Hey guys. Just want to say thank you for sticking with me this year. At the end of last year I took a two month break from youtube, mostly for mental health reasons, and just wanted to let you guys know I will not be doing the same this year, some pretty positive changes to work life balance stuff mean Im in a pretty good place over all. I am gonna take some down time over the holidays which im super excited about (cause ehhh im on about three hours of sleep trying to get this out the door), but very excited for some vids out early next year. If you’d like to support this channel, please do consider the patreon, I know a dollar a video doesn’t seem like much, but one dollar donations are the life blood of this channel and let me do what I do: www.patreon.com/Supereyepatchwolf Thanks as always for watching the video, and Ill see you next year
I love how they drop hints about cloud's false backstory. For example, when he tells the story of sephiroth in kalm, he's shown talking to the soldier in the truck about motion sickness, saying "I dont know... I've never had motion sickness." But on the trip to Costa Del Sol, cloud is shown getting motion sickness. Players who pay attention can see this and realize the contradiction in cloud's story.
Yeah, FF7 is one of those stories that when you go back and play it after the reveal, you start to see all the little hints that you missed before. Like all the little flashes that happened whenever people asked Cloud about his past. Aeris: "So what rank were you?" Cloud: "Rank?" Aeris: "In SOLDIER." (flash) Cloud: "First Class." Aeris: "Just like him." The first time around, you probably dismissed that flash as nothing, as the story didn't really draw attention to it. But knowing the truth, you realize that it's Jenova's influence. The Jenova cells in Cloud's body reacted. Up until this point no one had even mentioned that SOLDIER had ranks, so we never really knew that Cloud was a First Class. In truth, he probably wouldn't have even known had someone other than Aeris asked him. It's these subtle hints that really sold you on the reveal later. Because they were there, you can't say that it came out of nowhere. The developers weren't hiding information from you. You simply didn't pick up on Cloud's inconsistencies. You accepted that Cloud didn't remember what happened after he confronted Sephiroth. You didn't worry that Tifa was clearly holding back something important. You didn't think twice when Cloud said he had never really been to Shin-ra HQ. That's the difference between a good and bad plot twist. And it's just a small part of the magic of FF7.
Oh nice detail man. Im replaying it again after more than 15 years or so. I know much more now. Having a completely different look on some parts. The fact that I’m still mind blown after 23 years.. such a gem.
@@saltyk9869 interesting. only now after all these years i had the thought that maybe the Jenova cells are the ones that made him believe he was Zack. Jenova is a shape shifter after all and those flashbacks are from the cells influencing him. Maybe it was part of the cells plan to get Cloud to attend Reunion.
Then there's the callback later on after he regains his memory and he's discussing his motion sickness with Yuffie who shares it. The real Cloud is much nicer than the Zack persona Cloud.
Came here for a deep dive analysis into Sega Bass Fishing 2, and I left severely disappointed when all you rambled on about was some obscure indie game.
One thing you dont mention in the last section is that despite seeing himself as a pathetic failure, Cloud DID kill Sephiroth at the reactor. Which is ironic because despite all the false memories about being a SOLDIER, he did not remember how the showdown with Sephiroth actually went down, which was the one thing he actually did right in all of this. And it kinda conveys the message that feeling ashamed and lying about yourself can make you forget the great things you actually accomplish.
This should have been mentioned and should be acknowledged. It is organic to Clouds character and the story. Cloud had the heroic potentia inside him all along.
Well put. That was the irony, he so desperately wanted to be and be remembered as a SOLDIER, but he accomplished something that the real SOLDIER that day, Zack, could not.
Well it’s a good thing Cloud got miraculously cured of his motion sickness after assimilating Zack’s combat training and experience. Because there’s no way Cloud would be pulling off the insane motorcycle flips and stunts he does in the Remake and in Advent Children if Cloud still did suffer from Motion Sickness.
Call it OCD, but it always used to bother me after Aeris's death that there was just an empty section in the character selection screen. And then I realized the reason they left the gap there, and once you realize it's never gonna be filled, it hurts more than just your desire for symmetry.
I've seen the demo, and I've also seen a significant part of chapter 2, including things that you probably won't see on youtube for awhile (such as Cloud having a conversation with a certain long haired prettyboy, in the second chapter).
What hit me the most is when Cloud found out he was an experiment, losing his identity as 'Cloud'. When he begged Hojo for a number and didn't receive one hurt, cause he had nothing, not even a number to define himself.
Having a number isn't all it's cracked up to be. I have a detailed numerology report, and my lifepath number is 5. It comes with the four fives of Tarot, Worry, Strife, Disappointment, and Fear of Failure. Psychological themes that hound us lifepath fives all throughout life. Five is about freedom and has a very hard laying down roots. We are adventurers but we don't really fit in anywhere, and no matter what we wind up with a lot of Strike. It's hard to explain, but at times I wish I didn't know.
The thing I like about FF7 and Cloud's story, is that he wasn't some chosen one, there wasn't some prophecy. Sephiroth thinks he is the chosen one, and gets bested by this nobody. Cloud begins FF7 by thinking he's a hotshot, not because he thought he beat Sephiroth, but because he was so deeply ashamed of himself that he adopted an alter ego. As the audience, Cloud goes from being the hero to being pretty pathetic. But then it's revealed that he actually did get the better of Sephiroth, only after losing everyone he loved and his home town getting burned down. It becomes understandable psychologically why he made an alter ego, as a way of dealing with that trauma. Cloud becomes sympathetic again, and we want to see him put aside his lies and be who he really is. And when he does in the end, that makes his character arch satisfying, and is why his beating Sephiroth in the end game is great. Not because of some prophecy, or even saving the world, but because of what Cloud went through, and settling things once and for all with Sephiroth. It's a revenge story, but also a story of redemption. Cloud is an underdog. And Cloud's yin to Sephiroth's yang is special, like all great hero/villain parings. On one hand you have this deluded psychopathic demi-god with a messiah complex, and on the other you have this self-loathing loser/nobody who rose to the occasion. It's a fun combination.
You start hating him more and more as you go through the game too and after he takes away the most important person in clouds life and rips his humanity and will to live away you can’t wait to kill the bastard
Cloud's false backstory being revealed as nothing more than a lie was.....something. That had NEVER been done before in a jrpg, your hero isn't who he says he is. Just a loser. And that's what makes it so special when he finds the strength to defeat Sepiroth.
Imagine reading one of Agatha Christie's crime novels, reading the whole story and finally seeing the criminal brought to justice for murder and you, the strange hero get the heart of the damsel in destress, and to your surprise, he flips the middle finger toward her and surprise, surprise, you were the killer all along and the girl you were helping is now an accomplice and you're blackmailing her so she won't tell about your identity, while you walk out like a true villain. You were the villain all along, in a story done more than 50 years ago which was a nice change when I found the same done in Danganronpa V3 but instead of reading it, you literally watched yourself set a murder and you had no idea that you're the killer.
@@takeshikovacks6708 the age of the game is irrelevant. With that approach, only the people who were around at its release get to enjoy the full meat of the story. Everyone who comes after (which is a LOT more people, bear in mind) only gets thrown the gnawed bones. The age of the game isn't the reason spoilers should be fair game here, it's the fact this is the comment section for an hour long analysis of the game. Fucking obviously people will be discussing the entire plot. Why is anyone even here if they haven't played it?
Watching Aeris die in a cutscene: *single tear* Remembering that you put a Ribbon on her before she left your party and now you'll never get it back: *ugly cry*
There’s also a point in the game where you can go into a hut looking for loot and meet a couple who ask you if you know their son who went off to join SOLDIER and never returned. At the time it seems like random NPC dialogue, but, when you realize that they are Zack’s parents- it’s absolutely gutting. It also makes subsequent play throughs of that scene really uncomfortable, since you the player are in the know but Cloud-you still essentially thinks he IS Zack and has no idea who they are talking about. The awesome thing is, the game doesn’t make you play this scene, it’s just an extra nugget for those who compulsively explore every place they can. It’s little details like that which make the game so rich and memorable.
I've just replayed that part recently. It's really striking. I think that's part of one of the things FF7 does best: people trapped in a hostile world that will not allow them to move on.
@@dcvmu and further following that storyline, how Vincent ended up in that coffin because he wanted to punish himself for not doing more to stop Lucrezia from allowing herself to become Hojo's guinea pig. He would have killed himself, but found he could not die because of the experimentation done on him against his will.
Aeris: Looks like a pure sweet white mage, is actually a scrappy 'flower girl' tomboy flirt. Tifa: Seems like a rough, tough fighter, is actually a very soft-hearted and sentimental sweetheart.
AGREED! For some reason, for many who haven't had the chance to go through the original game itself, their impressions of the characters are the opposite. And rather strangely, the some of the depictions of Tifa and Aerith since then have also gone down this swapped route
I was telling someone earlier today after playing Remake how relieved I was that they captured Aeris' true personality with all its humor and flirtation and insight instead of just the pure and saintly Aeris we've gotten in post-FF7-adaptations-sequels-and-cameos....and here you are with the same point. Huzzah! I wasn't the only one.
So- I know alot of people say Aerith's name should be Aeris, but this was actually a big mistake, The short answer is: Aeris'is a mistranslation of Aerith, and Aerith IS the intendes english name. It doesnt exactly make sense to call her Aeris of you arent speaking Japanese.
I get this to a point. In AC, she is still quirky, just that she lacks a lot of screen time and the English dub does not really do a good job at all. I mean, she acts snarky when speaking to Cloud through the lifestream when he is going to the forgotten capitol as she quips at him in a joking manner about what he wants and whom he wants forgiveness from. This does not come across in the English dub. She also pouts being called mother twice, and jokingly says "I don't need such a grown kid" while sending Cloud back from the lifestream (in Japanese, but she still jokes around in English dub by not wanting to adopt him). If you were a truly humble person, you would take it as a compliment, as Zack does for her, portraying both characters rather well in just 1 scene (Aerith knowing, showing she cares in her way and Zack being well... Zack). The tone portraying nuances in the dialogue is not great in the English dub. In CC she is a little meek, but she isn't a total pushover, and she is younger. But, sure she is not as goofy as she is in remake and in many places she has been nothing more than a "holy maiden stereotype". It makes me wonder how much people would appreciate her appearance in AC more if they watched it in Japanese. One of the strengths Remake does regarding this character is to translate the personality better between languages, not necessarily the dialogue though >_
FFVII is the rare moment where severe limitations and unknown novel technologies combined to force the developer to focus on story telling through the game's mechanics. I do not think we will see this combination of factors come together as successfully for a very long time.
I am inclined to agree to an extent. In the OG when you get to omnislash Sephiroth they gave "you, the player" the "right" to do it as you were the one to actually make Cloud go through with it. Compare this to the bland scene in remake where there is no control, omnislash, ascension or proto-omnislash, and I am inclined to agree. However, just in FF XV we had the exact same type of ending (except no actual combat) where you have to press the button to use the ring of Lucii. These are small moments, but they can absolutely exist in "modern games" but lazy developers use cutscenes, taking away fun things like how you can skip using omnislash on Sephiroth by using counter materia as he attacks you if you take too long and Cloud will counter if that materia is equipped.
@vincentgraymore I was ready to agree with you but calling the Remake developers “lazy” is straight up delusional. They worked their asses off making that game. Also, that literally wouldn’t work in an action-based combat system anyway and would feel super weird to instantly snap into full cutscene mode. Someone could make a similar argument that the original devs were lazy because they allowed all players to use Omnislash even if they hadn’t earned and unlocked that Limit Break in the game. But that would be a stupid thing to say, so I wouldn’t say it. See what I mean.
@@kalandarkclaw8892you missed the point of the comment completely, name another JRPG caught in chaotic development between the transition of 2d to 3d, working with unknown tech, said tech still being limited despite being stronger than the rest of the competition, and needing to basically invent a new, near non-existent audience (American JRPG fans). You definitely only read the "storytelling" part of this guy's comment
I played FF7 when i was just hitting puberty in middle school and learning all sorts of emotions I had never felt before. Aeris was my go to party member I kept with me every chance I got. She was my healer and my favorite character of all the cast. So one night I was playing this game as silent as I could cuz my mother was asleep on the couch, I watched as Aeris was killed by Sephiroth and as a result I was traumatized as an adolescent. I was under the impression a phoenix down could cure her but KO only meant Knocked out, not death. I had to watch as Cloud lay her to rest in a pool of water watching her now lifeless body sink to the body of a lake and then the screen went black and the switch disc screen came on after I saved my game. So unable to make a sound for waking my mom, I turned off the game, went to my room and told myself "I'll revive her in the morning, it'll be ok." I was in a genuine state of denial over a video game character because even before playing other games with characters dying I had never felt such a sense of loss in my life since my grandfather died. As I continued to play the game I kept thinking "It'll be ok, they'll revive her" but they didn't. I kept telling myself things like "They'll find a materia that can bring her back" or "They could travel back in time and revive her like Chrono Trigger!" But they never did, it wasn't until I brought the Sage to Aeris's resting spot that I finally realized she was truly dead and never coming back. The reason why Aeris death affected so many people including myself is because Square-Soft knew at the time how to manipulate us into caring for her and showing us what real loss was. To this day now I can't stop crying when i hear Aeris's theme from Advent Children and I don't think I'll ever stop mourning the loss of my favorite Flower Child.
The fact that she was the White Mage was the worst part. The White Mage is the most useful class! Their healing is essential and you can normally turn them into a tank once you equip them with Black Magic. Losing Aerith wasn't just emotionally crippling, but could basically cripple your party and take you hours or days to make up for.
@@goliathtigerfishes I was a teen and dealing with new emotions so everyone can understand why this was such a huge moment for alot of people. Even though i know her death had a purpose in the story, it still hurts to a degree when i go back and play the game again. And when i watch Advent Children the ending where shes walking away just gets me everytime. I actually miss her being in the end credits because the bluray edition cut her out with the edition of new scenes.
@@rosesweetcharlotte Actually...it didn't cripple me. Aeirth made the game too easy once she died that's when you had to start to strategizing. When I noticed how powerful she was I had a feeling SOMETHING was gonna happen to her. She made the game too easy.....but goodness....her death was sad.
That's one of the only things I didn't like about the story of the game, contrary to popular belief her death didn't really have a purpose other than breaking down Cloud and the player on an emotional level, I really hope she gets an happy ending this time man, I never moved on from her death (and neither did Cloud) she could've easily been saved and I hope Cloud doesn't repeat his same mistake this time
Hey, don't knock on that 'Nobody Shinra Soldier', he's the guy who threw Sephiroth into a vat of Mako using that stupid katana that was stabbed into him.
I'd also like to note how there's always an empty space where Aeris's character slot used to be when you go to shops. Just another way the gameplay compliments the story.
Same here, I like that before the change, he was exactly what Cloud thought he was, a knowledgeable hero that did the work that needed to be done, and that he wasn’t at all bad till he found out the “truth” about Jenova and himself. That backstory was great not only because we see his power, but because we see a force for good slowly become the opposite.
@@mphylo2296 im sure he meant "stereotypically evil" sephiroth IS objectively evil. And "objectively evil" would basically be open mindedly evil and not bound to one strict definition, or restricted by feeling. Which he would be, because its not the stereotypical evil for evils sake. Destroy the planet, and rid it of all life to make it a better place
@@iCYpReSSv1 Evil exists only on a conceptual level. Without human beings, it ceases to exist. This is why it can't be called objective. Something objective would be observable and measurable by anything with the intelligence to do so. Now, I'm not saying evil doesn't exist. It certainly does. But I find it very strange to label any act as "objectively" evil.
I can't believe I'm saying this as an Aeris stan, but I think.. I think I forgot who she was. Its been years since I played the game and since then my connection with it has been sustained through the movies/games ect that came after it. And tbh, I think I lost sight of her character. Reading her dialogue on screen and listening to you describe her made me remember she wasn't just this pure uwu flower angel child that she kind of gets regressed to. I remember now why I loved her so much. She was fun and cool and sweet and so much more than the generic white mage type. Why her death affected me so much - why I left equipment and armour on her even as I approached the scene of her death. Why I was so attached to her, and why just listening to you and watching her death scene legitimately made me cry again. Idk man, just thanks. You made me fall in love with my favourite character again.
After Playing through FF7 over and over again Choosing Aeris as your "love interest" in the game because she was my favorite character in it. You get asked ocassionally why spend all that effort getting her maxed out and her ultimate weapon for a character you know is going to die within the first disc? Me: Simply to enjoy the time you do have with her. That mentality helped out a lot when my IRL GF died of brain cancer, Lost my grandmother she was 46 and i had been shipped off to the grand parents after my biological parents split and my dad couldn't afford to keep us (had a brother). The grandfather was a straight up sadist and was the primary reason she passed. Had a lot of loss as well. Loosing Aeris really hit home you know. Dam if that death scene doesn't still has impact.
It doesn't matter what people say, I'll always love this game. The story, soundtrack and it's characters... Everything felt so organic, like a game full of adventures and a game makes the player a part of the team. It's truly an incredible game.
