Playing Through the Original Final Fantasy VII as Someone Who Has Only Played the Remake

Warning: This post contains intricate spoilers for Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake, and a few spoilers for the Kingdom Hearts series.

Final Fantasy VII has remained a constantly beloved game since the day of its release. From the second I first found myself navigating the internet as a young teen, it wasn’t long before I discovered the endless seas of dedicated fans this PS1 classic had. Yet, despite my gaming lexicon, which primarily consists of JRPGs, Final Fantasy VII is a title I have not gone through until very recently.

The reasons why I’ve somehow managed not to play through this JRPG phenomenon until a few months ago is odd to describe. Throughout the years, I have repeatedly attempted to play through Final Fantasy VII but would always stop shortly after leaving Midgar.

I could never get into it for a few reasons, the translation being the main one. Dialogue in FF7 always felt off to me. It was as if the characters were never fluidly having conversations with each other and were instead following a rough script. I’ve never been sure if this was due to the fault of the translation, some other mishap, or simply me not ingraining the told narrative properly, but I never felt a semblance of immersion or attachment to the cast or events. I was aware of fan mods that attempted to fix various issues from the original release. Still, I always wanted to complete the original version at least once before diving into any fan alterations.

After completing and mostly loving Final Fantasy VII Remake, though, I decided that enough was enough. I was going to force myself to go through the original Final Fantasy VII. I was obviously not completely blind to the events. I knew that Aerith died by Sephiroth’s hand, though I didn’t know the context. I was also vaguely familiar with Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, though the last time I’ve seen anything from that game has been around a decade ago, so most details slipped through the cracks. The only facet I clearly remembered was that Zack died. This knowledge would likely ruin some impact from the game, but there wasn’t much I could do on that front. I think I was as blind as most players in contemporary times can be.

I played Final Fantasy VII on the PlayStation 4, which has 3 cheat codes that can be activated at any time; 3x speed, God-Mode, and No Encounters. I stuck with 3x speed since I’ve fallen victim to modern JRPG vices. First and foremost, the entirety of Part I (Disc 1) bored the hell out of me. I mentioned how I attempted to play through this game numerous times before, and I always stopped shortly after Midgar.

The knowledge of what happens in Midgar, alongside the experience of having played Remake, made that particular section rather tricky to feel remotely attached to. Placing blame on the graphics is not exactly fair and almost childish. Still, I can’t deny that going through these same general segments and areas with these early 3D gaming graphics when knowing how they looked in Remake almost made the original feel like a spoof.

Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy IX have not aged perfectly either, but those titles are more graphically adequate and were easier on the eyes than 7. I rarely find myself feeling detached from those games due to how they looked. Graphics rarely bother me in any game, but in the case of FF7, my common tendencies, unfortunately, fell short.

The Midgar section made me feel literally nothing, as harsh as that sounds. I didn’t really have any desire to keep playing, yet my stubbornness made me keep my word. The world map then became available, and what I’m sure was a majestical sight to one who played this game during its release; I still didn’t feel any discernibly strong emotion at this moment either. I acknowledged the presence of the world map for maybe half a second before beelining to Kalm.

The lore drop from Cloud at Kalm’s inn was the first moment I found myself remotely intrigued. From the perspective of someone aware of how infamous a villain Sephiroth is, seeing him in this sort of friendly-ish context was unexpected and exciting. Not only that, but diving into the history of Cloud’s character was a direction I was not entirely expecting. It helped with attachment too.

Granted, my issues with the rough dialogue and odd pacing of conversations still stood out. Still, I appreciated that, inherently, the events told within this flashback to Nibleheim were engaging and thought-provoking. Not all of it made complete sense. Perhaps the most pressing oddity that stood out to me was how young Tifa did not exclaim or really react to Cloud in the context of the flashback. I thought I was maybe overthinking things, and they didn’t want to go through all of those extra exchanges in what was probably meant to be an informative lore dump. Of course, in actuality, there was a grander and pretty damn cool reason for that.

Moving on, though, I vaguely recalled the events at the Niblehim reactor from Crisis Core. Still, once again, my experience with that title has been well over a decade by this point, so I was unsure if what I was remembering was accurate or not. I had to trust the originator of the source material in front of me instead of relying on bygone memories I hadn’t pondered on in some time.

