Let's Play Final Fantasy VII: At the same time!

[Cat Rage Room]

Hey dudes! Recently I've been thinking about how long it's been since I've had a proper playthrough of FFVII, and I know that the community itself probably hasn't played a full game in a while either, with few exception. For that reason I thought it'd be cool for all of us to run through the game at roughly the same time. After all, FFVII is what brought us all here, right!?

Here's how it's gonna work;

I'm going to lead the playthrough in terms of setting up checkpoints; segments of the game where we'll slow down for a bit and discuss some stuff as a community relevant to that part of the game. Questions such as comments on the characters we're using, that particular plot point, and gameplay stuff like our Materia setup and stuff. Then I'll continue and set up another checkpoint, and so on.

That way we're roughly on the same page as our progress. Don't worry, you can skip ahead or lag behind a little bit, and you can join in whenever you want, so if you happen to be reading this while we're on say, Disk 2, go ahead and jump in and start going on about the middle of Disk 1 if you like! We'll plan as we go. With that said, let's get started!

FIRST CHAPTER: The AVALANCHE of the Slums
SECOND CHAPTER: The Flower Girl
THIRD CHAPTER: Pimps, Tricks, and Falling Pizzas
FOURTH CHAPTER: Shinra Tower
FIFTH CHAPTER: Kalm the Fuck Down, It's Only a Detour
SIXTH CHAPTER: Chocobos, Snakes, and Condors, Oh My! (and also ninjas)







FIRST CHAPTER: The AVALANCHE of the Slums

CHECKPOINT LOCATION: Seventh Heaven, the morning after

This one is going to be short simply to get stuff started. Discussion points;

-The iconic 'Bombing Mission' that defined this game and a generation to come. What were your thoughts during this part of the game when you first played, if you can remember that far?

-A dude with a big sword and a scary black dude. If you were playing the game for the first time, what would be your initial impression of Barret and Cloud? Did you have any trouble navigating or beating the boss?

-Sector 7 slums. The Slums are easily some of the most iconic places in RPGs, much less the game. What's your take on Sector 7?

 

[Joker]

I died the first time I played this because I couldn't get out of the reactor - I didn't know you had to go back for Jessie ;.;

and then I stopped played for like two years

 

[Tetsujin]

FUCK YEAH let's get this train rollin'

 

[Joker]

This train we on don't make no stops!

 

[Alex Strife]

For some reason I was impressed with this game right away. Before starting it, I had played some RPG's, although my notion of what an "RPG" was... we can say it was pretty vague. I had played Lufia (my first real RPG) on the SNES, also Secret of Evermore, and Baldur's Gate 1 as well on the PC. I was also late on FFVII, so I got a used platinum version.

I do not remember how I felt about the game BEFORE playing it, but I know it made an immediate impression on me. I remember clearly playing the game and being interrupted for some reason, and I wanted to come back as soon as possible because it was so interesting already.

Having played at least one similar game before, and it being in Spanish, was enough for me to navigate it without any problem (even if the Spanish translation is just as bad as the English one, if not worse) and I was capable of beating the first segment without further trouble. As for the characters, I only remember thinking Cloud "looked cool", but that's basically it. I thought Barrett made a nice contrast with the main character, though, and I liked that.

Sector 7 was for me the first real visit to what FFVII would offer to me. A "depressing" place, basically slums where "the less fortunate" lived. And surprisingly enough, I liked it. Maybe because, as a younger boy, I liked to imagine myself in the game, and it was easier to do so in a modern setting than in a medieval setting.

To be honest, because I liked to imagine myself in the main characters' places, turning 22 was important for me because it meant I was older than Cloud in the main game. It may sound stupid, but...

Returning to gameplay issues, I remember saving Jessie (mistranslated as "Jesse" in Spanish) on the first time already, but I later on got curious and wondered what'd happen if you didn't save her. I also fled from the soldiers when they were cornering you (which I never do now), and I the morning after I always buy a "heal" and "fire" materia.

That would be everything for this segment!

 

[Tennyo]

What's with all this not going to save Jessie business? I never knew you had to save her to get out either but I always did so anyway. Poor Jessie.

Maybe it's just because that even this early on I imagined Cloud as being the asshole with a heart of gold. :3

 

[Tetsujin]

I remember seeing a trailer on a demo disc back then (remember those? =P) and it blew me the fuck away. It had generic but kinda cool Hollywood trailer music and showed a lot clips from the FMVs and fancy magics/summonings.

I only had an N64 at that time so I envied my brother who owned a PS1 so hard D:
Even more so when he got a free English version of the game on some expo. A FREE VERSION. The discs had the same design as the PS1 demo discs (black with silver letters, same font and everything) lacked a cover and manual but it was the full game alright.