The Nibelheim portion of the game is the best "storytelling through gameplay" example I know of. It absolutely the best "holy shit he's strong' moment I've ever had in gaming. You basically tickle enemies, and then get KO'd, as Cloud, but one hit even the miniboss character, as Sephiroth. It's genius.
This game gave me one of my favorite visions of final fantasy ever. Some drunk homeless guy wondering towards a house monster stoked he's about to find a new house seemingly for free. But no this young guy runs up tells him to stop and pulls out a giant sword. And starts fighting the fucking house. This of course causes the homeless man to realize he has to stop drinking as he couldn't have just seen a teenager fighting a house with a giant sword...
Speaking of feeling inferior to sephiroth throughout the game, when I 1st played, after getting to lvl 50 and being able to do a couple thousand dmg per hit, I distinctly remember telling myself “yes, I’m finally as strong as sephiroth was” 😂😂
@@悪臭-p9p The Remake part 1 only consists of Midgar. The first 15% of the original game... There couldn't possibly be a moment like that in the remake yet...
@@kungolaf4499 lol they show Sephiroth in the first 10 minutes of the remake, and then they continue to 100% disregard the structure of the original build up of his character. Not to mention making him the final boss of part one, it came across as whacky fanfiction. I thought it was stupid as hell, they should have respected the source material more imo.
Well, it was out of context. They just showed the part of Aerith lying in the pool with Cloud standing over her. Given the ad’s declaration of a “love that can never be,” I think the audience is supposed to assume that Aerith is just sleeping and Cloud’s like “damn I wanna tap that so bad”
I remember being a 16 yr old girl, falling in love with this game at my cousin's house, and needing to buy it so I could finish the story. I had always loved gaming, but FFVII was THE game that made it a passion. Awesome video.
Wow where were girls like you when i was 16 and playing it too....none of the girls i hanged with would play anything other than mario games or donkey kong country sometimes
Did they? I never saw any commercials for this game, only some sort of preview in GameInformer. Then when I finally saved up enough to buy it, the only one GameStop had was just 3 loose discs with no case. Needless to say, that scene hit me like a ton of bricks.
This is probably the best video out of all "game-review"/"-documentary" type videos that I've ever seen. FF7 is also among my favorite games with me likely having spent more than 2k hours+ enjoying the game in various ways still up to this date, be it to just enjoy it casually, trying to speedrun it or playing it with challenging restrictions. I can only agree with you on all of the points and always am happy to see other people being captured by the magic that a Final Fantasy game creates. I've never been as glad about UA-cam recommending me a channel before. Thank you
i've only played about 10 hours of ff7 (i know a lot about the overall story but that's what i've personally played) but the playable flashback was one of the most gripping gameplay experiences i've ever had. finally meeting the fabled sephiroth, watching him silently decimate that dragon while cloud does fuckall damage, showing just how much of an unstoppable force he is. then seeing him retreat into the mansion basement, not knowing exactly what he was doing or why, only to see him emerge a changed man, and destroy an entire village of innocents. all the while i was playing "cloud" as a young soldier, scared and uncertain as his idolized childhood hero descends into madness right in front of his eyes. i was glued to my switch, absolutely couldn't put it down. i'll never forget watching the cutscene of sephiroth surrounded by flames for the first time. it was incredible. i was horrified, morbidly fascinated, in shock. as someone born after the 90s who didn't grow up with video games, i'll admit that until then, i had unconsciously looked down on older games with less advanced graphics. we can all agree that ff7 looks quite primitive compared to what's standard today. but that flashback completely changed my mind. you don't NEED flawless graphics to tell a gripping, fascinating story! i haven't experienced anything like that part of the game before or since, and i think i'll be hard pressed to ever find something that'll floor me like that did.
I think we can all relate to Cloud's insecurities and reasons behind his lies. Deep down Cloud was fighting against his inner demons and Sephiroth embodied his fears and insecurities in the physical form.
The first time I realized that if Tifa is the only member of your party standing when Rude is the only Turk left, he'll just walk away and end the battle, I squealed like a deranged hog. I don't play many games, but I've been disappointed that none of the games I've played since then have had such wonderful gameplay and story integration.
Me, 49 minutes ago: "I don't care for FF7, but SEW has never let me down before ... but FF7 really doesn't appeal to me" Me, currently: "Ah fuck, that's strong! I gotta play it"
You cannot talk about PS1 pre-rendered backgrounds without mentioning FF9 and Chrono Cross. Either way, my fav background in FF7 is when you are just close enough to the edge of Midgar to see the world outside and an insinuation of the world theme plays, that you realize once you leave the city that it was just a dim version of the world map music. Beautiful.
He doesn't seem to know how the technique works. He says that you can have a nice looking background without modeling and texturing everything. But you do have to model and texture them in order to render the image that you then use as the background. Wouldn't take even 10 minutes to search about that.
@@konstantinosmandalos7596 I think he meant it in-engine. They are textured and lit on a different 3D software obvs, sometimes they are even fully painted as is the case with most of Chrono Cross's backgrounds.
@@BinaryDood Yes, I know how it works. I work with 3D Models and rendering. The only thing he says is that you don't have to model/texture when you use that technique, which is obviously wrong. My point, if you are going to make a video about FFVII, or any other topic, you better make sure you have your facts straight.
@Shaman Xeed It's not saltiness. I'm just pointing out a mistake so he can see it and do a better job next time. Or do you prefer videos with false information in them? Even heard of criticism? However "Why so salty lmao" isn't criticism.
I just finished Final Fantasy VII yesterday and I'm still in awe. I've never had a video game leave me speechless just absolutely perfect. I'm playing Final Fantasy VIII now and I'm so excited! I hope I have the same feelings with VIII!
How are you speechless though im currently playing though the first part of the game and im constnalty frustrated by the slow repetitive fighting system and the cute and detailed but reeeeally hard to navigate though backgrouds
@@EmotoPlayin the story is what causes the speechlessness. Also all in all the gameplay didn't feel *that* annoying, except maybe the moment we realize that Shinra might in fact be staircase manufacturer cosplaying as a power company (seriously, still have flashbacks of that endless HQ staircase hell 😂)
@Marissa Moynihan you may also want to take a look at xenogears for another excellent (albeit flawed) Squaresoft era JRPG with a deep plot. Together with FF7, two of the best things that company ever created in my humble opinion.
The thing I really like about the whole reveal Sephiroth forces onto Cloud about his identity is the fact that *Sephiroth doesn't know* who Cloud really is. Sephiroth thinks Cloud is just a random dude Hojo kidnapped and experimented on, who somehow developed delusions of having a bigger role than he actually did. But Cloud was actually there, with a mask on, and Sephiroth never knew. The whole interplay between Cloud and Sephiroth and Zack is implied in some places and stated in sideways terms in others, to the point where it feels almost totally ancillary to the plot, but once you put the pieces together, you realize the entire story you're playing through is just the final chapter in a much larger story in which Cloud is the spoiler, the Black Swan, rather than the protagonist. You, as the player, are fulfilling the hopes and efforts of an entire generation of actors before you who were desperately trying to stop Jenova, and who very nearly failed. You spend so much of the game being convinced that Cloud is powerful, and when Sephiroth rips that away and you realize that you have almost no power at all, it hurts you, the player as much as any of the characters. And when it keeps happening, over and over, and you realize that Sephiroth thinks of you as a combination of a funny joke and a punching bag, it hurts. So the realization that *Sephiroth doesn't know* who Cloud really is probably the most satisfying moment I've ever had in a video game. Everything anybody thought they knew about Cloud was wrong: he's just a kid with a handful of mental disorders. But him being weak is not the same thing as him being powerless, and underestimating him is even more devastating to the bad guys than overestimating him was to the good guys.
First play through I was 12 and had no understanding of this level. Part of the replay ability over the years for me has been understanding the various levels these 3 characters interact on, it’s a masterpiece.
Michael Leue what do you mean Sephiroth thought Cloud was just some guy Hojo kidnapped? Sephiroth knew who Cloud was, remember when they go to Nibelhiem and Sephiroth turns around looks at cloud and says “how does it feel to be back home?” Plus they rode together in the truck while cloud had his helmet off
@@monojuice but Sephiroth never says Clouds name in that exchange. Him knowing Clouds name is unclear. What is clear is Sephiroth knowing that one of the Soldiers accompanying Him and Zack comes from Niblehiem and that's probabley the extend of his knowledge of Cloud. Sephiroth is arrogant, and won't remember a grunt soldiers name, just like President Shinra doesn't recall who Cloud is at the beginning of the game. So I believe that Sephiroth doesn't know who Cloud is.
This video actually made me tear up a bit toward the end. You explained the connection with Aeris and resulting heartbreak so well. Games hardly do this anymore. They often tell, rather than show, relying on flashy graphics and gimmicks to keep players interested. It makes me want to go back and experience this game for myself, as I never got to as a kid.
This is my favorite game of all time. This game changed my life and shaped so much about me. My interests, my morality, my taste in music, my love of rpgs and Jrpgs and my love of anime. It’s one of those pieces of media for me like yu yu hakusho for anime that will always stay with me and nothing will ever match. It was a massive part of my childhood and I still go back to it every 5 to 10 years even after beating it dozens of times. It’s also the first game that made me feel real emotions and make me cry, laugh, and actually feel like the characters were real.
I literally had no interest in this game for my entire life because I’ve been fed nothing but misconceptions about the characters and story. Like I assumed that Aeris was just some pure waifu character that was killed off just for shock value, or that Cloud was emotionless. Thank you so much for consistently getting me invested in new things! Your storytelling skills are unmatched.
That’s probably the biggest problem with this game over the years and one of the reason why I love that they’re remaking it - people tend to over generalize the characters and story based off just what they have gleaned from wiki entry’s and short clips. Not even talking about you specifically, it’s been a thing even people that have made media surrounding FFVII have done. People portray it as this super serious game with emo characters and such when in actuality it’s more like an anime a la One Piece, where the characters do have serious moments and tragic backstories but at the same time the journey is funny, a bit cheesy, random af, heartwarming, and with a variety of fun distractions from the main “Save the world” story that make it great.
That's actually a huge issue that even the creators of the game forget! Aeris was a saucy flirt, Tifa was the nurturing motherly one. Cloud wasn't emotionless or worse, emo. He cared a lot about everyone and was scared of losing them, he had a super dry wit, and was hiding these things under a false identity until he and Tifa went head first into the lifestream. Even then, bits of his real personality came through. Yes, this game is has serious and tragic moments, but there's a slap fight on the cannon, a mini game involving doing squats, a bad guy gets hit by a literal truck at the end of a battle, and one of the characters is a literal mechanical cat on a stuffed moogle, and everyone goes to a damn amusement park.
It's sad that you're stupid to not avoid a game because you couldn't form your own opinion without the help of some random people on the internet Congrats on missing out on one of the most successful and beloved JRPGs, idiot
I once listened to the FFVII soundtrack while driving into Flint, Michigan. I gotta say, the Midgar tracks work way too well with some parts of that city.
The ending of this video where you compare yourself and how you were feeling at the time of playing this to cloud and how he is a nobody.... that hit home for me. I felt exactly the same when I was growing up and still struggle with that to this very day as a 32 year old adult. Love the video, same with the dbz one. Subscribed
You described why this is one of my favorite games of all time perfectly. The parts about Aeris’ death and Cloud’s whole identity crisis were just spot on. As someone who is currently dealing with such things, it hit so close to home. Thank you for this video. It’s a masterpiece.
@Blue Shy Guy pretty sure you can't lose the materia. Her equipped materia returns to your inventory, any and all gear she has equipped will disappears, but not the materia. The only way you can lose materia permanently, (if I recall correctly) is if you have to much materia already and can't carry anymore or if you trash it yourself.
Who watches those? You?! Have I finally found this mystery audience supporting the most cancerous UA-cam content clogging my feed every time Im looking for an actual clip? You sonuvabitch let's fight right now. Im using my hands, you get a garbage truck. I dont need one. Let's go. Uk what, I quit. This is bull. You have a garbage truck. I don't play with cheaters. Next time. You win for now. But AMVs are seriously the cringiest genre ever concieved and we can never be friends.
I never played FF7 so I think any attempt by me to play it in 2019 will be retroactively tainted by memories of dorky cosplayers and bad fanart from the 2000's.
Also, something you forgot to mention Super Eyepatch Wolf, is that the reason Cloud's memories are messed up is because of Hojo's experiments with him and Zack. It's clear from the flashbacks that Cloud was mentally much weaker than Zack and didn't hold up as well to the brainwashing. This, combined with the effect that drifting through the mako-infused Lifestream has on him, is what leads to his break with reality. Tifa helps Cloud work through his memories, because she's the only person with a semi-clear picture of who he was, since they had memories together. Professor Ghast's failure was basically that Sephiroth still maintained his individuality, which is what Hojo was hoping to quash in his experiments and why they all turn up for the Jenova-cell reunion. Shinra's long-term goal was to engineer an army of mindless killing machines.
Honestly, this comment actually cleared up a lot of stuff for me. My most recent replay of FF7, I forgot to go to Nibelheim to go trigger that cutscene that explains what was up with Zack and my childhood memories were murky at best.
Veronica Garza To be fair, Final Fantasy VII has a story that I swear most people have forgotten the little details about. Mostly because itis because most people havent replayed it recently and the story is already complicated. Well, complicated by Final Fantasy Standards.
Super Eyepatch Wolf also forgot that, despite being a "nobody" with not a great power and a weak mind, Cloud DID defeat Sephiroth in Nibelheim 5 years ago through sheer will, before all the Hojo experiments. A feat even Sephiroth was baffled about.
This vid convinced me to finally play it and.... man. There are so many beautiful little touches everywhere in this game, from the lived-in environments to moments in the story to details about the characters. I would get frustrated with some clunky minigame or high encounter rate, just to forget about it immediately when I find out there's two kids that have taken over Aeris's flower patch in the church on their own despite not knowing her well. Or that Cloud can read sheet music, but can't play very well. Or that Yuffie, the literal ninja, gets seasick in the giant airship (I ended up keeping her in my party the whole time because of that lol). I'll admit I got a pretty choked up at a few points, especially during moments with Aeris. Knowing what happens didn't take away from all the wonderful little things along the way. When the game finally ended, I sat there watching the starry black screen, listening to the soothing music, quietly hoping that it wasn't over. I sold the game as a young child without getting past the first combat because I didn't get it, but I don't think I could have appreciated the qualities of it back then anyways. Having it drift away and then come back to me years later... it really made it hit different, and I'll remember it forever. Also Tifa ended my final boss fight with a one-handed chokeslam, which is enough for a 10/10 on its own in my book
When Aeris died. I hardly slept, I grinded a bit here and there, but I just made a mad dash to get to Sephiroth As soon as possible. I even beat Sephiroth without all the OP shit everybody else had. I'm not bragging. If I knew about Knights of the Round and other magic I just wasn't aware of, I would have used it. I was so blindly enraged. I just beat Sephiroth with the full cast of characters I had. I found Yuffie and Vincent but that was it. I gave Sephiroth the ass whipping he had coming. It took me hrs. But I did beat that son of a bitch.
I can relate, I remember the first time I beat Sephiroth. Like you I was mad as hell with what had happened and made a beeline straight for him, my main three were high 30s, everyone else in the 20s iirc. He kept one shotting my characters with "pale horse", I was barely healing, just rezing people when they dropped and spamming turbo ethers so they could get out more ultimas and summons but damn was it satifying when he finally dropped, it really felt like you'd faced this impossible enemy and came out on top. I've done the OP stuff since them, all the best weapons, not only collected all the top materia but grew and mastered extra sets of them etc but it will never compare to that first time though.
Nah if you took the time to get all that stuff the end was a cake walk. The game was geared to beat it without the best of the best. I beat it the same as you, with no major matira or weapons. Later I went back and got the best of the best from an old save and finished it again, there was no challenge at all.
I have 2 saves on my ps1 memory card lol. First was winning. 2nd was I beat emerald and ruby and bread a gold chocabo myself. I got everything and maxed everything. This is by far my favorite game ever. This, then in no order, chrono trigger, Mario rpg, link to the past, and ocarina of time. 7 is THE best story and deserved a second game. I had a save just before aeries died incase a friend knew how to save her...plus I cried real tears when she died. I've never been so invested in a story that wasn't a movie. Its the greatest game ever made imo. I dont care about graphics, make me care like I did aeries death...hasn't happened since. Last if us was semi close but nope
As a fan of the actual series, Cloud and Sephiroth’s rivalry is among the most unique things the series has ever done. Sephiroth may not be the best villain in the series. But he’s undeniably the best antagonist. A man who cannot cope with his identity alongside the main character, and is driven by the hatred he has for the man who, in a way, mortalized him. Sephiroth acts solely to torture the man who humiliated him, and as the extended lore of Final Fantasy 7, and its remake continues expanding, it almost seems as if his external goal is secondary to his obsession with breaking Cloud. I’m a huge fan of this move and it depicts the antagonist to be just as broken and emasculated as the protagonist. Cloud Strife of course being my favorite character in video games. I love his arc about accepting everything he is, most importantly his failures, and his interactions with the party. He’s someone that has to be strong for people who perceive him that way, because he carries himself that way. Although, he’s being extremely disingenuous to who he actually is, so much so that he’s internalized it (with the help of his own trauma as an indirect result of his failures). I really like that, and truly feel as if it’s a story arc that a lot of people could relate to, even if I don’t care for how rushed the ending to that arc is.
