The most 'human' Final Fantasy? *possible major spoilers for FF7's plot, if it's really that big of a concern*

[Nandemoyasan]

A little bit of context:

My wife would prefer I just let my beard grow out like I'm a hobo. I, for whatever reason, got raised with the idea that clean shaven men were more pleasant to kiss. I don't know why this particular bit of trivia occurred to me today, and I also don't know why it immediately made me think of the scene in Aerith's house after the Sector 7 Plate gets dropped, where Barrett is reunited with Marlene, and he is hugging her and kissing her, and she complains that "[his] whiskers hurt!"

But it did, and it made me think a bit.

Final Fantasy VII has a level of detail about the human experience that no other Final Fantasy game has.

Just think about it for a second.

In what other game are the lessons of fascism vs. self-determinism examined so closely? In what other game are the ideas of heteronormativism vs. acceptance of all gender idenfitications even mentioned? In what other game is sexuality even really acknowledged with such a level of sensitivity (consider the psychosexual nature of Cloud's tramuatization and development as a person concerning what happens to Tifa on Mt. Nibel when she's looking for the spirit of her passed-away mother)?

In what other game is the divide between rich and poor highlighted so blatantly? In what other game is the need to venge oneself against the party which wounded you as a youth so centrally forced home?

In what other game is the idea of absolute power turning someone into a totally irredeemable force for evil highlighted so well? In what other game is the idea of "playing God" by creating a super soldier from genetic experimentation looked at with such potency? In what other game is the relationship between parent and child examined so intimately (Cloud and his unnamed Mother, Tifa and her unnamed mother/father, Aerith and Gast/Ifalna/Elmyra, Barrett/Dyne and Marlene, Cait Sith's dad in Mideel, Yuffie and Godo, Red XIII/Seto, Sephiroth and Hojo/Lucrecia, etc etc etc)?

In what other game is the general human populace's reaction to their impending demise examined in such exacting closeness?

Sure, in the end, it all amounts to a Space Bug infesting the bowels of the earth for the purpose of sucking the life out of it (FF4 and Chrono Trigger had done this already), but so much of the journey is dedicated to looking at what we are. It's humbling, when you think about it.

So I say, is Final Fantasy VII the most human Final Fantasy there is?

I think it is. Your thoughts, fellers/she-fellers/0ther-identifying fellers?

 

[null]

FFVI is comparable, and I'd argue that it deserves a handicap for being previous gen. It just didn't have the raw specs to develop the characters and their relationships in as much detail. But VI was absolutely the thematic prototype for VII. In some ways it was even darker and went even further. It was certainly the first time I've seen

Spoiler

a main character attempt suicide in a video game.

 

[Juge_F_G]

I do believe i see a lot of human types of situations. Not only in the family parts, but also dealing with grieve and such. You can see every character with their own personality's, they almost look like they are made to fit certain player characteristics. The fact that every character is different, and they all have a different reaction to the doom at the end of the game, made it feel so real for me. Even how the npc's react, it truly feels like your saving people you know in that last moment on the planet.

The lust for power is also depicted verry well, look at sephiroth and shinra. Even the father daughter relationship between barret and marlene, it honestly feels so real. I truly haven't seen anything that true to human nature in a game, not even games i know that are made for being realistic lol. Also that mixing of sexuality, all of the things depicted in game are things we face irl today. It is kinda scary to me how they made all of that fit into the game, and not build the game completely around it. For a game from 1997, a year in wich even then those types of situations weren't discussed openly a lot, it builds itself in game so well. Making some sort of god, the differences between rich and poor, its mind boggling to me how they managed to put this all into a game from 1997... wow