The year was 1997, the FMV was on its last legs, and the Sega-Nintendo Console War ended with Nintendo the undisputed winner. The Sony Playstation was slowly gaining momentum, and CD based gaming was becoming the clear path that the gaming industry would take, leaving behind cartridges forever. And on that year, Sony unveiled what many consider their best game, and what some even go so far as to call the greatest game ever made... Final Fantasy 7.
Ten million copies sold, for a reason.
Unlike my other Final Fantasy entries, there will be no story summary for Final Fantasy 7, for a number of reasons:
- The story is too long
- There's not enough time for me to summarize the story while offering an analysis
- I don't have the energy for it
- Every gamer knows the story already. Yes, EVERY gamer.
It's been called by many "the greatest game ever made", including now defunct gaming magazine GameFan. It has also been hailed as one of the biggest titles ever released, one of the most important games ever made, etc. But question: is this accolade well deserved? Is Final Fantasy 7 truly the greatest, or at least one of the greatest games ever made?
We first need to look at the hard facts. Final Fantasy 7 sold 2 million copies within its first three days of release in Japan. In the US, the game sold half a million copies within three weeks. As of May 2010, the game has sold 10 million copies, including via digital distribution via the Playstation Network. The numbers don't lie: the game sold well.
Then there's the fact that, of every Final Fantasy ever made, this is the one fans want to see a remake of most. They wanted one for the Playstation 2, Playstation 3, and soon you'll hear a call for a remake on the Playstation 4. If they remade the game for the Playstation Vita, you can bet that console's sales will shoot up through the roof.
Yet, why? What made this game sell so well? What is it about this game that makes fans wet themselves every time they hear so much as a rumor that a remake is on its way? An analysis is in order.
It must be admitted that, back in 1997, this game was considered very high tech. The game sported what was, for its time, some of the best graphics in the industry. However, like all things, technology marches on, and what was state of the art in 1997 was considered a piece of junk in 2007. So, when you play Final Fantasy 7 today, what are you going to get, graphic wise? A game that, to be quite frank, looks to be the equivalent of an internet web comic whose backgrounds are copy-pasted from Google Images and whose characters are drawn with MS Paint.
Yet, why? What made this game sell so well? What is it about this game that makes fans wet themselves every time they hear so much as a rumor that a remake is on its way? An analysis is in order.
It must be admitted that, back in 1997, this game was considered very high tech. The game sported what was, for its time, some of the best graphics in the industry. However, like all things, technology marches on, and what was state of the art in 1997 was considered a piece of junk in 2007. So, when you play Final Fantasy 7 today, what are you going to get, graphic wise? A game that, to be quite frank, looks to be the equivalent of an internet web comic whose backgrounds are copy-pasted from Google Images and whose characters are drawn with MS Paint.
1997: "Oh my God, 3D graphics!"
2013: "Holy shit, there can't be more than 200 polygons total in there."
1997: "So real, much wow."
2013: "Good lord, this is shit. Sun doesn't move, the clouds don't move, everything seems dead."
A good part of the reason fans want this remake is to experience this game with today's graphics. And honestly, there's a good argument to be made that, considering how awe inspiring many of the game's landscapes were back in 1997, especially the city of Midgar (considered by many the best locale of the game). And yet, think about it. Except for a graphical update, it'd still be the same game.
Another argument for a remake is a polished script and voice acting. Final Fantasy 7's translation is, well, not perfect. There's a few errors here and there.
100% authentic dialogue from the game
A polished script is, indeed, a good reason to demand a remake. And yet I can't help but notice that such an admission, that the original game script needs to be polished, is an admittance of a very considerable flaw in the game. After all, several are the games who have been picked apart for having typos and errors, and of course absolutely laughable translations! Is FF7 one of them? Well, yes, the game has typos, mis translations, and some serious grammar issues. (Example, a weapon named the Seraph Comb is given the description "memento of father." It should read "a father's memento" or "a memento from a father")
Yes, this was in the game too
So, demand for a remake is substantial and hard to ignore. And considering the game is still selling, you could argue that a remake would be highly logical. After all, Square-Enix is a company, and companies want money, and if FF7 brings in money, well, you know where I'm going with this.
