I’m surprised at how much I like this. With a backbone controller, it feels overall pretty good despite mobile game jank, and has some interesting systems considering the Chocobo breeding, magic, wild monsters to fight, melee and standard BR staples.

It seems to take some assets from FF7R and downgrades them and squishes them together to make the battlefield.

It takes much less than I’d expect to get a feel for it, and I’ve enjoyed all of the matches I’ve played. Surprised at how it works with how many different elements it has

Of course it’s predatory but as far as I’ve seen compared to other squenix predatory monetization it’s largely ignorable to me personally and won’t affect your overall gameplay. Plus it’s beginner friendly due to its medium pace, so there’s a lot to enjoy.


Wrote this when it lived, RIP, fuck you squenix for your cynical business practices

Odio que este juego me este gustando ODIO ESO.
Realmente tiene ideas muy interesantes como el uso de las materias y el adaptar algo tan típicos de los rpg al mundo de los battle royal, juntos a otras mecánicas que parecieran que no combinarían como la recopilación de EXP, logra mezclarse bastante bien y volviendo lo de las clases de verdad se siente UNA MUY buena diferencia entre jugar cada una. ahora lo malo primero prostituir aun mas el nombre de ff7 segundo las armas de fuego son las mierdas mas genéricas y aburridas del mundo, tercero COMO 20 PUTAS TIENDAS DE LOOTBOXS, cuarto lo pesimamente musical que es repite música de el ff7 remake pero lo hace de forma horrible a veces cuando te pones a pelear con monstruos sale y otra veces no PERO CUANDO YA ESTAN MUERTOS SUENA, también esta feo pero feo que a veces suena la música como a la distancia lo que me deja muy confundido, también cual es la puta necesidad de que esto sea medio canon, ósea supuestamente esto es precuela pero sale el bar de tifa, es solo entretenido para darle una partida cada tanto.

I haven't played this for long before it shut down, so I'm just going to tell you about my two-hour experience with the game. Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier is a bit of a tragedy. While I hate the oversaturation of games when it comes to the FFVII universe, I can't deny that I had some enjoyment with the game

This was Square Enix's answer to PUBG, and it's decent for what it is. You're dropped into a few familiar places of Midgar with 74 other players, and compete to become the last man standing. It's a typical battle royale game, but with a Final Fantasy VII twist. For instance, you have access to different Styles that you can equip before you start the game. Whether it's a Warrior, Dragoon, or Ninja, each one has its own abilities and advantages, and disadvantages that the player can use

For example, a Warrior uses the sword
and excels in melee combat, but they can also be at risk since they're dependent on close-range combat. They also have a set of abilities like Rush, as they can move rapidly toward the direction they're looking at. Each player also has access to magic abilities and materia. I'm not going to explain what the magic does since it's sort of self-explanatory at this point, but it's nice that it can be leveled up, and I have no comment on the materia and what it can do. I also have no comment on the Chocobo breeding side quest either since I only used it for like five minutes

Another thing exclusive to The First Soldier is that you'll see familiar Final Fantasy VII enemies in every battle, like Military Police or Bombs; so it's not just online players you have to worry about attempting to eliminate you, and you'll know this because the FFVII Remake version of "Let the Battles Begin" will play once you hit a specific enemy. Some may take forever to kill if you don't have the right weakness from my experience, but you do get some rewards from killing a certain amount of enemies like items and exp to level up your player. Oh yeah your health also increases when leveling up; cool I guess

Fundamentally, this is a battle royale game but with RPG elements that make it stand out from the others. While it's cool that we have access to the abilities alongside your guns, this also leads to my biggest issue with the game, and it's the control scheme. I don't hate it as much as others, but it’s not great either; it's a bit cluttered since we're talking a mobile game here, but I got used to it for a bit

While I only played 5 games (3 of which I won), this game had potential if this wasn't exclusive to mobile devices, and I think that is solely the reason why the game was a failure. If this wasn't exclusive to IOS and Android, I think The First Soldier could've gotten a proper shot here, but alas it's dead now

But one question remains. Since the game has shut down for good, who is exactly The First Soldier?

