#3: Final Fantasy VII (1997) (ファイナルファンタジーVII)

The other day, I remember reading a line that said "Final Fantasy VII was praised for its graphics, gameplay, music and story." Well, what the hell else is there??

***** Warning ***** SPOILERS AHEAD *****

***** Warning ***** SPOILERS AHEAD *****

I was relatively young when I first played this. I remember, my Ugandan/Asian (don't ask, those who know him will know how ridiculous this niggah is) best friend and my ex-boyfriend both insisted that I try this out. I must have been around 16 or so. I know He (he'll know who "He" is) always insisted that it was the best game He had ever played. I was sure he was lying his balls off, as he VERY regularly did. Nevertheless, I ultimately decided I might as well give it a try.

Very rarely, if ever, had a game come this close to impersonating a fine cinematic adventure. I can actually only think of around 3 others that had done it, and not one layered such a great RPG on top of it. Baldur's Gate II's pacing felt more like a great novel. I had already tried out numbers 1, 4, 5 and 6 by this point. Although both 5 and 6 sort-of approach this level of quality, neither has the new Batman-film-esque darkness and gritty story to it. To this day, the battle theme plays on a friend's cellphone at work and I jump up in my chair, instantly ready for battle. Nobuo Uematsu certainly delivered the equivalent of an Oscar-winning soundtrack here.

Do ya remember raising a golden chocobo and the immense effort it required? What about the unbridled beauty of Omnislash, Cloud Strife's (the main character's, y'know: goofy blond hair, impractically HUGE sword?) final Limit Break? The mini-games at the Gold Saucer? Cid (there's ALWAYS a Cid) and his lovely airship? And please please PLEASE DON'T READ ON if you don't want to know (trust me, you don't), because this is quite possibly the single largest plot twist in a video-game ever...

***** Warning ***** SPOILERS AHEAD *****

The moment when Sephiroth brutally murders Aeris...I'm not afraid to admit it, I cried crocodile tears. I didn't believe it could happen...I was in shock. Complete and utter shock. I remember when it happened and Wynand related to me how he had re-loaded at the time to try and avert this crisis. That's bad enough. The Ugandan fella told me the following (like many video game rumours, who knows if it's true): He got Aeris's final limit break by obsessively leveling her. Then this happened. He re-loaded. Nope. Re-loaded again... Nope. Hmmm. Restart? LOL, thanks for trying, buddy. It was that harsh, unbelievable, unfair...and also one of the most defining moments in gaming history.

That's having said little of the...bitches? Mofos? Really not sure what to call them. Still one of my proudest gaming achievements. Taking down Ruby Weapon and Emerald Weapon. I'm probably lying, but I remember multiple Knights of the Round, Emerald, and 45 mins just going down the tubes. It was so worth it to lay them to rest.

Having said that, this had close to the best story ever. Like I said, it was very much like playing a movie. Sooo beautiful. Aeris and Midgar, Red XIII's whole back-story, Vincent's creepiness, Barret's booming "HEADSHOT, NIGGAH!"-style presence...so many good memories. The best Final Fantasy by quite some margin. For a long time, this was my no. 1, best EVAR!