Final Fantasy VII

Eidos Interactive 24 June 1998

Microsoft Windows version
Publisher(s)
Release date(s)
Media	4 CD-ROMs
System requirements	133 MHz Intel Pentium CPU, 32 MB RAM, 2 MB video card RAM, 4X CD-ROM drive, DirectX 5.0, 260 MB available hard disk space, Windows 95 or Windows 98
Input	Keyboard, mouse, or joystick

is a console and computer role-playing game released by Square Co., Ltd. (now Square-Enix) in 1997 and directed by Yoshinori Kitase. It was the first game in the Final Fantasy series to be produced for the Sony PlayStation video game console, the first game in the series to be ported to Microsoft Windows-based personal computers, and the first since the original NES Final Fantasy to be released under the same name in both Japan and North America. Additionally, it was the first Final Fantasy title to use 3D computer graphics, with fully rendered characters and prerendered backgrounds. The game was a major critical and commercial success, and remains arguably the most popular title in the series.

The North American, European, Australian and New Zealand localizations of the PlayStation version were published by Sony Computer Entertainment, and the Windows version was published in North America and Europe by Eidos Interactive.

Gameplay

Final Fantasy VII is largely a menu-driven RPG. Initially, the player is restricted to the city of Midgar, but as the game progresses, more of the fantasy world becomes accessible, and the scripted adventure sequences gradually give way to more freedom and opportunities to explore. At several points in the story, the storyline is developed by linear scripted dramatic sequences, some of which are quite long. These sequences cannot be skipped or shortened, and require frequent player interaction for them to proceed. At other times, pre-rendered cinematic cut scenes progress the story.

During its turn-based battle sequences, the game uses the same Active Time Battle (ATB) system used in the Final Fantasy games preceding it. Unlike previous games in the series, which traditionally allowed for a maximum of 4-5 friendly characters to participate in battle, Final Fantasy VII allows for only three characters to be present in the party—and, therefore, to take part in battle—at any one time.

Final Fantasy VII's skill system uses materia, magic orbs which are placed in special slots on weapons and armor. Materia allows characters to access magic spells, special commands and skills, and a variety of other abilities. Materia abilities can be combined in a fixed number of ways, and strategic use of their combinations can decrease the difficulty of battles.

A feature introduced in Final Fantasy VI, the "Desperation Move", reappears here in modified form as the Limit Break. Every playable character has a "limit bar" which gradually fills up every time the character suffers damage in battle. When the limit bar is completely filled, that character has access to his or her Limit Break, a special attack which generally inflicts much more damage on an enemy than normal physical attacks, or otherwise aids the party in battle. Character Designer and Battle Director Tetsuya Nomura came up with the idea of implementing this advanced form of the Desperation Move, as he felt that the probability of it occurring in Final Fantasy VI (randomly taking place when a characters' Hit Points, or HP—a numerical life-gauge—were very low) was too low, and that this low-probability system didn't allow for a great enough chance of the player witnessing the characters' unique special abilities. There are two main types of offensive limit breaks, ones that attack a single target, or that attack all enemy targets on screen. The limit breaks that help you (such as Red XIII's Lunatic High, or Aerith's Healing Wind) add a positive status effect, or give party members more strength.

Nomura also expressed a desire to incorporate elaborate summon spells in the game that would allow for the development team to not only display the capabilities afforded by the PlayStation's hardware but to also test their limits, even incorporating a summon spell called "Knights of the Round" that lasts more than one minute. As a result, the idea of extended summon animations became popular with both Final Fantasy fans and the development teams of future games in the series, though some of the longer animations were decried by some as "too much of a good thing" (as the cost of triggering a powerful summon or magic attack might be an unskippable delay of a minute or more). Final Fantasy VII also continued the Final Fantasy tradition of including extremely difficult optional bosses. Late in the game, a series of powerful monsters called WEAPONs appear; the player must confront several of them during the plot, but three (Ruby WEAPON, Emerald WEAPON, and Ultimate WEAPON) can only be encountered if the player chooses to fight them. These optional WEAPONs only appeared in the NTSC, PAL and International versions of the game, being distinctly absent in the Japanese original.

Story

The world of Final Fantasy VII is economically, militarily, and politically dominated by a powerful conglomerate called Shin-Ra, which profits from the use of generators known as "mako reactors". These reactors siphon a green ethereal energy (called "Spirit Energy or "Mako Energy") out of the planet and convert it into a source of power.

