LogFAQs > #976311078

Final Fantasy VII begins with the camera panning around to show off a futuristic city, which looked beautiful even with the outdated graphics. Then it focused on a train and introduced our characters, who... don't look so good. I know how old this game is and I can imagine how groundbreaking the visuals probably were at the time, but I struggle to take these Lego people seriously. They should've used the combat models, those actually look good! Anyway, my moment of unfairly judging this twenty-six year old game is over, back to the plot.

A terrorist/freedom fighter group called AVALANCHE are attacking a Mako reactor. They helpfully explain that the reactor is draining the planet's life energy. Assuming that isn't an exaggeration to justify themselves, that sounds like a serious problem. However, Cloud, their newest member, doesn't care. He used to be part of something called Soldier. Now he just wants to get the job done and get paid. The leader, Barret (a big dude with a cool arm machine gun), doesn't trust him yet. Still, Cloud's skills prove invaluable as they fight through the complex. They plant the bomb, rush out ahead of the timer, and I even rescued Jessie despite briefly hesitating to wonder if the game would actually let me leave her behind.

Everyone split up outside, and Cloud ran into a girl selling flowers. Aeris may not be the canon name anymore, but it's the one this version of the game presented. And, honestly, even if it did call her Aerith, I would've changed it back. Aeris is a better name! There were a bunch of NPCs running around scared, so I figured the area was still dangerous. I had Cloud tell Aeris to get the hell out of there. Then he got cornered by a bunch of soldiers. The game gave me the option of battling them now or later, but I'm not sure why. Cloud wrecked those dudes. I probably could've kept fighting and killed them all, but instead he jumped onto a passing train to regroup with the others.

While Barret is still standoffish, the other freedom fighters are all hyped about how strong Cloud is. I liked the world-building scenes on the train where Jessie explained the ID security scan and showed a map of the city. I guess Cloud would've been too high class to ride public transit when he was still part of whatever Soldier is. After arriving at their stop, I was given my first chance to explore on my own. I found a train graveyard area with a ladder I could climb, and I could clearly see an area beyond it with more ladders... but, sadly, I couldn't find a way to access it. There probably was a way. Honestly, the thing I'm struggling with the most in the game so far is navigating the areas. It's tough to tell what I can climb or where to stand to access a ladder. I couldn't figure out this puzzle, so I went back to the main plot.

The group's HQ is at a bar owned by Cloud's childhood friend, Tifa. Cloud tried to act all cold and distant, like he's only in it for the money, but by the next morning Tifa was easily able to convince him to come on the next job. She comes along, too, leaving her bar in the hands of Barret's daughter Marlene. I laughed as soon as I saw that. A little girl tending a bar probably isn't legal, but she seemed to know what she was doing back there so I doubt any patrons will complain. The crew hopped onto another train, and their presence spooked most people into another car. Only one Shinra employee remained, and I wasn't a fan of the way Barret seemed ready to blow the dude's head off. Enemy combatants are one thing, no need to threaten some poor shmuck who's just trying to get by in this dystopian hellhole. While I'm at it, NPCs talking about the reactor explosion mentioned that it killed a lot of innocent people. Assuming that wasn't just Shinra propaganda, that's pretty bleak. Are... are we actually the bad guys???

Pretty soon, the security ID scan caught them, leading to a hectic sprint down all the train cars. Cloud/Barret/Tifa were forced to jump out and find another way into the reactor. After that, setting up the bomb went well. The only notable thing here is that Cloud got a strange vision of when Tifa's father was killed by Sephiroth. Cloud's weird visions and weird internal dialogue are things I assume will be delved into later. For now, they had to fight their way out of what turned out to be a trap. The president of Shinra even made an appearance to mock them, which feels like it should be below his paygrade. At least he showed what a boss he is by leaving in a helicopter to go to a fancy dinner. I made short work of the enemy robot boss, but Cloud still got knocked off a ledge by the explosion. Then, while desperately trying to look cool in front of his hot childhood friend (I chose the "be strong" option), he let go and plummeted down what looked like a lethal distance. RIP Cloud, we hardly knew ye.

...Okay, obviously he survives. A roof and a bit of dirt were enough to break his fall, somehow. Cloud, seemingly uninjured, wakes up and meets Aeris, the flower girl he'd spoken to the day before. She seemed put-off that he didn't buy a flower from her, but I didn't even know that was an option! Sorry for warning you away from the blast zone and potentially saving your life, I guess! A bad guy named Reno came in with some goons next. I thought he'd be after Cloud, but apparently he's after Aeris. Cloud helped her escape... well, not really. There was a minigame where Cloud should've pushed barrels onto the goons, but I hilariously failed at it. Aeris had to fight everyone and mostly just saved herself.

After escaping, the two went to her house to rest for the night. There were some good little moments between them, like when Cloud went too fast across the rooftops and Aeris asked him to slow down, leading to some cute teasing in both directions. She even offered to pay him for his bodyguarding with a date, and she seemed worried that Tifa might be his girlfriend. I can see some chemistry here! They might run into some problems in the future, though, because Aeris' mom asked Cloud to sneak out and not drag her along on any adventures. I don't blame you, lady. If my daughter brought home some guy with spikey anime hair, I wouldn't want them to get together either. Another thing I want to mention is that, while exploring, I found 5 gil in some kid's dresser. I opted not to steal it because the kid was in bed mumbling to himself about how he hoped no one would find his stuff. I usually loot everything I possibly can in RPGs without a thought, so good job FFVII for getting me to care about some random NPC, I guess.

I stopped playing not long after this. A few steps into the next area, Cloud and Aeris got into a battle against some sort of monstrous house. This house kicked my ass and I only made it through the fight thanks to Aeris' healing limit break. At that point I backed off, saved, and I'll probably start my next session by finding a place to grind out a few levels. Those house monsters are scary.

Anyway, I'm enjoying the game so far! It's definitely showing its age a bit, especially in the Lego character models and how difficult it often is to navigate the areas. Stuff like doors and ladders don't stand out from their surroundings much. Still, I thought VIII and IX showed their age at the beginning too, not to mention FFI and II. By the end of all of those, I'd gotten used to it and everything was fine. Once I grind some levels to make the game easier, I shouldn't have any problems. I'm intrigued by the plot so far and the characters all have a lot of potential.