Today I completed Final Fantasy VII which is a game that does not require much of an introduction. Developed by Square (now Square Enix after a merger with Enix) Final Fantasy VII was released in 1997 for the PlayStation. As a schoolchild I had heard about Final Fantasy VII but did not think much of it until one day I was helping a school friend choose some games to buy in our local video game shop. I mentioned that I heard good things about Final Fantasy VII to which a stranger in the shop overheard and replied telling my friend and I that it’s the best game he had ever played. My friend bought the game but to be honest we didn’t get on well with it. Initially we found that the game slow paced which required a lot of reading and learning of the game mechanics. We were juvenile and probably thought reading and learning was something we did at school and didn’t want more of it. But I was intrigued (and didn’t have any new games of my own) so asked if I could borrow it.
In the weeks that followed I fell in love with the game. I was hooked on the story, learned most of the game mechanics and found much of the soundtrack simply exquisite. At school I bragged about how good the game is and how quick my school friend and I were to judge. This lead to him wanting his game back and me begging my mother for a copy of my own, something I still have to this day. I don’t think I would have been given my own copy if my mother could have known just how many sleepless nights would follow. It’s like reading a good story book which plays music at you and also has a puzzle on every other page, preventing you from reading on until you complete it. The story takes you through a wide range of emotions as you get to know the characters and whats at stake. Final Fantasy VII will make you smile, laugh, get angry, relate… even cry. It is quite simply one of the best, if not THE best story in a video game that I have played. I even grew to like some the ‘bad guys’ such as the ‘Turks’ featured below.
The soundtrack, produced by Nobuo Uematsu, is simply a masterpiece. Widely celebrated by many Final Fantasy VII fans but also enjoyed by a lot of people who never played the game. There are countless covers, some of which have been performed in an orchestral setting. Hip hop artist Raheem Jarbo released an album called ‘Black Materia’ in 2011 and remade it in 2021. I listen to them now as I write this post. A somewhat mediocre anime film, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was produced in 2005 and is a sequel to the Final Fantasy VII story. While I find the film not exactly bad but also nothing particularly special, the soundtrack (once again produced by Nobuo Uematsu) is excellent. As well as a film there have been other games such as Dirge of Cerberus and perhaps most notably Final Fantasy VII: Remake which I haven’t played yet. Combined with all of the fan art out there it really shows how much Final Fantasy VII means to people all over the world.
Needless to say I became a fan of the Final Fantasy franchise and have been interested in any other game developed by Square, especially Front Mission 3. It feels great completing Final Fantasy VII again after all these years and I have added it to my list of completed games. I still need to complete the second part of Final Fantasy IX and I am considering playing through Final Fantasy VIII, but whatever I do next it will be hard beat the experience of playing this jewel of a game.
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