Welcome to part 3 of The RetroReview Series’ debut article, covering Final Fantasy VII. If you’ve just jumped in start at the beginning where we cover ‘The Intro‘ and ‘The History‘ behind the game.
So the game struck big because of its budget, image, marketing, and design team quality. It had to have good review-worthy gameplay for people to really like it (more on that in a bit), but the reason people really love Final Fantasy VII, the reason it has such lasting, legendary appeal, is its story.
Final Fantasy VII is epic in scope. It starts as the tale of Cloud Strife, an ex-military man, who joins an anarchist, rebel group called Avalanche. The setting is a dirty, steampunk city called Midgar, reminiscent of the worlds seen in films like Blade Runner, or Akira. The whole vibe is dark, and the first 10 or so hours of the game are very linear, and story-heavy. While working with Avalanche, Cloud meets a flower girl named Aeris, and they share a very shy and touching romance. Eventually Avalanche decides to run an operation against Shinra, the organization that runs Midgar. After a long series of events while ascending the very tall Shinra tower, you open the door to the President’s office, in order to confront him and SPOILER ALERT: it’s a blood bath. The president is dead, the windows are broken, and very ominous music is playing. END SPOILERS. This scene shocked the crap out of me. I was ascending the tower, doin’ my thang, and all of a sudden my fun adventure got very serious. After you escape the city, the game opens up. All of a sudden your party is on a massive, beautiful green and blue world map, and uplifting adventure music is playing. The grey steampunk of Midgar is gone, and again, I am shocked and excited to explore this giant world! Young Stephan couldn’t believe that the gigantic city he had just been in was just one of many places in a whole world he was about to travel around!
One of the first places you visit after you gain access to the world map is a town called Kalm. While in this town, you watch a series of flashback cutscenes, where Cloud explains his history with the game’s main antagonist: Sephiroth. I was so in love with this game before this flashback. But this flashback is probably my favorite piece of storytelling in any medium. I was so drawn in. Nothing was more interesting. Nothing mattered more than playing this game (and I’m not ashamed to admit that). Sephiroth is my favorite villain of all time (the only other one that comes close is Aku from Samurai Jack). Sephiroth is the epitome of epic coolness, and I want to be him when I grow up.
The story goes on to become an epic globe trot, where Cloud and friends attempt to stop Sephiroth from summoning something to destroy the planet. The entire story about Cloud and Sephiroth has so many twists, and unravels itself with so many excellent plot points. Every character is very fleshed out, but the backstory of these two, and their conflict, is what drove the plot for me. And Sephiroth commits some very dastardly deeds. SPOILER ALERT: I can’t talk about how much I love the plot of this game without mentioning that I was extremely emotionally attached the characters. 30 hours deep, one of the characters dies. I didn’t think that this could be possible. Not a side character, but one of the most important characters in the story, one of the playable characters, dies. This character is in the plot, and playable in your party for so long, that there was no doubt in my mind that they’d be with me for the entire adventure. I still get choked up thinking about it. END SPOILERS. This was one of many ways that the game blew my mind.
Gameplay is classic RPG ATB combat. Characters gain experience points and levels at a very good pace. I found that I didn’t have to grind much, while progressing through the story, but there was a lot of late game challenge and sidequesting to keep me battling. Stats such as hit points, magic points, and attack points are increased by gaining levels. Weapons and accessories can be equipped to increase your stats, and give you powers, such as Poison immunity. Various statuses can be inflicted upon you, both good and bad. For example, Poison makes you lose hit points every turn, but you could also gain the ability to Poison your opponents. Reflect makes spells bounce off you, and back onto their caster: good if you don’t want to be attacked, and bad if you want to heal. You can also use items, which are different than magic, in that they can only be used once, instead of costing replenishable magic points. Sometimes an item could even replenish your magic points! Battles are enjoyable, and not a chore (love that ATB), but they probably sound pretty standard so far.
Click on thru to page 2 to continue the review.