“Final Fantasy VII” is one of the most popular video games of all time, thanks largely in part to its unique cast of characters.

Characters like Cloud, Sephiroth, Barrett, Tifa, Aerith, Red XIII and the rest of the cast really helped draw people into the world they were inhabiting while playing the game, and today one of the game’s most iconic characters is celebrating a birthday.

According to creator Tetsuya Nomura, today is the birthday of fictional character Cloud Strife and he wished Cloud a happy birthday as he posted an impressive sketch of the character on Twitter.

永くクラウドを愛して下さったファンの方々と共に、クラウドの新たな誕生をお祝いします。@野村 #FFVII #クラウド聖誕祭2015 #クラウド生誕祭2015 pic.twitter.com/0vs7y5o6Au

— FFVII_G-BIKE (@FFVII_GBIKE) August 11, 2015

Nomura first created the sketch last year in honor of Cloud’s birthday and he’s posting it once again this year. Testuya Nomura has a special connection with Cloud as he played a big role in creating the original designs for the character.

Cloud Strife will return to prominence once again when the “Final Fantasy VII” remake is released. As of right now a release date has not been announced.

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“Crisis Core” told the story of Zack Fair and it also introduced several other characters such as Genesis and Angeal into the canon. Zack of course is a key part of the story, but he doesn’t have much of a presence in “Final Fantasy VII.”

“Final Fantasy VII Remake” producer Yoshinori Kitase recently spoke to Game Informer and told them that the team is open to using stories and settings from compilation content, such as “Crisis Core,” or “Before Crisis” for example, if they can make it work.

“It’s not to say that all or some of the characters from the spin-offs or other Compilation works will appear in the remake, but if there are any areas where we can use the settings or the characters, we do want to try to incorporate it in there, so it gives off that sense of nuance and those other stories existing.

There may be instances where the characters appear themselves, or are just referenced in dialogue. But, of course, it would be difficult to follow up on everything that happened in this universe. So, maybe some of the characters who weren’t as famous won’t appear or be mentioned. But in terms of the characters and instances that remain in the memories of our fans, we do want to try our best to integrate that in some fashion in the world.”

He also reiterated that the people in charge of making the game don’t feel that anything is untouchable. Kitase emphasized that they hope to surprise the fans with something new, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to be changing everything.

“Definitely. We have archived versions of our games, and a lot of times, people buy them and it starts off with nostalgia – but after that, you’re essentially following the story you already know. That experience starts to diminish as you proceed through the game and the interest level starts to decline. If it’s just nostalgia, it’s just a matter of following the story, and there wouldn’t be any surprises. So, in that sense, we want to balance out the areas we would like change versus the areas we don’t in order to have that nostalgia, but also the surprises.”

The “Final Fantasy VII Remake” will be released first on the Playstation 4 and as of this writing a release date has yet to be announced.

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It turns out that Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach is a big fan of Final Fantasy. She recently indulged her fandom via a conversation with the official Final Fantasy Twitter account. They reached out to Wurtzbach to invite her to the big “Final Fantasy XV” reveal event in March, which was pretty cool. But it’s her reply that really caught our attention.

.@PiaWurtzbach We hear you're a Final Fantasy fan! If you want to come to our big FFXV event in March, let us know! pic.twitter.com/CSC0uUqYo9

— Final Fantasy (@FinalFantasy) February 16, 2016

After receiving the invitation Pia Wurtzbach “died.” She then busted out a nice Final Fantasy reference out of nowhere.

@FinalFantasy omg… I just died. Phoenix down please!!!

— Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach (@PiaWurtzbach) February 16, 2016

But the fun didn’t stop there. Pia went back and forth with the Final Fantasy account for a few rounds, throwing out reference after reference.

@PiaWurtzbach Can we DM you? We have plenty of elixirs and can draw whatever magic you need

— Final Fantasy (@FinalFantasy) February 16, 2016

https://twitter.com/PiaWurtzbach/status/699968224574730240

https://twitter.com/PiaWurtzbach/status/699970027936550913

@PiaWurtzbach We haven't busted out the FF puns yet either

— Final Fantasy (@FinalFantasy) February 17, 2016

@PiaWurtzbach pic.twitter.com/BHsDUA1w5M

— Final Fantasy (@FinalFantasy) February 17, 2016

Pia told her fans during a Q & A session last month that she’s a closet gamer and her games of choice are Final Fantasy and Tekken.

Final fantasy and Tekken. I'm a closet gamer. -Pia #askmissuniverse https://t.co/Yh00ouJgtn

— Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach (@MissUniverse) January 28, 2016

As far as her favorite Final Fantasy game goes, she confirmed in a Reddit AMA that her favorite is “Final Fantasy VIII” which was also her first.

“I started with Final Fantasy VIII. Not a lot of people like VIII because they usually start with FF VII. But I started with VIII because I’m a girl and I fell for the love story. My favorite character…that’s a tough one… is Quistis. The one with the whip. I like her.”

It looks like Miss Universe could be making an appearance at the big reveal party for “Final Fantasy XV” in March but we’ll have to wait and see. One way or another fans of the franchise are awaiting the event with anticipation as the release date is finally set to be revealed. It’s been a long time coming because “Final Fantasy XV” has been in development for 10 years now.

Square Enix has promised that the game will be released in 2016 and it’s only a matter of time before we find out the exact release date. But if her recent Twitter conversation is any indication, Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach might just be finding out a little sooner than the rest of us.

The post It Turns Out Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach Is A Huge Final Fantasy Fan appeared first on It's All The Rage.

Now comedian Nick Luciano is paying tribute to the classic summon sequences by using his dad to recreate them. Nick’s dad has a little bit of experience with this type of thing as he’s previously recreated animations from “Super Smash Bros.” and “Street Fighter II.”

Nick’s dad doesn’t just give it a solid effort either, he really goes for the gold here with these summons. Armed with what looks like a mop of some kind, he mimics the motions of Ramuh, Odin and even the legendary Kings of the Round. If you’re a fan of “Final Fantasy VII” you will not be disappointed.

Check it out below.

The post A Guy Got His Dad To Reenact All The Summons From Final Fantasy VII And It’s Pretty Awesome appeared first on It's All The Rage.