Final Fantasy VII

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). In a summer 2004 poll on the GameFAQs website, Final Fantasy VII was voted "Best Game Ever" by hundreds of thousands of visitors, beating out other prestigious finalists like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Chrono Trigger. It remains one of Squaresoft's top-sellers in their history.

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 move the game from the Nintendo 64 to the Sony Playstation.

The game utilizes elements from such sources such as Kabbalah and Norse mythology.

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Story

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

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 man he knew in the past named Sephiroth, and so he joins in the escalating conflict to protect the planet.

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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).

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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).

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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.)

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.

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.

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.

Sephiroth - Said to be the greatest SOLDIER there ever was. 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.

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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.

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Musical Score

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.

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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 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.

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