I'm actually nervous about their portrayal of Sephiroth and Aerith. Aerith has a very snarky, playful and street smart demeanor that I'm afraid they'll straight up ignore for the sake of making her the white mage of purity. And Sephiroth had the mystique of not being shown at all till after Midgar and Cloud seems to already be hallucinating him multiple times in the game which has me nervous. More so the ESRB rating that lacks blood in the Shinra building has the aftermath of Sephiroth's work lose a lot of impact.
That and they might be doing emo cloud which was what basically trashed his entire original characterization in favor of a generic loner emo who hides away from emotion, I genuinely hope they return him to his original self
@@maverickdarkrath4780 1) At least according to the demo people played. Cloud appears to be back to his proper semi@$$hole self for some portion of this game. 2) I'm the 1% that kinda liked depressed Cloud in Advent Children. At least in Advent Children. Not sure how it became default Cloud in all media but in that movie, I liked it due to me just relating to the guilt and lament Cloud was going through.
Aeris seems right, Nomura even gave an interview where he described her personality perfectly (he did AC and KH which is where her uber-pure personality came from). I'm more worried they'll treat her as just a side character to vie with Tifa over Cloud, or get sad about Zack, when she's actually more responsible for saving the world than Cloud himself. There are some neat moments in ff7 where you can chat with her and it seems like she's almost on her own journey with all the ancient specific stuff she learns, which culminates in her leaving the party like she does to do her own thing.
The extra Sephi hallucinations are going to be pretty necessary for the remake considering the first episode is just going to be an extended take on Midgar (apparently it's full game length, I'm predicting 20 hours), meaning you literally wouldn't see him the entire episode otherwise. It's one thing to keep your main bad guy under wraps for a large portion of your game, it's another thing to do it when you have a cut to credits and another wait of years for the next episode before it happens.
I mean compared to Zach who only got a single short sidegame cloud even in ff7 was one note. All the characters in Crisis Core had more development and depth than ff7 propers characters
Exactly! So many times I hear people comment how Cloud is so boring and emo. It's like they've never played more than 5 hours. Probably my favorite lead FF character for how he changes and goes from mercenary to leader of saving the planet.
me, 49 minutes ago: "time to watch john exaggerate for almost an hour" now: "im a fool. king of fools. i wear the dum dum crown. i was gravely mistaken"
Huels 1997 was 23 years ago, 22 at the time this video released. He was probably like 7-10 based on the stories he told surrounding the game. So he’s like late twenties to early 30’s.
@@denzelnoname4775 I doubt a seven to ten year old could be good at an RPG or even care that much. I ended up watched it a second time and he said he was in his late teen years so he mid to late 30s now.
Final fantasy honestly was a huge part of my childhood. My dad and i have a tradition, that both of us play through every part of ff we have on every platform we have once every year. I'm 20 now and my dad is 41, this will be my 8th year I do this. The games give me so many flashbacks to the times I just watched him play these games. I cherish those memories because we live quite a while away from each other but we always call each other when we start one of those games to have some sort of race against each other. So as I grew up, so did the games and our tradition. I could never put a game as my most favorite game except final fantasy 7. I love it so much. Thanks for making me remember all of this once more to guide me through another year of a great tradition.
Seriously stop you’re going to make me cry like I did when I was 12 because of Aeris’s story moment. I’m 33 now but I still remember why I cried when that moment in the game came. I lost someone I cared about Edit: I hate you I cried again
Nobody Yes. However, we at the time didn’t think she was dead. I remember my friends and I debating which girl Cloud was going to get, with several friends using ‘Cloud swimming with a girl’ scene as proof that he wasn’t getting Tifa.
I remember knowing a girl died, and I thought it was Tifa because Aeris seemed too important while Tifa just seemed to be "the girl avalanche character who knew Cloud". This obviously being pre-disc 2.
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I remember back then that I just went with the whole meme that Cloud is an emo dude with a big sword. I watched Advent Children prior to actually playing the game and had no context as to what was going on and just enjoyed the visuals. It wasn't until I actually finished Crisis Core and FF7 Classic with my friend that I understood why Cloud is the way he is. Even playing as Zack in Crisis Core, I felt very devastated at the end and didn't care about all the fighting anymore. All I really wanted to do was go back to Aeris. I then rewatched Advent Children and everything made sense. Cloud is just a normal dude that failed to achieve his dream. He got caught in unfortunate circumstances. He experienced loss and has gone through a lot of mental trauma. Even after that, he still manages to pull through. I never thought I could actually empathise with the dude until then.
@@BlamoStramo It was aired on Philippine TV. Back then, I was already familiar with FF7. I never got past bombing mission though because of the Scorpion because I was a dumb kid. But the intro left enough of an impression on me to have interest with Advent Children when they said it was gonna air.
this video has me worried about the weird ghosts they added to the remake. and the shots of sephiroth appearing in midgar for cloud were my biggest worries that they would change the exact buildup to him in the whole midgar arc. Its such a powerful part of the selling of sephiroth for us and i think it would hurt the story a bit just to show him early. amazing video as always eyepatch wolf, I somehow never noticed Rude liked Tifa so much, lol
And that's the problem with the new version, it's not a "remake" more of a "redo". personally I'm not keen for it, I wish they'd kept it truer to the original but with new assets (models etc).
I personally don't think it's a bad thing. At this point, Sephiroth is a character that people know all around the world, so building that anticipation will probably feel forced, especially if done in the same way. Rather, as long as they focus on delivering a good build up WITH the knowledge of who he is, I think it can still work in the remake. There's no way they can "remake" the same story beat and experience as before with the same effectiveness just because of the meta knowledge of the game. Having a whole game focused on Midgar may help that part too, since the pacing won't be the same and character buildups will have new aspects to them. We already saw new characters like the SOLDIER guy, so we shall see how it goes.
@@MuraCasardis Sorry for the long time before responding, but I personally disagree. Half of the importance of the character would be lost by removing the buildup to him on his own game. no matter how much of a thing he is on kingdom hearts or a jpg on someone's avatar people saw. What makes a character good or not is how the writers work to make him feel that way. Of course there's a expectation due to the thousand numbers of media the character has been that he would show up, but by ruining the original vision is not how you make that character give off the same mysterious feel about him. Then again not everyone will care about this if they change it but I personally would feel the remake would be doing some unecessary stuff to the whole story just to have the main guy appear more in the first episode.
Correction : Actually Uematsu wasn't limited by the soundchip of the playstation in the sense you seemed to imply. He consciously chose it because they decided that loadtimes and speedy transitions should trump soundfidelity on top of wanting a dominant synth sound to go with the setting. Suikoden 1, a JRPG that came out more than a year earlier, had proper prerendered tracks not running off the internal soundchip and Uematsu has expressed in interview that while he was impressed by how good it sounded, they ultimately felt the improvement to loadtime was worth the compromise. This is actually reflected throughout all of FFVII's design, including the lowpoly models. As a result FFVII is by far the fastest moving Playstation era FF. The ATB meter, at max, moves almost 3 times faster than FFVIII or FFIX's at max. Camera movement is snappier, and loadtimes in and out of battle, between maps etc. is also significantly shorter. FFVII took extra steps to preserve the snappy transitions of SNES era FF, which totally died with FFVIII and remained so all the way up to FFXII when transitions where largely removed. It was a conscious choice and a good one imo.
I honestly had a completely different experience, out of the three FFs on PS1, FF7 was in my experience the slowest in terms of loadtimes and transitions, making the game experience really painful at some point. But the story was so engaging I didn't mind
@@MikaMausArt I don't see how that's possible, unless you're merely talking to the faulty nature of human memory. This isn't matter of perspective. You can literally time it, and I have. FFVIII and FFIX have objectively longer loadtimes, longer battle transitions, longer time until the command menu actual activates at the beginning of combat, slower ATB movement and camera movement. Play the three games concurrently and see for yourself. I am currently doing a project where I am literally doing just this, playing all three of the games an hour at a time to time and quantify differences between them and the difference is painfully obvious.
@@hian interesting, I played all three games on original console and the first(VII) had almost double the loadtime between prerendered screens compared to the later titles - huge turn-off for me (started with 9, then 8, played only halfway through 7) I assumed the devs found in later titles ways to optimize the loadtime.
@@danielleitner9369 No. I never play anything other than the originals, either off my psx, or the original ISOs off of xebra. Again, go back and check if you think differently. You're simply wrong. You might have felt that way for whatever reason, but it simply isn't true and a cursory replay should make that readily apparent. Also worth mentioning loadtimes between prerender screens was not the brunt of my original argument, considering all the other areas of delay related to combat in later titles. Even if there was a minor increase in loadtimes between areas in FFVII, the added loadtime in and out of battle and slower ATB would still result in more deadtime overall. Again, just try to measure it. Let's not work off of memories.
@@hian "you're simply wrong" is disingenuous. You haven't (indeed, can't) accounted for all variables, including but not limited to hardware differences (not all consoles are created equal). Whatever the reason may have been, my experience with FF7 was rather slow as well (until I replayed the PC port which was notably more enjoyable). I have a master's of engineering and have a significant amount of experience in both literature and laboratory research, and one thing I've noticed in all my experiences in research is that there are ALWAYS exceptions to what you think /should/ be the case - even when you have data to back yourself up - because you can never account for everything.
To be fair, there's nothing saying she isn't just a delusion or metaphor alongside Zack. Nothing in the movie implies she's actually talking to Cloud, no other character responds to her appearance. That said, if you do choose to see her as actually talking to Cloud from the "afterlife" that would literally make her an angel so, huuuuuh?
This is funny because some Aerith stans actually forgot how sassy Aerith was. There is someone on twitter who supposedly got a copy of some of the script. That person posted one thing about Aerith and how she called Cloud a massive Jerk. People started saying "That's not Aerith! She's a kind angel!" And attacking this person as a fraud. I'm not saying that the person is 100% confirmed to be telling the truth about those script leaks but its the reaction of the Aerith 'stans' that intrigued me.
I disagree. Even with her limited screentime, she teases Cloud in many of their interactions (following up with the dilly-dally shilly-shally; "why is everyone calling me their mother lately?"). I mean, I guess, by definition, she's "angelic," but I don't think it is out of character given what we saw in 7. She seems laid back, cool af, and still pretty funny.
@@GSNRecords for the love of God, stop with the X is just a delusion and never existed trope it's soooo fucking weak it's literal clickbait and takes zero effort to contrive a theory around
I still remember playing the game for the first time as a child. When Aerit-- I mean-- "Aeris", dies, I didn't believe it. I believed she would somehow come back and save us, and she kinda did in the end... And that's when I realized that she really was gone. It hit me like no other game before it. Great video. Thank you.
It is Aerith, don’t pay him any mind, what a manipulative d*ckhead. He has an entire platform to spread his fallacious viewpoint, but enforces it in the comment section. I wish UA-camr’s didn’t have this ability, or were only allowed to disable comments, I hate this fabricated and controlled environment… it is even worse for internet discourse in most cases, creating more stringent echo chambers. I’m not accusing this of being that extreme, but it is indicative of it.
10:55 - Apologies for pedantry here, but only a small handful of PS1 games rendered at 640x480. FF7 is just 320x240 on original hardware. It's not the resolution or color depth that makes the difference, but the change from tiles and sprites to pre-rendered backgrounds, which, as you pointed out, allowed the team to create environments that would not have been possible if they had to render everything in real time.
Yes this annoyed me, because there were very few Playstation games that ran in a high resolution mode, 320x240 was a standard, so it felt like he oversold the 480 res, which only became more common on the Dreamcast/ps2/GameCube era.
That also makes the HD releases of the PS1 FF games kind of awkward, as the models can easily be scaled up but the pre-rendered backgrounds are still the old 240px originals, stretched to vastly larger resolutions. You can see it in the video, with mostly clean 3D characters walking through environments much blurrier than them. I understand that remaking every single screen in those games would be one hell of an investment for a simple upscale, but it still feels somewhat weird.
@@ExeloMinish Thanks to the ai upscaling tech it is now possible to do without much hassle, I'll leave a video comparison for final fantasy 7 backdrops. ua-cam.com/video/RdHzaK3Q_i0/v-deo.html
Great video but the part where you said Cloud a "nobody" isn't accurate at all. He failed the SOLDIER exam because he wasn't mentally strong enough, but his physical body was more than capable. He was there in Nibilheim, scared to let Tifa see him as a Shinra grunt and visiting his mom and talking about life in the city and how she was worried about him. Cloud overpowers Sephiroth, the strongest SOLDIER First class ever and someone Zack another SOLDIER first class could not defeat, and destroys his physical body by throwing it into the mako below the reactor. Cloud having been experimented on for 4 years by Hojo under the Shinra mansion along with Zack and being on the run for a year before the start of FF7 completely reshapes his mentality with the death of his best friend and the JENOVA cells affecting him, but before that he was a shy but somewhat strong individual who had dreams and things he cared about.
He meant that Cloud was never some super special "chosen one" or legendary Hero, but just a regular dude. Cloud is powerful and all, yes, but in the grand scheme of things, he's an everyday person who could easily blend in
The truth about who Cloud truly is hit me harder than Aerith's death. The entire time... Cloud was literally just the lowest tier NPC. He couldn't keep a promise, has no friends, was an outcast and a loser in his own hometown, the girl he likes from next door (Tifa!) doesn't even remember him cuz the one time they ever spoke... was during that promise scene! that's the only time! ever! The entire time Cloud believes he and Tifa are childhood bestfriends and she just... doesn't know when did they ever talk besides that one time in the first place. His ONLY friend was Zack... who died protecting him, and his hero, Sephiroth, killed his mom and burned all of his hometown. I always get annoyed when I see people saying Cloud is just an emo character. Clearly they've never played the game, and the only thing they know about him is his poor portrayal in Advent Children and KH. Love the video. Thank you so much. Cannot wait for the remake :")
Tifa does remember him, but they did not talk much until when Cloud was about to leave to join Soldier and that is when they start to know each other a bit more. It doesn't help either since Tifa is shy as well and Cloud doesn't like to join the rest of the kids.
Of course he's an emo character. He was a random guy who did nothing with his life and pretended to be someone else when he got back because he kinda looked like the guy that was cool. He's supposed to be that way for the sake of the story, but it's also why a lot of people don't like him.
Monolith Preacher Actually Cloud never intentionally pretended to be someone else, he wore a helmet the entire time when they returned to Nibelheim to hide his face because he was ashamed he never got into SOLDIER. The perspective you’re talking about is when we first see that flashback when Cloud is still inserting himself in Zack’s place in his memories.
It wasn't a poor portrayal in Advent Children, look at the world, he was a little depressed, that's all. In kingdom hearts he was just a gimmick, kingdom hearts was supposed to be an adventure game with both Disney and Final Fantasy charecters and yet in KH3 FF characters are nowhere to be seen.
Playing through this game after my sister passed really helped me work through some of my feelings as I watched the team struggle with their own. Probably why this game remains to be my fav of the series.
I don't know if it's just my sense of humor or a stroke of comedic genius on your part but I actually broke out in a fit of laughter at the "Sega Bass Fishing 3" bit. All I can say is well done on that, the timing was great and I was truly not prepared to laugh like that.
I will never forget fighting Jenova right after her seeing Aeris die the first time. My emotions numb, I clumsily went through the motions, tears in my eyes. It was my first rpg aside from fumbling at Zelda in grade school, after years of not playing video games.
Probably this comment will die amongs every other ones. I just want to tell you mr eyepstch wolf: thank you for this video. Stupidly amazing content, smart, pasionate, cathartic. I mean i was completly blown away on how well you described Aeris relationship with cloud and the player. But when you talked about cloud relationship with the player i cried. How the fuck did you do that? I can not believe this channel still. The work you do is incredible. Don't stop
As a 17 year old who played FF7 back in middle school without even knowing the remake had just been announced I can say this game holds up. Even after playing though a lot of the great final fantasy games and working my way through 12 as I write this none of them have clicked with me the same way 7 did. The closest were tactics and ironically 12. There is something special in 7 and while many will argue that there are better Final Fantasys it’s impact should not be ignored and the reasons as to why it got big should not be dismissed. It is an amazing game that while technologically was passed by quickly, the execution and techniques used can still be appreciated by someone who wasn’t even alive at its time of release.