It is revealed that the source of the Spirit Energy required to create Mako is the Lifestream, a flow of life energy within the Planet's mantle. All life energy originates from the Lifestream, and returns to it when an organism dies.Bugenhagen: "'Spirit Energy' is a word that you should never forget. A new life... children are blessed with Spirit energy and are brought into the world. Then, the time comes when they die and once again return to the Planet..."(Final Fantasy VII) Thus, the Lifestream is the sum—and source—of all the life that have ever and will ever walk upon the Planet. The process of extracting its energy literally drains the life of the planet in order to generate power, and will—over time—result in the Planet's decay.

Shin-Ra's executives are concerned with the expensive process of refining Spirit Energy into mako, and are fascinated with the idea of the legendary Promised Land, a place the company's president believes to be fertile with natural mako energy that flows to the surface of its own accord.President Shinra: "It's been said the Promised Land is very fertile. ...If the land is fertile..." / Barret: "Then there's gotta be Mako!" / President Shinra: "Exactly. That is why our money sucking Mako Reactor is a necessity. The abundant Mako will just come out on its own. That is where Neo-Midgar will be built. Shinra's new glory..."(Final Fantasy VII) According to legend, only a race called "the Ancients" (also known as "the Cetra") are able to find this land. However, the Cetra have been driven to extinction, with the exception of one: Aerith Gainsborough (also known as "Aeris Gainsborough" to some fans, due to her name being spelled "Aeris" in the non-japanese versions of the game).

The city of Midgar is a municipality created and operated by Shin-Ra. It is also the location of the Shin-Ra headquarters and serves as the home to their nemesis, a rebel resistance group of eco-terrorists called "AVALANCHE," who fear for the Planet's safety and desire to topple the Shin-Ra Company before irreversible harm can be rendered to the Planet. The game opens as AVALANCHE hires a mercenary named "Cloud Strife," who claims to be a former member of Shin-Ra's elite special forces unit, SOLDIER. He's been hired to aid in the destruction of the eight mako reactors situated along the perimeter of Midgar.

Cloud shows little interest in AVALANCHE's cause at first, as he is—by his own admission—interested in only the money he's been offered. Eventually, however, Cloud discovers the connection between Shin-Ra's ecologically destructive actions and a mysterious figure from his own past: a man named "Sephiroth," a legendary SOLDIER who destroyed Cloud's hometown. As Cloud is drawn deeper and deeper into the multi-faceted conflict among Shin-Ra, AVALANCHE, and Sephiroth, Cloud's own true identity and past come into question. Themes explored in the story include the concept of identity, the nature of life and the necessity of self-acceptance.

Characters

The main playable characters in Final Fantasy VII are Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough, Barret Wallace, Tifa Lockhart, Red XIII, Cait Sith, Cid Highwind, and two secret characters: Vincent Valentine and Yuffie Kisaragi. Sephiroth is the game's antagonist.

Notable characters in Shin-Ra are Reeve (Head of Urban Development), Hojo (Head of the Science Department), Palmer (Head of Space Exploration), Heidegger (Head of the Public Safety Maintenance), Scarlet (Head of Weapons Development), President Shinra, his son Rufus and members of a covert unit called "the Turks" (Elena, Rude, Reno and Tseng).

(Note: In the original English language release of Final Fantasy VII, "Aerith" was transliterated as "Aeris." See Aerith Gainsborough for more information. Later English-language versions of the titles that include the character—such as Kingdom Hearts and Advent Children—use the romanization "Aerith.")

Scenario Writer Kazushige Nojima has expressed that the dynamic of the relationship between the player and the main character in a Final Fantasy title is something that he always puts thought into, and that with Final Fantasy VII, Cloud's subdued nature led him to write scenes with the character in such a way that the player would be placed in the position of deciding for him- or herself what the character was thinking. This character-player dynamic is reflected by the many opportunities the player is given to choose Cloud's way of interacting with other characters in the game's story, particularly where potential romantic interests are concerned.

The game's character designer, Tetsuya Nomura, has revealed that the original parameters of Cloud's character design called for slicked back, black hair with no spikes. This was to serve as a contrast with Sephiroth's long, flowing silver hair. However, to emphasise Cloud's role in the game as the lead protagonist, Nomura redefined the parameters of his design to feature spiky, bright blonde hair.

