Sephiroth's Cutscene With Jenova Terrified Final Fantasy 7 Producer

There’s no shortage of frightening moments in Final Fantasy 7, and not all of them involve the literal vampire you can recruit. Much of the game’s horror comes courtesy of Sephiroth, and according to one of the original producers, a particular cutscene with Jenova ranks as the scariest.

On X/Twitter, Japanese developers shared some of the most shocking moments they’ve experienced while making games. Among them was Takashi Tokita, a producer at Square Enix, who recounted a jumpscare he endured during development of the PlayStation classic.

He said, “When I was doing work on my PC during FF7’s development, suddenly the Jenova cutscene started playing on the PS dev kit’s monitor, and I felt like I was about to get a heart attack,” as translated by Automaton. The scene he referred to takes place in Nibelheim, during the flashback where Sephiroth encounters his mother in the Nibel Reactor.

It’s a chilling piece of storytelling, marking a pivotal moment in Sephiroth’s descent into rage and madness. Even thinking about it gives goosebumps, especially for those experiencing it for the first time. One can only imagine Tokita’s shock.

The technological context adds to the story. This was early 3D, with the SquareSoft team experimenting with groundbreaking technology. Cutscenes like these had never been seen on a home console before, so when the dev kit unexpectedly triggered one, the moment was all the more startling.

It’s easy to imagine Tokita thought the dev kit was “haunted,” but he pushed forward regardless. Thankfully he did—after all, it was proof that Sephiroth was an effective villain, terrifying not just players, but the creators themselves.