This is the place for analytical articles and reviews not just about Final Fantasy VII, but Final Fantasy and Square/Square Enix games in general, since many of the same themes are re-examined multiple times by the series and the company as a whole.

If you have an article you’d like to be published on TLS, please read the Write for The Lifestream page for instructions and procedures.

THELIFESTREAM.NET FEATURES

Until more articles are submitted these will be grouped according to their respective author.

Articles by Squall_of_SeeD:
– Set Sail for Fail: Reviewing Airborne Brigade
– Dissidia Power Level Tier List
– Dissidia 012 Review & Story Analysis
– Dissidia 012 Plot Analysis
– Dilly Dally, Shilly Shally — An LTD Analysis

Editorials by Micah Rodney, aka Jason Tandro:
– Black Chocobos – The Oddballs of Final Fantasy
– Were Limit Breaks A Bad Idea?
– Final Fantasy X’s Iconoclastic Tale
– What a Difference A Decade Makes
– The Under-Rated Overworld Map

– Review: Final Symphony. A celebration of the music from Final Fantasy VI, VII and X attended by Nobuo Uematsu and Masashi Hamauzu – played in Wuppertal, Germany on May 11th, 2013. Review by Tetsujin.

– The Planet, Jenova & Genesis after [ ν ] – εуλ 0010, by X-SOLDIER.
– Priest: The Love Letter of an Old FFVII-2 Rumor, by X-SOLDIER.

– A Legend Retold: Final Fantasy 3’s influence on the Kingdom Hearts series, by Ryushikaze.

– To Be A Hero, by Melon Lord

– Reflections on the LTD, by June.

– Biggs and Wedge: The Dynamic Duo, by Jiro.

EXTERNAL LINKS

Outside of TLS many great reviews, analyses and retrospectives exist. If you know an essay that you think should be linked to here, let us know on the forums or via our contact form.

– FFVII Plot Analysis, by Squall_of_SeeD. An extensive look at the story, characters and themes of FFVII from a longtime fan. Document has been updated a number of times since it was first published in 2005.

THE FFVII LETTERS

Part 1, Page 1
The events, themes, gameplay, music and legacy of FFVII is analysed in this extremely well-written “letter” series between practiced video game commentators Leigh Alexander and Kirk Hamilton. The central question they try to answer in this twenty-page correspondence is whether FFVII is overrated or if it is truly a great game worthy its shining spot in video game history.
The series ran from March 15th to May 6th, 2011.