FFX and FFX-2: Prequel to FF7? Spoilers beware!

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-11-24 10:22pm

This is strictly related to the story, not at all to the gameplay, so I didn't think it should go in Gaming. Mods, if you think otherwise, do feel free to move it.

You're going to think I'm crazy, but I'm not making this up.

A conversation that takes place late in the game, between Yuna and a genius child who just happens to be named Shinra who works on her airship:

Shinra: Aha...
Yuna: What are you looking at?
Shinra: Farplane data. The more study it, the more fascinating it gets. There's limitless energy swirling around in there.
Yuna: Limitless energy?
Shinra: The life force that flows through our planet, I think. With a little work, we could probably extract the energy in a usable form.

(Starting to sound familiar?)

Brother: Sweet!
Shinra: Of course, that'd take generations.
Brother: That's no fun!
Buddy: Well still, it is something worth shooting for.
Yuna: Think how much Spira would change if we ever got it to work! Maybe one day we could build a city full of light, one that never sleeps!

(Kind of like Midgar, eh?)

Shinra: No doubt about it.
Yuna: Just imagine! But I'll never get to see it.

I dropped my controller when I read this. Needless to say, I was intrigued, so I ran a google search and found this little gem:

A while back, a guide was released by DigiCube for Final Fantasy X-2 titled "Final Fantasy X-2: Ultimania Guide". The book shed some light on the story connection between Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X. In FFX-2, there is a character by the name of Shinra who helps the Gullwings (Yuna's team) hunt for spheres all around Spira. Eventually, Shinra leaves the Gullwings and starts a new project to extract Mako from the Far planes. The project was financed by the al bhed Rin and was fairly successful. However, technology hadn't advanced far enough in Spira for them to use Mako worldwide.

Many years into the future, the descendants of Shinra (from FFX-2) went to a new planet and used his teachings to draw Mako out of the new planet, cue Final Fantasy 7. So apparently the FFX series is somewhat a prequel to FF7.

This idea was just shown in the Ultimania guide and was not shown in any of the games mentioned above. The connection is fairly interesting and would have been even more interesting if it were in the games.

Weird shit, eh? It looks like Square is going to start taking seriously the idea of further developing the Final Fantasy mythology and even establishing a continuity between the worlds.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2003-11-25 09:16am

It was brought up in the Ultimania guide.

In the last interview of the book they asked that question and the main programmer just wanted to a do a homage to FF7, similar to how FF9 and FFT had brought up stuff from previous FF's.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2003-11-25 10:49am

it'd be neat if squaresoft actually started tying in their games continuity with any final fantasy sequels they decide to do. as it is the standard formula's gotten a bit repetitous. however tying everything together would definitely rock.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2003-11-28 10:53pm

ShinjiGohan wrote:Oh wait, all of the FF games have someone named Cid, so they must all be interconnected. Or thta sword Masamune and been around for all the games, so it must be the same sword.

Just because a few names and ideas where carried over doesn't mean that its the same world.

Look at the map, for the drastic changes in the map between FFX-2 and FF7, several million years would have had to pass. And what are the chances of the name of the kid in X-2 (Shinra) would actually be remembered for those million years, so that the company named after him... Sorry but thats a very weak link between the two.

((SPOILERS!!))

Who cares... it's a cute little tribute, kinda like the Black Mage and White Mage staffs are all staffs that Yuna used in FFX, and the swords the Samuri use are all Auron's. Paine's Warrior dress is based on Squall's leathers from FF8, Yuna's Warrior is using Tidus' Brotherhood sword. Yuna's pet for her Trainer dress is the Aeon Yojimbo's dog.

Although, I want to know how Lulu's fitting into her lil'black strappy dress if she's pregnant...

ShinjiGohan · Post by **ShinjiGohan** » 2003-11-28 11:33pm

Remember, Lulu said that Waka was exaggerating the expectant time of birth of their child. Most likely Lulu was just a couple months pregant, aka not big enough yet to pose too much of a problem of wearing her old outfits.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2003-11-28 11:40pm

ShinjiGohan wrote:Remember, Lulu said that Waka was exaggerating the expectant time of birth of their child. Most likely Lulu was just a couple months pregant, aka not big enough yet to pose too much of a problem of wearing her old outfits.

That's still a sweet touch. I was wanting those two together all through FFX

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-11-29 01:26am

Of course if it's another planet tech took some steps backwards...

it's not like our entire technological and industrial might was suddently tranferred to the America's overnight. especially if contact was lost....

