Final Fantasy VII: Lumpy Old World
(Fan art by JammerLea)
We have to find Sephiroth.
When I took my first steps onto FF VII’s world map, I saw endless fields of grass - plain, flat grass that didn’t even sway, stretching as far as the screen could see. I’m finally out in the world, and this is it?
A quick trip to the local village led me to an inn, where my pals and I could camp and tell stories. Like the story of how Sephiroth changed from Cloud’s idol and mentor, to the villain who burned down Cloud’s town and killed his mom and went totally crazy and evil, hence, we have to spend the game trying to find him.
Cloud tells the story through a lengthy bit of exposition that masterfully uses interactive storytelling to keep the viewer awake. When Cloud’s telling the story, we act it out with him. We see Sephiroth’s power by fighting beside him, and watching him trounce a monster that killed us with a finger-flick. To see Cloud’s painful memories of home, we send him back to spend time with his mom, until he’s overwhelmed with sorrow. And we get to rifle through Tifa’s underwear drawer and see how she looked with big hair. Every one of these memories needs the player’s participation - so game designers of the world, next time you’re considering a 20-minute cutscene? Why not play this game again? I’ll send you a save file.
We have to find Sephiroth. Dude is bad news.
Okay, enough exposition. We have to go prowl around in the world and - wait, where the hell am I going? I need a Chocobo? Because there’s a giant snake? And I go through this mine, and then I’m on the other side and another part of the continent? And there’s more grass? What the hell am I doing out here?
After those linear first few hours in Midgar, the world map is lumpy. It’s big and it’s sprawling and it’s pretty empty, and once in a while you find a place that might be important, and maybe it’s just for sidequest kicks. Pay attention, and you’ll usually know where to go next: after all, somebody will pop up and tell you they saw a guy in a black cape went thataway. But that makes it even sillier: we’ve gone from the corporate intrigue of the city to a long-ass game of “you just missed him!”
Except there’s all this other stuff going on. I went up one mountain and found a bunch of likable villagers who were about to fend off Shinra in a battle. That sounds great, I said, how can I help? Well, it turns out I needed to help them place units and manage resources and learn all kinds of warrior types and all of a sudden he’s trying to rope me into a mini-RTS and hey, I don’t have time for this! I gave him some money and skiddaddled.
Or the Gold Saucer, where I had to learn to race chocobos in order to win our freedom - and I’m invited to come back anytime with my own chocobo and become a professional racer, and who knows, if I race long enough that’ll probably give me something useful but hey! I don’t have time for this!
We have to find Sephiroth. If he finds the Promised Land before us, he’ll snarf all the food and drink all the beer, and nothing will be left for us.
The village of Wutai. Classic Japanese architecture nestled in a valley beside a hill, where the images of ancestors are carved into the stone. Adventures and encounters await the bold traveler - and none of it has nil to do with naught, ’cause the whole place is purely optional.
I get that this is a game that was meant to occupy kids for their entire summers. Squaresoft didn’t just want to sell their own games; they wanted to stop you from buying anybody else’s. Brilliant! The game’s not just expansive, like Fallout 3. It’s engrossing. The mini-games turn into mini-careers. The nooks have their own crannies. So far two of my sidekicks - Barret and Red XIII, who I dubbed Fido - have led me to the scenes of their horrible tragedies, and we went through and resolved them, and those were pretty cool. I’m happy to help. Why have one Hero’s Journey when we could be embarking on several?
But what I’ll never understand about RPGs is the weird way that the script builds tension, yet the game has no clock. Sephiroth isn’t going to try to do anything until we get within hitting distance of him. And yet, every time I play the games at the Gold Saucer, I feel a twang of guilt.
Well, except for the night that Aeris and I went on our big date. She’s such a sweet girl. I like her. I really hope she comes out of this whole thing in one piece, and goes back to her little flower garden and … oh wait, I’m getting suckered again, aren’t I?
So here’s where I am: I have to find the Temple of the Ancients. I picked up a few more weird pals - what the hell is Cath Sith, anyway? - and I’m still hot on Sephiroth’s trail. Coolest thing I’ve seen so far: the observatory at Cosmo Canyon, where I got to stand amidst the stars. Most tantalizing thing I’ve seen so far: that rocket - will I get to fly it? I honestly don’t know! Nobody’s spoiled me on that plot point yet. And weirdest thing I’ve seen so far: a beachside resort. Huh? This world is dying, and we can chill at Club Med? I was tempted to stay and see if they have a volleyball mini-game, but like I said: we have to find Sephiroth. Who knows what he’s up to now?
17/06/2009 at 5:29 pm Permalink
Hey, so you’ve met Red XIII now, aka Nanaki? See, once I’d learned his real name, I wish I could have renamed him to that. You know? He’s not just a dog, he’s a teenage warrior dog on a mission!