But, is the original game still good? Was it ever good to begin with? Sales numbers, after all, are not always a measure of how good a game is.
Let me tell you about why Final Fantasy 7 is considered an important game. Before Final Fantasy 7, the RPG market outside of Japan was, well, negligible. Before FF7, some franchises that sold extremely well outside of Japan, like Fire Emblem, weren't even being translated for American audiences. To be fair, there were quite a few RPG's being sold, like Dragon Quest, but some RPG's simply weren't even marketed. Some games, like that modern classic Earthbound, were mis-marketed (HOW do you expect to sell a game if the tagline is "This game stinks"!?) While Final Fantasy 6 helped expand the American RPG market, FF7 helped expand the world wide RPG market. After Final Fantasy 7, there was a huge demand for RPG. The Japanese RPG, for a time, enjoyed a position in the industry as being an experience akin to, and sometimes superior to, viewing a film. Final Fantasy 7 kicked that door open, and it never closed again.
A big reason for why this happened was because, from a technological point of view, Final Fantasy 7 was leaps and bounds ahead of what other gaming companies were shelling out. Final Fantasy 7 did not pioneer the FMV, but it did use the technology to its best effect. The very first thing the player sees upon starting a new game is an FMV: the camera pans around what seems to be a night sky, and then suddenly a girl's face appears. Camera is in front of her, keeping her in focus as she walks out of an alleyway. Camera pans back, revealing a cobblestone street city. Camera goes further back, revealing that the city surrounds a huge building with several searchlights on it. The title flashes right on the screen. The camera pans down towards a train station, where a group of people leave the train and attack some men in uniform. You are then given control. In 1997, this scene was absolutely gorgeous.
But that was not all. The game was still, after all, a Final Fantasy. There were expectations to be met, after all, people still remembered Final Fantasy 4 and 6! Did the story deliver?
Well, that would depend on who you ask. Some call the story the best in the series, while others call it serviceable yet inferior to that of FF6. Still others call it a muddled mess. Honestly, each of these positions have many, many arguments for them, and they deserve to be examined, even if briefly.
Some call the story "pretentious", and to be honest, they have a point. After all, naming the villain "Sephiroth", giving him a God complex, and naming his mother "Jenova"? Why not give him a cross shaped sword while you're at it and call it Ein Sof?! I'm not going to pretend that giving a villain religious symbolism is deep or fascinating, because in all honesty I detest symbolism, especially needless symbolism. I puke in my mouth every time I see references to Dante's Divine Comedy as a way to make the villain more "evil". I roll my eyes at villains whose speeches are little more than bombastic litanies that imitate Paradise Lost. I face palm every time I see a final dungeon designed to look like Hell. I hate obvious symbolism, I hate symbols that I can figure out in two seconds flat, and I've no patience for those who tout themselves as intellectually superior just because they figured out that the guy who has a God Complex is named after an element of Jewish mysticism.
Another major criticism is the villain. I myself have spoken about Sephiroth himself in this blog entry: http://vidgameanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/09/character-analysis-sephiroth-from-final.html.
And then there's the criticism towards the player characters, and in all honesty, a LOT of it is well warranted. Red XII and Vincent are poorly developed, especially in comparison to Barret and Cid. Vincent is also criticized for being a highly dramatic character, and honestly, this criticism is not without warrant. Vincent has no effect on the plot, save for revealing some back story about Sephiroth which, to be completely honest, changes NOTHING.
And yet, I need to play devil's advocate here. Vincent is, to be honest, a secret character. You don't recruit him in the main story line, so it makes sense for him to have no effect on the plot whatsoever. And yet, unlike certain secret RPG characters, including Umaro and Gogo from Final Fantasy 6, Vincent comes with his own back story, which in itself is well defined, has his own personality, and has his own way to interact with the other characters.
