One of the main reasons why Final Fantasy 7 has remained such an important game, even 25 years after its release, is the amount of well-written, carefully crafted characters the game introduced. Unlike many games which focus their creative efforts on a protagonist and maybe, in some cases, an antagonist, Final Fantasy 7's ensemble cast featured multiple intriguing and relatable characters who all offered something different. From the moody loner Cloud Strife to the enthusiastic and energetic Yuffie Kisaragi, each of the characters came with their own personalities and stories to tell. It was inevitable that some of these stories would extend past the main game, and Final Fantasy 7: Dirge of Cerberus was one of the first examples of this.
Released on the PS2 in 2006, Dirge of Cerberus focused on Vincent Valentine, an optional party member from FF7. Somewhat of an enigma, Vincent was one of the party members who players learned the least about, so it made perfect sense for his backstory to be developed in a standalone game. The game covered a lot of narrative ground, allowing Vincent to be the star of his own show, but it ultimately received mixed reviews from critics.
Dirge of Cerberus Brought Players Closer to Vincent Valentine
Vincent's backstory had been explored in FF7 to a degree. He was a former member of the Turks, a group of operatives working for the powerful Shinra organization. Tasked with guarding the scientist Lucrecia Crescent, he ultimately ended up falling in love with her, despite her involvement with Professor Hojo and the dangerous experiments conducted in his lab. When Vincent tried to question these experiments, he was shot, and Hojo began conducting tests and modifications on Vincent himself, leading to a number of genetic alterations including Vincent's ability to transform into several beast forms, as well as his body clock effectively stopping, bringing the aging process to a halt. Devastated by his now deformed body and his failure to protect Lucrecia, he fell into a deep sleep in a coffin in Shinra Manor, where he would stay for a number of years until discovered by Cloud and co.
As is normally the case for anything associated with Final Fantasy 7, there was a lot of hype surrounding the game, but many felt that the game fell short of expectations due to developer Square Enix's somewhat bizarre decision to essentially make the game a third-person shooter with some light RPG elements. Safe to say this was not what fans were expecting, especially when the shooting itself, which was supposed to be the main tool in Vincent's arsenal, felt so clunky in places. Interestingly, during the game's initial development, it contained even fewer RPG elements, but some staff members working on the game added some in to stop the game from becoming just another third-person shooter.
Despite the gameplay causing a degree of confusion, narratively the game seemed to be much closer to what fans were expecting. The game picks up during the climactic scenes of FF7, with Vincent, joined by Yuffie Kisaragi, attempting to evacuate Midgar before it gets destroyed by Sephiroth's powerful Meteor spell. Vincent then notices that Sephiroth's crazed biological father Professor Hojo is still alive. Before he can do anything about this though, there's an explosion, and Hojo's body vanishes, leaving Vincent and Yuffie to escape.
This sets in motion a series of events that sees Vincent allying with Reeve, who FF7 fans will know well as the ex-Shinra employee who, racked with guilt over aiding Sephiroth, began aiding Cloud and his party by controlling the robotic Cait Sith. Reeve is now the head of the World Regenesis Organization (WRO), working with Yuffie. The group is responsible for protecting the planet from all forms of harm.
Reeve tells Vincent about a group of secret super soldiers known as Deepground, created in secret in Shinra's labs, who are attempting to bring forth the Omega Weapon and use it to purge mankind. To do this, they must locate the Protomateria- a one-of-a-kind materia that allows its holder to harness the power of Chaos and Omega. As luck would have it, this materia is actually inside Vincent himself. Lucrecia had placed it there long ago, in order to allow Vincent to keep Chaos-his final and most devastating form-under control.
Dirge of Cerberus' Villains Were Evil Brothers Weiss and Nero
The leaders of Deepground are the brothers Weiss The Immaculate and Nero The Sable. These brothers share a deep bond and are both incredibly strong. They both served as bosses in FF7 Remake and its Intergrade DLC, with Weiss being an optional late-game boss accessible through the VR simulator, and Nero the final boss of the DLC. In Dirge of Cerberus, Weiss is one of the primary antagonists and is the man on the hunt for the Protomateria, It is eventually learned that Weiss is under the control of Professor Hojo himself, who created a digital copy of himself before his death, and was able to take control of Weiss' body. His intention was to use this as a vessel for Omega, pairing it with Vincent's Chaos and bringing Hojo's experiments full circle.
Just when it looks as if Vincent is about to be overwhelmed by his inner beast Chaos, Lucretia appears to Vincent as a hologram and encourages him to harness the power of Chaos without letting it consume him. Her presence, even though she was physically completely crystallized in a cave far away, seemed to give Vincent the impetus he needed to once again control his power.
With Cloud, Tifa and the others providing assistance by shutting down the reactors that are powering Omega, Vincent is able to overcome both Weiss and Omega itself, saving the planet in the process. All that is left is for Vincent to pay his respects to the crystallized Lucrecia, and players see a tear roll down her face as Vincent leaves the cave.
The game undoubtedly covers a lot of ground and builds on Vincent's backstory exponentially. Many are now waiting to see how he will fit into the upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and whether he will be a playable character. Whatever fans think about Dirge of Cerberus, it certainly added a lot of lore in the context of the world of Final Fantasy 7, and it helped to solidify Vincent as one of the most popular characters in the franchise's storied history.
Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy 7 is currently available for PS2.