After the Nibleheim flashback, my memories of what happened afterward become a bit of a jumbled mess. I found Yuffie in a battle randomly, and she joined me, thankfully. Cloud disguised himself as a Shinra soldier and eventually stowed away on a ship to Costa de Sol with the rest of the party. In all honesty, this was undoubtedly due to my own ineptitude in keeping up with the plot, but I was not really sure what the party’s goal was. Was it just to save the planet and find Sephiroth? Unfortunately, those broad goal points did little to incentivize care from me, and regardless of my own lack of understanding, I didn’t find myself seeking to understand the specificities of goals by this point.

Part of my neutrality with the narrative had to do with Yuffie and how she was entirely optional. Her presence in the party felt nonexistent, and it was kind of depressing. She never felt like she belonged with the rest of the cast because there was no compulsory story thread connecting her to what was going on. This would be far more acceptable and understandable in a game where there were slews of recruitable party members. However, in the context of Final Fantasy VII, having an optional party member solely came off as an inherent negative to me as it rids the potential the character would have had if they were more intricately woven into the narrative instead of being entirely missable.

Another reason for my neutrality on the plot was that most story scenes lacked participation from a concerning amount of the cast. Many characters generally felt like they were simply along for the ride and almost felt blank after their preliminary introductions. I know several older JRPGs possess this trait, and they are not exempt from this in my mind. Still, with how FF7 is stated to have reinvented the wheel of the genre, I was expecting far more active party participation and conversation amongst the crew in more scenes. Aerith and Barret were the only ones of these characters who this critique was not as strongly felt by. Barret felt consistently active in the story, and he constantly emitted personality in each line, and Aerith’s active nature makes sense considering how she passes at the end of Disc 1.

The rest of the party, though? I really can’t tell you any specific events or anything that happens with them during that Disc, aside from Cait Sith’s betrayal. Though, to be honest, Cait Sith felt like he came out of nowhere and did not make much of a prominent presence at all. Him actually turning out to be Reeves from Shinra was a wild twist and one of my personal favorites on a conceptual level, but the character was not exactly stand out enough to warrant any emotional reaction.

To reiterate my time with Disc 1, I was forcing myself. My critical attitude wasn’t helping matters either, and I found myself legitimately questioning what facets of this game make people love it so much. There was clearly something I was missing out on, but I had no idea what it was.

Thankfully, the end of Disc 1, where Aerith dies, is where my attachment solidified tenfold. Aerith’s fate pushed the cast forward, most notably Cloud, and the fascinating reveals revolving around Cloud during Disc 2 checked me in. His history of being an experiment from Hojo while also identifying himself with the accomplishments of the ever-elusive Zack was utterly enthralling. I know people may sigh and groan at this upcoming comparison. Still, the whole angle of experimentation and question of self-identity immediately pointed me to Xion from Kingdom Hearts, which, I suppose, is not all too surprising given how Nomura worked on both properties. This connection I drew with Kingdom Hearts, my favorite series, made my emotionality to Cloud’s revealed predicament all the more impactful.

However, more than Cloud’s dilemma was how the party members finally seemed to have their own characters in the main story instead of being primarily silent, blank add-ons. With Cloud no longer present, Tifa picked up the reigns and became the faux party leader. Tifa was one of the most prominent cases of lacking personality and presence during the vast majority of Disc 1, so seeing her take center stage here and seemingly become the next protagonist was enticing beyond words.

I, of course, knew that Cloud would come back in some way, some form. But, the lack of knowledge for the context of how that would occur legitimately enthused me into pushing onward. I was hooked. Tifa’s leadership role, Cloud’s origins and disappearance, Cid finally having to put his foot forward, Barret questioning his friendship with Cloud due to his connection to Sephiroth now being out in the open, and even Cait Sith’s betrayal back in the latter half of Disc 1 despite how rushed the fallout of the reveal occurred.

There were several threads finally endearing me to most of these characters. Yuffie, and Vincent, who I obtained at some point via a guide, were basically non-characters to me, but the compulsory cast finally felt meaningful and part of the story being told. At the point where Cloud was still missing, and Tifa just had her bitch slap battle with Scarlet, I found myself finally entering the foreign country of Wutai.

This area is completely optional, which initially baffled me, but then I remembered how Yuffie was optional, and she was a native here, so it made sense as much as I detested it. For as minuscule as it is, Wutai is honestly one of the more memorable areas of the entire game to me. It wields this unique ambiance and tone with the architecture, coloration, and music. Wutai is unique to itself and does not feel affixed to any priorly required area.

