Before Crisis follows the Turks, who in this game are a larger and more competent organization compared to the Goldfish Poop Gang the players are likely to remember from Final Fantasy VII, and are commanded by a different leader, Veld. The Turks battle the forces of AVALANCHE, the anti-Shinra resistance group led by the young swords-woman Elfé. Contrary to the group of the same name led by Barret years later, this incarnation of AVALANCHE is larger, more violent, more organized, and pose a larger threat to the company. Eventually, the Turks find out the AVALANCHE scientist Fuhito is seeking the four support Materia needs to use the ultimate Summon Materia that calls the ultimate monster Zirconiade, "The World Burner," to do exactly that.
The game functions as an RPG but with a simpler system. Materia returned but with a slightly different function, and players could level up and equip armor. Completing certain episodes increased their Turk rank which gave access to stronger equipment and Materia.
Before Crisis was a Japan-only release, being released in an episodic format on mobile phones before the servers were closed in 2018. Square Enix had announced plans to release an English version of the game back in 2006, but this never materialized due to the West's comparatively inferior smartphone network at the time. Director Hajime Tabata said he'd like to remake it for the 3DS, but that also didn't come to pass. Thus, Before Crisis was the only Final Fantasy VII spin-off to not see an English localization, and thanks to its platform of release is one of the most obscure titles in the series. The announcement of Ever Crisis, which will cover material from all Compilation titles, will be the first time audiences outside of Japan can experience the game (though to what extent is yet unclear).
An unofficial RPGMaker English port
, with Shotgun (Female) as the sole protagonist (and inconsistent Fan Translation), has been released in March 2019.
This game contains examples of:
- All There in the Manual: Since the player character Turks are interchangeable in-game, their character profiles are the only place to gives any details to their individual characteristics and backstories.
- Ascended Extra: "Shuriken (Female)" was given a prominent role in Crisis Core under the alias Cissnei.
- The Battle Didn't Count: A player-centric version. The Turk gets repeatedly curbstomped by the AVALANCHE higher-ups, but always gets up after the fights with them and even recovers most of their HP and MP.
- Big Bad: Elfé. Fuhito later reveals she was his Unwitting Pawn and becomes a Dragon Ascendant in the game's final chapters.
- Bittersweet Ending: Veld and Elfé are saved and their deaths faked by supposed execution to throw Shinra off their trail thanks to the Turks, and Fuhito and the Zirconiade Weapon are taken down — but the Turks themselves seemingly die in the final explosion. Reno, Rude and Tseng are blamed by Scarlet for the whole incident as survivors and wants the trio executed, but Rufus pulls strings from behind the scenes to spare them in exchange for their loyalty. As for the playable Turk cast, they use the opportunity to fake their own deaths and leave Shinra for good, coming back in the finale of the original game to help evacuate people during the Meteorfall.
- Christmas Episode: Chapter 6 takes place from 22nd to 24th of the twelfth month, and it involves lighting up a decorated tree.
- Continuity Nod: Certain missions portray the launching of Cid's rocket, the destruction of Corel, the infamous Nibelheim incident, and eventually pursue Zack and Cloud when they escape Hojo. The Turks also run across Azul and Shalua Rui.
- Cutscene Incompetence: What often saves the player Turk from a Curb-Stomp Battle from Elfé is her suddenly growing weak and ordering a withdraw at times. Turns out to be Foreshadowing about the Zirconiade Materia draining her life.
- Dismantled MacGuffin: Played with — the Zirconiade Materia is fully intact, it just isn't strong enough to summon Zirconiade without the four support Materia.
- Establishing Character Moment: Elfé is introduced fighting Sephiroth in Junon, and does a good job defending herself to the point Sephiroth admits he's impressed with her skills. Elfé retreats after questioning Sephiroth's reason for fighting and claiming she has hers.
- A Mother To Her Men: Elfé fights in the heat of battle alongside her troops, and expresses disgust with herself for her bouts of sudden weakness and she's unable to fight with them. Late in the game when the player confronts her, Elfé declares directly she's going to take personal revenge for all the AVALANCHE troops you've killed.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Zirconiade, the monster that will destroy the world and that Fuhito is trying to summon. Manifests partially and is the Final Boss.
- Grey-and-Gray Morality: As the player knows from Crisis Core especially, while their leaders are corrupt bastards, the rank and file Shinra forces are a varied group of mostly decent people, while AVALANCHE are Well Intentioned Extremists who want to destroy Shinra through violent methods to save the planet. Eventually, the Turks turn away from Shinra and try to help Veld, who has gone alone to try and save Elfé from Zirconiade's life draining. Shears leaves AVALANCHE for the same reason and becomes their ally. Heel–Face Turn and Face–Heel Turn are certainly in effect, but it's hard to say for who and which way.
