Final Fantasy VII: The World is My Oyster

SPOILER ALERT!

Aeris dies! That's right, folks. That lovable girl who we brought along with us on our terrorist assassination mission got killed. I know, imagine that. But in her death, we received the Highwind, the airship that flies you around everywhere. A fair trade, in my opinion.

Seriously though, Final Fantasy VII has been an interesting trek so far. Not only do I have to deal with the monsters and threats filling the land but also my 17-year-bloated expectations for the title toted as the greatest game ever made by it's own box art. It is impossible to be a fan of RPG's in this day and not hold Final Fantasy VII on a pedestal, even if you've never played the game. Because of this unrealistic expectation of an admittedly old game, every joy is tempered and every failing is a massive disappointment, despite my own efforts.

Still, I'm gonna spout my opinions anyway, because this is my blog, dammit! That and if I don't have my opinions to throw around, what's the point? Basically, the game has been somewhat disappointing thus far. Despite everyone obviously being attached to Cloud and friends, I've found it difficult to care about any of the characters. Basically, they are a bunch of environmental terrorists blowing crap up to prove their point.

You know who else does this...?

You were born in the 90's if you remember this image.

So maybe Squaresoft was going for a more ambiguous protagonist/antagonist dynamic. I can appreciate that. But when they bring their kid into it, I simply accept that Barret is the worst parent in the world and have to move past any sense of caring. Yeah, remember Marlene? The little girl that they abandon in the slums of a mega-conglomerate city hell-bent on killing them at all costs? Obviously Barret and Tifa don't.

Cloud is the whiny middle-school kid who thinks he's too cool to be a part of anything and ends up just brooding in a corner, hoping everyone thinks he's thinking about smart things. Sure his identity crisis becomes interesting but then that quickly moves into resurrecting Sephiroth and destroying the world. In fact, his puppet identity is the most interesting thing about him. What is that saying? The fact that he isn't really a person, has no emotions and mimics memories from Tifa is the most interesting thing about him???

Let's look at the side characters for a minute. Aeris bounces around picking flowers and flirting with the puppet when she isn't busy talking to the dirt or getting stabbed. Barret is the worst parent ever and has managed to get all his team killed. Who the hell knows what Tifa is doing or why since she started in Nibelheim, learned martial arts and then went to Midgard to work in a bar. Red XIII is a talking dog raised by a guy studying the earth by looking into space. Vincent is a not-vampire who hates Hojo and turns into various Universal movie monsters. Cid, the emotional wife-beater who had no better options. Yuffie who steals their stuff and obviously cares nothing for any of them. Cait Sith, a robot controlled by a guy who works for their enemy but apologizes every time he betrays them. Why do we like these people???

The gameplay has taken a step back by being slower paced than Final Fantasy VI and restricting you to three party members. Some people may like this better but I find it restrained and less interesting. The materia may be fun but is it better than the individually unique characters from Final Fantasy VI or the job system from Final Fantasy V? No. Not even close. Aging design choices have also dampened the game's enjoyability. I recently slogged through the ice area which would have been great if it hadn't been for Marlboro's using Bad Breath, an ability that hits your entire party with frog, poison, confusion, silence and sleep. Thankfully, Cloud was equipped with ice absorbing materia so he managed to survive but if I hadn't done this before the battle, it would have been entirely impossible for me to win the battle. Even with it, it took a good five minutes and a Magic Breath spell to kill him off, an enemy spell that costs 75 magic (out of 300 total). Most of that time was spent staring at the screen, waiting for Cloud to wake up and hit himself so I could actually start healing and hopefully get an attack in. Did I get anything good from that battle? No. Less experience than most fights, a pitiful amount of gold and a battle item. This is just an example of the kinds of fights that still exist in this game, something that never should have been repeated after the first game. Six main series titles and two console generations later, this should be a distant relic of the past.

The game's not all bad, and I don't mean to imply that it is. The storyline is looking up since Aeris died as it finally feels like it has some focus. Up until about Nibelheim, the game felt grounded but then things started to get ridiculous and lose any sense it once had. I already knew that Cloud was a clone of Sephiroth with Zack's DNA and that Sephiroth needed the Black Materia to cast Meteor to end the world but playing the game, I still had no idea what was going on because the storytelling was horrendous. Now that they've stopped playing around with flying sprites and ridiculous leaps in logic, I'm caring more about the character's plights and am excited to start exploring the world with the airship. I'm hoping that there is as much to do in VII as there was in VI.

I'll update you when there's something more to say.

Game on!