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-11-29 01:33am

Ok, Gohan, imagine if sometime during the 1500's all contact was lost with Europe. Industrial development had to be restarted from scratch, in North America, the carabean etc. How much more reduced would the technical development of this continent be by the 1800's We couldn't just import the manufacturing stuff from England, Denmark or France like we did, there would be no England, Demark or France. And those really cool ideas like the steam engine, wouldn't quickly cross the ocean to us.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2003-11-29 10:59am

Also if we keep this train of thought that Shinra did transplant to another planet.

Think of the time passed...are you honestly thinking that Shinra ripped up everything...he at most took his tech and that's it.

As for why isn't there same things...because even in the game he said he wanted to visit another world with his findings.

PrinceofLowLight · Post by **PrinceofLowLight** » 2003-11-30 02:24am

This doesn't make much sense. Why would they remember Shinra enough to have the company named after him, but not enough to know that humans had been in space before? Not having the resource base or technology to build more spacecraft on a new world is one thing. Having generations of people think that humans had never been in space before Cid is quite another.

On the other, hand it explains some of Sephiroth's insane ramblings more. One of the things he says in the Shinra mansion is about the coming of "your people".

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2003-11-30 06:37pm

ShinjiGohan has been HOS'd because he cannot fathom logical debate.

Super-Gagme · Post by **Super-Gagme** » 2003-11-30 09:13pm

PrinceofLowLight wrote:On the other, hand it explains some of Sephiroth's insane ramblings more. One of the things he says in the Shinra mansion is about the coming of "your people".

Actually that does explain it quite well, nice theory

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2003-12-01 04:58pm

PrinceofLowLight wrote:This doesn't make much sense. Why would they remember Shinra enough to have the company named after him, but not enough to know that humans had been in space before? Not having the resource base or technology to build more spacecraft on a new world is one thing. Having generations of people think that humans had never been in space before Cid is quite another.

On the other, hand it explains some of Sephiroth's insane ramblings more. One of the things he says in the Shinra mansion is about the coming of "your people".

How many companies in real life are named after mythological figures? They could have been on that planet so long that their origins faded into myths, and Shinra was remembered as some kind of god-like figure, not a human who'd founded a colony on a new planet.

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2003-12-02 04:04am

Im wondering if anyone has ever compared all of the maps from all the FF games, maybe took continental drift into account, and figured out a possible order.

Other connections to ff7. Materia and spheres could be connected. yuna mentions she would one day like to see a city full of lights which could be Midgar.

As cool as continuity between the two sounds though I think im going to chalk it up as more of a tribute to ff7 for now. Like Tevar said throughoout that entire game they were giving winks and nods to pretty much every other Final Fantasy game at every possible turn (though I will admit the lack of ff9 references compared to 7 and 8 has me a wee perturbed)

The Technological backslide, although very feasible, would somewhat suprise me if Shinra did indeed found this colony. Likely if the project were financed by Rin then it would be mostly Al Bhed doing the colonizing, which means they would opt for technology and work against any sort of backslide.

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2003-12-02 04:06am

LadyTevar wrote:
ShinjiGohan wrote:Remember, Lulu said that Waka was exaggerating the expectant time of birth of their child. Most likely Lulu was just a couple months pregant, aka not big enough yet to pose too much of a problem of wearing her old outfits.
That's still a sweet touch. I was wanting those two together all through FFX

Except that Lulu has the baby during the course of the game. Never changing outfits once as you meet up with her throughout the game.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-12-03 09:30am

It seems plausible, I was thinking this was just a homage to the previous game, but it seems more than that now.

Mako energy being the focal point with Shinra wanting to visit other worlds and develop this tech. Sounds like they did manage to get to another world and did implement this tech, however, things were complicated and the world didn't directly translate to the world in FFVII (a bit like the loss seen after the Roman Empire collapsed or in Star Wars after the Old Republic breaks up thanks to the Empire). The airship Highwind is far less advanced looking (but still my fave ship) and Shinra stopped their space programme after the olf No. 26 was aborted on take-off thanks to Zephram Cochra... uh, Cid Highwind.

It's a nice tie in, but it's not an easy one, not like saying "This game is set 10 years before this game on the same planet with the same people and so on".

And I always thought FF: TSW was too close to FFVII on Earth.

Isil`Zha · Post by **Isil`Zha** » 2003-12-20 06:10pm

That is interseting, I thought his name was just an homage - as I apparently missed that coversastion somehow. So it appears squaresoft is actully starting to somewhat tie the different worlds together...

(Like all the homages in FFIX "Didn't some spikey haired guy used to use this sword?" and "Kain's lance" (from FFIV) - though FFIX was full of homages - but this one in X-2 is more than just an homage...)

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2003-12-20 06:28pm

thread digger! *points finger*

BlkbrryTheGreat · Post by **BlkbrryTheGreat** » 2003-12-21 04:11am

On a side note, its kind of a downer. Makes you think "hey these people were all dead when I played FF7 years ago!"