The sidequests that take place here were also compelling. Seeing Yuffie actually matter in cutscenes and interact with her family was a delight and something I desperately desire the game had more of. The Turk interaction here helped grant Reno, Rude, and Elena much-needed screen time. Then, the tie-back to Midgar with Don Corneo making an appearance made my brief time in Wutai one of my favorite segments of the game, and I genuinely wish there was more to it than what we got.

After Wutai, where we found Cloud in a rather precariously injured state from Mako poisoning, Tifa chose to stay behind and look after him, which was certainly unexpected, but I mean, hey, I’d much rather see these weaker characters become the driving forces for a while because most of them needed more mileage to make a legitimately lasting impact. Having lightly acknowledged bouts of conflict helps but does little to truly leave a mark.

The navigation with this Tifa and Cloud absent party was brief though immensely appreciated. Just seeing the characters do things independently without Cloud and Tifa around, who were the stars of the show for a good while, helped make the party feel competent. Granted, this only really happened with who was in the active party, which was quite disappointing, but it was at least something.

Eventually, though, was the Lifestream segment with Cloud and Tifa. This, by far, is my favorite section of the game. And, once again, despite how much this comparison may upset people simply due to association, I truly felt some strong Kingdom Hearts vibes from this entire scenario. More specifically, the Final World from Kingdom Hearts III, where Sora builds himself back together. While the Final World stands out far more to me from the interactions with the stars, the wondrous visuals and music, and the remarkable shift in gameplay, the Lifestream is its own beast. The Lifestream is eerie and legitimately uncomfortable, making Cloud’s strife all the more of a highlight. The Final World was clearly inspired by the Lifestream.

This drastic, almost meta-textual character study of Tifa diving into Cloud’s false memories and coercing him into accepting his true memories was fascinating beyond words. Additionally, other than figuring out that the Nibleheim flashback in Disc 1 was falsified to fit Cloud’s self-imposed narrative, seeing Cloud be a petty kid who wanted to fit in helped make him more relatable, and that was not a sensation I thought I’d ever feel in regards to Cloud’s character. In Kingdom Hearts, where I’m far more familiar with him, he’s more of a cameo but is also incessantly brooding and almost lacking in emotion. Seeing how Cloud truly was as a character ignited this sense of appreciation and respect for this protagonist I always waved off with ignorance as overrated and not much else.

Cloud’s change of attitude after rejoining with the party vaguely reminded me of Luke’s shift in attitude after his definitive characterization moment in Tales of the Abyss. At this point, it was pretty wild how diametrically opposed my current viewpoint on the game was when compared to my time during Disc 1. Granted, none of this is to say that all of my critiques were absolved. The awkward dialogue exchanges and oddly paced interactions amongst the cast were still present and ruined the prospective enjoyment I would have otherwise derived had they been smoother. Still, I can’t deny that I was attached and wanted to see where these characters would go and how this plot would play out by its end.

Unfortunately, after Cloud rejoined the party, my interest gradually waned considerably to the point where I don’t remember what exactly happened. I know this may sound like a cop-out, but thinking back on it, all I really remember was trying to find these special Materia for a while. No character exchanges or plot revelations stood out to me, and I went through the motions. My disinterest was not in the realm of utter annoyance from Disc 1, though it was at least in the same league of detachment.

It’s a peculiar sensation to describe since even with games I find uninteresting or unfun, I am at least able to regurgitate plot points and characters well enough. Something about the way Final Fantasy VII tells its narrative and portrays its cast, whether it be the translation or something more intangibly inherent, leaves me in such a confoundingly and simultaneously bored and perplexed state of mind that makes me not absorb whatever the hell is going on. As a result, my captivation by the end of Disc 1 and the first half of Disc 2 was short-lived and did not spread out to the rest of the experience.

Moving on from the sequential accounting of my Final Fantasy VII experience, let’s discuss Sephiroth. To be blunt, villains across Final Fantasy are rarely what I consider masterclass. They’re usually either dull to me or instilling introspection to an extent that does not feel lasting. To put it in perspective, Kefka is one of my least favorite antagonists in the series. That is not to say villains like him do not have their place in gaming at all. Not every title in existence needs a deeply thought-provoking antagonist that warrants existential contemplation. However, in the case of Final Fantasy VII, where it delves into heavy existential and introspective territory, the villain has to be on the same type of wavelength of conflict that the main character(s) faces, whether it be on a diametrically opposing spectrum or another insidious direction.

In the case of Sephiroth, though, this is where my ineptitude prevails yet again because I still find myself not understanding why he was trying to do what he was so heartlessly craving, and I’m unsure if I’m supposed to know why. He discovered that he was an experiment created within the labs of Shinra and was injected with Jenova cells by Hojo, who turned out to be his biological father.