And when I finally had a PS1 and FFVII I still lacked a fucking memory card. You know how on the back of the manual there's an ad for a memory card and it says "WITHOUT IT YOU CAN'T BEAT FFVII"?
Well thanks for the mockery assholes D:

Ah, good times.

 

[Tennyo]

The back of the manual for my copy doesn't mock me in such a rude fashion.

It just has Aerith looking at the Highwind.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

It just has Aerith looking at the Highwind.

Which in itself caused a lot of confusion for this guy back in the day. But we'll get to that later!


I myself was blown away by FFVII. I haven't really played a lot of games like it at all before FFVII, and among the RPGs I have played, I wasn't aware that it was an entire genre in itself. A turn based game in a modern setting with a black guy (very rare in video games, even in '97) with a gun arm was surreal as hell to me, and it definitely sucked me in.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

Don't worry, Sarah, long detailed posts are the best!

Hey guys, would it be too much to ask to spread the word and give me a shout out on this project? I know some of you guys might go to other communities or online journals or blogs or such; it would be really cool to be mentioned there, it helps out the community!

 

[ForceStealer]

As I've said before the first time I saw the game I was unimpressed, my friend was stuck in the Wall Market and didn't know what to do and so was just leveling in Sector 6. At some point the commands and healing up at the Inn and stuff reminded me of Pokemon and I asked to borrow it.

I thought the magic was so cool. The sound it made, that green pulse around the character using it, I don't know why, I just thought it was sweet. I actually don't remember being shocked by the graphics, and I can't figure out why. But that didn't stop me from immediately taking to Barret and Cloud.

As for the boss, I fell for the flubbed line about attacking while the tail's up hook line and sinker. But through liberal use of potions I did manage to beat him anyway. I immediately liked the AVALANCHE crew as well as Barret and Tifa. I didn't have much of an opinion either way about Cloud yet, iirc. I grew to like him more slowly, which kinda seemed like the idea anyway.

Before FF7, I was not by most definitions a "gamer." I played Sonic the Hedgehog, and of course Pokemon. Legitimate dialogue (swearing which I don't think my parents would have been okay with at the time, haha), back story, characters, I had never seen anything like it, and I was hooked.

 

[Tennyo]

When I played FFVII the first time I had already beaten X and gotten as far as the Lunatic Pandora on FFVIII, so I already had an idea of what I was doing. A bit late to the party, yes, but I never had a PS1 and I didn't get my PS2 until after I graduated high school.

And I'm rather proud to say that I did NOT fall for the poorly translated tail line. I somehow figured out while reading it that attacking while the tail was up would cause it to attack. It also just seemed like something that would make sense in a boss fight at the time. I kind of expected it.

Either way I liked the game fairly well at first because it seemed cute. I absolutely adored the character models. I would run around doing dumb things at first like making Cloud run through groups of trees because it was amusing that only his spike was sticking out. I'm very easily amused by stuff like that.

I also actually rather liked Cloud from the get go. He was an asshole, but I found him to be a really amusing one. Maybe it was because he was a cute chibi, or maybe it was just him, I don't know. lol

I also started out shipping Clerith hardcore, because most people I knew who played this game told me that FFVII was a huge epic love story that ended in tragedy. I knew Aerith died but I still kept her in my party at all times for the purpose of wanting a romance alone. When she died, I was more disappointed in the storytelling than anything else, because I didn't see how the game had given us enough to believe in this huge epic love story. I also really hated the love story between Squall and Rinoa in VIII so I was like, "Not again."

But then other things happened and I was like, "Oh now that makes sense." haha

 

[Terrafig]

I saw this thread, and I was originally planning to save starting this until tomorrow, but the nostalgia factor of everyone's first impressions drove me to "Fuck being responsible and working from home, I want to play Final Fantasy." Incidentally, this is probably why I haven't played it since I started living on my own. It sucks away all desire to grow up.

Unlike (at least most of) the other posters in this thread, Final Fantasy VII wasn't my first RPG, or even my first Final Fantasy game, since I'd pretty much had the earlier entries as baby-sitters. That said, I still found it impressive as soon as I turned on the system. I didn't think much of the game box art, and I think I was still expecting sprites. There were a selection of RPGS being released at about the same time that weren't nearly as pretty. The opening cinematic left my eyes bugging out. I loved the music from the bombing mission right away, too. It's still one of my favorite tracks from any of the OSTs.

I wasn't quite sure if the character models were even supposed to be human, at first, but the menu images were a helpful guide. I don't think I thought much about Barret and Cloud as individuals, but my father was watching me play, and he asked if this was supposed to be an A Team video game (and that was my introduction to that show). I found almost every altercation between Cloud and Barret hilarious. Obviously, they were going to be friends.

