At The Game Awards, Nintendo caught the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate community off-guard with Sephiroth's announcement for the iconic Nintendo fighter. It was revealed early on that the negotiation of some characters, including with Square Enix for the reappearance of Final Fantasy VII's Cloud Strife, had been an arduous process that almost didn't work out, so Sephiroth's appearance is a huge deal.
Sephiroth makes for a hell of a surprise, bringing Square's JRPG representation up to three. More impressive was the gorgeous, largely CGI trailer he received, something, not even Cloud got for his Smash Bros. debut. The trailer, featuring several cut-scenes and some in-game footage, also has a ton of Final Fantasy VII references that you may have missed if you blinked.
A LOT OF ADVENT CHILDREN
For a long time, Final Fantasy VII was just one game, beloved though it may be. That all changed in a big way with 2005's Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, a massive, cross-media project that brought new games and stories into the fold. At the center of this was the highly-anticipated film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, which served as a sequel to the game.
Advent Children became the de facto representation for these characters for a long time, so it only makes sense that there's a lot of Advent Children's Sephiroth present here. From the moody style of Sephroth's CG scenes to even direct references like Sephiroth "stabbing" Mario or Cloud and Sephiroth's exchange near the trailer's end, the film looks to have a greater influence on Sephiroth's Smash Bros. representation than any other piece of Final Fantasy VII media.
ONE-WINGED ANGEL
Even though he was a speck in the distance, fans figured out quickly that Sephiroth was coming once the music started up. One-Winged Angel has been one of the most iconic pieces of music in any video game, even in its earliest PlayStation 1 form.
Of course, it's not just the music -- Sephiroth appears to have a mechanic revolving around his wing. In-game, this likely will provide some buff related to a slowly accumulating gauge, similar to Cloud's Limit Break or Joker's Persona mechanic. In story, the wing itself results from Sephiroth's genetic mutilation after being injected with cells from Jenova while still in the womb.
METEOR IS COMING
At one point, Sephiroth is seen standing ominously before a large meteor that is going to crash into the Earth. This may be perhaps the most obvious reference in the trailer, as it's a nod to Final Fantasy VII's core plot.
Meteor in Final Fantasy VII is the ultimate destructive magic, which Sephiroth wants to summon so he can use the wound in the Planet to imbue himself with its life force. Meteor can only able be countered by the Holy spell, which the team is only able to unleash after defeating Sephiroth, o was preventing Aerith's prayer to summon Holy from being heard.
SEPHIROTH'S STAGE
A lot is going on, so you'd be forgiven for missing that Sephiroth appears to have multiple stages. In fact, his stage looks to be Final Fantasy VII's North Crater, a central location to the game's story and the location of the final battle with Sephiroth.
North Crater was formed centuries before Final Fantasy VII's story when an asteroid crashed into the Planet. That asteroid carried the alien lifeform Jenova, who would eventually wipe out most of the Cetra race. Similar to how Joker's stage was handled, North Crater appears to have several minor variations representing the various stages of Sephiroth's final battle.
SEPHIROTH STRIKES AGAIN
Masamune has long been a named sword in Final Fantasy games and typically one of the strongest. However, the one wielded by Sephiroth may be the deadliest. In the trailer, the Masamune appears to retain its trademark massive range and durability, with Sephiroth even jamming it into the side of the stage to prevent himself from taking a fall.
But there's one huge, blink and you missed it reference related to Sephiroth's sword. The trailer is bold enough to recreate Final Fantasy VII's most unforgettable moment -- the death of Aerith at Sephiroth's hands -- but substitutes Princess Zelda. Of course, Smash can't showcase a character dying, though, so Zelda is saved by Sephiroth's dumb luck, as he plants Masamune just inches from her body.
CID'S HERE?
There's already been plenty of Final Fantasy VII representation in Smash. Cloud, who debuted in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U & 3DS as one of the franchise's first-ever DLC characters, brought with him the Midgar stage and a host of stage-specific Summon Monsters. But there are plenty more to be featured, and some may even be making an appearance in some form.
The iconic Highwind can be seen escaping Crater during the trailer, in a scene that sure looks to be in-game footage instead of CG. The Highwind is the ship players acquire once they meet the pilot Cid Highwind. The model for the ship is unmistakable, though who could be on-board is up for debate.
CLOUD'S UNIQUE FINAL SMASH
Cloud's Final Smash references his most powerful Limit Break, Omnislash, where he knocks the player high into the air and strikes them 15 times. It's a huge move in the original game; if the player learns Omnislash in Final Fantasy VII, they'll still have the opportunity to use it for free against Sephiroth in their final encounter.
However, the trailer showcases a new variation -- Omnislash Ver. 5. This itself looks to be another reference to the variant of Omnislash seen in Advent Children. In the film, Cloud has replaced his Buster Sword with the Fusion Sword, which is actually six different swords he can reconfigure. The new Omnislash uses all the variants of the sword for one massive attack, creating a much more dynamic move. This move may be unique to whenever Cloud uses his Final Smash against Sephiroth, but this hasn't been confirmed.
SAFER-SEPHIROTH
Following one last tense exchange, Sephiroth transforms into a haunting new form at the end of the trailer. In Final Fantasy VII, this form is known as Safer-Sephiroth. Fought in the North Crater, Safer-Sephiroth is the final form players must face and the game's true final challenge.
Safer presents a real challenge to the player in FFVII; he's got a massive HP pool that can be slyly increased based on any number of factors, including player level and summon materia used in previous stages. He also uses the Super Nova spell, one of the series' longest magic animations that sees a comet summoned from the other side of the galaxy crash into Earth. For Smash Bros., this form is likely part of Sephiroth's Final Smash.