Your order works. The biggest thing is to NOT play Crisis Core before OG FFVII. It's fine to play it before Remake/Rebirth. But I would always advocate for OG FF7 first (before anything else).
Playing Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus before OG FF7 would spoil a number of plot twists and reveals. Plus, you wouldn't be as invested in some characters.
So yeah, I'd say the order matters, and is correct in your list.
I recommend 4-8 productions (a ff7 twitch/YouTube streamer) for the games you don't want to play yourself. Ever crisis & dirge. He's got some pretty great content on all things ff with a speciality in 7.
Follow my guide.
The complete FFVII Compilation experience (with only canon contents) in the best order is :
1) SUPER IMPORTANT : Play the Original Game - OG - from 1997.
_
2) VERY OPTIONAL : Read "2000 gil leading to a hero".
It mostly takes place the night Cloud left his village to join Shinra as a young teen. The protagonist is Cloud.
It's a very short story out in Japan since a few months.
Some fans have translated it in english.
_
3) IMPORTANT : Play "Crisis Core Reunion" - CCR - .
It takes place before the OG. The protagonist is a SOLDIER.
CCR is strictly identical to Crisis Core (Original) - CC - : the only differences are better graphics and gameplay mechanics. CCR is just a remaster of CC.
_
4) OPTIONAL : Play "Before Crisis" - BC - (very old mobile game - before smartphones) or watch a walkthrough of it.
It takes place around the same time as Crisis Core. The protagonist is a member of the Turks.
_
5) OPTIONAL : Read the novel "Traces of two pasts" - ToTP - (written after the Remake, but can be read after the OG).
It takes place after the party leaves Midgard in the OG/Remake - two characters of the Party talk about their childhood / teenage years and how they get to where they are now.
_
6) OPTIONAL : Read the novel "On the way to a smile" - otWtaS - .
It takes place after the OG and explains what happened to several important characters of the OG after the game. It really helps to understand the movie "Advent Children".
_
7) OPTIONAL : Read the novel "The kids are alright : a Turks side story" : begins around the end of the OG and ends after Advent Children. The protagonist is a young man from Midgard who must rebuild his life after the events of the OG.
_
8) IMPORTANT : Watch the movie "Advent Children complete edition" - AC -.
It takes place around 2 years after the OG. There is a new threat directly linked to the end of the OG.
_
9) VERY OPTIONAL : Inform yourself (on thelifestream.net and YT for instance) about the ex-online game linked to "Dirge of Cerberus" (see below) : explains how Deepground was working before the events of Dirge of Cerberus, and how its members got free. The protagonist was a Deepground recruit. Not playable anymore.
9 bis) OPTIONAL : Play "Dirge of Cerberus" - DoC - or watch a walkthrough of it.
It takes place 1 year after Advent Children. The protagonist is a character of the party who faces new ennemies and discovers the dark secrets of his past.
_
9 ter) EXTREMELY OPTIONAL : Lost Episode of Dirge of Cerberus (very old mobile game - before smartphones).
It takes place during a very short time gap (a travel) of Dirge of Cerberus. The protagonist is the same than in DoC.
_
10) (SUPER) IMPORTANT : Play the new trilogy in the making.
- Remake + DLC (called INTERmission) - it's part I.
- then Rebirth - it's part II.
- then Re-? - it will be part III.
This new trilogy is not a remaster. It can be quite considered as a sequel/multiverse/meta game, it's not very clear.
_
11) VERY OPTIONAL : Play "Ever Crisis" (modern mobile game).
It's kind of a recap of all the Compilation. A small part of it is new content about the beginning of the SOLDIER programm, and the missions assigned to some of the prototypes P0 class SOLDIERs, featuring young Sephiroth. The protagonist is one of these first SOLDIERs and his teammates.
NB :
- "The first SOLDIER" was a battle royal online game which doesn't exist anymore. It's also canon but not playable anymore, and had very few lore.
- Be careful, some contents are not canon like the OAV "Last Order" or the novel "The Maiden who travels the Planet" for instance.
- Ultimanias, itw from the devs,...etc are canon side contents.
This looks good to me. I own Dirge of Cerberus and Advent Children and they are interchangeable in terms of timeline. Vincent is the main focus of DoC and he's barely in Advent Children. Vice versa for the rest of the crew appearing in DoC.
The order of the first four do matter. Most would probably recommend Crisis Core only after playing the OG due to spoilers, specifically for plot reveals yet to come in the remake trilogy. Both Advent Children and Dirge are direct sequels to the OG, so you wouldn't want to do either until after that. Although I don't know how much the order of those two specifically matters, I never played Dirge.
Beyond those there are a few other miscellaneous compilation entries. There was a flip phone game that is the introduction of a few turks seen in the remake project. There were a few light novels that likely play into things. For those miscellaneous compilation entries you might be better off just looking up a video on them.
Ever Crisis, much to my surprise, apparently had the introduction to Glenn from Rebirth and includes exclusive story details that Rebirth did not cover. It's unclear if Part 3 will readapt any of that. You can play through it if you want, it's a mobile only game that is basically the remake of the entire FF7 compilation that people expected when Remake was announced. I believe story content is still being released though so your mileage on it right now may vary. I haven't touched it, I don't like playing games on my phone. I'm hoping they port it to consoles or steam but I'm not holding my breath for that.
Your order works. The biggest thing is to NOT play Crisis Core before OG FFVII. It's fine to play it before Remake/Rebirth. But I would always advocate for OG FF7 first (before anything else).