I have personally been taking it upon myself to visit older games by playing them in anyway I can or the at the very least visiting them on UA-cam and playing the oldest version I have available. I’ve been doing this for Final Fantasy, classic Nintendo games, going through the DMC series (I’m at 4), Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear, and the Drakenguard/Nier franchise to name a few. While I love playing modern games I hate the mentality of dropping a game for the next best thing so I am always playing something new while revisiting a lot of older stuff at my own pace to enjoy it.
Dope to see a 17 year old that actually played 7, 12, and even tactics,(my personal fav) out of all games. I agree with your comment, something about ff7 is just special. The emotional investment and payoff is unmatched.
J Y So far I’ve played 4,6,7,tactics,9,10,12, and 15. After I finish 12 I plan to play 8, go to the 13 trilogy, 7 Remake, and possibly touch 14 if I can get into the MMO aspect of the game since I haven’t touched a single one yet
Alec Rodriguez nice I had no clue this game was still being played by anyone really. I’m 34 and first played the game at 12 and it was just a step above everything else that was out at the time. I’m going to buy a PS4 just to get the remake and hopefully my son, he’s 11, can experience what I did but at a different level.
Reset Button yeah being on UA-cam for awhile and hearing so much about these older games lead me to playing things like chronic Trigger, castlevania, and Final Fantasy 7.
For many of us, this game was our childhood. My first RPG - never had an interest in RPGs until my best friend showed me the game back in '97 and I couldn't resist getting it.
Is it ever explained why all that research about Sephiroth's creation was just lying around the Shinra Manor instead of being destroyed or kept more confidential?
You, sir, captured the most essential and valuable lessons of this game when talking about Aeris's death and Cloud's physiological overcoming. You, sir, made a masterpiece. You made me cry, and I can't thank you enough. Subscribed.
One thing i think is also important is you never actually meet the original Seph during your playthrough. Everyone until the end (including the Aeris stabber) are just clones of the real one thats in the North Pole. This adds to the mythos about him and adds to the tension once you go to fight him at the end of the game.
As far as I know, only two Sephiroths exist - Hojo's clone, who kills president Shinra and you chase all around the map, and the original, frozen in Mako at north cave. My understanding is that the JENOVAs you fight are just pieces his clone leaves behind. When you finally confront Sephiroth's JENOVA forms at North Cave, you're fighting the evolved forms of his clone - AKA Hojo's Sephiroth - with all the JENOVA cells reunited. When you jump into the lifestream, that's the real Sephiroth - the human/JENOVA hybrid born to Lucretia as a science experiment under professor Ghast. And yea, it's a hidden gem that you only ever actually see the real Sephiroth once. One of the reasons I hate the post-Sakaguchi FF7 universe so much is because they messed the lore up.
Most of the game it's not Sephiroth you're chasing, it's Jenova. In the original game, it's unclear if Jenova is controlling Sephiroth or if Sephiroth controls Jenova. The look, popularity and overall character of Sephiroth made him the perfect antagonist, but maybe it was not the case at first. Maybe Sephiroth was a victim, just as manipulated as Cloud.
@@ShuiroHotaru I disagree with the idea of Sephiroth being a victim. While it is true that Sephiroth had retained part of his humanity and ego, and that it is Jenova Cells that you are fighting or chasing across the planet, Jenova - which always struck me as a reference to "Jehova" btw - was this hostile life form that "appeared to the Cetra as a friend, gained their trust, and then gave them a virus, turning them into monsters." It is a mutating and corroding and duplicitous force that is intelligent enough to play the backstabber. And throughout the game, while we only have hints of the Ancient Cetra and their technological and spiritual understandings of the world, they were formidable in having beaten the thing at some point in time to the extent that they did. It lost its original constituted form, and thus couldn't blend in with the next race, humanity. Cue Sephiroth, and he was not only genetically predispositioned towards being the new face of Jenova, but he took the role by what he interpreted as birthright. By desecrating the former Jenova body reconstituted and later found by Shinra. The destructive act is anathema to most sane human minds, and yet by the logic of Jenova, it is one more dominant expression of the lifeform overriding the will of the other. This is why every Jenova infestation was an expression of himself, and he was the template throughout the game that the life form confirmed to, rather than his "mother." Choice is a primary factor in determining the greatness or failings of humanity, but its a trait of ours nonetheless. Jenova and in turn Sephiroth, renders the very concept meaningless in and of itself in terms of individual autonomy, but that is also an example of the man, turning his back on his own humanity. In another way to look at it, he represents the highest ideal of life to so many people and even in biological terms. Other forms of life are changed to look like him. Despite all of that, he is contemptuous and empty. That's why that final battle between Cloud and Sephiroth is every kind of important battle expressed. For the world itself, for the individual, and even for the very concept of self, opposed by the supposed embodiment of perfection, that rejects all these things.
No there is only one Sephiroth, you meet him twice when Cloud surrenders the black materia and the final fight. Everything else is JENOVA, who is under the influence of Sephiroth willpower and hatred.
@@Taseradict The game plays fast-and-loose with the word 'clone' (Cloud is a Sephiroth 'clone' even though he's not really - just injected with Jenova cells and brainwashed. Same w/ Zack. In the original game script, they're referred to as 'copies') but the only real clone is the one Hojo made of Sephiroth post-Nibelheim, guided by the assumption that Sephiroth had died. Hojo cloned Sephiroth from the real Sephiroth - it's why he claims to be his father. The original Sephiroth is a half-human/JENOVA hybrid. Only one of the clone experiments succeeded under Hojo - there aren't a zillion ultra-powered Sephiroths running around. Hojo's Sephiroth is the one who drives the events of the game and is the main antagonist. This is the Sephiroth who kills president Shinra and the Zolom.
I really want to say that when I play Final Fantasy VII the first time, it wasn't Sephiroth neither the Death of Aeris that make me love the story, Sephiroth's build up was cool and Aeris's death was a good moment to, but the reveal of Cloud's past is really for me the best moment of FFVII, I want to point out how back in the day there was no Crisis Core and Internet was barely a thing, absolutly nothing outside of maybe a friend could spoiled you about this reveal, and this is what I call a really good plot twist, you understand throughout the game that something is wrong, but you just don't have the pieces to tell what is it, but because there was these hint that give you just enough to doubt but not to much to be fully predictable, when the reveal it at the same a surprise but it also makes totally sense when you think about everything that happen prior to it, this was the first time in a video game that I experienced a plot-twist in which I was both interest and satisfy with it's a damn shame now probably everyone would know that twist. I really want to thank you for this honnest video, cause I'm really tired of people on youtube that make videos saying how "FFVII is overrated", only to realise that when you look at their older videos they were praising it with passion, and for me these people are just lying to themselves and their audience for the reason that for some reasons at one point you had to say that "Final Fantasy VII is overrated" to be considere credible as a video game's fan, they just denying how Final Fantasy VII really affect them and how they were genuily invest in it, and if you are at one point invest in a video game that mean the game leave his mark to you and you love it. So yeah I say screw the people that call FFVII overrated and shit on it for that, they can talk as much as they want, the very fact that even today over 22 years after his release we are still talking about it is proof that FFVII leave a mark on the video game industry, and if it did it's because it was a masterpiece make by people that were passionnate and wanted to deliver the best game possible.
the reason why Aeris moving forward became shown as this angel of purity is because within the game near the end of her life, she finally was able to make her Holy white materia to finally work. It worked because she finally understood who she was, where she came from, and how to make holy work. And due to that, she changed. But we didn't get to see much of her change due to her tragic end. then she became one with the planet, became of course spiritual. Pure...holy.
@@meseameryo3202 white materia is holy. And she was finally able to get it to work. (Shining bright) while falling into the lake. However, it couldn't stop the meteor because Sephiroth had it trapped. That is what you see when floating in the air staring at Sepiroth with the bright white light behind him. So you go into fighting Bizarro, Angel, and real sephiroth. Once Cloud kills Sephiroth, Holy is unleashed. It isn't enough to stop meteor though until the lifeforce comes from under the ground and helps.
One of the things I miss from modern FF games is the prerendered backgrounds and the cinematic perspectives chosen for some of the locations. Also , praying you do an analysis of FF9 some day. Fav game in the series
You, sir, are a man of culture. FF9 is a masterpiece and as much as I love FF7 I think FF9 is the epitome of this franchise. FFVI-IX is - in my eyes - the golden era of Final Fantasy.
Have you not played FF15 then? There's dozens of beautiful vista's you can visit and see from almost any angle. Not to mention the photo mode so you can capture the moments.
@@FelixS. yeah 9 was my first. I played 5 games in the series since then and none of them can touch 9. 7 comes closes emotionally though for sure. But 9.... I still get chills
@@Glornak It's not the same. Its like having a fixed camera angle in say horror games but then modern games give you full camera control. Functionally great. Emotionally- not so much
42:43 just want to say using my burden is light is such a great song choice for an in-depth character analysis and it hit me like a truck hearing it here of all places
I don't now how it took me my whole life to come around to the Final Fantasy series. My best friend moved away for several months and in that time I played Chrono Trigger for the first time and FF6 immediately after. Being a big fan of your channel, I started watching this video to learn more about FF7. 10 minutes in, I paused the video, went to the retro game store and bought the game. This evening I defeated Sephiroth and treated myself to the rest of this fantastic retrospective. Thanks for the excellent content!
Cloud's past and Aeris' death never had me quite that shook. What I've found affected me far more was Red XIII being shown the truth about his father. As someone who resented his father as a child and grew to appreciate everything he provided for me after he was gone, the way that 'The Great Warrior' comes in as Red XIII is made to face the truth that his father, even through death, did everything that he could to protect Cosmo Canyon, always makes me cry. It's such a powerful moment and it's often overshadowed by the rest of the game. The fact that Final Fantasy 7 put so much into its characters and their stories is part of what makes it so beloved even today.
Hey guys.
Just want to say thank you for sticking with me this year. At the end of last year I took a two month break from youtube, mostly for mental health reasons, and just wanted to let you guys know I will not be doing the same this year, some pretty positive changes to work life balance stuff mean Im in a pretty good place over all. I am gonna take some down time over the holidays which im super excited about (cause ehhh im on about three hours of sleep trying to get this out the door), but very excited for some vids out early next year.
If you’d like to support this channel, please do consider the patreon, I know a dollar a video doesn’t seem like much, but one dollar donations are the life blood of this channel and let me do what I do:
www.patreon.com/Supereyepatchwolf
Thanks as always for watching the video, and Ill see you next year
So excited. What a treat when you upload :)
i don't know shit about this game but i'm gonna watch it any way
Have a good break man.
I'll start contributing today, merry christmas brother
Merry Yule
I just found this game's story confusing as hell, but I named Cloud "Zack" so that was a big part of the confusion.
Holy shit, that's hilarious.
Aeris: "Zack, you remind me of someone...someone named Zack. He was a SOLDIER like you."
Hahaha incredible.
This is the equivalent to the Moe throwing out Barney meme
Turns out that "Zach" isn't really "Zack"
@@CDodger24 He wasn't really Jack either.
I love how they drop hints about cloud's false backstory.
For example, when he tells the story of sephiroth in kalm, he's shown talking to the soldier in the truck about motion sickness, saying "I dont know... I've never had motion sickness." But on the trip to Costa Del Sol, cloud is shown getting motion sickness. Players who pay attention can see this and realize the contradiction in cloud's story.
Ho-lee shit. I've actually never noticed that.
Yeah, FF7 is one of those stories that when you go back and play it after the reveal, you start to see all the little hints that you missed before. Like all the little flashes that happened whenever people asked Cloud about his past.
Aeris: "So what rank were you?"
Cloud: "Rank?"
Aeris: "In SOLDIER."
(flash)
Cloud: "First Class."
Aeris: "Just like him."
The first time around, you probably dismissed that flash as nothing, as the story didn't really draw attention to it. But knowing the truth, you realize that it's Jenova's influence. The Jenova cells in Cloud's body reacted. Up until this point no one had even mentioned that SOLDIER had ranks, so we never really knew that Cloud was a First Class. In truth, he probably wouldn't have even known had someone other than Aeris asked him.
It's these subtle hints that really sold you on the reveal later. Because they were there, you can't say that it came out of nowhere. The developers weren't hiding information from you. You simply didn't pick up on Cloud's inconsistencies. You accepted that Cloud didn't remember what happened after he confronted Sephiroth. You didn't worry that Tifa was clearly holding back something important. You didn't think twice when Cloud said he had never really been to Shin-ra HQ.
That's the difference between a good and bad plot twist. And it's just a small part of the magic of FF7.
Oh nice detail man. Im replaying it again after more than 15 years or so. I know much more now. Having a completely different look on some parts. The fact that I’m still mind blown after 23 years.. such a gem.
@@saltyk9869 interesting. only now after all these years i had the thought that maybe the Jenova cells are the ones that made him believe he was Zack. Jenova is a shape shifter after all and those flashbacks are from the cells influencing him. Maybe it was part of the cells plan to get Cloud to attend Reunion.
Then there's the callback later on after he regains his memory and he's discussing his motion sickness with Yuffie who shares it. The real Cloud is much nicer than the Zack persona Cloud.
Came here for a deep dive analysis into Sega Bass Fishing 2, and I left severely disappointed when all you rambled on about was some obscure indie game.
I feel you.
Respect ✊😔
And what the hell is this "Square" shit... like the shape!? Shapes make games now!? What the motherfucking DAMN HELL is this!?
@@kobaltsteel6418 yeah what the hell!
I know
One thing you dont mention in the last section is that despite seeing himself as a pathetic failure, Cloud DID kill Sephiroth at the reactor. Which is ironic because despite all the false memories about being a SOLDIER, he did not remember how the showdown with Sephiroth actually went down, which was the one thing he actually did right in all of this. And it kinda conveys the message that feeling ashamed and lying about yourself can make you forget the great things you actually accomplish.
This should have been mentioned and should be acknowledged. It is organic to Clouds character and the story. Cloud had the heroic potentia inside him all along.
@@Heikkopeikko1989he's made of the right materias.
bump
Well put. That was the irony, he so desperately wanted to be and be remembered as a SOLDIER, but he accomplished something that the real SOLDIER that day, Zack, could not.
Yes! Cloud just wants to be forgiven
The fact that cloud was once a guy who got motion sickness on a truck and rose up to beat the world's most powerful warrior is pretty effing epic.
Everyone has a weakness, and Cloud's weakness is motion sickness.
@@mask938 Thankfully he can vent to Yuffie about his Motion sickness.
Well it’s a good thing Cloud got miraculously cured of his motion sickness after assimilating Zack’s combat training and experience.
Because there’s no way Cloud would be pulling off the insane motorcycle flips and stunts he does in the Remake and in Advent Children if Cloud still did suffer from Motion Sickness.
@@mask938 I feel bad for him. That means no VR for Cloud.
@@storm_shadow-2107 If Cloud still was still suffering from motion sickness in those moments, things would’ve gotten very messy.
Call it OCD, but it always used to bother me after Aeris's death that there was just an empty section in the character selection screen. And then I realized the reason they left the gap there, and once you realize it's never gonna be filled, it hurts more than just your desire for symmetry.
And now we'll re-experience it in HD
@@kiggerst oh god
the little prince have...you seen the demo?
I've seen the demo, and I've also seen a significant part of chapter 2, including things that you probably won't see on youtube for awhile (such as Cloud having a conversation with a certain long haired prettyboy, in the second chapter).
SBaby what’s your opinions on the combat? I was super excited untill I saw it’s back and slashy now.
next time, I want a 50 minute video about sega bass fishing 2
don't bait me like that man
pun intended?
@@eki9970 you think?
sega bass fishing was legit my shit back as a child, i loved it for some fucking reason lmaoo
Some would say we got “catfished” tee hee hee
Bass Fishing oRPJ
What hit me the most is when Cloud found out he was an experiment, losing his identity as 'Cloud'. When he begged Hojo for a number and didn't receive one hurt, cause he had nothing, not even a number to define himself.
Having a number isn't all it's cracked up to be. I have a detailed numerology report, and my lifepath number is 5. It comes with the four fives of Tarot, Worry, Strife, Disappointment, and Fear of Failure. Psychological themes that hound us lifepath fives all throughout life. Five is about freedom and has a very hard laying down roots. We are adventurers but we don't really fit in anywhere, and no matter what we wind up with a lot of Strike. It's hard to explain, but at times I wish I didn't know.
@@EmeraldEyesEsoteric huh
@@EmeraldEyesEsoteric strife? That doesn't sound fair...
(I'm sorry 😅)
@@EmeraldEyesEsoteric wtf
@@EmeraldEyesEsoteric WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT
The thing I like about FF7 and Cloud's story, is that he wasn't some chosen one, there wasn't some prophecy. Sephiroth thinks he is the chosen one, and gets bested by this nobody. Cloud begins FF7 by thinking he's a hotshot, not because he thought he beat Sephiroth, but because he was so deeply ashamed of himself that he adopted an alter ego. As the audience, Cloud goes from being the hero to being pretty pathetic. But then it's revealed that he actually did get the better of Sephiroth, only after losing everyone he loved and his home town getting burned down. It becomes understandable psychologically why he made an alter ego, as a way of dealing with that trauma. Cloud becomes sympathetic again, and we want to see him put aside his lies and be who he really is. And when he does in the end, that makes his character arch satisfying, and is why his beating Sephiroth in the end game is great. Not because of some prophecy, or even saving the world, but because of what Cloud went through, and settling things once and for all with Sephiroth. It's a revenge story, but also a story of redemption. Cloud is an underdog.