Here Lies Final Fantasy VII First Soldier.
November 17, 2021 - January 11, 2023

It wasn't the first, best or most polished Fortnite/PUBG clone on the market, but in its short life it managed to get Yuji Naka arrested again and made for some dank nights with the boyz hoarding those chicken dinners, as apparently everyone else on the server was too Japanese or too 11-years-old to aim properly. What more can you ask from a greed-fueled mobile spinoff of a beloved childhood favorite?

It's earned its spot up there next to Gunpei Yokoi, PT and Flappy Bird in that great big gamer skybox. Farewell.

We got a number one Victory Royale
Yeah, Fortnite, we 'bout to get down (get down)
Ten kills on the board right now
Just wiped out Tomato Town
My friend just got downed
I revived him, now we're heading south-bound
Now we're in the Pleasant Park streets
Look at the map, go to the marked sheet
Take me to your Xbox to play Fortnite today
You can take me to Moisty Mire, but not Loot Lake
I really love to Chug Jug with you
We can be pro Fortnite gamers
He said
"Hey broski, you got some heals and a shield pot?"
"I need healing and I am only at one HP"
Hey dude, sorry, I found nothing on this safari
I checked the upstairs of that house but not the underneath yet
There's a chest that's just down there
The storm is coming fast and you need heals to prepare
I've got V-Bucks that I'll spend
More than you can content
I'm a cool pro Fortnite gamer (cool pro Fortnite-)
Take me to your Xbox to play Fortnite today
You can take me to Moisty Mire, but not Loot Lake
I really love to Chug Jug with you
We can be pro Fortnite gamers
La-la-la-la-la-e-ya
La-la-la-la-la-e-ya
La-la-la-la-la-e-ya
Will you be my pro Fortnite gamer? (Pro Fortnite gamer)
Can we get a win this weekend?
Take me to Loot Lake
Let's change the game mode and we can Disco Dominate
Let's hop in an ATK
Take me to the zone
I'm running kind of low on meds, I need to break some stone
Dressed in all his fancy clothes
He's got Renegade Raider and he's probably a pro
He just shot my back
I turn back and I attack
I just got a Victory Royale
A Victory Royale
Take me to your Xbox to play Fortnite today
You can take me to Moisty Mire, but not Loot Lake
I really love to Chug Jug with you
We can be pro Fortnite gamers

This game is an enigma. The idea of a Final Fantasy VII inspired Battle Royale is definitely novel, and the additions of keeping the Materia System, Chocobos, and the 6 different class systems does make it stand out from other Battle Royales to make it something different, but the absolute oddest choice is the fact that this game is only available on IOS and Android phones. No PC, No Console, no nothing. Just phones. They do try to make things easier by having controller support and an auto aim/fire system, but I still found my fingers constantly slipping off of the virtual control stick, making me have to constantly fumble with my phone to re-center myself. Also, do you it having to run on a variety of phones, the game does have uneven and choppy performance periodically throughout matches. I think in the end, this game is very much hurt by not being playable on Consoles and PC. I urge Square to port the game and fix these performance issues. As it is, I'd say play a round or two if you're interested, but I can't recommend investing full time in the game until it's problems are fixed.

I've given all the major battle royales a go, but this is the only one I got into enough to stick it out, git somewhat gud and win a round. They've managed to find a niche in the BR market via the FF7 setting - more grounded than Fortnite (at the time of writing) but at the same time significantly more fun and varied than something like PUBG or Warzone due to the different class abilities, melee combat and materia. Then there's the small but great addition of random NPC monsters roaming the map , it mitigates the issue these games tend to have where a massive 100-player lobby just ends up feeling empty and boring.

Being very familiar with the IP certainly helps too, while it's accessible to non-FF fans they're unlikely to get as much out of it.

The lore makes no sense though. This is a VR estimation of Midgar before it existed, yet they have details as specific as Aerith's house, a named 7th Heaven and every galvanized iron shack of the slums. Also the notion that Midgar is only a few decades old, that Shinra's death grip on society, or lower Midgar's sector names being forgotten, all happened within only 30 years before the first game... it's pretty silly. Shouldn't have bothered trying to make this canon.