(In light of Shademp's unused text, I wonder if "I hate Barret" would have caused me to think otherwise.)

The slums didn't really strike me, as I can't remember any impressions. I did, however, think that riding the pinball machine down to the meeting was great fun. God, I wasam such a twerp . Why couldn't something more valuable have stuck with me?

I did die on the boss the first time. Curiously, I've still attacked it with its tail up every subsequent play through because it allows the limit breaks to charge and quickly end the battle, as long as you don't forget to heal.

This time around, I kept derping on getting Cloud to line up with the ladders and pushing the button in the elevator twice. Apparently, my gaming skills have declined.

On the subject of Jessie, Cloud stops next to her briefly before the reactor explodes, but after the other AVALANCHE members run off screen. I have to wonder. Did she trip again? Jesus. This woman is not cut out to be a terrorist.

A couple other things I haven't noticed before--apparently Wedge is of the opinion that Cloud just wants friends. And I guess Barret cries if you give Marlene a flower?

Onto naming. I like to name my characters contextually inappropriate things. This time around, I chose "a puppet" for Cloud and "ShinraFan" for Barret. I know. I'm sure millions of people have thought of this before. Still, what do you name your characters, or do you just stick with the default?

 

[Cat Rage Room]

Great posts so far!

I hope you guys actually plan to uh, play along though.

 

[Tetsujin]

Back then, I always gave the main character in any RPG my own name. Nowadays I just leave it at default. With the exception of renaming Aeris to Aerith.

 

[Terrafig]

Haha, I obstinately refuse to change Aeris' name from Aeris because of the translating retcons. Last time I played, I even called her "AERISSS" or something equally fucktarded.

 

[Alex Strife]

To be honest, I will confess I have never understood what's with Aeris/Aerith name. I mean, what is the correct version and why? To me, she's Aeris because that's what I saw in the OG in Spanish. If I am not mistaken (CBA), it's also the name she uses in the Spanish version of Crisis Core...

And, like Tetsujin, I used to give my name to the main character, but I leave it at default.

Oh and of course we're playing! ;D

EDIT: For nostalgia's sake, I named my Cloud "Alex" this time, so there I go. Right now on FFVII I'm "Alex Strife". Watcha think? My cheesy name being useful for once!

 

[Terrafig]

Square Enix has made "Aerith" the official English translation because it sounds like "Earth," which is a boring reason. There's a discussion on this forum, starting from the last post by Aki on this page (link).

From what I understand, there's no hard-and-fast way to translate the name in Japanese, so it's all down to preference. I have many different reasons why I like Aeris better.

I'm really going to show my language ignorance here, but doesn't the "s" in Spanish sound a lot more like "th" than it does in English anyway?

 

[Alex Strife]

I would actually say that "th" in English is more like "z" in Spanish, but I admit using the "z" with her name would be visually horrible.

Besides, "th" does not exist in Spanish, so that's probably another reason why they changed it.

 

[Tetsujin]

Started playing it and saved at the Beginner's Hall.

Does anyone else love how Barret smacks Biggs right into the camera?

 

[Alex Strife]

I always loved it, of course!

I did all my shopping and whatnot (Fire Materia, iron bangles, two antidotes just in case), and saved below the pillar.

Right now I have:

1 Ice Materia with Cloud.
1 Heal+All Materia with Barrett, and 1 Fire Materia as well.
1 Lightning Materia with Tifa.

 

[Cthulhu]

My first response to the game was 'Wtf these graphics are shit', . I played it... back in '04 or '05, after hearing about AC and watching the first trailer, and before joining ACF I believe.

imma DL FFVII and go fuck around with it, no promises about progress though .

 

[Terrafig]

I know it shouldn't amaze me to hear people say that, but I'm still impressed by a lot of the detail in many of the settings, even if the polygons are comical. Because of the huge jump in quality between VI (or III) and VII, I was actually a bit let down by the graphics in Final Fantasy X .

 

[Cthulhu]

The graphics weren't the only thing in that one . VIII looks bunches better though, and IX is one of the prettiest games you could get for the PS1.

Downloaded it, playing it. Seeing deep revelations about the LTD here. Wedge: "Cloud never came!"



Also, Shi't.

Also, Barrett x Cloud is canon, as Barret calls Cloud "hot stuff".

What's "Si'down an' shu'up' supposed to be for an accent though?

(just rambling while I play, stfu)

 

[ForceStealer]

I always leave it as Aeris. Screw it.

Also was I the only one that was COMPLETELY BAFFLED by Tifa telling you the dude from the weapon shop "upstairs" has something for you? I spent so long as a kid trying to figure out how to get upstairs in 7th Heaven