Final Fantasy VII
| Final Fantasy VII | |
 | |
| Developer: | Square Enix |
| Publisher: | Square Enix |
| Release date: | 1997 |
| Genre: | RPG |
| Game modes: | Single player |
| ESRB rating: | Teen (T) |
| Platform: | PlayStation |
| Media: | CD |
Final Fantasy VII is a video game that was Squaresoft (now Square Enix)'s first Final Fantasy game on the PlayStation. It was later released for the PC (albeit less successfully), with Eidos Interactive as the distributor.
Unlike previous games in the series, Final Fantasy VII used 3D graphics, with fully rendered characters and prerendered backgrounds. Of all the Final Fantasy games, it is the one most often held up as the best in the series by Westerners (although this claim is also commonly made for Final Fantasy IV, VI and X).
Final Fantasy VII is also one of the most ambiguous (and, some say, convoluted) games in the series, leaving much of the symbolism and meaning of its complicated story open to debate. Some criticized the installment's (and Final Fantasy VIII) 'futuristic' setting compared to the more medieval/fantasy settings of other Final Fantasy games. Many fans of Nintendo were angered by Squaresoft's decision to develop the game for the PlayStation instead of the Nintendo 64 (previous games in the series appeared on Nintendo's consoles).
The game utilizes elements from such sources such as Kabbalah and Norse mythology.
Story
Template:Spoiler The world is economically, militarily, and politically dominated by a company called Shin-Ra, which profits from the use of machines known as "Mako reactors". These reactors pump "Mako energy" out of the planet and convert it into electricity. A byproduct of the electrical refinement process is a substance known as Materia that has magical properties.
The powers in charge of Shinra are fascinated with the idea of the Promised Land -- supposedly, a place where the land is incredibly fertile and where Mako flows abundantly -- as well as a group of people known as the Cetra, or the Ancients, who are, according to legend, able to find it. In Midgar, a city created and run entirely by Shinra, a resistance faction known as AVALANCHE is attempting to destroy the Mako reactors, on the grounds that the reactors are literally sucking the life away from the planet. The story begins as AVALANCHE hires a mercenary named Cloud Strife, an ex-SOLDIER of Shinra, to help them destroy the eight Mako Reactors positioned in a ring around Midgar. Cloud is originally disinterested in AVALANCHE's cause, but he soon begins to see the danger posed by Shinra, and a man he knew in the past named Sephiroth, and so he joins in the escalating conflict to protect the planet.
Gameplay
Like most other Final Fantasy games, FFVII features tradtional RPG-style, turn based fighting. The fighting engine is heavily based on that of Final Fantasy III / VI and uses a system called "Active Time Battle" (ATB).
Using "Materia," magic orbs which fill up "Materia slots" in weapons or armor, characters gain access to magic spells, new commands, better attacks or defenses and other abilities. Materia can be combined in several ways, and strategic use of Materia combinations can make many battles much easier.
Another new feature introduced to the series were "Limit Breaks," unique attacks that each character can perform after he or she has suffered enough damage. Limit Breaks are reintroduced in Final Fantasy VIII in altered form; similar systems exist in Final Fantasy IX (Trance) and Final Fantasy X (Overdrive).
Characters
The main playable characters in Final Fantasy VII are (in order of appearance) Aeris Gainsborough, Barret Wallace, Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockheart, Red XIII (also called Nanaki), Cait Sith, Cid Highwind, and two extra characters: Vincent Valentine and Yuffie Kisaragi. Sephiroth joins you in a series of flashbacks, but he cannot be controlled or equipped. Important characters in Shinra are Reeve (Head of Urban Development), Hojo (Head of the Science Department), Heidegger (Head of the "Peace Preservation Department"), Scarlet (Head of Weapons Research and Development), President Shinra, his son Rufus, and the assassin-like Turks (Elena, Rude, Reno, and Tseng).
Playable Characters' Profiles
- Cloud Strife - A mercenary employed by AVALANCHE that the player begins the game controlling. Cloud is a confused and conflicted individual with an arrogant front. He wears a purple jumpsuit, has strangely glowing blue eyes, and his blond hair is bizarrely spiked (a fact that his compatriots often tease him about). He fights with a gigantic broadsword.
- Barret Wallace - The leader of AVALANCHE, a powerfully built black man with a deep-seated hatred of everything Shinra. He mistrusts Cloud at first because of the mercenary's past affiliation with Shinra. Barret lost his arm in a battle years ago, and uses a prosthetic "gun-arm" to fight.
- Tifa Lockhart - A childhood acquaintance of Cloud's, she is a skilled martial artist with a cheerful nature. One of the main members of AVALANCHE, she initially convinces Cloud to take a job with AVALANCHE. She has long black hair tied back in a loose pony-tail and brown (or red, depending on the interpretation) eyes. She wears a black miniskirt and a white, bare-shouldered middrift T-shirt.
- Aeris Gainsborough - Soft spoken, fragile, and compassionate, Aeris is a poor flower-seller who is sought after by Shinra. She asks Cloud to be her bodyguard after a run-in with the Turks, and subsequently joins AVALANCHE. She has long brownish-red hair she keeps in a braid with pink bows, vivid green eyes, and wears a red mini-jacket and long pink dress. She fights with a metal quarterstaff. (Note: Aeris is sometimes referred to by her Japanese name, "Aerith." The difference in names is evidently due to a conflicting Romanization of the "s" sound in Japanese. The dispute over the spelling of her name was ended when she was reffered to as "Aerith" in Kingdom Hearts.)