Cloud Strife is often criticized for being overly emotional, but this criticism is unwarranted. Cloud Strife, during the first disc of the game, is actually a very cold man. Even after he recovers his true personality and he's more sociable, Cloud is still a man who's focused on saving the world, instead of crying like so many paint him as. So, why is he called an emo? I blame Cloud's characterization in theComplication Compilation of Final Fantasy 7, where his angst over Aeris' death is explored more.
There are a lot of valid criticisms towards the characters: Barret is an Angry Black Man, Red XIII practically disappears from the plot before the second disc even begins, there is a grave imbalance between the male and female characters (3-1 in the first disc, 4-1 second disc, and if you fail to recruit Yuffie, Tifa is your sole female character from the second disc onward). There are a lot of story elements that make no sense (Meteor, I'm looking at you), and some sequences are just nonsensical (It's never fully explained why Shinra's idea to take a rocket ship loaded with magical nukes to destroy Meteor is a bad one).
So, is the game terrible? Is this not the greatest game ever made, then?
Well, the game isn't terrible, but to call it the greatest game ever made is, actually, doing it a disservice. Final Fantasy 7 is a flawed game, like any game ever made. It's a game that's really showing its age, has a legion of rather annoying fans that would defend it against any logical arguments that point out its imperfections, and frankly, it's an often imitated game that has, with the passage of time, lost a lot of what made it so unique back when it was first released.
So, does this mean that Final Fantasy 7 is just another RPG? A pioneer that has been surpassed by every game that came after it, and over-hyped piece of mediocrity?
No.
A good part of what makes Final Fantasy 7 so good is its cast of well rounded, well explored characters. These are people that you grow attached to, that you come to care for, that after a while, you wish were alive. People have grown attached to these characters, and for good reason.
But, is the original game still good? Was it ever good to begin with? Sales numbers, after all, are not always a measure of how good a game is.
Let me tell you about why Final Fantasy 7 is considered an important game. Before Final Fantasy 7, the RPG market outside of Japan was, well, negligible. Before FF7, some franchises that sold extremely well outside of Japan, like Fire Emblem, weren't even being translated for American audiences. To be fair, there were quite a few RPG's being sold, like Dragon Quest, but some RPG's simply weren't even marketed. Some games, like that modern classic Earthbound, were mis-marketed (HOW do you expect to sell a game if the tagline is "This game stinks"!?) While Final Fantasy 6 helped expand the American RPG market, FF7 helped expand the world wide RPG market. After Final Fantasy 7, there was a huge demand for RPG. The Japanese RPG, for a time, enjoyed a position in the industry as being an experience akin to, and sometimes superior to, viewing a film. Final Fantasy 7 kicked that door open, and it never closed again.
A big reason for why this happened was because, from a technological point of view, Final Fantasy 7 was leaps and bounds ahead of what other gaming companies were shelling out. Final Fantasy 7 did not pioneer the FMV, but it did use the technology to its best effect. The very first thing the player sees upon starting a new game is an FMV: the camera pans around what seems to be a night sky, and then suddenly a girl's face appears. Camera is in front of her, keeping her in focus as she walks out of an alleyway. Camera pans back, revealing a cobblestone street city. Camera goes further back, revealing that the city surrounds a huge building with several searchlights on it. The title flashes right on the screen. The camera pans down towards a train station, where a group of people leave the train and attack some men in uniform. You are then given control. In 1997, this scene was absolutely gorgeous.
But that was not all. The game was still, after all, a Final Fantasy. There were expectations to be met, after all, people still remembered Final Fantasy 4 and 6! Did the story deliver?
Well, that would depend on who you ask. Some call the story the best in the series, while others call it serviceable yet inferior to that of FF6. Still others call it a muddled mess. Honestly, each of these positions have many, many arguments for them, and they deserve to be examined, even if briefly.