With Tifa Lockhart's design, Nomura had difficulties deciding between giving her a mini-skirt or pants, but in the end—with input from other members of the game's development staff—he decided on the mini-skirt that is now an iconic aspect of the character's design. In contrast, the design of Aerith Gainsborough bears a long skirt. Nomura also conceived the idea of Aerith dying roughly halfway through the story. He's expressed that his intention with this was for her death to serve as a response to the storytelling cliches of dramatic sacrifice and resurrection, instead offering up a tragic, unforeseen death that would not be followed by a resurrection. (In fact, one of the most infamous and enduring FF7 hoaxes revolved around the alleged possibility of Aerith's ressurection.)

It has also been explained that Vincent Valentine's character shifted from that of Horror researcher, to detective, to chemist, finally arriving at the figure of a former Turk with a tragic past—only part of which involves being used as a human test subject. It has been further explained that his crimson mantle was added to symbolize the idea of Vincent carrying a heavy weight—related to death—on his shoulders. Of note, Nomura has also indicated that Cid Highwind's fighting style resembles that of a Dragon Knight, so chosen because his last name is the same as that of two previous Dragon Knights in the Final Fantasy series (Ricard Highwind of Final Fantasy II and Kain Highwind of Final Fantasy IV).

Despite the advancements in technological capabilities provided by the transition from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System to the Sony PlayStation, Nomura has expressed that he felt Final Fantasy VII was hindered by graphical limitations, and that his designs were, consequently, very plain in comparison to his "true" style.

Subsequent appearances

Final Fantasy VII's popularity inspired the appearances of several of its characters in other Square Enix titles:

Cloud, Aerith, Yuffie, Cid and Sephiroth appear in Kingdom Hearts and—with the exception of Sephiroth—in Chain of Memories, as well. All five characters appear (now joined by Tifa) in Kingdom Hearts II
Cloud appears as a secret character—and in a scene with Aerith—in Final Fantasy Tactics
Cloud, Tifa, Sephiroth, Vincent, Yuffie and Zack are playable characters in the fighting game Ehrgeiz
Cloud, Aerith, Tifa and Sephiroth appear in Itadaki Street Special
Tifa appears on a poster in Solaris in the role-playing game Xenogears
Cloud appears in Chocobo Racing as a secret character
Finally, Cloud and Aerith appear in a real-time recreation of the opening sequence of Final Fantasy VII in a short technical demonstration created by Square Enix to illustrate the technical capabilities of Sony's upcoming PlayStation 3. It was first shown to the public at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).

Locations

The world of Final Fantasy VII, named "Gaia"Confirmed name of world via official promotional handout for Advent Children distributed at E3 in 2004. See scan of the handout, but most often referred to as the "Planet", is divided into three continents: the largest of these three land masses, the eastern continent, contains Midgar (the headquarters of Shin-Ra's empire) and Junon, Shin-Ra's major military base. The Chocobo Ranch, Fort Condor and Kalm can also be found in the eastern continent.

The western continent, meanwhile, is notable for its two major vacation resorts, the beach town of Costa del Sol and the Gold Saucer theme park. Several main characters of the game were raised on the western continent, as well: Cloud and Tifa lived in Nibelheim, a town previously razed to the ground by Sephiroth and rebuilt by Shin-Ra to cover up the incident; Barret lived in the town of Corel until it was destroyed by Shin-Ra in retaliation against a terrorist attack on a nearby mako reactor; Red XIII hailed from Cosmo Canyon; Cid lived in Rocket Town, the site of a failed space exploration rocket launch; and Yuffie lived in Wutai, the ancient village of the Wutai clan of ninjas.

Finally, the northernmost continent is a heavily glaciated wasteland covered in snow and ice, with most of its settlements largely concerned with excavation or some form of research, such as Bone Village and the Chocobo Sage's house. There is, however, another settlement: Icicle Lodge, the town of Aerith's birth. Additionally, the lost capital of the Cetra is located in the center of the continent, and in the far north lies the Northern Crater, the site of the Jenova Reunion where the energies of the Lifestream can be seen rising through to the surface.

There are also underwater sections of the world accessible via submarine. Key locations are the underwater mako reactor beneath Junon and the Gelnika (a sunken Shin-Ra transport plane). In addition, there are four materia caves hidden in remote locations on Gaia.

