Whereas admitting that is a clumsy confession about my superior age that I might relatively not admit, I discover the truth that every era of players grows up with its personal distinctive Ultimate Fantasy period to be endlessly charming. I grew up throughout the fifth and sixth-generation eras of Ultimate Fantasy, with the PS1 trilogy being my trial by fireplace with the sequence. Nowadays, after all, the younger players of at this time are rising up with Ultimate Fantasy 13 and even the newest iteration with Ultimate Fantasy 16.
As this period of Ultimate Fantasy bled into the early 2000s, two crucial items of the franchise got here out. The primary was Ultimate Fantasy 10, the next-generation evolution of the sequence that made proudly owning a PS2 value each penny. The second was the franchise’s large display debut, Ultimate Fantasy: The Spirits Inside.
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The explanation I carry all this up is that rising up throughout that specific period of Ultimate Fantasy meant rising up throughout the earliest days of the web. It was a time when rumors about getting the Triforce in Ocarina of Time and a military-operated arcade machine bent on world domination often called Polybius had been the norm. That very same sense of outrageous rumor mongering additionally discovered its approach to Ultimate Fantasy.
Within the a long time which have handed for the reason that emergence of this new, extra science fiction-themed period of Ultimate Fantasy, the starvation for rumors and hypothesis has turn out to be intrinsically intertwined with one other of the web’s favourite actions. That’s the introduction of the fan concept.
Whereas many a fan concept surrounding potential connections between Ultimate Fantasy video games, a sequence nicely regarded for its disconnected, nearly anthology-like format, none are as fascinating or fascinating because the one I am about to speak about. As exhausting as it’s to imagine, there’s extra than simply circumstantial proof to help the concept that Ultimate Fantasy 7, Ultimate Fantasy 10 and The Spirits Inside are all a part of the identical universe.
The next article comprises spoilers for quite a few Ultimate Fantasy video games, together with 7, 10 and the film The Spirits Inside. Proceed with warning.
Spira to Gaia
The Placing Similarities Between Spira and Gaia
Apart from how related the names are pronounced, Spira and Gaia share some floor degree similarities, however various direct connections. These are exhausting to disregard, particularly when them inside the context of making an attempt to attach the video games collectively. In flip, that additionally impacts how this world turns into the post-apocalyptic nightmare seen in The Spirits Inside.
To begin with, one take a look at the 2 world maps aspect by aspect reveals one thing relatively puzzling. The whole thing of Spira appears to be like strikingly much like the northern continent of Gaia in Ultimate Fantasy 7. As a civilization, Spira was deeply and intimately related to the need and majesty of the planet. Or the Farplane, as they referred to as it in these historical instances. How Spira turned Gaia is probably finest described by the textual content and story of Ultimate Fantasy 7 itself.
Two-thousand years previous to Ultimate Fantasy 7, the Cetra witnessed the arrival of Jenova within the type of a meteor crashing down. The Cetra had been a race of summoners and mages with a robust, legendary connection to what they referred to as the Lifestream. It is not unusual for various religions to consult with the identical factor with distinctive names,
The Farplane and the Lifestream are inherently related, as even author and producer Kazuhige Nojima has said as a lot. The Farplane, the Lifestream, no matter you need to name it, the purpose is that they’re in the end one and the identical. And as we all know, the idea of destiny and repeated cycles of future is large within the Ultimate Fantasy universe.
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Sin, the world-devouring illustration of humanity’s darkest misdeeds, is a exceptional distinction to Jenova in some ways. They’re each alerts of an apocalyptic ending, with Jenova coming from above and Sin rising from the ether under. If we’re to go alongside that prepare of thought, it is completely potential that Jenova was a Sin Spawn, and her coming was simply the newest in a cycle created to punish humanity for his or her mistreatment of Gaia.
Throughout her pilgrimage to cease Sin, Yuna is nicely on her approach to changing into a Excessive Summoner, which is a title bestowed upon previous warriors who’ve defeated the traditional creature. Among the many many locations that she and the occasion go to is Kilika, a city destroyed by Sin. In search of to assist the lifeless attain the Farplane, Yuna performs what is known as a Sending, a ritual dance that helps the souls of the deceased discover peace.