Some call the story "pretentious", and to be honest, they have a point. After all, naming the villain "Sephiroth", giving him a God complex, and naming his mother "Jenova"? Why not give him a cross shaped sword while you're at it and call it Ein Sof?! I'm not going to pretend that giving a villain religious symbolism is deep or fascinating, because in all honesty I detest symbolism, especially needless symbolism. I puke in my mouth every time I see references to Dante's Divine Comedy as a way to make the villain more "evil". I roll my eyes at villains whose speeches are little more than bombastic litanies that imitate Paradise Lost. I face palm every time I see a final dungeon designed to look like Hell. I hate obvious symbolism, I hate symbols that I can figure out in two seconds flat, and I've no patience for those who tout themselves as intellectually superior just because they figured out that the guy who has a God Complex is named after an element of Jewish mysticism.
Another major criticism is the villain. I myself have spoken about Sephiroth himself in this blog entry: http://vidgameanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/09/character-analysis-sephiroth-from-final.html.
And then there's the criticism towards the player characters, and in all honesty, a LOT of it is well warranted. Red XII and Vincent are poorly developed, especially in comparison to Barret and Cid. Vincent is also criticized for being a highly dramatic character, and honestly, this criticism is not without warrant. Vincent has no effect on the plot, save for revealing some back story about Sephiroth which, to be completely honest, changes NOTHING.
And yet, I need to play devil's advocate here. Vincent is, to be honest, a secret character. You don't recruit him in the main story line, so it makes sense for him to have no effect on the plot whatsoever. And yet, unlike certain secret RPG characters, including Umaro and Gogo from Final Fantasy 6, Vincent comes with his own back story, which in itself is well defined, has his own personality, and has his own way to interact with the other characters.
Cloud Strife is often criticized for being overly emotional, but this criticism is unwarranted. Cloud Strife, during the first disc of the game, is actually a very cold man. Even after he recovers his true personality and he's more sociable, Cloud is still a man who's focused on saving the world, instead of crying like so many paint him as. So, why is he called an emo? I blame Cloud's characterization in the
There are a lot of valid criticisms towards the characters: Barret is an Angry Black Man, Red XIII practically disappears from the plot before the second disc even begins, there is a grave imbalance between the male and female characters (3-1 in the first disc, 4-1 second disc, and if you fail to recruit Yuffie, Tifa is your sole female character from the second disc onward). There are a lot of story elements that make no sense (Meteor, I'm looking at you), and some sequences are just nonsensical (It's never fully explained why Shinra's idea to take a rocket ship loaded with magical nukes to destroy Meteor is a bad one).
So, is the game terrible? Is this not the greatest game ever made, then?
Well, the game isn't terrible, but to call it the greatest game ever made is, actually, doing it a disservice. Final Fantasy 7 is a flawed game, like any game ever made. It's a game that's really showing its age, has a legion of rather annoying fans that would defend it against any logical arguments that point out its imperfections, and frankly, it's an often imitated game that has, with the passage of time, lost a lot of what made it so unique back when it was first released.
So, does this mean that Final Fantasy 7 is just another RPG? A pioneer that has been surpassed by every game that came after it, and over-hyped piece of mediocrity?
No.
A good part of what makes Final Fantasy 7 so good is its cast of well rounded, well explored characters. These are people that you grow attached to, that you come to care for, that after a while, you wish were alive. People have grown attached to these characters, and for good reason.
Left to right: Cait Sith riding his Mog, Aeris, Vincent, Yuffie, Red XII, Cloud, Cid, Tifa, Barret
The game's technology may be outdated, but the game play and the story still hold up to this day. Battles are fast paced for an RPG, the controls are very responsive and easy to learn, and the game guarantees hours of game play. The story, for all its criticisms, is actually, when all is said and done, a very memorable tale of not just good and evil, but of nature versus machine.
