Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix, originally released in 2004 exclusively for NTT DoCoMo i-mode mobile phones in Japan. It is part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and serves as a prequel set six years before the events of the original game. Players take control of members of the Turks, Shinra’s elite covert operatives, through a series of turn-based missions accessed via a mobile network.
The game was directed by Hajime Tabata and features a story that expands the backstory of key characters, including the Turks’ involvement with the Shinra corporation and their encounters with the game’s antagonists. Because it was designed for the limited hardware of early-2000s Japanese mobile phones, it has never been officially ported to other systems, and no functional emulation exists.
In 2023, Square Enix launched Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis, a free-to-play mobile and PC game that sought to remake the entire Compilation, including Before Crisis. The first chapter of the Before Crisis remake was released in 2025, but Square Enix announced the end of service for Ever Crisis, leaving the adaptation incomplete. As a result, Before Crisis remains largely inaccessible outside of archival footage and second-hand accounts.