And Cloud's yin to Sephiroth's yang is special, like all great hero/villain parings. On one hand you have this deluded psychopathic demi-god with a messiah complex, and on the other you have this self-loathing loser/nobody who rose to the occasion. It's a fun combination.
Mic...DROP!!!! Couldn't have put it better!
this !! This is literally one of the best explanations I’ve read
Man to bad holy probably exterminated humans.
I'm a sucker for "chosen one" story tropes, but man did you put all of my satisfaction with Final Fantasy 7 in one paragraph.
You start hating him more and more as you go through the game too and after he takes away the most important person in clouds life and rips his humanity and will to live away you can’t wait to kill the bastard
Getting the Super Eyepatch Wolf treatment on one of your favorite games ever...
Looks like Christmas came early this year.
Holy shit it's Nico!
Dude your reaction to Sephiroth in Smash was great.
holy crap, didn't expect a NicoB comment here
Cloud's false backstory being revealed as nothing more than a lie was.....something. That had NEVER been done before in a jrpg, your hero isn't who he says he is. Just a loser. And that's what makes it so special when he finds the strength to defeat Sepiroth.
Perfectly summarized why Cloud is a great Protagonist in the OG game
Imagine reading one of Agatha Christie's crime novels, reading the whole story and finally seeing the criminal brought to justice for murder and you, the strange hero get the heart of the damsel in destress, and to your surprise, he flips the middle finger toward her and surprise, surprise, you were the killer all along and the girl you were helping is now an accomplice and you're blackmailing her so she won't tell about your identity, while you walk out like a true villain.
You were the villain all along, in a story done more than 50 years ago which was a nice change when I found the same done in Danganronpa V3 but instead of reading it, you literally watched yourself set a murder and you had no idea that you're the killer.
Nice not even a spoiler warning just the first 2 words n just spoil such a good twist
@@just_a_rebel8261 I honestly feel your pain, bc the same happened to me, but to be fair, the game is over 20 years old.
@@takeshikovacks6708 the age of the game is irrelevant. With that approach, only the people who were around at its release get to enjoy the full meat of the story. Everyone who comes after (which is a LOT more people, bear in mind) only gets thrown the gnawed bones. The age of the game isn't the reason spoilers should be fair game here, it's the fact this is the comment section for an hour long analysis of the game. Fucking obviously people will be discussing the entire plot. Why is anyone even here if they haven't played it?
Watching Aeris die in a cutscene: *single tear*
Remembering that you put a Ribbon on her before she left your party and now you'll never get it back: *ugly cry*
Accessories DO return to your inventory, she only takes the weapon and armor.
@@GoldenYoshi1 Well, there goes my armor.
Man, I am not ready for the Aerith death scene in the sequel to the remake
@@blyat8832 i dont think she'll die. With zack alive it means the timeline is changed
@@blyat8832 it depends on how much they expand and cover in the next game
There’s also a point in the game where you can go into a hut looking for loot and meet a couple who ask you if you know their son who went off to join SOLDIER and never returned. At the time it seems like random NPC dialogue, but, when you realize that they are Zack’s parents- it’s absolutely gutting. It also makes subsequent play throughs of that scene really uncomfortable, since you the player are in the know but Cloud-you still essentially thinks he IS Zack and has no idea who they are talking about. The awesome thing is, the game doesn’t make you play this scene, it’s just an extra nugget for those who compulsively explore every place they can. It’s little details like that which make the game so rich and memorable.
I've just replayed that part recently. It's really striking. I think that's part of one of the things FF7 does best: people trapped in a hostile world that will not allow them to move on.
You should bring Tifa and Aerith with you to Gongaga.
The fact that you learn that Sephiroth's parents are Hojo and Lucrecia through a hidden cutscene is great as well.
@@dcvmu and further following that storyline, how Vincent ended up in that coffin because he wanted to punish himself for not doing more to stop Lucrezia from allowing herself to become Hojo's guinea pig. He would have killed himself, but found he could not die because of the experimentation done on him against his will.
Ff7 is so dark and tragic. There isnt any real good ending either, they just survived, thats it.
Aeris: Looks like a pure sweet white mage, is actually a scrappy 'flower girl' tomboy flirt.
Tifa: Seems like a rough, tough fighter, is actually a very soft-hearted and sentimental sweetheart.
I love that, and it has been mostly dropped in media since the game came out. :P
I'm so happy that you used the name Aeris, that will always be her name to me
Shorewall Its like the simpsons vaguely. The characters themselves became stereotypes of themselves.
Which for VII is.....odd.
AGREED! For some reason, for many who haven't had the chance to go through the original game itself, their impressions of the characters are the opposite. And rather strangely, the some of the depictions of Tifa and Aerith since then have also gone down this swapped route
Huh? Tifa is definitely a strong tough fighter and aerith is some maiden with a sweet and strong heart. She isn't anything like a tomboy.
I was telling someone earlier today after playing Remake how relieved I was that they captured Aeris' true personality with all its humor and flirtation and insight instead of just the pure and saintly Aeris we've gotten in post-FF7-adaptations-sequels-and-cameos....and here you are with the same point. Huzzah! I wasn't the only one.
I was thinking the same thing about Cloud. They really did the characters so well in the remake, it’s fantastic
@@ianbyrne465 e
So- I know alot of people say Aerith's name should be Aeris, but this was actually a big mistake,
The short answer is: Aeris'is a mistranslation of Aerith, and Aerith IS the intendes english name. It doesnt exactly make sense to call her Aeris of you arent speaking Japanese.
@@venificusmalatia4524 I'm doing it here out of respect for the video maker. Though I grew up with "Aeris" I mostly use "Aerith" now.
I get this to a point. In AC, she is still quirky, just that she lacks a lot of screen time and the English dub does not really do a good job at all. I mean, she acts snarky when speaking to Cloud through the lifestream when he is going to the forgotten capitol as she quips at him in a joking manner about what he wants and whom he wants forgiveness from. This does not come across in the English dub.
She also pouts being called mother twice, and jokingly says "I don't need such a grown kid" while sending Cloud back from the lifestream (in Japanese, but she still jokes around in English dub by not wanting to adopt him). If you were a truly humble person, you would take it as a compliment, as Zack does for her, portraying both characters rather well in just 1 scene (Aerith knowing, showing she cares in her way and Zack being well... Zack). The tone portraying nuances in the dialogue is not great in the English dub. In CC she is a little meek, but she isn't a total pushover, and she is younger. But, sure she is not as goofy as she is in remake and in many places she has been nothing more than a "holy maiden stereotype".
It makes me wonder how much people would appreciate her appearance in AC more if they watched it in Japanese. One of the strengths Remake does regarding this character is to translate the personality better between languages, not necessarily the dialogue though >_
FFVII is the rare moment where severe limitations and unknown novel technologies combined to force the developer to focus on story telling through the game's mechanics. I do not think we will see this combination of factors come together as successfully for a very long time.
I am inclined to agree to an extent. In the OG when you get to omnislash Sephiroth they gave "you, the player" the "right" to do it as you were the one to actually make Cloud go through with it. Compare this to the bland scene in remake where there is no control, omnislash, ascension or proto-omnislash, and I am inclined to agree. However, just in FF XV we had the exact same type of ending (except no actual combat) where you have to press the button to use the ring of Lucii. These are small moments, but they can absolutely exist in "modern games" but lazy developers use cutscenes, taking away fun things like how you can skip using omnislash on Sephiroth by using counter materia as he attacks you if you take too long and Cloud will counter if that materia is equipped.
@vincentgraymore
I was ready to agree with you but calling the Remake developers “lazy” is straight up delusional. They worked their asses off making that game. Also, that literally wouldn’t work in an action-based combat system anyway and would feel super weird to instantly snap into full cutscene mode. Someone could make a similar argument that the original devs were lazy because they allowed all players to use Omnislash even if they hadn’t earned and unlocked that Limit Break in the game. But that would be a stupid thing to say, so I wouldn’t say it. See what I mean.
Is this the only jrpg that you have ever played or something?
@@kalandarkclaw8892you missed the point of the comment completely, name another JRPG caught in chaotic development between the transition of 2d to 3d, working with unknown tech, said tech still being limited despite being stronger than the rest of the competition, and needing to basically invent a new, near non-existent audience (American JRPG fans).
You definitely only read the "storytelling" part of this guy's comment
@vincentgraymore uh, they haven't gotten to that part in the remake so not sure exactly what you're talking about here? Are you from the future?
I played FF7 when i was just hitting puberty in middle school and learning all sorts of emotions I had never felt before. Aeris was my go to party member I kept with me every chance I got. She was my healer and my favorite character of all the cast. So one night I was playing this game as silent as I could cuz my mother was asleep on the couch, I watched as Aeris was killed by Sephiroth and as a result I was traumatized as an adolescent. I was under the impression a phoenix down could cure her but KO only meant Knocked out, not death. I had to watch as Cloud lay her to rest in a pool of water watching her now lifeless body sink to the body of a lake and then the screen went black and the switch disc screen came on after I saved my game. So unable to make a sound for waking my mom, I turned off the game, went to my room and told myself "I'll revive her in the morning, it'll be ok." I was in a genuine state of denial over a video game character because even before playing other games with characters dying I had never felt such a sense of loss in my life since my grandfather died. As I continued to play the game I kept thinking "It'll be ok, they'll revive her" but they didn't. I kept telling myself things like "They'll find a materia that can bring her back" or "They could travel back in time and revive her like Chrono Trigger!" But they never did, it wasn't until I brought the Sage to Aeris's resting spot that I finally realized she was truly dead and never coming back. The reason why Aeris death affected so many people including myself is because Square-Soft knew at the time how to manipulate us into caring for her and showing us what real loss was. To this day now I can't stop crying when i hear Aeris's theme from Advent Children and I don't think I'll ever stop mourning the loss of my favorite Flower Child.
The fact that she was the White Mage was the worst part. The White Mage is the most useful class! Their healing is essential and you can normally turn them into a tank once you equip them with Black Magic.
Losing Aerith wasn't just emotionally crippling, but could basically cripple your party and take you hours or days to make up for.
Bruh that’s sad :
@@goliathtigerfishes I was a teen and dealing with new emotions so everyone can understand why this was such a huge moment for alot of people. Even though i know her death had a purpose in the story, it still hurts to a degree when i go back and play the game again. And when i watch Advent Children the ending where shes walking away just gets me everytime. I actually miss her being in the end credits because the bluray edition cut her out with the edition of new scenes.
@@rosesweetcharlotte Actually...it didn't cripple me. Aeirth made the game too easy once she died that's when you had to start to strategizing. When I noticed how powerful she was I had a feeling SOMETHING was gonna happen to her. She made the game too easy.....but goodness....her death was sad.
That's one of the only things I didn't like about the story of the game, contrary to popular belief her death didn't really have a purpose other than breaking down Cloud and the player on an emotional level, I really hope she gets an happy ending this time man, I never moved on from her death (and neither did Cloud) she could've easily been saved and I hope Cloud doesn't repeat his same mistake this time
Hey, don't knock on that 'Nobody Shinra Soldier', he's the guy who threw Sephiroth into a vat of Mako using that stupid katana that was stabbed into him.
Yeah, it's one of those little forgotten things, but Cloud actually is the one who originally killed Sephiroth.
And was one of two who survived Hojo's experimentation afterward. And came back from a complete mental breakdown, twice!
What the heck was up with that scene? Why didn't Sephiroth just let go of the katana?
He was probably trying to throw cloud off himself
Came here to say the same, thank you
Fun fact, Nibelheim can be translated as "cloud home".
Nibel -> Nebel (ger) -> fog (eng)
"fog home" is more accurate (Nibel=> Nebel) .
Wolkeheim would be "Cloudhome" or Wolkenheim (Cloudshome)
Skyeheim would be more accurate iirc
I'd also like to note how there's always an empty space where Aeris's character slot used to be when you go to shops. Just another way the gameplay compliments the story.
*Aerith
Aeris*
*Errisce
In other games, they'd get replaced by a carbon copy in the next cutscene or die at the end of the game.
I loved how Sephiroth wasn't portrayed as objectively evil. He went criminally insane and became a religious fanatic with mommy issues.
Same here, I like that before the change, he was exactly what Cloud thought he was, a knowledgeable hero that did the work that needed to be done, and that he wasn’t at all bad till he found out the “truth” about Jenova and himself. That backstory was great not only because we see his power, but because we see a force for good slowly become the opposite.
What the fuck is "objectively evil" supposed to mean?
@@mphylo2296 im sure he meant "stereotypically evil" sephiroth IS objectively evil. And "objectively evil" would basically be open mindedly evil and not bound to one strict definition, or restricted by feeling. Which he would be, because its not the stereotypical evil for evils sake. Destroy the planet, and rid it of all life to make it a better place
@@iCYpReSSv1 Evil exists only on a conceptual level. Without human beings, it ceases to exist. This is why it can't be called objective. Something objective would be observable and measurable by anything with the intelligence to do so. Now, I'm not saying evil doesn't exist. It certainly does. But I find it very strange to label any act as "objectively" evil.
@@mphylo2296 bro shut up with your Rick and Morty explanations
I can't believe I'm saying this as an Aeris stan, but I think.. I think I forgot who she was. Its been years since I played the game and since then my connection with it has been sustained through the movies/games ect that came after it. And tbh, I think I lost sight of her character. Reading her dialogue on screen and listening to you describe her made me remember she wasn't just this pure uwu flower angel child that she kind of gets regressed to. I remember now why I loved her so much. She was fun and cool and sweet and so much more than the generic white mage type. Why her death affected me so much - why I left equipment and armour on her even as I approached the scene of her death. Why I was so attached to her, and why just listening to you and watching her death scene legitimately made me cry again.
Idk man, just thanks. You made me fall in love with my favourite character again.
Absolutely. FF7 media since has flanderized Aeris, but in the game, she was a real person.
The same feels man
After Playing through FF7 over and over again Choosing Aeris as your "love interest" in the game because she was my favorite character in it. You get asked ocassionally why spend all that effort getting her maxed out and her ultimate weapon for a character you know is going to die within the first disc? Me: Simply to enjoy the time you do have with her. That mentality helped out a lot when my IRL GF died of brain cancer, Lost my grandmother she was 46 and i had been shipped off to the grand parents after my biological parents split and my dad couldn't afford to keep us (had a brother). The grandfather was a straight up sadist and was the primary reason she passed. Had a lot of loss as well. Loosing Aeris really hit home you know. Dam if that death scene doesn't still has impact.
It doesn't matter what people say, I'll always love this game. The story, soundtrack and it's characters... Everything felt so organic, like a game full of adventures and a game makes the player a part of the team. It's truly an incredible game.
The Nibelheim portion of the game is the best "storytelling through gameplay" example I know of. It absolutely the best "holy shit he's strong' moment I've ever had in gaming. You basically tickle enemies, and then get KO'd, as Cloud, but one hit even the miniboss character, as Sephiroth.
It's genius.
This game gave me one of my favorite visions of final fantasy ever. Some drunk homeless guy wondering towards a house monster stoked he's about to find a new house seemingly for free. But no this young guy runs up tells him to stop and pulls out a giant sword. And starts fighting the fucking house. This of course causes the homeless man to realize he has to stop drinking as he couldn't have just seen a teenager fighting a house with a giant sword...
Lmao
I believe Cloud is 21 though
I believe Cloud is 21 though
Speaking of feeling inferior to sephiroth throughout the game, when I 1st played, after getting to lvl 50 and being able to do a couple thousand dmg per hit, I distinctly remember telling myself “yes, I’m finally as strong as sephiroth was” 😂😂
Relatable.
It's a shame none of these kind of moments can be had in any of the "remakes".
@@悪臭-p9p The Remake part 1 only consists of Midgar. The first 15% of the original game... There couldn't possibly be a moment like that in the remake yet...
@@kungolaf4499 lol they show Sephiroth in the first 10 minutes of the remake, and then they continue to 100% disregard the structure of the original build up of his character. Not to mention making him the final boss of part one, it came across as whacky fanfiction. I thought it was stupid as hell, they should have respected the source material more imo.
@@悪臭-p9p you then don't understand what the remake is trying to do.
Cloud removing his helmet is probably the most iconic twist in gaming history. It's so good.
C'mon Raven on Knights of Old Republic also one of the greatest Rpgs ever
And then that part of the main theme starts playing... that whole scene gives me chills
System Shock 2...
It's up there.
@@maurovaz6081 cloud was earlier though, but raven is great!
