WARNING THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS

Hey guys, welcome. Today, I'm going to be showing some footage of me while I'm trekking down my old childhood memories of Final Fantasy 7, THE BEST FINAL FANTASY OF THEM ALL!!!!

Okay, yes, Aerith is my favorite character, because she didn't deserve that, and also I'm sick of playing through the game with the same characters, and I wish that I could play through it with her, and also she is the perfect match for Cloud. Cait Sith said it himself. And he's never wrong.

Okay, so I bought the PS1 version of the game on my PS3. (Yes, I'm old, I know) I also bought FFIX, and the owner before me already downloaded FFVIII. I make videos of those games all the time on my Facebook page, but for now, I'm really into FFVII, because, well, nostalgia.

Pt 1. Midgar 🌃

This is the opening cinematic sequence. Believe it or not, these graphics were cutting edge at the time.



I skipped ahead a little bit. And yes, I know that Midgar is arguably the best part of disc one with the meeting of Aerith, Don Corneo's perversion/transforming into a woman, and the assault on Shinra HQ, but you'll just have to play the game to enjoy those moments. 😜



There was a Family Guy joke about going down flights of stairs in car chase scenes in movies once. I guess it comes from scenes like this. 😅

This motorcycle chase scene in FF7 marks the first major, and most notorious mini-game in FF7, and it's a lot of fun. Back in the day, we would make extra save files just to re-live the magic from those points in the game.

And as you can see here, despite me playing the game on my PS3, it's nice to see that they kept the original memory card icons for the ps3's virtual memory card.

But this chase scene was iconic. You're escaping a lunatic society run by mad corporate suits who are bent on world domination and possibly even ascension. You wield a gigantic sword affectionately named Buster Sword, and in this scene you're protecting your friends in the getaway truck by a bunch of evil soldiers perusing your crew on motorcycles of their own.


The only thing you have to ask yourself is, "why the hell isn't Barret using his gun arm to shoot the soldiers right now??"

When you make it to the end of the road, the camera pulls out in dramatic fashion to give you a better glimpse of what your crew has gotten themselves into. But before you can stop to contemplate, one of the giant clunkers that was sent out to retrieve the goods which you taken is here to slaughter your entire party.



The battle system is to this day, one of the most balanced turn based combat systems ever created. That's a huge reason why this game was so enjoyable. It gave you the right amount of pace, difficulty(before you found out all of its secrets~_~), and simplicity to still be able to have a modest play through, even if you weren't super in depth to the battle system like most veterans are.

All of the character's had their own special abilities, called "limit breaks" that they were able to utilize after taking enough damage. And there was also cutting edge graphics for every spell cast, and move performed.

There was nothing more satisfying than playing this game in the late 90s, and having your characters cast magical lightning and ice spells on modern day enemies in 3D. It was a whole new feel, that no one had ever experienced before.



Back then, these visuals were incredible, and really, really enjoyable to see. It's hard to imagine that now, but try to remember that computer technology probably isn't that much older than you are, depending on your age.



After that climatic fight your team realizes that they are pretty much outlaws at this point, and most of them (except RED XII) hardly had stable homes to begin with. So they decide to move onwards with their journey, but not before decide teams setup.

Cloud, like any sane man in his situation takes both women with him before they venture on to regroup in the next town called Kalm. Of course not without the smart remark from Barret.

Pt 2. Overworld

It's at this point that you get the first glimpse of the beautiful, scenic, and at the time, very highly detailed overworld map. If you were somewhat of a homebody, or lived somewhere that didn't have too much to explore, like say Northeast Ohio perhaps, this overworld map could take you to beautiful areas that you would've never dreamed of venturing to. And the music was nothing short of unforgettable.

Even Aerith needs a moment to catch her breath...lol jk, that's just her victory pose after a battle.

Pt. 3 Nibelheim

When you reach Kalm, the protagonist takes you one a memorable flashback to when he first encountered the main antagonist of the game, Sephiroth.

His power was unbelievably immense, he was capable of taking down a big ass dragon in as little as two blows. 😨

This game works many little psychological gems into the script, when you return to your hometown, the soon to be antagonist asks, "how does it feel?" Asking the hero what it's like to return to his hometown. But the game plays with more than just that.


It plays with the idea of going home and seeing your mom after participating in a long war, this scene is both heartfelt, and accurate to what most young men could expect their return home to be like after a long journey.


Cloud's mother expresses her concern for him, and just wishes he would get a nice older woman who could take care of him, also at the same time, confirming Aerith's garunteed compatibility with Cloud, as he is 21, and she was 22, at the time of the first game.


You also get to steal your childhood friends panties while reliving the flashback, but alas, this scene hardly ties in with the main plot.

Before you know it, you are being plunged to go explore an abandoned reactor placed high up in the mountains. Luckily, you have Sephiroth's expertise to guide you through the mission.


Yeah, he's way stacked, and he doesn't like it if you try to touch his materia(magical equipment) either.

So you're thinking that everything's cool, you got Sephiroth and he already seems like a Demi-God at this point, so it's smooth sailing, but...



The bridge breaks, and your team almost dies. All except for Sephiroth of course.

Yeah, he's basically Jesus at this point in the game.




This is one of the pivotal points in the game, because here Sephiroth explains just how your strongest asset in battle, Materia is utilized. Before this, you get a brief description from some kids in Midgar, but Sephiroth fleshed out the theory a little more.




When Cloud and Sephiroth make it into the reactor they find its dark secret that it's hiding. Human experiments, being infused with condensed mako energy. Needless to say, Sephiroth isn't happy with these findings.

He becomes enraged at the thought of possibly being created like one of the monsters in the tanks, and begins to slash wieldly at them, causing one to become startled and fall out of its tank.




The two members of SOLDIER now realize just how expendable they are...



Sometime later, the team returns from the reactor and goes back into town, where Sephiroth discovers old research files, and possibly the truth behind his origin. He becomes saddened by these findings and shows us his more edgy side.

Pt. 4 Turmoil

Cloud tries to console the dissattached Sephiroth, but he is confronted with rejection. Sephiroth proclaims Cloud a traitor for the misdeeds of his ancestors, and exclaims he is going to go meet with his own personal blood origin, JENOVA.

Upon his departure he decides to return the favor to the defendants of the humans who slaughtered his ancestral tribe, and sets oud's hometown into flames while he's at it.



Cloud's hometown Nibelheim is being burnt to a cinder, and in the distance, Cloud just barely makes out the figure of Sephiroth as he slaughters innocent civilians with his overstretched blade the Masamune.



Sephiroth gives one demonic snicker, before turning into the flames, disappearing into burning terror.


And just like that he's gone.

If you don't think that this is the best game ever, then what exactly are you smoking? Because I would like to try some.

Thanks for tuning in. Next time I'll be doing Pt 2. Of disc one.

(Pt. 4 Date Night!!!)

Who will be the lucky girl Cloud takes out??! Tune in next time to find out!!!

None of the characters displayed in this blog are mine. Final Fantasy and all of its characters are privately owned by Square Enix, who holds all copyrights.

WORKS CITED:

The first image shown here is not mine:

Final Fantasy VII - Desktop Wallpapers. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 July 2017.