FF7 Rebirth producer confirms Advent Children is still canon
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth producer Yoshinori Kitase has confirmed that Advent Children is canon to the remake trilogy, despite the timeline differences at play.
Final Fantasy VII Remake made a whole point about the timeline not having to be the same in the new continuity. The game ends with the members of Avalanche fighting the arbiters of fate itself, and somehow resurrecting a long-dead character from the original game.
This led fans to believe that the storyline could diverge in huge ways, especially as Aerith and Sephiroth seem to know what happened in the previous timeline. They could potentially use this information to their advantage, changing the story’s final outcome.
It seems that the story of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy won’t be changing as much as fans expected, based on new comments that confirm canonicity of one of the movies.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children will (somehow) still be canon with the remake trilogy
Kitase recently spoke to GameRadar+ about the 2024 launch of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. According to Kitase, Advent Children will connect to the remake trilogy, as events will be similar enough to let that happen.
“We are finally going to link up with Advent Children, that is going to be part of canon. The overall storyline, the developments, will not go wildly out in a way that will not add up to Advent Children in the end. I don’t think anyone wanted that, that’s not what we’re looking to create here.”
Surprisingly Kitase also confirmed further story elements, saying “Ultimately, we’re not trying to change the Final Fantasy 7 story into something really different. The overall balance wouldn’t really allow for that anyway.”
This comment might shock fans who have been theory-crafting ever since the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake. The first game in this trilogy leaned hard into the idea that the characters had the chance to forge a new path, but it seems that won’t be on the cards.
Kitase’s comments also confirm a lot of the story beats that will happen, with certain character deaths needing to happen for Advent Children to take place. It’s possible that they might come about in different ways, but their fates are sealed all the same.
Final Fantasy VII Remake has already added new characters and gave greater depth to those still in the story, especially the members of Avalanche. The remake trilogy might simply be a way of expanding the original story, without any intention of drastically changing the outcome.