Knight's Favs: Final Fantasy VII

At the time, I had only just gotten a Playstation One for my birthday, and it was like a whole new world was suddenly available to me. On T.V., they were constantly advertising this new-fangled game that looked so amazing it hurt, and that game was Final Fantasy VIII. I couldn't even tell by the commercials what it was about, but those amazing cutscenes told me that I had to have it.

I had told my mom about it, and she got back to me some time later saying that Best Buy had a copy of FFVIII on sale for $20. For a new game, that sounded like an amazing deal! I can't remember if my mom offered to pay for it or if I ponied up the cash, but either way I had a game in my hands by the end of the day. But...it wasn't Final Fantasy VIII. What had just happened (though, I couldn't have known it then) was THE greatest accidental purchase I would ever experience in my lifetime.

What I had in my hands was Final Fantasy VII. I looked at it, confused, and decided I'd rather have the next game up. My cousin, though, caught me before I did anything too hasty. He was a big Final Fantasy fan, and he assured me that if I gave that game a chance, I'd really like it. I didn't really believe him at the time, but the game had been on sale. So, I took that chance and opened it, discovering the three discs inside (that had amazed me so damn much).

I started the game, and was instantly put off by the graphics. This purple guy, Cloud was his name, looked worse off than Mario from Super Mario 64. But I kept going, and it slowly drew me in. The plot to take down that harmful reactor, the characters and how well-written they were, this crazy layered city called Midgar: it all kept getting better and better. Despite the fact that I was playing as Cloud, I had never felt so much a part of a different world before.

When I had reached Seventh Heaven for the first time, I was so hooked, it wasn't even funny. Being a part of AVALANCHE felt like being a part of a real disorganized family. I was so attached to every one of them...so you can imagine the shock I got later on. -.-

I can still remember a large majority of the story and how it evolved, even after all these years. Using dolphins to get into an army base, getting to a grand casino in the middle of nowhere, playing through those increasingly-disturbing flashbacks. Not to mention Cloud's transvestite adventure, which still ranks surprisingly high among my favorite moments in a video game.

And that fateful moment. You know which one I'm talking about.

One of my biggest regrets is that I was never able to finish the game. As you all know, memory cards were a fickle system back in those days, and it was very easy for your save data to get deleted if you weren't careful. And that's exactly what happened to my file. I wasn't aware a heart could break in such a way.

It saddens me that no subsequent Final Fantasy game has been able to match what FFVII did all of those years ago. They've since descended into this odd realm that favors ambiguity over strict storytelling, that objectifies women instead of allowing you to form an honest connection with them the way we all did with Aeris, that doesn't even allow you the option to roleplay anymore (I'm looking at you, FFXIII).

Final Fantasy VII indulged in things that no RPG would be caught dead doing these days. I specifically remember spending the night at Aeris's house and sneaking around in the middle of the night. Little things like that practically forced immersion, and made me feel like a part of a greater world, filled with people that I had gotten to know rather well, that I actually wanted to save. And that's a mistake that most RPGs make these days: They ask you to save the world, but they rarely provide one that you'd ever realistically see yourself risking your life for.

The moment Cloud and Company climbed that wall out of Midgar, I knew there was nowhere else I'd rather be.