The main theme of the game is Identity, and this is presented in the dichotomy between Cloud and Sephiroth. Both men are dominated by a simple question: who am I? All his life, Cloud wanted to be like Sephiroth, a hero, because he lacked a father figure. Cloud wanted to be the guy with the awesome sword, who always got the girl, who could be looked up to. But he wasn't that man, never was. Cloud tried to get into SOLDIER, but he was deemed unfit for service, so he became just another Shinra police man. Sephiroth, however, was different. Sephiroth, from birth, was trained to be the very best soldier the world had ever seen, and for most of his life, that's who he was. A cold, seemingly emotionless man, Sephiroth followed his orders and did his job efficiently. He was unbeatable, but he always felt himself to be different from others. His life, and Cloud's, took a drastic turn for the worse once Sephiroth discovered that his 'mother' is believed to be a Cetra, a race of people that could communicate with the Planet. What happened next, well, it's a very, very long story, so here's the abridged version: Seph goes crazy, destroys Nibelheim, almost kills his buddy Zack, Cloud takes Zack's sword, stabs Seph in the back, throws him into the Lifestream, and he loses consciousness.
Cloud is in a coma, carried out of Nibelheim by Zack, five years later. As Zack and Cloud approach Midgard, a few Shinra troops ambush the duo, killing Zack in cold blood, and sparing Cloud, believing him to be dying. Cloud awakens, takes Zack's sword, and in a moment of weakness, his memories start fusing with Zack's, to the point where he thinks he's lead Zack's life in SOLDIER. His personality also changes as well, becoming like Sephiroth. Throughout the first disc of the game, Cloud retains this false identity, and only snaps out of it later during the second half of the second disc.
Sephiroth falsely identifies himself as the son of the Cetra, while Cloud falsely identifies himself as a SOLDIER First Class. These false identities bring nothing but grief for both men; Sephiroth goes crazy, while Cloud becomes a cold hearted man. Once Cloud regains his true identity, that of a scared young man who wanted to be a hero so he could gain some validation from his peers, he truly becomes a happier person.
What the game is trying to tell us is that we shouldn't try to be who we think we should be, but rather, we should be who we really are. Cloud didn't become the hero he wanted to be until he let go of who he thought he should be, and embraced who he is as good enough. Sephiroth, however, never let go of his anger and of his false identity, and that is what lead to his death.
This is a lesson that I feel really resonates with us gamers, because we often measure ourselves against what we think people want us to be, and often we find ourselves lacking. Many are those of us who wish we were different, better. That's why sometimes we puke our food out after we eat it, or we Catfish on internet dating sites, or we go out and pretend to be this or that. Self loathing is something that not only afflicts gamers, it can afflict anyone, from comic book geeks, to fast food workers, even rich people. And here is a video game, telling us that not only is it unhealthy to assume an identity that isn't yours, but that who you truly are is good enough.
One of the most poignant and moving moments in the game is when Cloud is struggling with who he truly is, and Tifa is helping him recover his lost memories. Cloud admits that all he ever wanted was to impress Tifa, to be who he thought she wanted to look up to. But his self loathing did not allow him to become that man. Embarrassed by his failure, Cloud hid his real self behind a facade, and this facade was slowly destroying him. And yet, subtly, Tifa reminded Cloud that who he is is good enough for her. Wait, no. Tifa reminded Cloud, wordlessly, that she loved him, the REAL him, the Cloud who followed her up a dangerous mountain when she wanted to see her dead mother, the Cloud who was a little dorky but kind, the Cloud who hid himself behind a violent mask just to hide how truly sad and lonely he was. Tifa showed Cloud how much she loved him by risking her own life, many times, to keep him safe, ironically becoming the very hero she often dreamed would rescue her. And Tifa reminded Cloud that he DID become that hero he wanted to be, by doing what he promised he'd do when they were kids: coming to her rescue when she needed him. Many are the gamers who were left in tears at this scene.
Final Fantasy 7 is a game that emotionally resonated with millions of people, and it continues to resonate to this very day, 16 years after its initial release. Why? Because it's a game where you grow attached to the characters, because you can't help but identify somewhat with Cloud, or Tifa, or Red XIII, or any of these characters. And this was one of the first games that really did that, get the player emotionally invested in not just the characters, but the story as well. We wanted Cloud to kill Sephiroth because Sephiroth killed Aeris. We wanted to save Cloud from his comatose state. We wanted Barret to let go of his anger towards Shinra,.We wanted to revive Aeris. To this day, one of the most commonly asked questions in gaming is "Can Aeris be revived?"
