When it comes to in-game secrets, the Final Fantasy franchise is no stranger to the phenomenon. Over the years, the developers have managed to sprinkle little easter eggs, hidden endings, and secret boss fights into their games. We are finding even hidden side quests thirteen years after the release of Final Fantasy 9.
With the recent release of the remake of Final Fantasy 7, there has been building intrigue around the original game, especially when it comes to its hidden secrets. In this list, we’ll be taking a look at ten secrets from the original Final Fantasy 7 that took fans years to find.
10 Yuffie And Vincent
While this is no longer a secret, at one point players were unaware that these characters existed; especially Yuffie. Vincent and the Wutai thief are unlockable party members, but when the game first released players could have easily missed their opportunities to have them in their party if they didn’t own a computer or the strategy guide. They both required a specific set of questions that needed to be answered correctly or in-game requirements that needed to be met. But if you answer incorrectly or miss your window, they are unfortunately no longer accessible in that playthrough.
9 Kefka’s Return
Kefka is one of the most recognizable villains in the Final Fantasy franchise, and maybe even in video games. That’s why its no surprise that the developers snuck in a little homage to the great bad guy. In the Monster Hotel in the Gold Saucer, there is a caged pumpkin that can be found that when interacting with it, will release a loud and manically laugh. It is actually a skewed version of Kefkas original laugh track from Final Fantasy 6.
8 Running Away Glitch
Occasionally when entering into a random encounter, your back will be turned to your enemy, leaving you open to more hefty attacks. Usually, you must wait until each enemy is done attacking your party before facing them.
But if you simply tap the triggers on the controller to initiate the run animation, it will reset your party’s positions and you will no longer be vulnerable to back attacks.
7 Infinite Health Glitch
Glitches have existed in video games since the dawn of gaming, some can completely ruin your gaming experience, and others can be manipulated to your benefit. Years after the game’s release, a few courageous risk-takers discovered that one can manipulate a glitch in the PlayStations coding, to completely regen your health without worrying about being attacked by simply casting the spell and opening the disc tray of the system.
6 The Secret Cow Level
If you were a fan of the Diablo series in the 90s, then you’re probably familiar with the secret cow level. The rumor circulated and grew on forums in the early days on the internet, even sparking a response from blizzard denying the rumors. While there’s no secret cow level, the developers decided to pay tribute to the popular rumor in their game. If you place a save point in a specific location in the northern crater, the save location will change to the secret cow level.
5 Aerith’s Posthumous Dialogue
One of the strangest aspects of the game can only be found with a game shark, which allows you to access certain files and manipulate them within the game. If one uses this method to keep Aerith alive, they will quickly notice that she actually has unique dialogue prompts that existed in the game’s code even after her death. This means she might originally have not been expected to die so soon in the game’s story, or she wasn’t intended to be killed at all. Ghosts can talk after all.
4 Infinite Elixirs
After the snowboarding segment, the player is tasked with exploring their way through the great glacier. There’s a cave that can be found that contains an elixir in it. When you pick the item up a message will appear that says ‘you found an item’.
If you move cloud out of the cave before the message disappears then return to the cave, the elixir will still be there and can continually be pick up until your item slot is maxed at 99.
3 Date With Barret
During the Gold saucer segment of the story, there’s an opportunity to go on a date with either Aerith or Tifa. But after some time, players discovered that it was possible to actually go on a bro date with Barret instead. Most people didn’t get to experience this piece of the story on their original playthrough because it requires you to almost completely alienate your female party members, being extremely cold, rude, and dismissive through the dialogue sections involving them, and who would want to be rude to Tifa?
2 Cloud’s Flashback
After the Mideel section when Cloud rejoins the party, if you head back to the Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim it will trigger a flashback scene where Cloud and Zack escape Shinra custody. It’s a long story and dialogue sequence, but it helps to paint a different picture of the game and especially Cloud. Zack falls in battle defending Cloud, who through the trauma of the events he has experienced, adopts Zacks backstory and even weapon assuming his identity throughout the game. It’s easy for most to miss this section because there’s little to no reason to ever return to the Shinra mansion at this point in the story.
1 Keeping Aerith Alive
Rumors have circulated for years about ways to save or resurrect Aerith from her untimely passing. Unfortunately, it is impossible to within the confines of the code, but several glitches discovered over the years will allow her to rejoin the party. One simple way is using a Game Shark, which will get her back into the immediately after her passing and could even do a little more. But the weirdest discovery was that if the player swaps discs with another PlayStation title, Saga Frontier, it will also allow her to come back after the events of disc one.
NEXT: 10 Facts You Never Knew About Midgar From Final Fantasy 7
