Square Enix casually tweeted, “Who remembers that jump scare in Final Fantasy VII?” with a picture of Emerald Weapon lurking in the deep. And the nostalgia-fueled floodgates opened. That green abomination was a step beyond the typical superboss-an incinerator of an entire generation of gamers in the form of psychological horror.
That tweet showed Emerald Weapon beginning its appearance while you pilot the submarine, so to say traumas flooded the replies would be an understatement. One user, @LarrisaWalker, perfectly summed it up: “This was the worst jump scare….especially when you leave the plane and it’s right there.” Just chilling underwater gliding around smoothly, and BAM- giant mech-demon hybrid fills the whole screen with panic!
Add to this countdown, and @IntroSpecktive has another good one: “Ah yes, nothing like morbid curiosity making me steer directly into it, and then the sheer horror of seeing a timer in the top right corner and getting one shot.” Emerald Weapon did not simply fight you-it gave you twenty minutes to either win or drown. Pressurizing indeed.
A plethora of confessions poured in, there revealing just how unprepared the majority of players were. @Andrei_Long3n spilled: “I remember being soooo underpowered for this. Traumatized for a lifetime for being vanished in seconds haha.” @dvadolls meanwhile angsted it was “easily way harder than Ruby Weapon,” kicking off a small debate in replies as to which one was the real nightmare (Ruby fans are apparently losing).
Some of these fallout’s would later become life lessons; @RonimeShirai recounted: “as a Kid after him i started holding my breath underwater. got to almost 5 mins one arm lung bag.” Now that is dedication. For the other half, @JustOmar21 credits Emerald Weapon with teaching them to break the FFVII battle system-because sometimes trauma breeds innovation.
Of course, one could not discuss FFVII without nostalgia for the remake. @Beerus64 pondered, “gonna be so hype in part 3 omg,” with @TheReunionVII jokingly chiming in, “The true jump scare was the recast of FF7R at E3.” And from there, @rafapb86 went full wishlist: “I would jump scare if a FFXIII Trilogy remaster were announced!”
The kicker? One side still mad about the ethics department getting something censored (@animefan454) and the other side debating game engines (@RealViktor_dc wants Decima not Unreal). Classic Square Enix discourse.
This wasn’t another boss to kill-it was a rite of passage. Whether defeated by Knights of the Round spam or death in 10 seconds, that underwater jump scare is lodged in the heads of every FFVII fan. And honestly? We wouldn’t change a thing.
Yeah, Square Enix, we remember. And we’re still traumatized.
