[Mideel] In this topic I comment on all of the towns of FF7.

[The Twilight Mexican]

are any of you bitches still interested in this

I am.

... the energy of the kids, the despair of the adults; the guy down by the river lying on his bed all day; the madness of the old train engineer ...

The absolute ineptitude of its merchants for not figuring out that they could make a killing by taking advantage of the entrance to the Gold Saucer being right behind their tents.

Seriously, why is this place such a shithole? Fuckers never hear of trading routes? Souvenir stands? Marketing?

You could just crash the train through it, you know. One of the few ties you can actually decide the fate of a city, lol. Of course, the train through the middle of town actually impedes the path to Gold Saucer a tad, but hey, that guy will be out of your way.

Gotta chop down some trees to save the forest.

 

[Gym Leader Devil]

I know we haven't actually seen North Corel in the time after FFVII, but anyone wonder if maybe they're better off now? I mean, no more Mako means people gotta get their power somewhere else now, coal might have come back into style.

So either they should be making a living again, or they're just retarded. Which it is seems like a tossup to me based on this entry though, after all it was pointed out they never thought to get some cheap souvenir's together to sell to folks on the way to and from Gold Saucer, or maybe build a small chocobo stable where travelers could "park" perhaps.

But hey, if they did go back to coal mining, woohoo, black lung disease makes a comeback right?

One more thought, if you save these people from the train during the Huge Materia mission there, doesn't one of them suggest that they, being miners, should dig a huge tunnel to hide from Meteor? But by the time Meteor is officially about to hit... did they even get started? Lazy fuckers can't do anything.

 

[Loxetta]

According to On The Way To A Smile, the Planet is turning to oil.

Which is so much more ecologically friendly.

 

[Gym Leader Devil]

True, the Compilation does imply that the new leader in energy production is going to be oil, especially after the huge ass oilfield got found during the course of AC/C. But, who knows? Coal could have its place too, and its still friendlier to the environment than Mako.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

According to On The Way To A Smile, the Planet is turning to oil.

Which is so much more ecologically friendly.

Better than dead souls.

 

[Smaddy]

Technically, aren't oil and coal dead bodies? Maybe it's not life-force or souls but...

 

[Cat Rage Room]

Dead leaves.

 

[Gym Leader Devil]

Yeah, they call em fossil fuels cause they are ancient plant remains that formed into materials easily refined into useful combustible fuels if I remember my earth science classes at all.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

I don't want to burn through all 15 towns of FFVII like they're nothing, but I don't want to leave you guys a week in between updates, either. I'll seriously start stepping these up. However, it DOES encourage me to see people appreciate these via posts and discussion!

You don't have to post "GREAT JOB MOG (though that's more than welcomed), but engage in active discussion about these locales I'm mentioning and so forth. We've all played FF7, so there should be no shortage of things to say.

GOLD SAUCER

I'm not too terribly fond of the Gold Saucer. I mean, in terms of stuff to do and so on it's great! But aesthetic and atmosphere wise, I don't know, it just seems out of place. I'm not saying it breaks continuity or anything, but it just looks stupid. A giant tree resort place in the middle of the desert? If anything, a Shinra funded Las Vegas/Sin City type of minigame/betting/resort place would have fit FFVII's world better than the Gold Saucer ever could.

The whole place is actually pretty funny, though. Imagine how Barret feels to see his old hometown, after being burned down and shot up, being completely replaced by an amusement park. Unfortunately nobody, Barret included notices the delicious irony in this setup. In a potential remake, I'll give points to SE if they actually do this.

However, you can't mention the Gold Saucer without mentioning the Corel Prison. This is more my kind of place, but it doesn't really make sense either. I guess its cost effective? In any case, this too runs along with the Saga Frontier/Xenogears/maybe some other games motif/Running Man of 'If you manage to win some entertainment/other crazy themed event, we'll pardon you of whatever heinous murders you may or may not have committed.

Unfortunately, its this litany of weird ass setting elements that presents FF7's world as sort of a mishmash of shit with no real coherency in its world. Which isn't really a bad thing, but still! I mean, WTF.

I'm sort of at a loss here, I guess! See, I told you, I never liked the Gold Saucer.

Next, Gongaga!

 

[null]

I think the development of FF7 went very much the same way George Lucas makes Star Wars films. They initially came up with a staggering amount of awesome ideas, characters and locations, but had trouble making a lot of them fit with any logic or cohesion.

As far as context goes, I totally agree that it would have been better off as a shady Vegas parallel. The Gold Saucer is a location that fits very well in my "what if the whole game were set in Midgar" fantasy that everyone hates.

