Final Fantasy VII Rebirth makes an obscure glitch from FF7 canon

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has made an obscure glitch from the original game into a canon part of the remake trilogy’s storyline.

Old-school Final Fantasy fans remember waiting longer than usual for the titles to be localized. Back in the day, it could take months or even years for the new Final Fantasy games to be released outside of Japan.

One benefit of waiting was that the developers had the chance to fix any bugs that slipped through the cracks in the original release and add new content for the international audience, such as the Weapon monsters in Final Fantasy VII.

There was one glitch that Japanese Final Fantasy VII fans are familiar with, but it never made its way overseas, as the developers fixed it before the English release. Now, that glitch has returned in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth as part of a reference that will go over a lot of fans’ heads.

Test 0 was a Japan-exclusive Final Fantasy VII glitch monster

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In the very first version of Final Fantasy VII released in Japan, there was a slim chance of encountering a creature called Test 0 in Corel Prison. Test 0 looks like a black panther, and it appears on a forest background, despite Corel Prison being in a desert region.

Fans quickly realized Test 0 was a remnant of the game’s testing phase. Not only were the name and location a dead giveaway, but Test 0 didn’t act in battle, had a ridiculous amount of hit points, and offered a ton of experience points, AP, and Gil when defeated.

The only reason most international fans are even aware of Test 0 is thanks to a magazine called The Completely Unauthorized Final Fantasy VII Ultimate Guide.

In this magazine, the method for meeting Test 0 is explained, but a note was added explaining that Test 0 was removed from the English version of the game.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth makes Test 0 Canon

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In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, when the player visits Corel Prison, Cloud can participate in battles against monsters. One of these enemies is called Test 0, a black panther, like the monster from Final Fantasy VII.

The quest description glitches out when describing the monster, further hinting at the creature’s origins.

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If you use the Assess Ability on Test 0, its description refers to it as a being that escaped Shinra due to a developer oversight. This is another reference to Test 0 being a glitch that the original developers of Final Fantasy VII missed.

It’s hilarious that the developers of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth included Test 0 in the game, officially canonizing it as part of the lore and poking fun at an error that happened decades earlier. This would be like if Game Freak made MissingNo canon in Pokemon, turning a mistake into an official part of the series.