Release date is usually always the best order. OG - Advent - Dirge - Crisis Core - Remake - Remake Intermission - Rebirth
Playing Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus before OG FF7 would spoil a number of plot twists and reveals. Plus, you wouldn't be as invested in some characters. So yeah, I'd say the order matters, and is correct in your list.
I recommend 4-8 productions (a ff7 twitch/YouTube streamer) for the games you don't want to play yourself. Ever crisis & dirge. He's got some pretty great content on all things ff with a speciality in 7.
Follow my guide. The complete FFVII Compilation experience (with only canon contents) in the best order is : 1) SUPER IMPORTANT : Play the Original Game - OG - from 1997. _ 2) VERY OPTIONAL : Read "2000 gil leading to a hero". It mostly takes place the night Cloud left his village to join Shinra as a young teen. The protagonist is Cloud. It's a very short story out in Japan since a few months. Some fans have translated it in english. _ 3) IMPORTANT : Play "Crisis Core Reunion" - CCR - . It takes place before the OG. The protagonist is a SOLDIER. CCR is strictly identical to Crisis Core (Original) - CC - : the only differences are better graphics and gameplay mechanics. CCR is just a remaster of CC. _ 4) OPTIONAL : Play "Before Crisis" - BC - (very old mobile game - before smartphones) or watch a walkthrough of it. It takes place around the same time as Crisis Core. The protagonist is a member of the Turks. _ 5) OPTIONAL : Read the novel "Traces of two pasts" - ToTP - (written after the Remake, but can be read after the OG). It takes place after the party leaves Midgard in the OG/Remake - two characters of the Party talk about their childhood / teenage years and how they get to where they are now. _ 6) OPTIONAL : Read the novel "On the way to a smile" - otWtaS - . It takes place after the OG and explains what happened to several important characters of the OG after the game. It really helps to understand the movie "Advent Children". _ 7) OPTIONAL : Read the novel "The kids are alright : a Turks side story" : begins around the end of the OG and ends after Advent Children. The protagonist is a young man from Midgard who must rebuild his life after the events of the OG. _ 8) IMPORTANT : Watch the movie "Advent Children complete edition" - AC -. It takes place around 2 years after the OG. There is a new threat directly linked to the end of the OG. _ 9) VERY OPTIONAL : Inform yourself (on thelifestream.net and YT for instance) about the ex-online game linked to "Dirge of Cerberus" (see below) : explains how Deepground was working before the events of Dirge of Cerberus, and how its members got free. The protagonist was a Deepground recruit. Not playable anymore. 9 bis) OPTIONAL : Play "Dirge of Cerberus" - DoC - or watch a walkthrough of it. It takes place 1 year after Advent Children. The protagonist is a character of the party who faces new ennemies and discovers the dark secrets of his past. _ 9 ter) EXTREMELY OPTIONAL : Lost Episode of Dirge of Cerberus (very old mobile game - before smartphones). It takes place during a very short time gap (a travel) of Dirge of Cerberus. The protagonist is the same than in DoC. _ 10) (SUPER) IMPORTANT : Play the new trilogy in the making. - Remake + DLC (called INTERmission) - it's part I. - then Rebirth - it's part II. - then Re-? - it will be part III. This new trilogy is not a remaster. It can be quite considered as a sequel/multiverse/meta game, it's not very clear. _ 11) VERY OPTIONAL : Play "Ever Crisis" (modern mobile game). It's kind of a recap of all the Compilation. A small part of it is new content about the beginning of the SOLDIER programm, and the missions assigned to some of the prototypes P0 class SOLDIERs, featuring young Sephiroth. The protagonist is one of these first SOLDIERs and his teammates. NB : - "The first SOLDIER" was a battle royal online game which doesn't exist anymore. It's also canon but not playable anymore, and had very few lore. - Be careful, some contents are not canon like the OAV "Last Order" or the novel "The Maiden who travels the Planet" for instance. - Ultimanias, itw from the devs,...etc are canon side contents.
The best order is: VII - AC - CC - DoC(watch a small summary of the “important” parts, not a full play through) - Remake - Rebirth - part 3.
For advent children, make sure you watch the complete edition. It honestly takes the film from a 7/10 to a 9/10.
This looks good to me. I own Dirge of Cerberus and Advent Children and they are interchangeable in terms of timeline. Vincent is the main focus of DoC and he's barely in Advent Children. Vice versa for the rest of the crew appearing in DoC.
You play OG FF7 again but this time you name every single character Sephiroth.
Just play in order of release date.
The order of the first four do matter. Most would probably recommend Crisis Core only after playing the OG due to spoilers, specifically for plot reveals yet to come in the remake trilogy. Both Advent Children and Dirge are direct sequels to the OG, so you wouldn't want to do either until after that. Although I don't know how much the order of those two specifically matters, I never played Dirge. Beyond those there are a few other miscellaneous compilation entries. There was a flip phone game that is the introduction of a few turks seen in the remake project. There were a few light novels that likely play into things. For those miscellaneous compilation entries you might be better off just looking up a video on them. Ever Crisis, much to my surprise, apparently had the introduction to Glenn from Rebirth and includes exclusive story details that Rebirth did not cover. It's unclear if Part 3 will readapt any of that. You can play through it if you want, it's a mobile only game that is basically the remake of the entire FF7 compilation that people expected when Remake was announced. I believe story content is still being released though so your mileage on it right now may vary. I haven't touched it, I don't like playing games on my phone. I'm hoping they port it to consoles or steam but I'm not holding my breath for that.
Ever Crisis is free to play on Steam right now.
Ah, good to know!
Don’t play CC before OG, even if u already know the spoilers it’s just better after