Highlights

  • Save up, know about All Lucky 7's move. Powerful hit duo to the number 7, requires effort.
  • Unlock Yuffie and Vincent characters, they're delicious secrets withheld from many gamers.
  • Revel in the nostalgia by exploiting glitches like Infinite Health, Infinite Elixirs, and Secret Cow Level.

When it comes to in-game secrets, the Final Fantasy series is no stranger to the phenomenon. Over the years, the developers have managed to sprinkle little easter eggs, hidden endings, and secret boss fights into their games. So much so that they continue to be found for years after games are released.

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With the recent release of the remake of Final Fantasy 7, there has been building intrigue around the original game, especially when it comes to its hidden secrets. In this list, we'll be taking a look at ten secrets from the original Final Fantasy 7 that took fans years to find.

Updated March 12, 2024, by Jon Eakin: Some games stand the test of time, never waning in popularity, and Final Fantasy 7 is one of them. Even without the release and success of Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the original would remain one of the most beloved games of all time. By now, every inch of it has been thoroughly explored, but when it was first released there were many secrets to be found. We've tidied up this list and added more entries to help show just how much we didn't know in 1997.

12 All Lucky 7's

It's Your Lucky Number

Cloud, Barret and Cid face Emerald Weapon at the bottom of the ocean as the All Lucky 7's feature triggers.

This one was exactly the sort of thing you would hear from a friend and not quite believe, but it's true. If a character's health hits exactly 7,777 during battle then All Lucky 7's triggers to devastating effect. They'll unleash 64 hits against enemies, each one dealing 7,777 damage for a whopping total of 497,728. Even after that, each attack will do a reliable 7,777 damage so long as their health doesn't change.

Getting this to trigger spontaneously is extremely unlikely, so it requires a bit of finessing to see it in action. It was all too easy to assume that your buddy Dave was telling you a fake secret to get you to waste precious gaming hours chasing an imaginary feature.

11 Yuffie And Vincent

So Many Played Without Them

Cloud, Yuffie and Tifa stand at one end of a tunnel beneath Shinra Mansion, Vincent Valentine stands at the other.

While this is no longer a secret, at one point players were unaware that these characters existed; especially Yuffie. Vincent and the Wutai thief are unlockable party members, but when the game first released players could have easily missed the opportunities to have them in their party if they didn't own a computer or the strategy guide.

They both required a specific set of questions that needed to be answered correctly or in-game requirements that needed to be met. But if you answer incorrectly or miss your window, they are unfortunately no longer accessible in that playthrough.

Almost as soon as a game releases now, the internet is filled with guides on how to find the secrets. Back in the late '90s however, information like this spread much more slowly, passing from person to person. Many completed entire playthroughs of Final Fantasy 7 without knowing Vincent and Yuffie existed at all.

10 Kefka's Return

Dancing Mad

A store of haunted goods in Final Fantasy 7. Items on display include a mummy in their sarcophagus, a haunted portrait and a caged jack-o-lantern.

Kefka is one of the most recognizable villains in the Final Fantasy franchise, and maybe even in video games. That's why it's no surprise that the developers snuck in a little homage to the dancing, cackling bad guy.

In the Monster Hotel in the Gold Saucer, there is a caged pumpkin that can be found which, when interacted with, will release a loud and maniacal laugh. It is actually a skewed version of Kefka's original laugh track from Final Fantasy 6.

This isn't the only spot in Final Fantasy 7 where you can hear Kefka laughing at you. It also plays when Tifa and Cloud fall into the lifestream at Mideel, which has some disturbing implications. Is Kefka watching, taking a hand in the events of the story? Is he part of the lifestream? It's probably just an easter egg, right? Right?

9 Running Away Glitch

Not Technically Cheating

Cloud in a battle against a Shinra soldier at a Mako Reactor during the beginning of Final Fantasy 7.

Occasionally, when entering into a random encounter, your back will be turned to your enemy, leaving you open to more hefty attacks. Usually, you must wait until each enemy is done attacking your party before facing them.

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But if you simply tap the triggers on the controller to initiate the run animation, it will reset your party's positions and you will no longer be vulnerable to back attacks. It feels a little cheap, but it works, so it's up to you to decide whether to use it or not.

8 Infinite Health Glitch

Live Forever

Cloud, Yuffie and Cid in a battle in Final Fantasy 7, facing off against tunneling squirrel monsters on open plains.

Glitches have existed in video games since the dawn of gaming, some can completely ruin your gaming experience, and others can be manipulated to your benefit. Years after the game's release, a few courageous risk-takers discovered that one can manipulate a glitch in the PlayStations coding, to completely regen your health without worrying about being attacked by simply casting the spell and opening the disc tray of the system.

You're unlikely to still get much use out of this, since most people these days are playing digital copies of Final Fantasy 7 on entirely different systems. Still, it's a piece of the history of the game and shouldn't be forgotten.

