Tag: Final Fantasy

Video Game Review: Final Fantasy VII

On By AllieS.In Video GamesLeave a comment

Final Fantasy VII is a 1997 Japanese role playing video game where you play as Cloud Strife, a mercenary who has joined an eco-terrorist group to stop the evil Shinra corporation. As the story progresses Cloud is joined my a group that is on a mission to stop the Solider Sephiroth from destroying the world. There is much more to the story but given this games popularity and the remake I feel like most readers of this review will have some base knowledge of the game.

Before I talk about my experience with the game, I don’t consider myself very good a most video games and I play more for stories and characters than gameplay mechanics. I have played parts of Final Fantasy VII before but I never made it past the half way point before. While I love the story and characters, the game play and graphic have aged to the point that I can see some not enjoying the game.

The version I played was the Playsation 4 version which did have some cheats added in such as speeding up time in the battles, turning off random encounters, and a setting which heals the characters and gives infinite limit breaks. However, I didn’t use the cheats though most of my playthrough but I did play around with them at times and if I got stuck I did use them so I would actually finish the game. Final Fantasy VII has a lot of content and side mission which I didn’t do all of. I mostly skipped the Fort Condor battles as they just annoyed me and the one section I absolutely hated was the mini game with the submarine while trying to obtain the Huge Materia. For me I had know idea what I was doing or the best way to control anything.

Overall, while I enjoyed my playthrough so I could finally see how the story ended I don’t think I will go back to the original now that the remake is coming out. I can’t wait to see what they do with the different characters stories and different game mechanics in the remake. The original Final Fantasy VII will always have a place in my heart since it was one of the first stories that really sucked me into video game even though I didn’t finish the game until years later.

Video Game Review: Final Fantasy VII Remake

On By AllieS.In Video Games1 Comment

FFVIIRemakeFinal Fantasy VII Remake is the remake and re-imagining of the original 1997 Final Fantasy VII. You play as Cloud Strife a mercenary connected to an Eco terrorist group AVALANCHE who are fighting against the evil Shinra Corporation and end up getting involved with trying to save the world.

Final Fantasy VII Remake is a game that I’ve been waiting for since the PlayStation 3 tech demo was released in 2007. I’ve played the original game and the Compilation games as well. Though VII was not my first Final Fantasy the characters and plot have stuck with me more than other games and its one of my favorites. Because of this I absolutely love the remake and really don’t have anything bad to say about it. This game was everything I wanted and more and I’m so glad that we are finally getting it regardless of the fact that its coming in installments.

If you have never played Final Fantasy VII or any Final Fantasy I feel like this would be a good game to start with. Each game is a separate story so you don’t need to know anything about previous games and though there are hints that will make more since if you have played the original the story still makes since to those who are new to this game.

The two biggest criticism that I’ve seen of the game is the fact the its coming in installments and that this section is very linear. While I would love to have the whole game right now the first part with the Midgar section is well fleshed out and I trust the team making the games will finish the whole thing. The Midgar section, even in the original, was the most linear part of the story. Its setup for the bigger events to come but I love how more flesh out the world and characters are. The events of this first part are given more weight and hit harder than in the original.

To talk about my feeling about the game I need to discuss spoilers specifically for the ending. So I would recommend playing the game for yourself and not reading further if you want to avoid spoilers.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Through out the game you encounter these dark ghost like creatures called the Whispers. We are told later in the game that they are harbinger of fate and are trying to keep destiny on track. Most of the time when they show up you see glimpses of events from the future that played out in the original and is the future of this timeline. At the end of the game you need up fighting these harbingers of fate and defeating them making the future yours to decide. At this point in the game you also see the scene where Zack is fighting Shinra and in the original dies up after defeating fate he lives. Sephorith is also attempting to fight fate and asks Cloud to join him implying that the future games might not be the same as the original story.

My interpretation of this part of the story is that we now have three timelines. The original game and the compilation games which is essentially the bad ending with Sephiroth defeated but at to high a cost. We have the Remake timeline which is following similar events to the original but Sephiroth and other characters know more than they should and are trying to change things. Final the third timeline where Zack lives and the story will change because of him. I can’t wait to see how the story will play out now and I hope that the timeline where Zack lives will intersect with the new game timeline at some point.

To those who read this and have finished the game, what are your thoughts? I would love to discuss different theories with others and how you think the future story will unfold.