These revelations are intriguing, to say the least. But, well, I hate to admit that I don’t understand what Jenova actually is. I know that she, or it, is not actually Sephiroth’s mother as that title belongs to Lucrecia. In that case, is Sephiroth simply going mad? Is he deluded by the trauma born from the truth of his life and is seeking revenge against the planet due to it failing him? Or, did Jenova inherently corrupt his morality and cause him to quite literally lose his mind? It’s likely a nonsensical series of questions. Admittedly, with how little I picked up on in-game regarding Jenova, these fundamental quandaries simply questioning what Jenova is confounds my mind.

This dilemma brings me to the fact that my misunderstandings, or lack thereof, are not knocks on this game’s quality by any means. I have only had a few months to ponder on and contemplate on what exactly happened in Final Fantasy VII. I have purposefully avoided looking up content surrounding the game to try to work things out on my own accord, but I have found that self-imposed task to be arduous and perhaps even impossible.

Back to everyone’s favorite series (haha), Kingdom Hearts, the internet has branded those games with the stigma of being nonsensical and not worthy of any intellectual or emotional merit. However, certainly due to my growing up with the series and my perseverance with it, the so-called ‘nonsense’ people tag the series with makes sense to me. The Kingdom Hearts series never solely leaves me with questions about any particular topic and instead leaves enough breadcrumbs and conclusions to keep me continually invested. That is why I still follow the series almost 2 decades later.

When it comes to Final Fantasy VII, though, my lack of self-reached conclusions for inherent subject matters such as Jenova, Sephiroth’s actual character, a vast amount of the tasks the Shinra company was doing, the discussions at Red XIII’s home village, and more, leave me feeling confused above all else, in what is I assume a remotely similar way to how Kingdom Hearts is perceived amongst many.

My understanding of Cloud’s, Tifa’s, and to varying extents, Barret’s and Yuffie’s characters are assuredly only the tips of the iceberg for the gargantuan lore and comprehensions that lie within Final Fantasy VII. Still, maybe due to my lack of patience, or simply incompetence, these more in-depth subject matters regarding the lore feel so beyond me and out of reach that I feel almost like a different echelon of player than others who have gone through this title.

Regardless, moving on to a different subject matter, the handling of Vincent was quite bizarre to me. I am aware that he has his own spinoff set in the future, but as for Final Fantasy VII proper, he’d be forgettable if his design wasn’t so rad. Aside from being an optional party member like Yuffie, he, unfortunately, lacks the same level as intriguing character exchanges and side event charm that Yuffie had. The most critical event I found centered around Vincent was the brief sidequest to obtain the item needed to trigger his Level 4 Limit Break. Seeing him interact with Lucrecia is honestly the shallow waters of what I would have wanted to see.

Conceptually, his backstory of being in love with Sepiroth’s mother provides a level of dramatic and romantic intrigue that the rest of the party lacks in practically every form. Seeing him appear in the future Remake entries is a thought that excites me, as he will assuredly be a required party member.

Speaking of, I haven’t talked about Remake at all throughout this lengthy piece, and it’s about time I bring it up. To be blunt, Final Fantasy VII Remake is easily one of the most enjoyable and profound titles I have ever played from Square Enix. One major storyline caveat still annoys me in retrospect, but for the most part, the experience was worthy of the hype surrounding it. Remake addressed one of the primary faults I had with the original title: the characters. Personally, the Midgar section was easily the least memorable segment of the original Final Fantasy VII, so seeing it be done justice to unfathomable extents is precisely what I wanted to see.

Rather than Midgar merely feeling like a lackluster initiator of a stepping stone, Remake managed to make this city feel like it was full of life and worth feeling attached to. The cast interaction helped shape this emotional vulnerability I now had as well. Seeing Cloud more intimately and intricately interact with Tifa made the latter emit much-needed characterization and just any feeling at all.

Jessie, Wedge, and Biggs were fundamental factors of this emotionality too. Them not being forgettable husks that kick the bucket a few hours in and instead being standout, distinct, charming characters that made a lasting impression made the falling of the plate legitimately moving. In the original, Barret’s distraught breakdown after the plate’s fall is the only facet that emotionally impacted me due to the rushed nature of Midgar making any strong sense of attachment personally inconceivable. But, just about every single exchange within Remake during this segment tugged at my wildly beating heart like a cascade of unruly fate-enslaved tyrants.