7 The Secret Cow Level

A Tip Of The Cap

The menu screen of Final Fantasy 7, displaying the location as "Secret Cow Level".

If you were a fan of the Diablo series in the '90s, then you're probably familiar with the secret cow level. The rumor circulated and grew on forums in the early days on the internet, even sparking a response from Blizzard denying the rumors.

While there's no secret cow level in Final Fantasy 7, the developers decided to pay tribute to the popular rumor in their game. If you place a save point in a specific location in the northern crater, the save location will change to the secret cow level.

The Secret Cow Level of course turned out to be present in Diablo 2 and has been a part of the DNA of the series ever since, with references in other Blizzard games like StarCraft 2 and World Of Warcraft.

6 Aerith's Posthumous Dialogue

Call The Ghostbusters

Cloud, Red XIII and Aerith in the snow. Aerith is stating "I'm sick of this." despite having died earlier in the game.

One of the strangest aspects of the game can only be found with a GameShark, which allows you to access certain files and manipulate them within the game. If you use this method to keep Aerith alive, you will quickly notice that she actually has unique dialogue prompts that existed in the game's code even after her death.

This means she might originally not have been expected to die so soon in the game's story, or she wasn't intended to be killed at all. Ghosts can talk, but the developers probably didn't have a secret plan for Aerith to stick with the party in spirit form. Although that would have been an interesting twist.

GameShark was a brand of console cheat cartridges made by Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. known mostly for producing gaming peripherals like Rock Band controllers.

5 Infinite Elixirs

Gotta Go Fast

Cloud finding an elixir in a frozen cave during Final Fantasy 7.

After the snowboarding segment, you are tasked with exploring their way through the great glacier. There’s a cave that can be found that contains an elixir in it. When you pick the item up a message will appear that says 'you found an item'.

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If you move Cloud out of the cave before the message disappears, and then return to the cave, the elixir will still be there and can continually be picked up until your item slot is maxed at 99. Elixirs are among the best restorative items in the game, so stocking up here is smart, even if it is a little dishonest.

4 Date With Barret

He Has A Great Personality

Cloud and Barret on an awkward date in Final Fantasy 7, sitting in a gondola. Barret asks "Hey foo. What you wanna see fireworks with me for?"

During the Gold Saucer segment of the story, there's an opportunity to go on a date with either Aerith or Tifa. But after some time, players discovered that it was possible to go on a bro date with Barret instead.

Most people didn't get to experience this piece of the story on their original playthrough because it requires you to almost completely alienate your female party members, being extremely cold, rude, and dismissive through the dialogue sections involving them, and who would want to be rude to Tifa or Aerith?

3 Date With Yuffie

A Rarity Hidden Behind A Secret

Yuffie and Cloud on an awkward date in the Gold Saucer gondola. Cloud sits sullenly while Yuffie stands next to him, looking out a window.

Not only is it possible to take Barret on a date in the Gold Saucer, but it's also possible to take Yuffie. Just like the Barret date, this requires you to be cold towards both Tifa and Aerith up to this point in the game, but it has the additional requirement of having Yuffie in your party. You also need to have been just nice enough to her and not the others, otherwise you still end up with Barret.

It's easy to see how it took people a while to discover this, since it has multiple requirements. If you've never seen it, then it's worth your time to make it happen on your next playthrough, Yuffie is a fan favourite for a reason. Anything that gives her more screen time is a good thing.

2 Cloud's Flashback

Unhappier Times

Zack helps Cloud escape from their genetic experiments in the basement of Shinra Mansion.

After the Mideel section when Cloud rejoins the party, if you head back to the Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim it will trigger a flashback scene where Cloud and Zack escape Shinra custody. It's a long story and dialogue sequence, but it helps to paint a more detailed picture of the story of the game and especially Cloud.

Zack falls in battle defending Cloud, who through the trauma of the events he has experienced, adopts Zack's backstory and even weapon, assuming much of his identity throughout the game. It's easy for most to miss this section because there's little to no reason to ever return to the Shinra mansion at this point in the story.

You're probably familiar with the events shown in this flashback, they're front and center in Crisis Core. If exactly how Cloud ended up thinking he was almost a completely different person is still hazy for you, then it's the perfect time for a crash course with Crisis Core; Final Fantasy 7 Reunion.

1 Keeping Aerith Alive

Not Actually Possible

Cloud holds the lifeless body of Aerith, while Sephiroth stands exultant behind them.

Rumors have circulated for years about ways to save or resurrect Aerith from her untimely passing. Unfortunately, it is impossible to within the confines of the code, but several glitches discovered over the years will allow her to rejoin the party.

One simple way is using a GameShark, which will get her back into the party immediately after her passing and could even do a little more. But the weirdest discovery was that if the player swaps discs with another PlayStation title, Saga Frontier, it will also allow her to come back after the events of disc one.

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