Sephiroth falsely identifies himself as the son of the Cetra, while Cloud falsely identifies himself as a SOLDIER First Class. These false identities bring nothing but grief for both men; Sephiroth goes crazy, while Cloud becomes a cold hearted man. Once Cloud regains his true identity, that of a scared young man who wanted to be a hero so he could gain some validation from his peers, he truly becomes a happier person.
What the game is trying to tell us is that we shouldn't try to be who we think we should be, but rather, we should be who we really are. Cloud didn't become the hero he wanted to be until he let go of who he thought he should be, and embraced who he is as good enough. Sephiroth, however, never let go of his anger and of his false identity, and that is what lead to his death.
This is a lesson that I feel really resonates with us gamers, because we often measure ourselves against what we think people want us to be, and often we find ourselves lacking. Many are those of us who wish we were different, better. That's why sometimes we puke our food out after we eat it, or we Catfish on internet dating sites, or we go out and pretend to be this or that. Self loathing is something that not only afflicts gamers, it can afflict anyone, from comic book geeks, to fast food workers, even rich people. And here is a video game, telling us that not only is it unhealthy to assume an identity that isn't yours, but that who you truly are is good enough.
One of the most poignant and moving moments in the game is when Cloud is struggling with who he truly is, and Tifa is helping him recover his lost memories. Cloud admits that all he ever wanted was to impress Tifa, to be who he thought she wanted to look up to. But his self loathing did not allow him to become that man. Embarrassed by his failure, Cloud hid his real self behind a facade, and this facade was slowly destroying him. And yet, subtly, Tifa reminded Cloud that who he is is good enough for her. Wait, no. Tifa reminded Cloud, wordlessly, that she loved him, the REAL him, the Cloud who followed her up a dangerous mountain when she wanted to see her dead mother, the Cloud who was a little dorky but kind, the Cloud who hid himself behind a violent mask just to hide how truly sad and lonely he was. Tifa showed Cloud how much she loved him by risking her own life, many times, to keep him safe, ironically becoming the very hero she often dreamed would rescue her. And Tifa reminded Cloud that he DID become that hero he wanted to be, by doing what he promised he'd do when they were kids: coming to her rescue when she needed him. Many are the gamers who were left in tears at this scene.
Final Fantasy 7 is a game that emotionally resonated with millions of people, and it continues to resonate to this very day, 16 years after its initial release. Why? Because it's a game where you grow attached to the characters, because you can't help but identify somewhat with Cloud, or Tifa, or Red XIII, or any of these characters. And this was one of the first games that really did that, get the player emotionally invested in not just the characters, but the story as well. We wanted Cloud to kill Sephiroth because Sephiroth killed Aeris. We wanted to save Cloud from his comatose state. We wanted Barret to let go of his anger towards Shinra,.We wanted to revive Aeris. To this day, one of the most commonly asked questions in gaming is "Can Aeris be revived?"
What makes Final Fantasy 7 one of the greatest games ever made isn't the number of copies sold, or the number of copy cats it inspired. It's the huge amount of gamers who were so moved by its story that they allowed themselves to cry into their controllers. It's the insane amount of people that continue playing this game to this very day, after 16 years since its release. Final Fantasy 7 inspired emotional resonance with the player, like any work of art. More than just the graphics, it was the music, the writing, that made so many people fall in love with this game, and continue to love and support it. THAT is what makes this game one of the greatest, if not THE absolute greatest, game ever made, and is, for all intents and purposes, Squaresoft's Magnum Opus.
After you make one of the most critically and commercially acclaimed works of all time, what else is there? With such a tough act to follow, what can Squaresoft do to keep its ball rolling? Well, tune in next time when we take a look at Final Fantasy 8.
After you make one of the most critically and commercially acclaimed works of all time, what else is there? With such a tough act to follow, what can Squaresoft do to keep its ball rolling? Well, tune in next time when we take a look at Final Fantasy 8.
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