted an Easter Egg that seemingly alludes that Final Fantasy VII and X are in a shared timeline. This is due to a devilish detail buried in a museum at Shinra Headquarters as you make your way through the area.

Passing by multiple artifacts that speak to the mega-energy conglomerate's history, you'll find a seemingly innocent photograph hanging on the wall. While the inscription is in Japanese, it loosely translates to "Shinra Factory"; however, the appearance of a familiar figure in a mask in the front row makes this Easter Egg more surprising.

Players have been dissecting and intensely debating whether these two Final Fantasy games are related, but it goes beyond the photograph in FF VII Remake. This started with a character from Final Fantasy X-2 named Shinra, which first sparked the games' connection.

According to an exclusive interview with game director Yoshinori Kitase in May 2019, he alluded to a "secret history" surrounding the character; however, scenario writer Kazushige Nojima would not confirm it. Kitase thought Shinra would've grown up and had a family whose descendants would go on to establish the Shinra Electric Power Company featured in Final Fantasy VII.

It's evident in the narrative direction for Final Fantasy X-2, even making comments that seemingly tease Shinra Company's eventual founding. For instance, Shinra comments on the "limitless energy" he studied after analyzing Farplane data, exclaiming, "With a little work, we could probably extract the energy in usable form."

He continues to foreshadow that this extraction could take "generations" for it to be successful but remains optimistic that it's worth investing in. To further strengthen the claim, another character named Yuna teases the founding of Midgar as she states that sometime in the future, they "could build a city full of light - one that never sleeps!"

The "limitless energy" Shinra was referring to ends up being the Mako energy in Final Fantasy VII, and the company behind the refinement of this energy is named after the Final Fantasy X-2 character. While some could call this a coincidence, Nojima would work on the Final Fantasy X Ultimania lore books, which may suggest otherwise.

He detailed that the events of Final Fantasy VII had occurred in a different location despite Shinra's offspring developing space travel technology which would've allowed them to migrate to other planets. However, the time between Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X-2 is roughly thousands of years apart, making the connections tenuous at best.

Nevertheless, this idea was alluded to during Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children regarding the background information on the Shera airship. The report suggests that the parts (or the entire ship) were discovered, not built, using components belonging to a lost world that utilizes technology that people from Gaia have yet to understand fully.

Are The Worlds Canonically Connected Or Just Coincidence?

Nojima briefly spoke about the games' connections in an interview with Finaland, revealing the initial idea was to create a brand new world and story for the game. "Except that when I created it, I realized that it looked a lot like FFVII ... But without realizing it. Afterward, when it was officially said in Ultimania, it took a completely gigantic proportion when it was just an anecdote."

Regardless, this connection reignited fan theories dating back to 2003, and its implications could have a massive impact on both games. The biggest is the historical binds between Final Fantasy VII and X that share a connected universe although events were happening years apart.

It also opens the door for possible connections amongst other Final Fantasy games that have yet to be explored, possibly teasing that most entries are part of a larger story that occurs at different times and locations. On the other hand, many have rebuked the connections between games, adding it to nothing more than an Easter Egg or a subtle nod to Final Fantasy X-2.

But it can be argued as previous Easter Eggs never received a cutscene and had previously been explained by the developers. It also adds that the game director acknowledges this Easter Egg and the leading theory involving Shinra and the mentioned games.