Lifestream
A colossal round city raised on a steel plate above a dark wasteland at night, eight reactor towers venting plumes of green energy around a central skyscraper, slum lights glowing beneath.

Unofficial fan field guide

LifestreamA field guide to the world of Final Fantasy VII

Narration

The game

A planet with a pulse

Final Fantasy VII is a role playing game made by Square and first released for the PlayStation in Japan on January 31, 1997. It reached North America that September and Europe that November.

It begins in Midgar, a city run by the Shinra Electric Power Company, which has taken control of Mako, the energy drawn from the Planet’s own life force. Cloud, a mercenary who says he once served in Shinra’s elite force SOLDIER, joins the resistance group AVALANCHE in an attack on a Mako reactor. Soon the group learns that Sephiroth, once Shinra’s top ranking SOLDIER, has returned, and that the whole Planet is in danger.

Underneath it all runs the Lifestream, the flow of spiritual energy that gives life to everything on the Planet. Shinra pumps it from the ground as Mako. Crystallized, it becomes Materia. Every page of this guide follows that current.

Sources: Wikipedia, Final Fantasy VII; PlayStation / Square Enix; Square Enix (Steam store); PlayStation; Final Fantasy Wiki, Lifestream; Final Fantasy Wiki, Mako

Choose a destination

Five ways into the world

  1. 01MidgarDescend from the steel plate to the slums underneath, level by level.3 levels, 8 reactors
  2. 02JourneyFollow the route from Midgar to the Northern Crater, in the order the story travels it.18 stops, 2 discs
  3. 03PartyMeet the travelers: their weapons, their homes and their final Limit Breaks.9 members, 2 optional
  4. 04MateriaLearn the five colors of Materia, then link them yourself on a working bench.5 colors, 1 working bench
  5. 05ChronicleTrace thirty years of releases, from 1997 to Revelation in 2027.1997 to 2027

Still unfolding

The story is not finished

Final Fantasy VII Revelation, the third and final part of the Remake Series, is announced for April 8, 2027, in the thirtieth anniversary year of the original game.

Read the chronicle

Sources: Square Enix (na.finalfantasy.com); Square Enix (na.finalfantasy.com); PlayStation Blog