New Final Fantasy 7 Novel ‘Dear Destiny’ Explores Cloud, Tifa & Aerith’s Backstories

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A new novel connected to Final Fantasy 7 will be released in about two months, continuing the story of Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith. The overall Final Fantasy 7 story is much larger than the original game, Advent Children, Crisis Core, and the remake series. It features many smaller stories that add depth to the world and characters, and some of those characters are now appearing in the main storyline.

Square Enix recently announced that a new novel, Dear Destiny, is coming to the world of Final Fantasy 7. The novel is written by Kazushige Nojima, who originally wrote the story for FF7 and also penned previous FF7 novels like On the Way to a Smile, The Kids Are Alright: A Turks Side Story, and Traces of Two Pasts. It’s set to be released in Japan on January 30, 2026.

Final Fantasy Fans Rejoice, Cloud And Tifa Are Back

What Dear Destiny Is About

Custom image by Katarina Cimaljevic

Based on a translation of Square Enix’s original post, Dear Destiny appears to focus on Cloud and Aerith, serving as a lead-up to the story of Final Fantasy 7. The tweet, without giving away any key plot points, states:

Once the church’s protective spirit leaves, a gathering in the Sector 7 slums starts a chain of events that will change everything.

It initially seems like Dear Destiny is meant to connect Final Fantasy VII Rebirth to the next game in the remake series. However, Square Enix’s official Japanese store description (as reported by Siliconera and translated automatically) tells a different story.

This game is a follow-up to “Final Fantasy VII Remake: Trace of Two Pasts,” exploring the backstories of Aerith and Tifa before the events of the main game, and detailing Cloud’s time working for the Shinra corporation.

Essentially, Dear Destiny feels like a story that takes place before the events of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. It’s a direct continuation of the previous FF7 novel, Traces of Two Pasts, and its story is actually presented as a conversation between Tifa and Aerith early in Rebirth, shortly after the group leaves Kalm.

As the title Traces of Two Pasts suggests, the story alternates between Tifa and Aerith, revealing details about their lives. Tifa talks about her childhood friends, including Cloud, and then explains how she ended up in Midgar.

Through her stories, Aerith shares with Tifa details about her past: Hojo’s initial experiments involving her and Ifalna, her escape from the Shinra Building, growing up in the slums of Midgar, and her attempts to learn about her father, Gabriel.

It seems likely that Dear Destiny will expand on the story ideas introduced in FF7 Rebirth. The game might continue the story right after Rebirth‘s ending, while also showing flashbacks to moments from Tifa and Cloud’s history.

We Don’t Have Long To Wait, Either

…Or Do We?

The game Dear Destiny is set to launch on January 30th, which is just over two months from today. Unfortunately, it appears this release is currently only for Japan, so players in other parts of the world may have to wait much longer to play.

It took nearly two years for the novel Traces of Two Pasts to be officially released in English. It was first published in Japanese in July 2021, and became available in English in March 2023. Although we don’t know how many copies were sold, the novel has received very positive feedback from fans, earning a 4.15/5 rating on Goodreads. This positive reception could lead to a quicker translation of the next installment in the series.

Even though the release is just a few weeks away, it might still take some time before you can buy the English version of Dear Destiny. While we wait, everyone’s eager to find out what’s happening with Final Fantasy 7 next.

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2025-11-24 22:30