Sounds like you’ve been WAY busy. Things like the RTS and the Chocobo race do have their own tangible benefits if you take the time to chill with them. The whole Chocobo breeding minigame, for instance, opens up a massive new world once you’ve bred the different coloured versions.
But you’re right, I’ve always wondered how in a game like FFVIII there’s enough time to just chill out and play some Triple Triad (card game) for hours, and hours, and hours. Actually, that’s where games like Fallout have done it right. Once you leave Vault 13, you’ve got X days until the water runs out and your Vault dies. There’s a definite time limit on things. Ditto with even Prince of Persia, where you’ve got X minutes to save the Princess, or else.
17/06/2009 at 6:02 pm Permalink
Well it is more effective if you have a time limit on to play the game. Don’t own a PS(any of them) so when it came to playing it I had to play it because the friend I was holding it onto for was going to sell it and couldn’t afford to buy it from him. So at any moment the game would be taken away from added a whole level of tentsion. I only got a little farther past the Chocobo Races. I got to the bit where you fly a plane then it gets used as a boat for some reason when the PS2 and game were taken away. Oh well. Best of luck with all, and for a little ounce of joy my person favorite fan art of Sephorith http://gryphonworks.deviantart.com/art/Seph-and-Stitch-2873359
18/06/2009 at 5:41 pm Permalink
Daniel - Somebody was just asking me if FF VII was the one with the card game, or FF VIII. Okay, that’s something to look forward to. But yeah, I’m feeling guilty that I called him Fido. I wish I could rename him Nanaki. Every time anybody asks him his name, he says Nanaki and then kind of looks at me, like I’m a jerk, but he’s too honorable to tell me.
Mykal - Oh too bad, I hope you can go back to play it again sometime. Some of the stuff that’s happened since I got the Tiny Bronco has been amazing. And that pic is awesome. I love fan art that embraces Sephiroth. I mean, what can you say?
18/06/2009 at 9:47 pm Permalink
Just how it goes. Eventually I will get enough money and the system will be cheap enough to pick up a DS or a PSP. PSP has some shiny games, but nothing to really to make me drool about, so the DS will be what I will get since it has one game that does that.
Well you could say a lot depending on your affection to a topic. That is why people know the most on something they love. It happens, but I doubt that I will be able to go in it like you. When I played it, I had no knowlege of her death. So when I found out by accident of her demise I been a bit meh about the game ever since. It be nice to play, but it isn’t a must play as Donkey Kong is. If I can play it I might, but not going to go out of my way looking for the game.
Might be the simple deal, that most games haven’t gotten sucked into the story emotionally. Max Payne I think is the only game that has gotten me sucked into the story emotionally. Emotion is one of those tricky things that differs to each person. I saw Bambi in theaters when younger, and when Bambi’s mom died I went hell ya might be why I didn’t get invested into the storyline. Then again most don’t go “That makes a lot of sense” when playing the Milkman level in Psycronauts as well.
I might be sucked into a game as one does with some movies, but not on an emotional level. It is at most when you get sucked into a good tv show, you watch what goes on for the sake of being entertain. Being entertained is the dept of watching it.
The key to play for the act of emotionally sucked in might be that it relies on connecting to a key emotion. Since the key to play differs from person to person, so is the keys to play for getting attached to someone. That is the main reason Max Payne is that to me is the attachment to old detective might rely on Dick Tracy being one of the first character that felt like a hero to me when younger. It is why film nor movies have a certain place in my heart when done right. So each pain twist me a little bit because of that. The bits where trapped in a maze of the past are more haunting, and more real then any other game I have played. Fallowing a trail of blood with the hunting cry of a child the only clue to being on the right track is one of the best memories of the game. No game before or after had sucked me in so more then Max Payne because of moments like that.
It is something I never had with Final Fantasy might be why it is a game that isn’t more then fun to play. Never played the right key for me, but has for you it seems. I envy you for that.
19/06/2009 at 12:17 am Permalink
I don’t know if it’s intentional or not, but the fact that there is so little to actually do in Costa De Sol seems like it just naturally makes you want to move on and keep the story moving. Unlike real life, we’re not just happy to dally on the beach and do nothing, there needs to be some reason for it in the game and it makes you move along, I think.
If that was a intentional decision, props to Square.
08/07/2009 at 4:22 pm Permalink
A note on Fallout: The time limit goes away after you get the water, and then you’re free to wonder about and dilly dally as much as you please. I did enjoy the pressure of having the time limit imposed on you, but it’s really long. Seriously, try and run the time limit out while playing the game. Sure, if you just run around on the map and fight, you’ll run the limit it out. Just playing the game and doing side quests won’t do it.
Still, it’s a great idea.