FF7 Virgin – Part 1

No, not really an FF7 virgin. I played the game when it first came out. I got the Golden Chocobo. I got Knights of the Round. I beat the Emerald and Ruby weapons. When I finally confronted Sephiroth, it literally took me one hit to kill each phase. I have conquered FF7.

So why am I playing the damn thing all over again? And twelve years after the fact?

Because it’s an excellent game. First and foremost, it raised the bar for production value, in-game cinematics, story-telling, character development – not just for Role-Playing Games, but for games in general. On top of that, it brought games to the masses. I remember two page spreads in Rolling Stone magazine advertising this game.

Final Fantasy 7 ad campaign

Wish I could find the one where Sephiroth is ripping the protective helmet off of Jenova.

So is my cred established?

Anyway, they re-released FF7 on the PSN for $9.99 and it will play on either the PS3 or the PSP. I just got a PSP this past weekend, so I decided to get back into FF7. So I decided to chronicle my thoughts on the game as though I were a FF7 Virgin – someone who’d never played before. Below is the first part of a rolling set of notes. Hope this doesn’t suck too bad.

Man, Cloud is kinda a jerk. Why did they make the main character a jerk? That’s never been the case in a previous FF game. Cecil was nice, although misguided at first. Terra was awesome from start to finish. I hope the don’t do this in the future (please never play FF8).

The sci-fi is a nice change of pace from the earlier games. It’s got enough fantasy to it that it has a steampunk vibe.

Eco-terrorism is pretty fun. That sword is way big. WTF?

That flower girl is chirpy and annoying.

The Japanese sure are weird with black people. Everything is stereotypes. Barret is Mr. T. With a gun in place of one of his arms. Great.

TIFA IS HOT. Man, martial arts and maturity. What a great, strong female character. I want to marry Tifa.

Man, Cloud has amnesia. What a weak story device. Terra had amnesia, too. Man, I hope they don’t keep up this whole amnesia thing in future Final Fantasy games (please never play FF8).

Midgard is a miserable place. I hope I get to leave soon.

(more later!)