Themes and influences

Final Fantasy VII incorporates references to a variety of religious and philosophical systems, reflected in character names such as "Sephiroth" (drawn from the Kabbalah of Jewish mysticism) and "Heidegger" (possibly a reference to German philosopher and Nazi Party member Martin Heidegger), and place names such as "Midgar" and Nibelheim (both from Norse mythology). Additionally, several references are made to previous Final Fantasy titles, including several character names (such as "Cid," "Biggs" and "Wedge") and the repetition of soundtrack motifs, such as the Chocobo theme.

The game's setting follows in the footsteps of Final Fantasy VI by presenting a world with considerably more advanced technology than the first five games in the series. Overall, the game's technology and society approximates that of modern or near-future science fiction in that it includes basic space flight, robotics, highly advanced genetic engineering, automatic firearms, directed energy weapons, automobiles, helicopters, limited antigravity technology and major global corporations.

Despite years of fan speculation that there existed a hidden ending or "easter egg" allowing players to resurrect Aerith, character designer Tetsuya Nomura would ultimately reveal that development team's intention was always that Aerith would die a permanent death halfway through the game, a response to storytelling cliches of dramatic sacrifice and then resurrection.

Director Yoshinori Kitase left an intentionally ambiguous ending (which would be left unresolved until at least the release of Advent Children in 2005). Because only Red XIII and his family is shown in the aftermath of the release of Holy, several interpretations theorized that Holy had allowed Meteor to destroy humanity, seeing it as a continuing threat to Planet—an interpretation very much in line with the environmentalist message of the game.

Musical score

The soundtrack for Final Fantasy VII was Nobuo Uematsu's 22^nd work for Square. Music from the game has been commercially released on an original four-disc soundtrack, a single disc album of selected arranged tracks entitled "Final Fantasy VII Reunion Tracks" and a piano-only arrangement of selected tracks. Popular pieces from the production include Aerith's Theme, a subdued and melodic character anthem, and One-Winged Angel, the first composition for the series to use recorded voices. The game's main theme, heard on the world map in Disc 1, is over 6 minutes long. Several tracks from the game have resurfaced in subsequent Square productions, including Kingdom Hearts and Advent Children.

Sales and critical reception

Final Fantasy VII was both a critical and commercial success. It received extremely favorable reviews from many video game magazines—GameFan, for instance, called it "quite possibly the greatest game ever made" —and the game has sold more than 9.70 million copies worldwide as of December, 2005, earning it the position of the best-selling Final Fantasy title.. It was one of the first console role-playing games to achieve widespread popularity outside of Asia, and the ongoing popularity of the title led Square-Enix to produce a series of sequels and prequels under the collective title, "Compilation of Final Fantasy VII" in the mid-2000s. In March 2006, the game placed second in the "Top 100 Favorite Games of All Time" poll by Japanese magazine Famitsu, and in November of 2005, users of the video game website GameFAQs voted Final Fantasy VII as the "Best Game Ever", just over one year after it won the site's "Best. Game. Ever." tournament in 2004.

Despite these figures, however, the game is not without its critics, a number of whom feel that the battle system presented little innovation beyond that seen in Final Fantasy VI. The battle system is also criticized for making all characters very similar to each other in terms of battle abilities, except for each character's unique array of Limit Break abilities. (This contrasts with most previous titles in the series, where each character belonged to a well-defined class such as White Mage or Warrior.) Another common criticism of the game is in regard to its storyline, which some feel presents certain aspects of the plot in a vague or ambiguous manner. To be fair, it is the English localization of the game (handled by SCEA rather than Square themselves) which is often accused of failing to properly clarify these elements. The release of the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω guidebook—a publication of Square-Enix offering an official explanation of Final Fantasy VII's story—has served to resolve some of these story-related criticisms, while other critics continue to feel that the game itself lacked a proper presentation of its story. Others have also complained about the pacing, in that the transition from the beginning Midgar story arc to the Sephiroth story arc was too fast, and many of the characters weren't as developed as they should have been.

The initial North American release for the PlayStation was specifically criticized for its localization. In particular, it was viewed by some as awkward and containing a handful of grammatical and contextual errors, some of which impeded understanding of certain aspects of the game and gave rise to long-running misconceptions amongst English-speaking gamers. While the Microsoft Windows port uses the same localization script, several of the more egregious errors were corrected.