In Ultimate Fantasy 7 Rebirth, a sport that has quite a few references to FF10, Aerith performs a dance contained in the Temple of the Ancients that’s strikingly much like the one Yuna does. It is all related to the identical non secular middle of life that powers each video games.
The Secret Origin of the Shinra Electrical Energy Firm
How Shinra Bought Their Mako Again
In Ultimate Fantasy 10-2, which is about two years after the occasions of FF10, Yuna and Rikku have fashioned the Gullwings alongside Paine. As they journey Spira trying to find spheres, they accomplish that aboard an airship often called the Celsius. A younger Al Bhed boy with a really acquainted identify, Shinra, speaks of his intention to reap highly effective vitality from the Farplane.
For some time, this was simply seen as a humorous little reference. That each one modified when Nojima straight up confirmed that his descendants would create the Shinra Electrical Energy Firm, however this connection was additional solidified by the occasions of Ultimate Fantasy 7 Remake. When the occasion storms Shinra HQ, a gaggle worker picture exhibits the younger boy all grown up.
It typically feels much less like related themes, which FF is unquestionably recognized for, and extra like Sq. leaning into one thing that they themselves have already confirmed. I am not telling you something you do not already know. Ultimate Fantasy 7 and Ultimate Fantasy 10 are related. Sq. and Nojima have advised us as such for years.
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The need to manage the Farplane or the Lifestream is a story as previous as time. Components of that date all the best way again to Ultimate Fantasy 10, and in FF7, what we see is a world that also hasn’t realized from its errors. Jenova’s arrival feels eerily much like that of Sin’s, as Shinra’s murdering of the planet led to it being punished with a cataclysmic finish.
Within the closing hours of Ultimate Fantasy 7, the apocalyptic ending that was promised a number of instances in FF10 involves fruition. Meteor is summoned, and although the occasion does achieve killing Sephiroth, which permits Aerith’s casting of Holy to succeed, it leaves the world of FF7 in a close to extinct state.
The Finish of the World
How The Spirits Inside is the Darkish Ultimate Chapter of FF10 and FF7
Following the top of Ultimate Fantasy 7, there are two function movies that appear to spell out the harrowing final days of humanity. The Spirits Inside and Creation Youngsters share quite a lot of widespread themes, and it is pretty straightforward to see how these two movies are the concluding chapter of this lengthy, complicated story.
Aki Ross, the good scientist and lead of The Spirits Inside, will get contaminated by an alien virus from what the movie calls Phantoms. It’s extremely much like the Geostigma virus from Creation Youngsters.
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Each of them are brought on by publicity to the Lifestream, and in Dr. Ross’ case, the Phantoms had been the deceased souls of vacationers that landed on Gaia in a meteor. As you will bear in mind, Jenova arrived on Gaia inside a meteor, and was believed to have been an Historical by Dr. Gast. Apocalyptic, life-ending disasters that threaten to destroy humanity for his or her sins are the widespread, persistently reoccurring threads all through this complete narrative.
If that is a bit tough to wrap your head round, the simplified timeline could go one thing like this.
The occasions of Ultimate Fantasy 10 and 10-2 unfold as anticipated, with Tidus accompanying Yuna on her pilgrimage to cease Sin. She succeeds, changing into the primary particular person to turn out to be Excessive Summoner and cease Sin with out dying, thus altering the chains of destiny ceaselessly. Yuna leaves her summoning life behind to affix the Gullwings. This tradition adjustments and evolves, changing into the Cetra as we all know them in Ultimate Fantasy 7.
Jenova, a Sin Spawn, arrives, as humanity nonetheless has not realized from its previous errors. The occasions of Ultimate Fantasy 7 start, and regardless of their finest efforts, Meteor leaves Gaia in a state of apocalyptic damage. This results in the pure conclusion, as Creation Youngsters and The Spirits Inside occur concurrently.
So far as online game fan theories go, there’s none which have this degree of insane dedication and tinfoil hat vitality. It has been a constant concept among the many FF trustworthy for years, and whereas it is unlikely that the third a part of the Ultimate Fantasy 7 remake trilogy will discover any facet of this, it is enjoyable to go the time unitl then.
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