The leading man himself, Cloud, was immensely more interesting in Remake as well. He was simultaneously thought-provoking and endearing, prompting legitimate thought from me while being invested and entertained by his mixed degrees of banter between his coalesced aloof and silly persona. While the original still coated him in this aura of mystery, it was drenched to an extent where rarely anything of note occurred until the party was out of Midgar. The occasionally questionable lines he had with himself were not enough. They were too vague with practically no warranted deeper introspection, and the calm and collected attitude he had was too dominant to warrant any degree of interest, at least from me.

I know this is a brutally unfair aspect to bring up. Still, the environments in Remake did a phenomenal and qualitative job of pulling me into the disgusting yet wondrous town of Midgar. The sheer realism of the division between the unfortunate and privileged was pronounced, and I’m obscenely glad it was. This class divide riddled with agony beyond belief for those who dwell with scraps and leftovers aided in granting Midgar an unquestionably stark and heart-wrenching sense of identity. The level of meticulous detail that was clearly poured into making this area a foundation for the journey was not lost on me.

I obviously know that the original Final Fantasy VII couldn’t have approached Midgar in remotely the same manner that Remake remarkably did, but after experiencing Remake, it is unquestionably grueling to progress through original Midgar when it honestly feels like an inferior iteration. I know that’s an irreverent take to have. Still, the lack of attachment and nostalgia I have for the original serves to make my reception to it undeniably colder.

The Whispers, who many simply call the ‘Plot Ghosts,’ were a bold inclusion I was glad to see. Despite not having played through FF7 when I was first playing Remake, I was aware that they were not in the original game because, well, everyone was talking about them. The whole argument of some fans being upset that the Remake isn’t a 1:1 retelling of the original was a point I found to be petty until a later point which I’ll get to in a bit.

I love the idea of returning writers changing up what they wrote years ago for the sake of their imagination and creativity. Purposefully limiting oneself to what has been created in the past with a lofty, ambitious project like FF7 Remake is, dare I say, almost criminal. I also love how waves of enraged gamers pointed to the Whispers and declared them as Kingdom Hearts poison, because, you know, Kingdom Hearts and Tetsuya Nomura, by extension, are apparently the worst parts of Square Enix and should thereby be blamed for everything that gets in the way of what particular fans wants.

Sarcasm aside, because I did not play the original by this point, the Whispers were more of an odd novelty I was forming baseless headcanons on than anything truly landmark or standout enough for me to question in a vein similar to what a hardcore fan might have been doing. But, because I was aware of what happened in Midgar in the original game since I attempted to play through that title multiple times prior, it became clear that they had to somehow tie into destiny or fate. Events like them saving Aerith from falling in the Church to their interference at the falling of the Plate on Sector 7 made it abundantly clear that they intended to preserve elements of the original game.

The reveal at the end of the title with Sephiroth appearing and literally cutting through Destiny, or whatever the hell he was doing, made me try to internally rationalize that, hey, this might be a sequel. I doubt the development team would ever concretely admit this, least of all now when the Remake project is still ongoing, but it is kind of obvious, right? I don’t know; we can be off base, and it can not be a sequel at all, though with how Remake references the original game with the Whispers and certain exchanges instead of strictly paying tribute makes it clear that this is a sequel of sorts.

Once again, I absolutely love this wild and zany premise, but there was one seemingly minuscule series of events during the final wave of battles that rubbed me the wrong way. So, when you are in the middle of fighting the giant Destiny monster I’ve forgotten the name of, and it spawns these three boss-like enemies that supposedly represent characters from Advent Children, the party collectively sees these visions. Flashes from a bygone timeline, perhaps?

It is honestly inexplicably arduous to explain why those visions upset me so much because it is absurd and purely irrational. Still, because they are the only parts of Remake I actively despised, I find the need to bring them up. Earlier, I brought up how instead of paying tribute to the original game, Remake actively references it like it is a past series of events within the game’s universe. I find the idea of this concept pretty cool, but when these visions straight-up showed scenes from the original game, I grew irritated.

Red XIII and his er, kin, or family, or whoever they are, running throughout the wasteland of post FF7, Aerith’s beads falling into the water when being slain by Sephiroth, and the planet meeting its end. These scenes were events from the original, and I had never seen them nor known about what they implied or what they were supposed to represent. This is where I partially despise Remake not being a 1:1 retelling because I feel petty and out of the loop from most of the audience who saw those visions and were likely freaking the hell out. With how this game was marketed as a Remake, I was not expecting scenes that were strictly catered for those who played the original to feel impacted by. Then again, the original Final Fantasy VII is damn old, so I can’t be rightfully upset at Remake for showing scenes from it.