Compilation of Final Fantasy VII

Compilation of Final Fantasy VII is the formal title for a series of games and films developed in 2004 and 2005 by Japanese console developer Square Enix. Spearheaded by Tetsuya Nomura and Yoshinori Kitase, the series currently consists of seven titles (either already in release or in development), all of which are either sequels, midquels, or prequels to Final Fantasy VII.

Some also speculate that this anthology will also include a remake of the original Final Fantasy VII for the PlayStation 3. This speculation was sparked by the release of a Final Fantasy VII technical demo at the 2005 E3 expo which featured the opening sequence of Final Fantasy VII redone in PlayStation 3-level graphics. The June 2006 issue of video game magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly stated that the E3 technical demo from 2005 was, in actuality, a "sneak peak of the next-gen revival" of Final Fantasy VII (June 2006 issue, number 204). However, an official statement from Square Enix later debunked this claim, reiterating that the company have not anounced such a remake.

Prequels

Final Fantasy VII — An Action-RPG developed and released on September 24, 2004 for the NTT DoCoMo FOMA 900i series of mobile phones. Before Crisis takes place six years before the events of Final Fantasy VII and stars the Turks, recurring antiheroes featured in that game. It is an online mobile phone game utilising the I-PHONE Network. A US release has been recently announced. It is assumed that it will use the Verizon V-CAST network, which Square-Enix has used for US-based cell phone games in the past.
Final Fantasy VII — Another Action-RPG, there is very little information available about Crisis Core. It is known that it will revolve around Zack and takes place around the time Sephiroth learned his past. Sources say that several of Final Fantasy VII characters will appear as well. Set to be released around 2006 on the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP).
Final Fantasy VII — An OVA (Original Video Animation) packaged with the "Ultimate Edition" of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Last Order details some of the events that occur five years before the main events of the original Final Fantasy VII game. It was animated by Madhouse.

Concurrent with Final Fantasy VII

The Maiden Who Travels the Planet — A novelization that appears in the Ultimania Ω Guide for Final Fantasy VII. It is the story of Aerith during Final Fantasy VII while she is in the Lifestream, after her death at the hands of Sephiroth.
Final Fantasy VII Snowboarding — A ported version of the snowboarding minigame found in Final Fantasy VII.
Chocobo Stallion — An expanded version of the Chocobo breeding mini-game found in Final Fantasy VII.

Sequels

Advent Children#On the Way to a Smile — Novelization of the events that happened directly after Final Fantasy VII. Told in retrospective fashion 4 years after the end of that game. The first part is story of a young boy named Denzel, who lived on top of the plates of Midgar. The second follows Tifa Lockhart.

Advent Children — A CGI film developed as a sequel to Final Fantasy VII. Advent Children rejoins hero Cloud Strife two years following the conclusion of the game as he struggles to live on after the death of Aerith Gainsborough, while a strange disease is inflicted on the world. It was developed for release on a two disc DVD and on Universal Media Disc (UMD) for Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP). It was released for European and North American markets on 25 April 2006.

Final Fantasy VII — A gun-action RPG developed for the Sony PlayStation 2, starring Final Fantasy VII Vincent Valentine as the main character and taking place one year after the events of Advent Children, three years after the end of Final Fantasy VII. Producer Yoshinori Kitase has recently stated in an interview with Electronic Gaming Monthly that it's not necessarily the end of Final Fantasy VII's story, but will provide resolution to Vincent's personal story, just as Advent Children resolves Cloud's.
- Lost Episode -Final Fantasy VII- — A mobile phone game that will release the missing chapter from the PlayStation 2 title, Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII. Vincent Valentine inspects Shinra Mansion while soldiers are searching for him to get their hands on Protomateria.

Reviews

IGN: 9.5/10
Gamespot: 9.5/10
Official PlayStation Magazine UK: 10/10
Edge (magazine): 9 out of 10 (90%)

Notes and references

External links

Official Advent Children website (Japanese)
Official Before Crisis website (Japanese)
Official Crisis Core website (Japanese)
Official Dirge of Cerberus website (Japanese)
Maiden Who Travels the Planet - Translation of Maiden Who Travels the Planet
On the Way to a Smile - Translation of On the Way to a Smile
Compilation Network - Large resource database for the entire Compilation (English)
Square Enix official Final Fantasy VII website
Translations from the Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Ω
Final Fantasy VII wiki guide at StrategyWiki (previously at Wikibooks)
GameSpot Article on PS3 Tech Demo

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