You have embodied everything about this game that makes FF7 a masterpiece. The story is real and hits us right the heart. This is why it is timeless.
Pfft! Imagine naming your company “Square”!
_-This comment was made by circle gang_
Squaresoft
@@dethsnake42O wouldnt a soft square just be a circle?
When they started doing 3D they should have be renamed "Cubesoft".
Man they showed Aeris dying on the commercial?!
Yeah. It’s one of the most well-known spoilers in history, right up there with Darth Vader as a dad.
Luckily I wasn’t spoiled
@@NeroVingian40 imagine you pre-order it for Nintendo, it gets announced on another console and you see a trailer and get the biggest spoiler lmao
Well, it was out of context. They just showed the part of Aerith lying in the pool with Cloud standing over her. Given the ad’s declaration of a “love that can never be,” I think the audience is supposed to assume that Aerith is just sleeping and Cloud’s like “damn I wanna tap that so bad”
@@theinimitablejora522
I mean he carrying her in water but I don't think someone would make the connection of "she dead"
I remember being a 16 yr old girl, falling in love with this game at my cousin's house, and needing to buy it so I could finish the story. I had always loved gaming, but FFVII was THE game that made it a passion.
Awesome video.
Wow where were girls like you when i was 16 and playing it too....none of the girls i hanged with would play anything other than mario games or donkey kong country sometimes
It's really funny to me that Aerith's death scene was shown in the ads for it
I knew that Aeris would die in the game when I played but I was expecting near of the final in disc 3. Not there , still shocked me.
They also put the image of the scene where Cloud carries her into the water on the backside of the games' box.. So strange they decided to do it
Did they? I never saw any commercials for this game, only some sort of preview in GameInformer. Then when I finally saved up enough to buy it, the only one GameStop had was just 3 loose discs with no case. Needless to say, that scene hit me like a ton of bricks.
This is probably the best video out of all "game-review"/"-documentary" type videos that I've ever seen.
FF7 is also among my favorite games with me likely having spent more than 2k hours+ enjoying the game in various ways still up to this date, be it to just enjoy it casually, trying to speedrun it or playing it with challenging restrictions. I can only agree with you on all of the points and always am happy to see other people being captured by the magic that a Final Fantasy game creates.
I've never been as glad about UA-cam recommending me a channel before.
Thank you
VeysTheGreat I agree, fantastic video
VeysTheGreat same. I’m really excited for the Remake
no it's EXTREMELY cool that you named your custom class don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise
@Shaman Xeed did you watch the video?
@Shaman Xeed Wow.
i've only played about 10 hours of ff7 (i know a lot about the overall story but that's what i've personally played) but the playable flashback was one of the most gripping gameplay experiences i've ever had. finally meeting the fabled sephiroth, watching him silently decimate that dragon while cloud does fuckall damage, showing just how much of an unstoppable force he is. then seeing him retreat into the mansion basement, not knowing exactly what he was doing or why, only to see him emerge a changed man, and destroy an entire village of innocents. all the while i was playing "cloud" as a young soldier, scared and uncertain as his idolized childhood hero descends into madness right in front of his eyes. i was glued to my switch, absolutely couldn't put it down. i'll never forget watching the cutscene of sephiroth surrounded by flames for the first time. it was incredible. i was horrified, morbidly fascinated, in shock.
as someone born after the 90s who didn't grow up with video games, i'll admit that until then, i had unconsciously looked down on older games with less advanced graphics. we can all agree that ff7 looks quite primitive compared to what's standard today. but that flashback completely changed my mind. you don't NEED flawless graphics to tell a gripping, fascinating story! i haven't experienced anything like that part of the game before or since, and i think i'll be hard pressed to ever find something that'll floor me like that did.
Xenorgears > Final Fantasy Tactics > Final Fantasy 7 > Final Fantasy 6
This message is what the new generation needs to read. Very well written.
Play cod
Aspiration, respect, empathy and fear all in one motion. Best villain development of all time.
@@THEREALZENFORCE Xenogears seems like it's in desperate need of a remake though.
I think we can all relate to Cloud's insecurities and reasons behind his lies. Deep down Cloud was fighting against his inner demons and Sephiroth embodied his fears and insecurities in the physical form.
The first time I realized that if Tifa is the only member of your party standing when Rude is the only Turk left, he'll just walk away and end the battle, I squealed like a deranged hog. I don't play many games, but I've been disappointed that none of the games I've played since then have had such wonderful gameplay and story integration.
Metal Gear Solid.
Undertale is all about clever gameplay and story integration.
A Link to the Past, The Last of Us, Metal Gear 4 and Final Fantasy 7. The best games of all time.
holamoco17 metal gear 4?? You mean mgs 1,2,3 only lmao rest are trash
@@xISparkzy Really? MGS 4 is trash?
Me, 49 minutes ago: "I don't care for FF7, but SEW has never let me down before ... but FF7 really doesn't appeal to me"
Me, currently: "Ah fuck, that's strong! I gotta play it"
A must , have never played a game as good. Truly impactful
The first time is always the best. The second time you will actually beat it.
Eh aside from the visuals ff7 is one of the weaker ff games
If theres any jrpg you havent played that you should its Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
It’s pretty much the greatest game of all time.
You cannot talk about PS1 pre-rendered backgrounds without mentioning FF9 and Chrono Cross. Either way, my fav background in FF7 is when you are just close enough to the edge of Midgar to see the world outside and an insinuation of the world theme plays, that you realize once you leave the city that it was just a dim version of the world map music. Beautiful.
He doesn't seem to know how the technique works. He says that you can have a nice looking background without modeling and texturing everything. But you do have to model and texture them in order to render the image that you then use as the background.
Wouldn't take even 10 minutes to search about that.
@Aaron9 leave this planet.
@@konstantinosmandalos7596 I think he meant it in-engine. They are textured and lit on a different 3D software obvs, sometimes they are even fully painted as is the case with most of Chrono Cross's backgrounds.
@@BinaryDood Yes, I know how it works. I work with 3D Models and rendering.
The only thing he says is that you don't have to model/texture when you use that technique, which is obviously wrong.
My point, if you are going to make a video about FFVII, or any other topic, you better make sure you have your facts straight.
@Shaman Xeed It's not saltiness. I'm just pointing out a mistake so he can see it and do a better job next time. Or do you prefer videos with false information in them? Even heard of criticism?
However "Why so salty lmao" isn't criticism.
I just finished Final Fantasy VII yesterday and I'm still in awe. I've never had a video game leave me speechless just absolutely perfect. I'm playing Final Fantasy VIII now and I'm so excited! I hope I have the same feelings with VIII!
Same here how do you like it so far?
How are you speechless though im currently playing though the first part of the game and im constnalty frustrated by the slow repetitive fighting system and the cute and detailed but reeeeally hard to navigate though backgrouds
@@EmotoPlayin the story is what causes the speechlessness.
Also all in all the gameplay didn't feel *that* annoying, except maybe the moment we realize that Shinra might in fact be staircase manufacturer cosplaying as a power company (seriously, still have flashbacks of that endless HQ staircase hell 😂)
@Marissa Moynihan you may also want to take a look at xenogears for another excellent (albeit flawed) Squaresoft era JRPG with a deep plot. Together with FF7, two of the best things that company ever created in my humble opinion.
@@kyushirokun I second playing Xenogears. FFVII, FFIX, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, and Xenogears are like required games from the 90's to play.
IMMORTAL: Neon Phoenix Bodyguard is my favorite anime
The thing I really like about the whole reveal Sephiroth forces onto Cloud about his identity is the fact that *Sephiroth doesn't know* who Cloud really is. Sephiroth thinks Cloud is just a random dude Hojo kidnapped and experimented on, who somehow developed delusions of having a bigger role than he actually did. But Cloud was actually there, with a mask on, and Sephiroth never knew. The whole interplay between Cloud and Sephiroth and Zack is implied in some places and stated in sideways terms in others, to the point where it feels almost totally ancillary to the plot, but once you put the pieces together, you realize the entire story you're playing through is just the final chapter in a much larger story in which Cloud is the spoiler, the Black Swan, rather than the protagonist. You, as the player, are fulfilling the hopes and efforts of an entire generation of actors before you who were desperately trying to stop Jenova, and who very nearly failed.
You spend so much of the game being convinced that Cloud is powerful, and when Sephiroth rips that away and you realize that you have almost no power at all, it hurts you, the player as much as any of the characters. And when it keeps happening, over and over, and you realize that Sephiroth thinks of you as a combination of a funny joke and a punching bag, it hurts. So the realization that *Sephiroth doesn't know* who Cloud really is probably the most satisfying moment I've ever had in a video game. Everything anybody thought they knew about Cloud was wrong: he's just a kid with a handful of mental disorders. But him being weak is not the same thing as him being powerless, and underestimating him is even more devastating to the bad guys than overestimating him was to the good guys.
So in short, Cloud is 'that spoony bard', but this game we play as him from the start, and don't laugh along with the evil clown.
First play through I was 12 and had no understanding of this level. Part of the replay ability over the years for me has been understanding the various levels these 3 characters interact on, it’s a masterpiece.
Michael Leue what do you mean Sephiroth thought Cloud was just some guy Hojo kidnapped? Sephiroth knew who Cloud was, remember when they go to Nibelhiem and Sephiroth turns around looks at cloud and says “how does it feel to be back home?” Plus they rode together in the truck while cloud had his helmet off
monojuice plus cloud had his helmet off when he threw sephiroth into the Mako pool below. The original post is total nonsense.
@@monojuice but Sephiroth never says Clouds name in that exchange. Him knowing Clouds name is unclear. What is clear is Sephiroth knowing that one of the Soldiers accompanying Him and Zack comes from Niblehiem and that's probabley the extend of his knowledge of Cloud. Sephiroth is arrogant, and won't remember a grunt soldiers name, just like President Shinra doesn't recall who Cloud is at the beginning of the game. So I believe that Sephiroth doesn't know who Cloud is.
This video actually made me tear up a bit toward the end. You explained the connection with Aeris and resulting heartbreak so well. Games hardly do this anymore. They often tell, rather than show, relying on flashy graphics and gimmicks to keep players interested. It makes me want to go back and experience this game for myself, as I never got to as a kid.
This is my favorite game of all time. This game changed my life and shaped so much about me. My interests, my morality, my taste in music, my love of rpgs and Jrpgs and my love of anime. It’s one of those pieces of media for me like yu yu hakusho for anime that will always stay with me and nothing will ever match. It was a massive part of my childhood and I still go back to it every 5 to 10 years even after beating it dozens of times. It’s also the first game that made me feel real emotions and make me cry, laugh, and actually feel like the characters were real.
I literally had no interest in this game for my entire life because I’ve been fed nothing but misconceptions about the characters and story. Like I assumed that Aeris was just some pure waifu character that was killed off just for shock value, or that Cloud was emotionless. Thank you so much for consistently getting me invested in new things! Your storytelling skills are unmatched.
That’s probably the biggest problem with this game over the years and one of the reason why I love that they’re remaking it - people tend to over generalize the characters and story based off just what they have gleaned from wiki entry’s and short clips. Not even talking about you specifically, it’s been a thing even people that have made media surrounding FFVII have done. People portray it as this super serious game with emo characters and such when in actuality it’s more like an anime a la One Piece, where the characters do have serious moments and tragic backstories but at the same time the journey is funny, a bit cheesy, random af, heartwarming, and with a variety of fun distractions from the main “Save the world” story that make it great.
That's actually a huge issue that even the creators of the game forget! Aeris was a saucy flirt, Tifa was the nurturing motherly one. Cloud wasn't emotionless or worse, emo. He cared a lot about everyone and was scared of losing them, he had a super dry wit, and was hiding these things under a false identity until he and Tifa went head first into the lifestream. Even then, bits of his real personality came through.
Yes, this game is has serious and tragic moments, but there's a slap fight on the cannon, a mini game involving doing squats, a bad guy gets hit by a literal truck at the end of a battle, and one of the characters is a literal mechanical cat on a stuffed moogle, and everyone goes to a damn amusement park.
@@jessi4894 Agreed
@@gorgannan5177 agreed
It's sad that you're stupid to not avoid a game because you couldn't form your own opinion without the help of some random people on the internet
Congrats on missing out on one of the most successful and beloved JRPGs, idiot
FF7 is a masterpiece. I remember it like yesterday. It's style of storytelling always being show don't tell. It's still amazing today.
Masterpiece is an exaggeration by today's standard.
@@CatManThree either everything's a masterpiece or nothing's a masterpiece
I once listened to the FFVII soundtrack while driving into Flint, Michigan. I gotta say, the Midgar tracks work way too well with some parts of that city.
The ending of this video where you compare yourself and how you were feeling at the time of playing this to cloud and how he is a nobody.... that hit home for me. I felt exactly the same when I was growing up and still struggle with that to this very day as a 32 year old adult.
Love the video, same with the dbz one. Subscribed
same
"I draw terrible terrible fanart of it"
Shows a bunch of pictures that are miles better than anything I draw.
Don't give up. That's my job.
Thrasher The Black Stallion
Nah fuck that don’t talk shit about yourself you make art that’s like several miles beautiful
Thrasher The Black Stallion Practice is key
I made this comment just kind of as a humorous observation, but it turned out to have a very uplifting bunch of responses.
Thank you, everyone!
You described why this is one of my favorite games of all time perfectly. The parts about Aeris’ death and Cloud’s whole identity crisis were just spot on. As someone who is currently dealing with such things, it hit so close to home. Thank you for this video. It’s a masterpiece.
*Younger cousin playing FF7*
Me, walking past: Remember to unequip Aeris before the City of Ancients
My cousin: *Suprised pikachu face*
@Blue Shy Guy pretty sure you can't lose the materia. Her equipped materia returns to your inventory, any and all gear she has equipped will disappears, but not the materia.
The only way you can lose materia permanently, (if I recall correctly) is if you have to much materia already and can't carry anymore or if you trash it yourself.
I just lost a lot of time
I finished this game just 2 days ago and I now understand why this game is considered a masterpiece
Bruh. Making me cry and shit.
CRAWWWWLING IN MY SKIIIIIIN
Sorry sephiroth triggers AMV memories for me
2009, what a time
I always felt Sephiroth would be more of a Led Zeppelin guy
Who watches those? You?! Have I finally found this mystery audience supporting the most cancerous UA-cam content clogging my feed every time Im looking for an actual clip?
You sonuvabitch let's fight right now. Im using my hands, you get a garbage truck. I dont need one. Let's go.
Uk what, I quit. This is bull. You have a garbage truck. I don't play with cheaters. Next time. You win for now.
But AMVs are seriously the cringiest genre ever concieved and we can never be friends.
@@tiff-0028 fuck, more like 2004
I never played FF7 so I think any attempt by me to play it in 2019 will be retroactively tainted by memories of dorky cosplayers and bad fanart from the 2000's.
Also, something you forgot to mention Super Eyepatch Wolf, is that the reason Cloud's memories are messed up is because of Hojo's experiments with him and Zack. It's clear from the flashbacks that Cloud was mentally much weaker than Zack and didn't hold up as well to the brainwashing. This, combined with the effect that drifting through the mako-infused Lifestream has on him, is what leads to his break with reality. Tifa helps Cloud work through his memories, because she's the only person with a semi-clear picture of who he was, since they had memories together.
Professor Ghast's failure was basically that Sephiroth still maintained his individuality, which is what Hojo was hoping to quash in his experiments and why they all turn up for the Jenova-cell reunion. Shinra's long-term goal was to engineer an army of mindless killing machines.
Honestly, this comment actually cleared up a lot of stuff for me. My most recent replay of FF7, I forgot to go to Nibelheim to go trigger that cutscene that explains what was up with Zack and my childhood memories were murky at best.
Veronica Garza To be fair, Final Fantasy VII has a story that I swear most people have forgotten the little details about. Mostly because itis because most people havent replayed it recently and the story is already complicated.
Well, complicated by Final Fantasy Standards.
@@twenty-fifth420 it's willing to not make things explicit
Super Eyepatch Wolf also forgot that, despite being a "nobody" with not a great power and a weak mind, Cloud DID defeat Sephiroth in Nibelheim 5 years ago through sheer will, before all the Hojo experiments. A feat even Sephiroth was baffled about.
Tyranastrasza can you please elaborate?
This vid convinced me to finally play it and.... man.
There are so many beautiful little touches everywhere in this game, from the lived-in environments to moments in the story to details about the characters. I would get frustrated with some clunky minigame or high encounter rate, just to forget about it immediately when I find out there's two kids that have taken over Aeris's flower patch in the church on their own despite not knowing her well. Or that Cloud can read sheet music, but can't play very well. Or that Yuffie, the literal ninja, gets seasick in the giant airship (I ended up keeping her in my party the whole time because of that lol).
I'll admit I got a pretty choked up at a few points, especially during moments with Aeris. Knowing what happens didn't take away from all the wonderful little things along the way. When the game finally ended, I sat there watching the starry black screen, listening to the soothing music, quietly hoping that it wasn't over.
