FF7 in 494 words (it isn't emo)

[Zipp]

I wrote this for a "short review" contest over at Honest Gamers. I bring it up here because it's an argument mainly against all those who have called FF7 emo. I'd be interested in knowing what others seriously think about this subject. It's something I'm interested in as someone who studies human culture, thought, and society as a profession.

http://www.honestgamers.com/systems/content.php?review_id=8468&gametitle=Final+Fantasy+VII+%28PSN%29

The review is very short, but I think the point is made fairly clearly. Yes, every sequel to FF7 has been emo. But not the original.

[K.B.]

People who label the game 'emo' have too poor a grasp of the English language to level an appropriate insult and too shallow an understanding of either the game's plot or of basic psychology to realize that even giving a better-worded criticism along those same 'emo' lines that, by speaking, they still would have removed all doubt.

Quite a few spoilers for a review, though.

[Native Jovian]

I think FF7 is well past the statue of limitations on spoilers, don't you?

[Inimitable]

I think 12 years later we ought to be allowed to talk spoilers.

edit: ninja'd while I looked up exactly when the game came out! Damn you math!

[Gollgagh]

I have never once heard anyone call any FF story emo

[The Damned]

Quite a few spoilers for a review, though.

It's over ten years old, there's a time limit to spoilers. It's like asking people not to give away that Rosebud was a sled in Citizen Kane, or that King Kong dies at the end of the movie. Hell, there are fans of the game who aren't any older than it.

[sephfire]

That was pretty enjoyable, actually. I like your take on things.

[Shadow Wolf]

As many times as I've played that game, it never occurred to me clearly what an anti-hero Cloud is. He is redeemed towards the end of the game, after he and Tifa find themselves in the Lifestream, and he finds new confidence, but it never really occurred to me what a fuck-up he was as a character. Now that someone points it out, I think that's definitely what kept me playing. You want to see him (and hence yourself) succeed in the end, but events beyond your control keep making it more difficult and taking you off the path you were on, sidetracking you. So by the end, killing Sephiroth is more than a boss fight. It's a personal vendetta not just for Cloud, but the player. You're pissed at him because YOU want to succeed with Cloud, and this piece of shit has to DIE. I've never been more actually emotional during a boss fight than I was when I kicked his ass for the first time. Great take man, thanks for making me think in new ways.

[Zipp]

The spoilers were a tough one for me to decide on. Ultimately, though, I figured that the only two large spoilers are the failing to save Avalanche (which I'm vague about) and Aerith's death.

But if you don't know about Aerith's death by now, then you don't have the internet anyway.

As many times as I've played that game, it never occurred to me clearly what an anti-hero Cloud is. He is redeemed towards the end of the game, after he and Tifa find themselves in the Lifestream, and he finds new confidence, but it never really occurred to me what a fuck-up he was as a character. Now that someone points it out, I think that's definitely what kept me playing. You want to see him (and hence yourself) succeed in the end, but events beyond your control keep making it more difficult and taking you off the path you were on, sidetracking you. So by the end, killing Sephiroth is more than a boss fight. It's a personal vendetta not just for Cloud, but the player. You're pissed at him because YOU want to succeed with Cloud, and this piece of shit has to DIE. I've never been more actually emotional during a boss fight than I was when I kicked his ass for the first time. Great take man, thanks for making me think in new ways.

The final spine crusher? Cloud doesn't even end up saving the world by beating Sephiroth. Meteor still arrives and Holy fails. Ultimately the planet has to take care of things, showing Cloud that no matter what happened, his actions were pointless.

From a slightly happier stand point, it does seem to be the planet giving Cloud a little bit of a push, telling him that he has to live for living's sake and can't try to find meaning behind everything he does because ultimately, there is no meaning. It's a very existential message and one that Bugenhagen is the first to tentatively put into words when you meet him at Cosmo Valley. Bugenhagen's lack of concern about his own demise is also a good place to spot some of this existentialism.

[The Mutericator]

Calling FF7 "the most enduring game of all time" pisses me off for some reason. It's like starting an essay with "hey, just fair warning, I'm a huge fanboy," and then trying to sound objective about the whole thing.

[Bahamut]

Calling FF7 "the most enduring game of all time" pisses me off for some reason. It's like starting an essay with "hey, just fair warning, I'm a huge fanboy," and then trying to sound objective about the whole thing.

I don't feel it's terribly enduring...it's well overdue for a remake to put it up to speed, especially with the laughable graphics in the original.

[kupernikus]

I don't feel it's terribly enduring...it's well overdue for a remake to put it up to speed, especially with the laughable graphics in the original.

And yet, here we are 12 years later, still posting about it, still discussing it. And not just some small subgroup of gamers, a fairly large chunk. Im trying really hard to think of another game thats 12 years old that gets that kind of attention.....

[Hy Bound]

Thats an exceptionally different take on the actions of the game. My hat is off to you; I had never really thought of Cloud as being anything other than a hero. Great review.

As for it being one of the most enduring games ever made, i'd say it is to the people who played it when it came out. A lot of people wrote it off and considering there is no nostalgia, the graphics can be pretty hard to overlook now. I still love the shit out of that game and I now have a reason to replay it.

[Native Jovian]

My problem is that Cloud has become emo over time.

Seriously, go watch Advent Children and tell me that Cloud's not being emo. Or play Kingdom Hearts -- especially Kingdom Hearts 2. Holy crap. Seriously, just wow. (For those that haven't played, Kingdom Hearts Cloud looks like he mugged Vincent and stole his clothes, and KH2 Cloud constantly whines about "the darkness within him". Urgh.)

Cloud was pretty emo for a (fairly short) while in FFVII but he got over it. It's somehow entered the public mind that this is all Cloud ever is, was, or will be... so that's how he's portrayed in things-that-aren't-FFVII-that-still-have-Cloud-for-some-reason.