 

[Splintered]

I remember liking Gold Saucer because it was definitely festive and well, aesthetically and mini game busy. It was suppose to be fun and a definite break from the world of FFVII.

That being said, Gold Saucer felt very superficial. It's especially examplfied in Dio the owner. An eccentric, game happy guy who doesn't really have a clue what's going on (I mean, seriously, you can escape killing people if you can ride a Chocobo). I also don't think it's a coincidence that the bright, cheery, and obviously economically prosperous place is sandwiched between the two most depressing and run down locations in the game, North Corel and Corel Prison. It's strange that a place that's such an escape from reality is surrounded by the harsher truths about the worst of the world- poverty and crime. And yet no one there seems to care

Eventually, though, you begin to hate the place anyway after all those hours of wondering if getting Omnislash or a Gold Chocobo is really worth all this tedious bullshit. edit: Also, is there a trick to that basketball game. Godamnit!

 

[Tennyo]

haha, I hate that basketball game. This is supposedly a trick, but it takes patience and study. You have to hit the button at the exact moment and can't be even a millisecond off.

That said I did like Gold Saucer. It was bright, cheery, fun, and for what it is, portrayed very well. However, Gold Saucer is perhaps the one thing I have always thought would get in the way of a remake. It seems far too goofy for the more realistic animation SE has chosen for the Compilation. It would just be so odd and out of place to keep it as is for a remake. :/

Also what if someone were to ever make a live-action movie (totally random thought)? You'd have to completely redo it. :/

 

[null]

Really? I think the GS could be bad ass in a remake. Think of all the cool shit they could add today that wasn't possible in 1997.

 

[Tennyo]

Well the actual insides of the park itself would be awesome, it's just the idea of it all being in a ginormous golden metal tree in the middle of a desert with a prison at the base. It's just odd.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

As a concept, the Gold Saucer is possibly the most ridiculous location in all of Final Fantasy. In execution, though, it's one of the greatest.

I spent more time in there than it took me to actually get through the game.

Really have to agree with all the sentiments posted so far about how out-of-place it is. It really doesn't make sense that this place would be there, or be what it is.

Also, yeah, in a remake, the Gold Saucer would be quite ... odd. They'd need to shady it up quite a great deal.

 

[null]

To be honest, a remake would highlight the hodge-podge nature of the entire game, not just the Gold Saucer. It was crazy experimental back then. They came up with interesting ideas and worked backwards. The result is that a lot of the places and characters are really cool on their own, but they don't really fit together. With today's technology and years of reflection, that awkwardness would just be magnified.

 

[ForceStealer]

Gold Saucer wouldn't have to be shady or seedy to fit in you know. It could be, but it was a fairly happy place. It wouldn't HAVE to be Las Vegas in the 70s.

 

[looneymoon]

It felt like Square shoe-horned the idea of an amusement park in order to facilitate a whole bunch of mini-games. Same with Fort Condor, actually, but I felt For Condor was better integrated to the plot/atmosphere.

I'll always remember Gold Saucer, because the bright yellows and pinks hurt my eyes when I first played the game on my crapass TV.

edit: oh, replies. Basically what Jacen said :|

 

[Ryushikaze]

I think Gold Saucer, as utterly anachronistic as it seems, can fit perfectly well in a remake, so long as it is acknowledged WHY ShinRa built the place, because it's obvious they built it and run it like they do for a reason, and profitability isn't the primary reason.
Or if it is, the theme park isn't the way they do it.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

ecause it's obvious they built it and run it like they do for a reason, and profitability isn't the primary reason. Or if it is, the theme park isn't the way they do it.

????

 

[Gym Leader Devil]

????

If I am thinking about this right, it seems President Shinra liked to distract the masses, make them think Shinra cared about them, that sort of thing. Gold Saucer was probably built for the same reason Rome used to have gladiators killed constantly in the Colliseum. It makes people happy and keeps people from thinking too much.

 

[Ghost X]

I had no issue with the Golden Saucer, the battle square was an awesome idea that for some reason hasn't been used again (FFIX and FFX's attempts were crappy). I also found myself playing the snowboard mini-game a lot. Story-wise, there were a few pivotal points played out in the place too.

 

[Tennyo]

I think some people have gone a bit off the mark. At least about my comment. I have no problem with an amusement park in of of itself. I think it is a cool idea and actually does work. But in a huge metal tree the size of a mountain in the middle of the desert with a prison at its base? That's just weird, and I don't see that working in a remake.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

I'm glad somebody else gets it.

 

[Tetsujin]

God, that fucking music went on my nerves.

Other than that, it's made of awesome.
Most gamers probably got sidetracked by the Gold Saucer at least once.