I know this is a stupidly trivial facet to linger on, but I find the act of talking about the original game via dialogue and just straight up showing it to be two completely far-off lines with their own degrees of efficacy. To this day, those visions rub me the wrong way. I know that I would have been far more heavily hit by those visions had I played the original game first. Then again, wouldn’t I have perceived the entirety of Remake differently regardless? Why didn’t the scenes revolving around Zack at the end of Remake anger me in a similar way to the visions since that is straight-up showing events from another title to an extent? Was it because I knew he died in Crisis Core, so I was loosely on the same page as a fan? What was it about the inclusions of the visions that made me seethe with unjustifiable vexation?

Well, I have no definitive answer for that bizarre mental quandary. I just thought I’d bring that up as it was a standout part of my experience.

The last aspect I’ll briefly talk about regarding both the original Final Fantasy VII and Remake is the gameplay. The original title can seem more varied with the sheer amount of Materia setup and a large cast. Still, as I progressed, especially by the narrative’s end, no character truly felt distinct in utility aside from the Limit Breaks they could perform. There are inherent stat differences between the party members, but I honestly rarely had to think about stats when progressing through the story. I’m sure that when doing the optional content, such as the Weapon fights, the characters you choose would matter in ways specific to them. Regrettably, as I progressed through the story fights, the cast gradually felt like one collective, combined character rather than individual pieces of a whole pie with their own toppings.

In a sense, the lack of strong individuality with the characters in combat, at least with how I played, mimics how silent and soulless the majority of the cast was for extensive durations of the game. Occasionally present and impactful, but rarely ever long-lasting or meaningful. Rarely ever interacted with one another and thereby came off as questionable. My lack of connection to the party members only grew the longer I played, most notably from the middle of Disc 2 onward.

Remake, on the other hand, was practically the complete opposite. The characters all felt stand out from one another, and I find that strength to lie in the fact that it is part action. The way each party members’ hits felt alongside their ranges and Limit Breaks greatly aided in distinction and uniqueness, and most importantly, reinforced them as actual characters. The story and interactions also benefitted them tenfold, as I mentioned prior, but the gameplay only served to strengthen these foundations.

I think I have ranted for long, long enough. I am sure there are features and traits that I have forgotten to mention and discuss. Red XIII comes to mind as I did not bring up how I feel about his character, which, to be honest, is practically nothing. Still, I think as a whole, my take on the original Final Fantasy VII is that I respect it in specific ways but still do not entirely understand its hallmark prestige, and I don’t know if I ever will. Of course, not growing up in the era of its initial release plays a role in that, and, well, maybe I’m also just not as receptive to older games as I thought I was. For instance, as much as I enjoyed Chrono Trigger, I found myself disinterested in Final Fantasy VI, dropping it at its final third.

The cliche conclusion of ‘not every game is for everyone is boring, but it’s true and is a lesson that I need to remember. I still feel dirty and inherently wrong for not being in love with Final Fantasy VII, which is a profoundly impactful title on my favorite genre in gaming.

However, similar to how I enjoy titles inspired by Dark Souls rather than Dark Souls itself, maybe derivatives are where I truly find myself intrigued and compelled. If there’s one thing I want people to walk away or rather click away from this piece with in mind, it’s that I do not think Final Fantasy VII is a bad game. Even though I only enjoyed specific sequences, and I find Remake to have been a more joyous experience, overall, I don’t think my time with the original Final Fantasy VII was meaningless.

Not only was going through the source material an informative time, but I relished that I could feel the opposite about a strongly believed and embraced notion. Well, I still feel ‘wrong’ about not loving Final Fantasy VII, though I can’t deny that I don’t and shouldn’t pretend that I do. With how forceful and in your face the internet is with opinions, said opinions are frequently touted as fact. Realizing that opinions are not factual and that your takes aren’t less than others is an unexpected lesson I inwardly found myself lingering on once more while writing this piece. This is all easier said than done regarding mentally applying this philosophy consistently. Still, recognizing it is at least something.

Whatever the case, I can’t wait for the future of the Final Fantasy VII Remake parts to see what crazy shit happens next.

If you missed it, check out our review of Final Fantasy VII Remake INTERmission if you’d like to see my perspective on the latest outing of the Remake effort.