[kitty]

If anyone is emo, it's Squall.

[Zipp]

I feel that the endurance of the game is easily shown by the fact that, in the few months it has been available on the PSN, it has sold nearly as many copies as when it was first released.

My problem is that Cloud has become emo over time.

Did you actually read my review?

[Ramaniscence]

People are kind of too quick to call people "emo."

15 year old kids, who can't fit into their little sister's pants anymore, and who can't go to the movies to see the Vampire's Assistant with their friends on opening night because it's a their grand parent's 60th birthday and their parents are SO TOTALLY RUINING MY LIFE I HATE YOU are emo.

The guy who's been married to his pregnant wife for 10 years and then her and his unborn child die in when their car gets struck by a drunk driver, and then he starts losing the will to live, finds it hard to get up in the morning and go to work, starts missing rent payments, really feels his life start unravelling and doesn't know where to begin picking up the pieces...well, no one's going to tell him to quit being a whiny bitch.

[K.B.]

Spoilers... yes, it's all about audience. But why write a review to those who have already played the game? Vindication?

I can't think of a single reason to review a game for someone who's already played the game... aside from money. Otherwise, it's an insult to one's intelligence. Hence my comment.

If anyone is emo, it's Squall.

Thank you, voice of reason. And I liked the guy, but if anyone fit such a mold, it was Squall.

A pithy review isn't exactly the best avenue to pursue philosophical tangents, now is it? I don't see any reference or allusion to existentialism in your review.

[Chris8282]

It's no where near the most enduring game of all time. That would StarCraft and I'm looking at things objectively on that. No other game is so old and still has the community that that game has. Hell, it's the American equivalent of Football over in South Korea.

However, it's hard to argue that Final Fantasy VII isn't ONE of the most enduring games of all time and noticing such does not make one a fanboy. Hell, it's the highest rated JRPG over in Japan by the Famitsu community.

Also, Squall was the emo. He was so emo he made me cry ... because someone designed him that way. It's sad that over in Japan such weak men are the norm and acceptable.

[Zipp]

Spoilers... yes, it's all about audience. But why write a review to those who have already played the game? Vindication?

I can't think of a single reason to review a game for someone who's already played the game... aside from money. Otherwise, it's an insult to one's intelligence. Hence my comment.

What? You've never read a review for a game you've already played to see what someone else thought about it or to try and better your understanding of why you liked the game, therefore bettering your understanding of who you are and what your interests are?

I didn't get paid to write that review. I did it because (a) the game has been rereleased and people want to know why it's seeing so much action 12 years after the fact and ( because I'm tired of people claiming that FF7 was a game filled with "emo" characters.

[Nabeel Ansari]

Cloud really wasn't emo...

he was just dead.

It's like

Tifa: OMG CLOUD SHINRA'S ATTACKING US

Cloud: ...okay... *kills everything*

He just kinda lost himself for a great majority of the game.

He was never "emo", he's just "dead" in the sense that he's really sad and nothing really gets him excited or happy. I mean he lost his best friend (Zack) and another best friend (Aeris) and he found out that he wasn't really as powerful as he thought he was (the whole thing about he thought he was in SOLDIER) and he got effed up by Jenova cells and so on... I mean, come on. He also gets stabbed several times and shot (advent children complete edition) and blown up not to mention he falls through the roof of a church twice (once in FFVII once in advent children)... the guy is still trying to save the world, if anything he's selfless, not emo. xD

[Drack]

FF7 is not the most enduring game of all time. Not even close. Claiming it as such shows immense ignorance and invalidates the entire review straight from the beginning.

Revise the cornerstone of your review, or come back when no one's heard of Super Mario Bros.

This is not to say you don't have some insightful points. However, coming here to toot your own horn about your deeply flawed fanboy review is not something I appreciate.

[SynthesizedStampede]

I feel that the endurance of the game is easily shown by the fact that, in the few months it has been available on the PSN, it has sold nearly as many copies as when it was first released.

Did you actually read my review?

I did, and I'm having trouble finding how it refutes his claim that Cloud became more "emo" after time.

Good read, btw, but as others have pointed out, would be more reliable if you didn't use the whole "enduring" line or closed, instead of opened, with it.

[K.B.]

What? You've never read a review for a game you've already played to see what someone else thought about it or to try and better your understanding of why you liked the game, therefore bettering your understanding of who you are and what your interests are?

I didn't get paid to write that review. I did it because (a) the game has been rereleased and people want to know why it's seeing so much action 12 years after the fact and ( because I'm tired of people claiming that FF7 was a game filled with "emo" characters.

Well, no, not to try to get a better understanding. For complex games like FF7 I either play them again, youtube videos of sections I want to reassess, or scan over the game's script. And not to get a better understanding of myself, either... introspection works a bit better than a game review in that department.

But to help others see the brilliance of or gain awareness over an oft-missed, significant aspect of a game (or what-have-you), yeah, I could see that. I think I overlooked that because, in this case, you're trying to convince the exceedingly dense to completely reverse their opinion, which strikes me as an exercise in futility. But you're right, money wouldn't be the only reason. Not that I meant that in a bad way anyway; I like money.

[Native Jovian]

I did, and I'm having trouble finding how it refutes his claim that Cloud became more "emo" after time.

I'm glad that comment confused someone else, because it confused me.

I'm not saying that Cloud was emo in FFVII, or started out as not-emo and gradually became emo over the course of FFVII. I'm saying that because people think he was emo in FFVII (which he wasn't), they portray him as emo in non-FFVII things that he appears in. He's not emo in FFVII, but he's sure as hell emo in Kingdom Hearts 2.