I sold the game as a young child without getting past the first combat because I didn't get it, but I don't think I could have appreciated the qualities of it back then anyways. Having it drift away and then come back to me years later... it really made it hit different, and I'll remember it forever.
Also Tifa ended my final boss fight with a one-handed chokeslam, which is enough for a 10/10 on its own in my book
*Aerith
Aeris: *Dies*
Everyone: *cries*
Vincent: Lmao rip
Yuffie: *breaks down crying*
Vincent: bro you trippin
What a shiity uninteresting character vincent was
Pablo Zambrano It could’ve cost you $0 to just not say you’re wrong ass opinion lmao
@@LxstMxmxry nah he's right Vincent was a pretty unnecessary character
Balboa Baggins I respect your opinion but the same could be said about Yuffie and red 13
Final attack + Revive
Final attack + KOTR
Final attack + Mime
Final attack + Mime
BECOME AS GODS
Someone Bored THIS CANNOT CONTINUE
Someone Bored you forgot 4X cut
see you in 20 min
Sounds like a 20 minute time wasting shinigami
Damn
If the Remake has this materia, I will definitely equip these on my Ultima Weapon and Mythril Armlet
When Aeris died. I hardly slept, I grinded a bit here and there, but I just made a mad dash to get to Sephiroth As soon as possible.
I even beat Sephiroth without all the OP shit everybody else had. I'm not bragging. If I knew about Knights of the Round and other magic I just wasn't aware of, I would have used it.
I was so blindly enraged. I just beat Sephiroth with the full cast of characters I had. I found Yuffie and Vincent but that was it.
I gave Sephiroth the ass whipping he had coming. It took me hrs.
But I did beat that son of a bitch.
I can relate, I remember the first time I beat Sephiroth. Like you I was mad as hell with what had happened and made a beeline straight for him, my main three were high 30s, everyone else in the 20s iirc. He kept one shotting my characters with "pale horse", I was barely healing, just rezing people when they dropped and spamming turbo ethers so they could get out more ultimas and summons but damn was it satifying when he finally dropped, it really felt like you'd faced this impossible enemy and came out on top. I've done the OP stuff since them, all the best weapons, not only collected all the top materia but grew and mastered extra sets of them etc but it will never compare to that first time though.
Nah if you took the time to get all that stuff the end was a cake walk. The game was geared to beat it without the best of the best. I beat it the same as you, with no major matira or weapons. Later I went back and got the best of the best from an old save and finished it again, there was no challenge at all.
I have 2 saves on my ps1 memory card lol. First was winning. 2nd was I beat emerald and ruby and bread a gold chocabo myself. I got everything and maxed everything. This is by far my favorite game ever. This, then in no order, chrono trigger, Mario rpg, link to the past, and ocarina of time. 7 is THE best story and deserved a second game. I had a save just before aeries died incase a friend knew how to save her...plus I cried real tears when she died. I've never been so invested in a story that wasn't a movie. Its the greatest game ever made imo. I dont care about graphics, make me care like I did aeries death...hasn't happened since. Last if us was semi close but nope
Sephiroth really wasn't that difficult to defeat. He's just cool ass hell.
What a special little snowflake you are
As a fan of the actual series, Cloud and Sephiroth’s rivalry is among the most unique things the series has ever done. Sephiroth may not be the best villain in the series. But he’s undeniably the best antagonist. A man who cannot cope with his identity alongside the main character, and is driven by the hatred he has for the man who, in a way, mortalized him. Sephiroth acts solely to torture the man who humiliated him, and as the extended lore of Final Fantasy 7, and its remake continues expanding, it almost seems as if his external goal is secondary to his obsession with breaking Cloud. I’m a huge fan of this move and it depicts the antagonist to be just as broken and emasculated as the protagonist. Cloud Strife of course being my favorite character in video games. I love his arc about accepting everything he is, most importantly his failures, and his interactions with the party. He’s someone that has to be strong for people who perceive him that way, because he carries himself that way. Although, he’s being extremely disingenuous to who he actually is, so much so that he’s internalized it (with the help of his own trauma as an indirect result of his failures). I really like that, and truly feel as if it’s a story arc that a lot of people could relate to, even if I don’t care for how rushed the ending to that arc is.
It ended up becoming the most overused shit in the series
I'm actually nervous about their portrayal of Sephiroth and Aerith. Aerith has a very snarky, playful and street smart demeanor that I'm afraid they'll straight up ignore for the sake of making her the white mage of purity. And Sephiroth had the mystique of not being shown at all till after Midgar and Cloud seems to already be hallucinating him multiple times in the game which has me nervous. More so the ESRB rating that lacks blood in the Shinra building has the aftermath of Sephiroth's work lose a lot of impact.
That and they might be doing emo cloud which was what basically trashed his entire original characterization in favor of a generic loner emo who hides away from emotion, I genuinely hope they return him to his original self
@@maverickdarkrath4780 1) At least according to the demo people played. Cloud appears to be back to his proper semi@$$hole self for some portion of this game.
2) I'm the 1% that kinda liked depressed Cloud in Advent Children. At least in Advent Children. Not sure how it became default Cloud in all media but in that movie, I liked it due to me just relating to the guilt and lament Cloud was going through.
Aeris seems right, Nomura even gave an interview where he described her personality perfectly (he did AC and KH which is where her uber-pure personality came from). I'm more worried they'll treat her as just a side character to vie with Tifa over Cloud, or get sad about Zack, when she's actually more responsible for saving the world than Cloud himself.
There are some neat moments in ff7 where you can chat with her and it seems like she's almost on her own journey with all the ancient specific stuff she learns, which culminates in her leaving the party like she does to do her own thing.
The extra Sephi hallucinations are going to be pretty necessary for the remake considering the first episode is just going to be an extended take on Midgar (apparently it's full game length, I'm predicting 20 hours), meaning you literally wouldn't see him the entire episode otherwise. It's one thing to keep your main bad guy under wraps for a large portion of your game, it's another thing to do it when you have a cut to credits and another wait of years for the next episode before it happens.
@@thewizardninja also why Tifa's role seems upgraded in the trailers.
Cloud has a terrific character arc. Sad that other games he's featured in, like Kingdom Hearts, depict him as a bit one note.
to be fair, EVERY character in kingdom hearts is a bit one note (at least after 2)
I mean compared to Zach who only got a single short sidegame cloud even in ff7 was one note. All the characters in Crisis Core had more development and depth than ff7 propers characters
Prowlingmonkey I know! I adore Kingdom Hearts, but every time I get to Olympus and Sora beats Cloud easily it just feels WRONG
Exactly! So many times I hear people comment how Cloud is so boring and emo. It's like they've never played more than 5 hours. Probably my favorite lead FF character for how he changes and goes from mercenary to leader of saving the planet.
@@V2ULTRAKill outta your rabbit ass mind that crisis core had good writing and characterization
me, 49 minutes ago: "time to watch john exaggerate for almost an hour"
now: "im a fool. king of fools. i wear the dum dum crown. i was gravely mistaken"
Roastbeef
How is the author if he talking about calling friends over in 1997 to play a game. Is he like 40 or 50?
Huels 1997 was 23 years ago, 22 at the time this video released. He was probably like 7-10 based on the stories he told surrounding the game. So he’s like late twenties to early 30’s.
@@denzelnoname4775 I doubt a seven to ten year old could be good at an RPG or even care that much. I ended up watched it a second time and he said he was in his late teen years so he mid to late 30s now.
@@Huels Im obsessed with this game and my first complete play-through was in 2nd grade. Don't doubt the gaming prowess of youngsters.
Final fantasy honestly was a huge part of my childhood. My dad and i have a tradition, that both of us play through every part of ff we have on every platform we have once every year. I'm 20 now and my dad is 41, this will be my 8th year I do this. The games give me so many flashbacks to the times I just watched him play these games. I cherish those memories because we live quite a while away from each other but we always call each other when we start one of those games to have some sort of race against each other. So as I grew up, so did the games and our tradition. I could never put a game as my most favorite game except final fantasy 7. I love it so much. Thanks for making me remember all of this once more to guide me through another year of a great tradition.
Seriously stop you’re going to make me cry like I did when I was 12 because of Aeris’s story moment.
I’m 33 now but I still remember why I cried when that moment in the game came.
I lost someone I cared about
Edit:
I hate you I cried again
😭
Same :'( and i am just as ylur age lol
I almost did myself. He has a way of doing that. An im 35
I am almost 35, I also almost re-cried during that moment
So they spoiled aeriths death in the commercials?
Nobody Yes. However, we at the time didn’t think she was dead. I remember my friends and I debating which girl Cloud was going to get, with several friends using ‘Cloud swimming with a girl’ scene as proof that he wasn’t getting Tifa.
My country's newspaper at the time spoiled Star Wars Episode 5...
If you don't already know what that scene means, then you aren't going to figure it out from that one clip.
Is that you John?
I remember knowing a girl died, and I thought it was Tifa because Aeris seemed too important while Tifa just seemed to be "the girl avalanche character who knew Cloud". This obviously being pre-disc 2.
I remember back then that I just went with the whole meme that Cloud is an emo dude with a big sword. I watched Advent Children prior to actually playing the game and had no context as to what was going on and just enjoyed the visuals.
It wasn't until I actually finished Crisis Core and FF7 Classic with my friend that I understood why Cloud is the way he is.
Even playing as Zack in Crisis Core, I felt very devastated at the end and didn't care about all the fighting anymore. All I really wanted to do was go back to Aeris.
I then rewatched Advent Children and everything made sense. Cloud is just a normal dude that failed to achieve his dream. He got caught in unfortunate circumstances. He experienced loss and has gone through a lot of mental trauma. Even after that, he still manages to pull through. I never thought I could actually empathise with the dude until then.
Didnt knew there'd be someone who went with the exact same experience i went through
Why did you watch advent children first
@@BlamoStramo It was aired on Philippine TV. Back then, I was already familiar with FF7. I never got past bombing mission though because of the Scorpion because I was a dumb kid. But the intro left enough of an impression on me to have interest with Advent Children when they said it was gonna air.
24 years later and that scene with Aerith still brought me to my tears.
You brave and brilliant soul, thank you! I only played FF7 recently (played the remake, then went back and played the OG), truly phenomenal!
this video has me worried about the weird ghosts they added to the remake. and the shots of sephiroth appearing in midgar for cloud were my biggest worries that they would change the exact buildup to him in the whole midgar arc. Its such a powerful part of the selling of sephiroth for us and i think it would hurt the story a bit just to show him early. amazing video as always eyepatch wolf, I somehow never noticed Rude liked Tifa so much, lol
And that's the problem with the new version, it's not a "remake" more of a "redo". personally I'm not keen for it, I wish they'd kept it truer to the original but with new assets (models etc).
I personally don't think it's a bad thing. At this point, Sephiroth is a character that people know all around the world, so building that anticipation will probably feel forced, especially if done in the same way. Rather, as long as they focus on delivering a good build up WITH the knowledge of who he is, I think it can still work in the remake. There's no way they can "remake" the same story beat and experience as before with the same effectiveness just because of the meta knowledge of the game.
Having a whole game focused on Midgar may help that part too, since the pacing won't be the same and character buildups will have new aspects to them. We already saw new characters like the SOLDIER guy, so we shall see how it goes.
@@MuraCasardis Sorry for the long time before responding, but I personally disagree. Half of the importance of the character would be lost by removing the buildup to him on his own game. no matter how much of a thing he is on kingdom hearts or a jpg on someone's avatar people saw. What makes a character good or not is how the writers work to make him feel that way. Of course there's a expectation due to the thousand numbers of media the character has been that he would show up, but by ruining the original vision is not how you make that character give off the same mysterious feel about him. Then again not everyone will care about this if they change it but I personally would feel the remake would be doing some unecessary stuff to the whole story just to have the main guy appear more in the first episode.
Correction :
Actually Uematsu wasn't limited by the soundchip of the playstation in the sense you seemed to imply.
He consciously chose it because they decided that loadtimes and speedy transitions should trump soundfidelity on top of wanting a dominant synth sound to go with the setting.
Suikoden 1, a JRPG that came out more than a year earlier, had proper prerendered tracks not running off the internal soundchip and Uematsu has expressed in interview that while he was impressed by how good it sounded, they ultimately felt the improvement to loadtime was worth the compromise.
This is actually reflected throughout all of FFVII's design, including the lowpoly models. As a result FFVII is by far the fastest moving Playstation era FF.
The ATB meter, at max, moves almost 3 times faster than FFVIII or FFIX's at max. Camera movement is snappier, and loadtimes in and out of battle, between maps etc. is also significantly shorter.
FFVII took extra steps to preserve the snappy transitions of SNES era FF, which totally died with FFVIII and remained so all the way up to FFXII when transitions where largely removed.
It was a conscious choice and a good one imo.
I honestly had a completely different experience, out of the three FFs on PS1, FF7 was in my experience the slowest in terms of loadtimes and transitions, making the game experience really painful at some point. But the story was so engaging I didn't mind
@@MikaMausArt
I don't see how that's possible, unless you're merely talking to the faulty nature of human memory.
This isn't matter of perspective. You can literally time it, and I have. FFVIII and FFIX have objectively longer loadtimes, longer battle transitions, longer time until the command menu actual activates at the beginning of combat, slower ATB movement and camera movement.
Play the three games concurrently and see for yourself. I am currently doing a project where I am literally doing just this, playing all three of the games an hour at a time to time and quantify differences between them and the difference is painfully obvious.
@@hian interesting, I played all three games on original console and the first(VII) had almost double the loadtime between prerendered screens compared to the later titles - huge turn-off for me (started with 9, then 8, played only halfway through 7) I assumed the devs found in later titles ways to optimize the loadtime.
@@danielleitner9369
No. I never play anything other than the originals, either off my psx, or the original ISOs off of xebra.
Again, go back and check if you think differently.
You're simply wrong. You might have felt that way for whatever reason, but it simply isn't true and a cursory replay should make that readily apparent.
Also worth mentioning loadtimes between prerender screens was not the brunt of my original argument, considering all the other areas of delay related to combat in later titles.
Even if there was a minor increase in loadtimes between areas in FFVII, the added loadtime in and out of battle and slower ATB would still result in more deadtime overall.
Again, just try to measure it. Let's not work off of memories.
@@hian "you're simply wrong" is disingenuous. You haven't (indeed, can't) accounted for all variables, including but not limited to hardware differences (not all consoles are created equal). Whatever the reason may have been, my experience with FF7 was rather slow as well (until I replayed the PC port which was notably more enjoyable).
I have a master's of engineering and have a significant amount of experience in both literature and laboratory research, and one thing I've noticed in all my experiences in research is that there are ALWAYS exceptions to what you think /should/ be the case - even when you have data to back yourself up - because you can never account for everything.
Yeah I didn't like how Advent Children and beyond made Aeris some kind of angelic alien.
To be fair, there's nothing saying she isn't just a delusion or metaphor alongside Zack. Nothing in the movie implies she's actually talking to Cloud, no other character responds to her appearance. That said, if you do choose to see her as actually talking to Cloud from the "afterlife" that would literally make her an angel so, huuuuuh?
This is funny because some Aerith stans actually forgot how sassy Aerith was. There is someone on twitter who supposedly got a copy of some of the script. That person posted one thing about Aerith and how she called Cloud a massive Jerk. People started saying "That's not Aerith! She's a kind angel!" And attacking this person as a fraud. I'm not saying that the person is 100% confirmed to be telling the truth about those script leaks but its the reaction of the Aerith 'stans' that intrigued me.
I disagree. Even with her limited screentime, she teases Cloud in many of their interactions (following up with the dilly-dally shilly-shally; "why is everyone calling me their mother lately?"). I mean, I guess, by definition, she's "angelic," but I don't think it is out of character given what we saw in 7. She seems laid back, cool af, and still pretty funny.
@@GSNRecords for the love of God, stop with the X is just a delusion and never existed trope it's soooo fucking weak it's literal clickbait and takes zero effort to contrive a theory around
@@GSNRecords That's a fascinating possibility! But modern Square-Enix ain't smart enough to pull that off imo
I still remember playing the game for the first time as a child. When Aerit-- I mean-- "Aeris", dies, I didn't believe it. I believed she would somehow come back and save us, and she kinda did in the end... And that's when I realized that she really was gone. It hit me like no other game before it.
Great video. Thank you.
It is Aerith, don’t pay him any mind, what a manipulative d*ckhead. He has an entire platform to spread his fallacious viewpoint, but enforces it in the comment section. I wish UA-camr’s didn’t have this ability, or were only allowed to disable comments, I hate this fabricated and controlled environment… it is even worse for internet discourse in most cases, creating more stringent echo chambers. I’m not accusing this of being that extreme, but it is indicative of it.
10:55 - Apologies for pedantry here, but only a small handful of PS1 games rendered at 640x480. FF7 is just 320x240 on original hardware. It's not the resolution or color depth that makes the difference, but the change from tiles and sprites to pre-rendered backgrounds, which, as you pointed out, allowed the team to create environments that would not have been possible if they had to render everything in real time.
