There are many crazy fan theories about Final Fantasy games but this one seems to be quite believable. As revealed by VG247 around the release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, there might be an Easter egg hinting at an interesting connection between two Final Fantasy games. Minor spoilers for Final Fantasy 7 Remake ahead.
The Easter egg in question is about a young scientist from Final Fantasy X-2. In, Final Fantasy X-2 Ultimania GuideBook, Kazushige Nojima, who is the scenario writer of Final Fantasy VII, X and X-2, has commented about this young scientist who would become the founder of a big corporation in Final Fantasy VII. The scientist could be Shinra, who heads the Shinra Corporation as we know it.
This speculation is further strengthened by the fact that Shinra talks about harnessing the power of the Farplane to use it as an energy source in Final Fantasy X-2. Although there is not a great level of continuity in Final Fantasy games, this hidden Easter egg hints at Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X existing as a part of the same universe.
Adding more fuel to this theory is a photo you see in FF7 Remake. As you enter the museum inside the Shinra Headquarters, you will see an old sepia-toned photo. It’s a group photo of Shinra employees outside the Shinra factory. If you look closely, there is a man wearing a mask sitting in the front row. Check out this tweet by AllGamesDelta:
https://twitter.com/AllGamesDelta_/status/1247700967258238976
Suspiciously, It looks quite a bit like the mask worn by Final Fantasy X-2’s AI Bhed named, you guessed it, Shinra. Developer Yoshinori Kitase has mentioned that this connection is more of Kazushige Nojima’s ‘secret history’ which involves Shinra’s descendants going on to founding the Shinra Corporation. Nojima has previously suggested that the events of Final Fantasy 7 occur thousands of years later.
It is unknown if these theories are true or if Square Enix is just sprinkling this reference for all the theorists. It’s likely that it is just an Easter egg and doesn’t hold much greater meaning in the world of Final Fantasy.