With part one of the Final Fantasy VII remake now set to release in March of next year, longtime fans of the franchise are looking forward to finally getting their hands on something they've been craving pretty much since the PS3 came out.
With the newfound fervor and excitement surrounding the game, it's worth taking a look back at what made the original 1997 release so beloved. While the characters, story, and gameplay all play a role, one of the essential parts of FF7 adored by gamers everywhere is the Limit Break system. There's nothing better than seeing that gauge fill up, unleashing a devastating attack, and winning the fight with only two HP left.
But not all Limit Breaks are created equal, and we here at The Gamer are here to help you set them apart. Here are the 10 best Limit Breaks in Final Fantasy VII.
10 Braver
Braver starts off our list not because it's particularly powerful, or even has a great animation. Rather, Braver makes the top ten because it's a classic Limit Break; Cloud's first one and one we've even seen demoed for the new game.
There's something so exciting about the first time your limit gauge fills up and you get your first taste of the spiky-haired mercenary's true power.
9 Chaos
Vincent Valentine's Limit Breaks are hit or miss. Each of them transform him into a monster, with his first three granting him elemental abilities that can accidentally result in you healing your enemies. Chaos drops the elemental stuff in favor of pure, butt-kicking, power. While the change lasts the rest of the battle, and thus, can be limiting (no pun intended), it's still the best of Vincent's and among the strongest in the game.
8 Meteorain
In this game, meteors are both good and bad. Meteorain lands on this list for a few reasons: first of all, it does pretty solid damage to multiple enemies. Second of all, it looks so cool. Cloud leaping up and sending down a flurry of space rocks onto his unsuspecting opponents is never not satisfying. Of course, Cloud has far stronger Limit Breaks, but this is one that will make you slap the "cover" materia on Cloud just in the hopes of seeing it again.
7 Great Gospel
Really? You got this one? That's...cool. You must have put in a lot of time on disc one! Why? Oh, no reason...
Aeris actually has a lot of powerful, healing based Limit Breaks that most players don't get to see due to her being fairly weak in combat and...well, you know. But if you can get it, it's pretty fantastic, granting your entire party invulnerability. Seriously. Just use it while you can because... well... let's move on...
6 Final Heaven
It's not that the Final Heaven, itself is such a great Limit Break, but rather, Tifa's final punch makes this list because when you're able to hit all her limit attacks in succession, the result is devastating. Tifa's cumulative Limit Break slots are among the best in the game, and getting to watch all of them hit in succession truly never gets old. Especially the one with the dolphin. Where that dolphin comes from may be the greatest mystery in the history of the entire Final Fantasy franchise.
5 Doom of the Living
When she's not robbing you or goofing off, Yuffie is capable of laying a pretty serious smack down on her opponents. Doom of the Living, her second level three Limit Break, is arguably even stronger than Yuffie's level four attack.
The pride of Wutai unleashes 15 attacks which are capable of dealing huge damage (5/8 times her normal damage). Not bad for someone you just met running around in the woods.
4 Cosmo Memory
Bugenhagen would be proud. Red XIII, or Nanaki, as he's also called, is an extremely powerful character, and his level four Limit Break reflects that. Each blow connects for a walloping 713⁄16 times his normal damage. Add that to a really cool animation and you've got one memorable Limit Break.
Remember when Hojo was talking about breeding Red XIII with Aeris? What was that about? This is a weird game sometimes.
3 Highwind
That ship really packs a punch. Cid is one of the most interesting characters in Final Fantasy VII. His tortured relationship with Shera, the fact he had to watch his dreams go up in smoke, and his eventual decision to team up with Cloud and try to save the planet, despite thinking it's impossible, make him multi-layered and deep in a way few characters in the franchise are.
Also, he has a big ship that shoots lots of missiles at bad guys. So he's really the total package.
2 Ungarmax
Barret Wallace, for any of his flaws as a character (it would have been nice for the remake's developers to drop the whole Mr. T act in favor of something that makes a little more sense in 2019), is a true butt kicker. One of the first characters you meet in FF7, there's something undeniably special about him that's endeared him to fans over the years. Maybe part of that is his Ungarmax ability, which hits 18 different enemies for half his normal damage per shot. Good night, Marlene.
1 Omnislash
The first time you see Omnislash, it's like nothing in the game up to this point. Which isn't to say you haven't seen Cloud hit things with a sword before. But Omnislash is so much more. The speed, the voracity, the absolute violence of each strike, it's like Cloud is pounding a latte with a quintuple shot of espresso in that beam of light before he comes out swinging.
And Onmislash packs a punch too — hitting 15 times at 0.75 times normal damage per hit. Omnislash is the sort of attack that reminds you why Cloud ends up being the leader of Avalanche, and, along with Aeris, the co-savior of the planet.
Just don't tell Barret — he thinks he got number one on this list and we intend to keep it that way.