Yes this annoyed me, because there were very few Playstation games that ran in a high resolution mode, 320x240 was a standard, so it felt like he oversold the 480 res, which only became more common on the Dreamcast/ps2/GameCube era.
That also makes the HD releases of the PS1 FF games kind of awkward, as the models can easily be scaled up but the pre-rendered backgrounds are still the old 240px originals, stretched to vastly larger resolutions. You can see it in the video, with mostly clean 3D characters walking through environments much blurrier than them.
I understand that remaking every single screen in those games would be one hell of an investment for a simple upscale, but it still feels somewhat weird.
@@ExeloMinish Thanks to the ai upscaling tech it is now possible to do without much hassle, I'll leave a video comparison for final fantasy 7 backdrops.
ua-cam.com/video/RdHzaK3Q_i0/v-deo.html
@@ExeloMinish There's a fan mod that remasters all pre rendered backgrounds. It looks great! Sucks that Square won't release something like this
Oh... Hey Sean Pupper.
Great video but the part where you said Cloud a "nobody" isn't accurate at all. He failed the SOLDIER exam because he wasn't mentally strong enough, but his physical body was more than capable. He was there in Nibilheim, scared to let Tifa see him as a Shinra grunt and visiting his mom and talking about life in the city and how she was worried about him.
Cloud overpowers Sephiroth, the strongest SOLDIER First class ever and someone Zack another SOLDIER first class could not defeat, and destroys his physical body by throwing it into the mako below the reactor. Cloud having been experimented on for 4 years by Hojo under the Shinra mansion along with Zack and being on the run for a year before the start of FF7 completely reshapes his mentality with the death of his best friend and the JENOVA cells affecting him, but before that he was a shy but somewhat strong individual who had dreams and things he cared about.
Being capable of physical feats doesn't make him somebody.
@@HamsterPants522 He is somebody. He's just forgotten who he was, I think that's more accurate than to say he's nobody.
@@AnonymousFREEZEpOp1 You're taking the word "nobody" too literally. This is a misunderstanding.
He meant that Cloud was never some super special "chosen one" or legendary Hero, but just a regular dude. Cloud is powerful and all, yes, but in the grand scheme of things, he's an everyday person who could easily blend in
You're just taking it too literally.
The truth about who Cloud truly is hit me harder than Aerith's death. The entire time... Cloud was literally just the lowest tier NPC. He couldn't keep a promise, has no friends, was an outcast and a loser in his own hometown, the girl he likes from next door (Tifa!) doesn't even remember him cuz the one time they ever spoke... was during that promise scene! that's the only time! ever! The entire time Cloud believes he and Tifa are childhood bestfriends and she just... doesn't know when did they ever talk besides that one time in the first place. His ONLY friend was Zack... who died protecting him, and his hero, Sephiroth, killed his mom and burned all of his hometown. I always get annoyed when I see people saying Cloud is just an emo character. Clearly they've never played the game, and the only thing they know about him is his poor portrayal in Advent Children and KH.
Love the video. Thank you so much. Cannot wait for the remake :")
Tifa does remember him, but they did not talk much until when Cloud was about to leave to join Soldier and that is when they start to know each other a bit more. It doesn't help either since Tifa is shy as well and Cloud doesn't like to join the rest of the kids.
Of course he's an emo character. He was a random guy who did nothing with his life and pretended to be someone else when he got back because he kinda looked like the guy that was cool. He's supposed to be that way for the sake of the story, but it's also why a lot of people don't like him.
Cloud is the best
Monolith Preacher Actually Cloud never intentionally pretended to be someone else, he wore a helmet the entire time when they returned to Nibelheim to hide his face because he was ashamed he never got into SOLDIER. The perspective you’re talking about is when we first see that flashback when Cloud is still inserting himself in Zack’s place in his memories.
It wasn't a poor portrayal in Advent Children, look at the world, he was a little depressed, that's all. In kingdom hearts he was just a gimmick, kingdom hearts was supposed to be an adventure game with both Disney and Final Fantasy charecters and yet in KH3 FF characters are nowhere to be seen.
37:30 the day after someone’s death always feels so unsettling, very quiet, and very numb
Playing through this game after my sister passed really helped me work through some of my feelings as I watched the team struggle with their own. Probably why this game remains to be my fav of the series.
I feel so sorry for your loss
As someone who had no idea about the story of this game, holy shit you took me on a ride.
It is... certainly something, lol.
There are so many RPGs with better stories than this one. It's actually one of the less interesting in the FF series.
@@Abysia i dun really like dis one as well.
@@Abysia I'm sorry, I don't speak wrong
Same
I don't know if it's just my sense of humor or a stroke of comedic genius on your part but I actually broke out in a fit of laughter at the "Sega Bass Fishing 3" bit. All I can say is well done on that, the timing was great and I was truly not prepared to laugh like that.
Yeea haha
I will never forget fighting Jenova right after her seeing Aeris die the first time. My emotions numb, I clumsily went through the motions, tears in my eyes. It was my first rpg aside from fumbling at Zelda in grade school, after years of not playing video games.
Probably this comment will die amongs every other ones. I just want to tell you mr eyepstch wolf: thank you for this video. Stupidly amazing content, smart, pasionate, cathartic.
I mean i was completly blown away on how well you described Aeris relationship with cloud and the player.
But when you talked about cloud relationship with the player i cried.
How the fuck did you do that?
I can not believe this channel still.
The work you do is incredible.
Don't stop
As a 17 year old who played FF7 back in middle school without even knowing the remake had just been announced I can say this game holds up. Even after playing though a lot of the great final fantasy games and working my way through 12 as I write this none of them have clicked with me the same way 7 did. The closest were tactics and ironically 12. There is something special in 7 and while many will argue that there are better Final Fantasys it’s impact should not be ignored and the reasons as to why it got big should not be dismissed. It is an amazing game that while technologically was passed by quickly, the execution and techniques used can still be appreciated by someone who wasn’t even alive at its time of release.
I have personally been taking it upon myself to visit older games by playing them in anyway I can or the at the very least visiting them on UA-cam and playing the oldest version I have available. I’ve been doing this for Final Fantasy, classic Nintendo games, going through the DMC series (I’m at 4), Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear, and the Drakenguard/Nier franchise to name a few. While I love playing modern games I hate the mentality of dropping a game for the next best thing so I am always playing something new while revisiting a lot of older stuff at my own pace to enjoy it.
Dope to see a 17 year old that actually played 7, 12, and even tactics,(my personal fav) out of all games. I agree with your comment, something about ff7 is just special. The emotional investment and payoff is unmatched.
J Y
So far I’ve played 4,6,7,tactics,9,10,12, and 15. After I finish 12 I plan to play 8, go to the 13 trilogy, 7 Remake, and possibly touch 14 if I can get into the MMO aspect of the game since I haven’t touched a single one yet
Alec Rodriguez nice I had no clue this game was still being played by anyone really. I’m 34 and first played the game at 12 and it was just a step above everything else that was out at the time. I’m going to buy a PS4 just to get the remake and hopefully my son, he’s 11, can experience what I did but at a different level.
Reset Button yeah being on UA-cam for awhile and hearing so much about these older games lead me to playing things like chronic Trigger, castlevania, and Final Fantasy 7.
imagine having played ff7 for 20 years not realizing that you can easily kill the midgar zolom with Barret's Mind Blow
And just like that you blew my mind.
you want that beta enemy skill tho
@@rafaelmaleakhilumbanbatu9873 You can fight it the times you want though, so you could just come back later.
@@Umbra0023 yea sure it is
Wait what!? damnit now I have to go back and fight him
For many of us, this game was our childhood. My first RPG - never had an interest in RPGs until my best friend showed me the game back in '97 and I couldn't resist getting it.
“Draw terrible fan art for it” *proceeds to show actually pretty good art* good job man :D
I love Aeris, just like how I love Griffis and Gattsu.
Basically:
Sephiroth reads too much and almost ends the world.
More like, big corporation fucks with science unethically while trying to find more ways to suck the planet dry creating a world ending monster.
That's what books do to you! 😂
@@Gooong thus they made ManBearPig
Is it ever explained why all that research about Sephiroth's creation was just lying around the Shinra Manor instead of being destroyed or kept more confidential?
Book = bad
You, sir, captured the most essential and valuable lessons of this game when talking about Aeris's death and Cloud's physiological overcoming. You, sir, made a masterpiece. You made me cry, and I can't thank you enough.
Subscribed.
This video about a game moving a person has moved me more than almost any book, movie or game has in years. This is such an amazing video
One thing i think is also important is you never actually meet the original Seph during your playthrough. Everyone until the end (including the Aeris stabber) are just clones of the real one thats in the North Pole. This adds to the mythos about him and adds to the tension once you go to fight him at the end of the game.
As far as I know, only two Sephiroths exist - Hojo's clone, who kills president Shinra and you chase all around the map, and the original, frozen in Mako at north cave.
My understanding is that the JENOVAs you fight are just pieces his clone leaves behind. When you finally confront Sephiroth's JENOVA forms at North Cave, you're fighting the evolved forms of his clone - AKA Hojo's Sephiroth - with all the JENOVA cells reunited.
When you jump into the lifestream, that's the real Sephiroth - the human/JENOVA hybrid born to Lucretia as a science experiment under professor Ghast. And yea, it's a hidden gem that you only ever actually see the real Sephiroth once. One of the reasons I hate the post-Sakaguchi FF7 universe so much is because they messed the lore up.
Most of the game it's not Sephiroth you're chasing, it's Jenova.
In the original game, it's unclear if Jenova is controlling Sephiroth or if Sephiroth controls Jenova.
The look, popularity and overall character of Sephiroth made him the perfect antagonist, but maybe it was not the case at first.
Maybe Sephiroth was a victim, just as manipulated as Cloud.
@@ShuiroHotaru I disagree with the idea of Sephiroth being a victim. While it is true that Sephiroth had retained part of his humanity and ego, and that it is Jenova Cells that you are fighting or chasing across the planet, Jenova - which always struck me as a reference to "Jehova" btw - was this hostile life form that "appeared to the Cetra as a friend, gained their trust, and then gave them a virus, turning them into monsters." It is a mutating and corroding and duplicitous force that is intelligent enough to play the backstabber.
And throughout the game, while we only have hints of the Ancient Cetra and their technological and spiritual understandings of the world, they were formidable in having beaten the thing at some point in time to the extent that they did. It lost its original constituted form, and thus couldn't blend in with the next race, humanity.
Cue Sephiroth, and he was not only genetically predispositioned towards being the new face of Jenova, but he took the role by what he interpreted as birthright. By desecrating the former Jenova body reconstituted and later found by Shinra. The destructive act is anathema to most sane human minds, and yet by the logic of Jenova, it is one more dominant expression of the lifeform overriding the will of the other. This is why every Jenova infestation was an expression of himself, and he was the template throughout the game that the life form confirmed to, rather than his "mother." Choice is a primary factor in determining the greatness or failings of humanity, but its a trait of ours nonetheless. Jenova and in turn Sephiroth, renders the very concept meaningless in and of itself in terms of individual autonomy, but that is also an example of the man, turning his back on his own humanity.
In another way to look at it, he represents the highest ideal of life to so many people and even in biological terms. Other forms of life are changed to look like him. Despite all of that, he is contemptuous and empty. That's why that final battle between Cloud and Sephiroth is every kind of important battle expressed. For the world itself, for the individual, and even for the very concept of self, opposed by the supposed embodiment of perfection, that rejects all these things.
No there is only one Sephiroth, you meet him twice when Cloud surrenders the black materia and the final fight. Everything else is JENOVA, who is under the influence of Sephiroth willpower and hatred.
@@Taseradict The game plays fast-and-loose with the word 'clone' (Cloud is a Sephiroth 'clone' even though he's not really - just injected with Jenova cells and brainwashed. Same w/ Zack. In the original game script, they're referred to as 'copies') but the only real clone is the one Hojo made of Sephiroth post-Nibelheim, guided by the assumption that Sephiroth had died. Hojo cloned Sephiroth from the real Sephiroth - it's why he claims to be his father. The original Sephiroth is a half-human/JENOVA hybrid.
Only one of the clone experiments succeeded under Hojo - there aren't a zillion ultra-powered Sephiroths running around.
Hojo's Sephiroth is the one who drives the events of the game and is the main antagonist. This is the Sephiroth who kills president Shinra and the Zolom.
I really want to say that when I play Final Fantasy VII the first time, it wasn't Sephiroth neither the Death of Aeris that make me love the story, Sephiroth's build up was cool and Aeris's death was a good moment to, but the reveal of Cloud's past is really for me the best moment of FFVII, I want to point out how back in the day there was no Crisis Core and Internet was barely a thing, absolutly nothing outside of maybe a friend could spoiled you about this reveal, and this is what I call a really good plot twist, you understand throughout the game that something is wrong, but you just don't have the pieces to tell what is it, but because there was these hint that give you just enough to doubt but not to much to be fully predictable, when the reveal it at the same a surprise but it also makes totally sense when you think about everything that happen prior to it, this was the first time in a video game that I experienced a plot-twist in which I was both interest and satisfy with it's a damn shame now probably everyone would know that twist.
I really want to thank you for this honnest video, cause I'm really tired of people on youtube that make videos saying how "FFVII is overrated", only to realise that when you look at their older videos they were praising it with passion, and for me these people are just lying to themselves and their audience for the reason that for some reasons at one point you had to say that "Final Fantasy VII is overrated" to be considere credible as a video game's fan, they just denying how Final Fantasy VII really affect them and how they were genuily invest in it, and if you are at one point invest in a video game that mean the game leave his mark to you and you love it. So yeah I say screw the people that call FFVII overrated and shit on it for that, they can talk as much as they want, the very fact that even today over 22 years after his release we are still talking about it is proof that FFVII leave a mark on the video game industry, and if it did it's because it was a masterpiece make by people that were passionnate and wanted to deliver the best game possible.
thank you for the smart comment
this game had such a good sense of humor but knew when and where to get serious
the reason why Aeris moving forward became shown as this angel of purity is because within the game near the end of her life, she finally was able to make her Holy white materia to finally work. It worked because she finally understood who she was, where she came from, and how to make holy work. And due to that, she changed. But we didn't get to see much of her change due to her tragic end. then she became one with the planet, became of course spiritual. Pure...holy.
Holy stops Meteor along with the lifeforce
She is the last ancient and is sacrificed by Sephiroth but she passes on the white materia.
@@meseameryo3202 white materia is holy. And she was finally able to get it to work. (Shining bright) while falling into the lake. However, it couldn't stop the meteor because Sephiroth had it trapped. That is what you see when floating in the air staring at Sepiroth with the bright white light behind him. So you go into fighting Bizarro, Angel, and real sephiroth. Once Cloud kills Sephiroth, Holy is unleashed. It isn't enough to stop meteor though until the lifeforce comes from under the ground and helps.
One of the things I miss from modern FF games is the prerendered backgrounds and the cinematic perspectives chosen for some of the locations.
Also , praying you do an analysis of FF9 some day. Fav game in the series
You, sir, are a man of culture. FF9 is a masterpiece and as much as I love FF7 I think FF9 is the epitome of this franchise. FFVI-IX is - in my eyes - the golden era of Final Fantasy.
Have you not played FF15 then? There's dozens of beautiful vista's you can visit and see from almost any angle. Not to mention the photo mode so you can capture the moments.
My god, I hope he does FF9 one day. I love that game so so much.
@@FelixS. yeah 9 was my first. I played 5 games in the series since then and none of them can touch 9. 7 comes closes emotionally though for sure. But 9.... I still get chills
@@Glornak It's not the same. Its like having a fixed camera angle in say horror games but then modern games give you full camera control.
Functionally great.
Emotionally- not so much
42:43 just want to say using my burden is light is such a great song choice for an in-depth character analysis and it hit me like a truck hearing it here of all places
I don't now how it took me my whole life to come around to the Final Fantasy series. My best friend moved away for several months and in that time I played Chrono Trigger for the first time and FF6 immediately after. Being a big fan of your channel, I started watching this video to learn more about FF7. 10 minutes in, I paused the video, went to the retro game store and bought the game. This evening I defeated Sephiroth and treated myself to the rest of this fantastic retrospective. Thanks for the excellent content!
Cloud's past and Aeris' death never had me quite that shook. What I've found affected me far more was Red XIII being shown the truth about his father. As someone who resented his father as a child and grew to appreciate everything he provided for me after he was gone, the way that 'The Great Warrior' comes in as Red XIII is made to face the truth that his father, even through death, did everything that he could to protect Cosmo Canyon, always makes me cry. It's such a powerful moment and it's often overshadowed by the rest of the game. The fact that Final Fantasy 7 put so much into its characters and their stories is part of what makes it so beloved even today.
One of your best videos yet
ngl man, that entire Aeris section had me in quiet tears. That one never stops hurting. :' )