- Close to the midpoint of the game, Aeris dies. A (very) persistent rumour has it that Aeris either could be ressurected in the game, could be ressurected in the Japanese version of the game, or that she was meant to be ressurected but the feature could not be completed. However, the staff of the game have stated in interviews numerous times that this is not the case (most recently in a feature on the making of the game in Edge magazine). Aeris' death was, according to the development team, intended to be a permanent and tragic event, a response to the dramatic cliches of heroic sacrifice and ressurection.
- Red XIII - Strong, fierce, and coated with fire-red fur, Red XIII is one large and powerful beast. However, his mind and soul are a different story. With amazing intelligence and a warm heart, Red XIII joins with Cloud after being rescued from a horrible Shinra experiment. Red XIII is the name given to him by Hojo, Shinra's Head of the Science Department. His real name is Nanaki. He is the last surviving member of his species.
- Cait Sith - A black and white talking house-cat, friendly but untrustworthy and unreliable at times. Rides around on the back of a "Mog" that also does all his fighting for him. Has a hobby of telling fortunes. Cait Sith is eventually revealed to be a robot controlled by Reeve, the Shina Corporation's minister of housing, with the machine intended to serve as a spy for Shinra. However, Reeve is somewhat more reasonable than his colleagues, and by the end of the game he is on Cloud's side, often giving insider information on Shinra's current plans.
- Cid Highwind - A rather crochety character that curses in nearly every sentence, but who remains passionate about his interests and dreams about going into space. A pilot, he wears attire befitting his occupation (gloves, goggles, jacket, scarf) and is skilled with machinery. Has greying blonde hair and blue eyes. Uses a spear in battle.
- Yuffie Kisaragi - A proclaimed "Materia Hunter," she is essentially out to steal the party's materia. She's the youngest, fastest, and least serious member of the group; but eventually even she realizes the gravity of the situation she gets caught up in. Has dark hair, dark eyes, short beige pants, a green sleeve-less turtleneck, and a green headband to match. Uses a shuriken (an oversized ninja star) to throw and slash with. She is the daughter of the leader of Wutai; "Godo". She is an optional playable character in the game.
- Vincent Valentine - A dark, brooding character, often gloomy. Has a dark past involving Sephiroth and Shinra, and feels compelled to help Cloud and the others in their quest. Wears all black, except for a deep red cape, matching headband, and gold claw-arm. Has long, messy black hair and red eyes. His special attacks, or Limit Breaks involve monstrous transformations. His mannerisms and appearance have given rise to rumors among the fanbase that he may be a vampire of some kind. He is an optional playable character in the game.
- Sephiroth - Said to be the greatest SOLDIER there ever was. Sephiroth rose to a prominant rank in as a SOLDIER at an early age. Mysterious and dangerous, with an agenda all his own. Has long, naturally silver-white hair, tourquoise eyes, and wears a black leather trenchcoat with silver shoulder plates over it; underneath the trenchcoat he goes bare-chested. A master swordsman, he uses the Masamune, a deadly blade over six feet long which only he can wield.
Fanbase
The characters of Final Fantasy VII are incredibly popular among the RPG fanbase. Cloud won the 2003 GameFAQs character battle, suggesting that he is one of, if not the most, popular character of all time. Interestingly enough, Sephiroth, a villain, came in second.
Nobuo Uematsu's twenty-second work for Squaresoft. There is an original 4-disc version containing music directly from the game, as well as a single-disc album, titled "Final Fantasy VII: Reunion", which is a collection of the most popular tracks, some of which have been orchestrated. On the original game discs, the music was packaged in MIDI files; many fans have released different versions of this music featuring different soundfonts, creating different styles and qualities. Uematsu's band The Black Mages made a new version of the Boss Fight theme 'Those Who Fight Further' in 2003.
Reappearances of FFVII Characters
Final Fantasy VII proved to be so popular that several characters from the game have appeared in other Square games. Cloud, Tifa, Sephiroth, Vincent, Yuffie and Zack are playable characters in the fighting game Ehrgeiz. Cloud appears as a secret character (in a scene with Aeris) in Final Fantasy Tactics. Cloud, Aeris (as Aerith), Yuffie, Cid, and Sephiroth appear in Kingdom Hearts. Cloud also appears in Chocobo Racing as a secret character, totaling five games he has appeared in.
In a break of tradition, after the production of the sequel to Final Fantasy X, the original Final Fantasy VII team decided to follow suit, with a CG movie sequel to be released on DVD and UMD. This movie is to be released in Japan in late 2004, with a US release following shortly after (expected in February 2005 along side the launch of the PlayStation Portable console).
Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis is a spinoff of the game Final Fantasy VII by Square-Enix for the Japanese Foma 900i line of cell phones in Japan, starring Final Fantasy VII's infamous special security forces, "The Turks," six years before the events in Final Fantasy VII take place. The game uses the camera included with the phone as a primary tool in the game. The user takes a photo of anything, and based on the primary colour of the photo a "materia" (the tools for using magic) is formed.
The game will be released (most likely) for the Japanese Foma 900i line of cell phones in Japan. The game will most likely not be released in North America due to the relative unsophistication of current cell phones there.
Another spinoff of the original game, which features Vincent Valentine as the main character and takes place one year after the events of Advent Children.
At the time of writing, little is known of the game, but it is speculated to be an action based title, much like Capcom's Devil May Cry. It is scheduled to be released in 2005 on the PlayStation 2.
Yet a fourth spinoff of Final Fantasy VII, this time for the PSP. more to be added as information comes