Final Fantasy VII Twenty Years Later

Guest Article: The Zombie Chimp

Final Fantasy VII remains one of my favourite games of all time and many other people agree with me. Released way back in 1997 FFVII is now getting on for twenty years old, and it still holds as much charm today as it did then. How many other RPG’s can claim to have a remake? And by remake I mean a remake of the original game, not just slapping a new number after the title on a new game. The remake doesn’t have a release date yet, but the anticipation is very high.
This isn’t about the remake, this is about the 1997 release on the Playstation complete with polygonal graphics all crammed on to 4 CD’s.

Graphically, it’s easy to poke fun at by today’s standards. Everything is blocky, the characters have blocks for hands and Cloud’s hair really could have your eye out. Although way back in 1997 these graphics were a cut above the rest. The cut-scenes especially were considered breathtaking. Just in case you’re not clear Final Fantasy VII was graphically awesome twenty years ago. Done.

Though good as they were, it’s not the graphics that kept people hooked on the exploits of Cloud, Barrett, Tifa and the rest of Avalance, and it certainly wasn’t those graphics that encouraged a remake two decades later. You can blame both of those on its storyline.

The Final Fantasy VII storyline is still one of the most captivating plots that exist in any RPG, certainly as far as I am concerned. It could be argued that the cast are a little too stereotypical. You have the confident, arrogant lead male (Cloud); the strong female love interest (Aeris), the wise ancient (Red XIII), the dark mysterious stranger (Vincent), the firecracker (Yuffie) etc. etc. you get the idea.

All these characters become embroiled in a plot that starts simply as acts of almost petty eco-terrorism, as they stop the dreaded Shinra Corporation from extracting earth’s energy turns into a race to stop a mad, despot from destroying the world altogether. Along the way there is adventure, betrayal, loss and something that a lot of RPG’s forget to introduce into the plot… growth or character development. Each of the characters grows as they adventure, and they each discover more about themselves. I know it sounds a little hammy, and I might agree with you. Ultimately, the Cloud you start the game with is certainly not the Cloud you end it with.

Another great advantage of Final Fantasy 7 is the sheer amount of side-quests and additional content you have that can keep the playability going even further. Each character has Ultimate Weapons, and limit breaks to unlock. There’s special Materia to find (for those not familiar with the game they’re magic stones that allow your party to cast spells), there’s hidden characters, special monsters, Chocobo racing and breeding and even leaflet collecting if that’s your thing.

Even today, there’s one element of Final Fantasy VII that people still talk about today, it’s very well-known so there’s no need for a spoiler alert. Quite early on in the game it becomes clear that Cloud and a naïve yet playful woman called Aeris are going to become a thing, they innocently flirt, and so all the typical stuff RPG romances have. So every player was thoroughly shocked when Sephiroth dropped from the ceiling and impaled her with his sword at the end of disc 1. This shock is still strong, and people have dedicated huge amounts of time to try and find ways to bring her back to life. The solutions people come up with are long, convoluted and completely unproven. Although that just adds to the testament of the game, that people will be willing to kill thousands of monsters over the course of hours and maybe days for the slim chance of restoring a character in an RPG. It’s fairly common place now with rare items in MMO’s but for people to spend twenty years doing it? That’s pretty incredible.

It is all of these reasons that made Final Fantasy VII one of the most talked about and remembered games of the past twenty years. I can still go back and play it now and enjoy every blocky polygon, side quest and limit break, although admittedly I’ve given up trying to resurrect Aeris. Sometimes, you just have to let go.