- Hello, [Insert Name Here]: You can name your player character; they have no canon names, however, and are referred by their weapons and gender, such as "Rod (Male)," "Twin Guns (Male)" and "Shuriken (Female)".
- Hopeless Boss Fight: In the earlier levels, player Turk is often subjected to One-Hit KO attack from the named AVALANCHE characters. Used quite liberally in later chapters too.
- Important Haircut: There is a variant, Tseng wears his hair tied in a ponytail, and lets it down to hang loose at the end of the game when he becomes leader of the Turks, at that point comprised of just him, Reno and Rude, and declares the organization reborn.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Elfé's weapon of choice and, of course, Katana (Male).
- Karma Houdini: When President Shinra finds out Rufus is supplying AVALANCHE with money and company info, his "punishment" is to be shipped off to Junon under "house arrest" so Shinra can save face rather than admit the Vice-President was The Mole in the company.
- Luck-Based Mission: The first mission has shades of that, as it depends heavily on whether you get Potions randomly dropped from the enemies.
- The Bomb fight in Chapter 6 (see Wake-Up Call Boss).
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Elfé's father is Veld.
- Made of Iron: The player Turk recovers surprisingly quickly (and repeatedly) from beatings they take from AVALANCHE bosses and even from being knocked unconscious by Sephiroth.
- Mad Scientist: Fuhito. All you need to know about him can be given in three words: he idolizes Hojo.
- Mirror Match: The security complex in Chapter 3 creates a Materia clone of the player Turk to fight them.
- The Mole: Someone in Shinra is leaking AVALANCHE top-secret company information, and someone is funding them a lot of money too. It turns out to be Rufus, helping them to make his father look bad and take over Shinra.
- Mythology Gag: Yet another Shinra employee ends up crashing through the roof of the Sector 5 church and wakes up on the flowerbed. For those keeping score, that's three (that we know of).
- One-Winged Angel: Fuhito offers his own body to Zirconiade to help summon it, transforming in the process.
- Plot Tumor: The original Final Fantasy VII contained a passing reference that the bomb plans used by Barret's AVALANCHE were constructed by another AVALANCHE that existed before Barret resurrected the name. Turns out there was a lot more to it than that.
- Power Degeneration: Elfé has superhuman strength, speed, stamina and the like due to the Zirconiade Materia embedded in her hand. It also happens to be slowing killing her.
- Remember the New Guy?: Funny, VII made no mention of the Turks operating at Nibelheim during the Nibelheim Incident, or really, any of the characters or events of this game.
- Rule of Three: In the first three chapters, the player Turk gets curbstomped by all three leaders of the AVALANCHE: Shears, Fuhito, and finally Elfe.
- The Starscream: Rufus is aiding AVALANCHE and later the Turks when they go rogue in an effort to discredit his father's management and seize the company.
- Super Cell Reception: This game lets you use your own cellphone to make Materia in the game via snapping pictures. The dominant color determines the element and grade of the Materia. For example, a majority yellow picture produces Thunder Materia.
- There Is Another: This game finally canonically answers the question of just where the hell Red XIII's kids came from, as it features his mate at one point. She was turned into stone, but there's a time limit on it.
- Unexpected Gameplay Change: Avoiding security robots in Chapter 3. One of the rooms plays more like a level from Frogger than an RPG.
- Villain Protagonists: The Turks are the good guys, AVALANCHE is the enemy. Justified, as this and other spin-offs have established the Turks as literal Punch Clock Villains, while this original incarnation of AVALANCHE is more extreme than the second incarnation led by Barret, bordering Knight Templar behavior at times.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: The Bomb-type enemies in Chapter 6, if you have to engage two of them at the same time. The Turk is underleveled at that point, and the Bombs together can hit for almost the same amount of HP your Potion can heal. The only thing you can do is pray the Random Number God that you'd have to face only one Bomb, or that you manage to dodge their attacks at least some of the time, and they don't dodge your attacks as often, and you don't run out of Potions before managing to kill them.
- We Can Rule Together: Surprisingly, Elfé makes this offer to Aerith of all people, asking her to join AVALANCHE since as a Cetra, Aerith ought to hate Shinra for hurting the planet. Of course, Aerith refuses; she doesn't like Shinra but she's no terrorist either.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Elfé and the rest of AVALANCHE (except for Fuhito).
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Fuhito's "Ravens" are genetically modified AVALANCHE troops based on SOLDIER and they're completely devoid of humanity for it.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Fuhito pulls this on everyone when appropriate, even Rufus.
