When you first played through you thought...

[cold_spirit]

I remember I was sick or something when I fought Safer Sephiroth for the first time. So I was sneezing and snot was..... ANYWAY, I didn't clean my controller until after the ending.
...
What?

 

[S and G]

I remember I was pretty young when I first played the game and was afraid of losing in battle, so constantly ran away from enemies.

Then I got into a fight with Jenova BIRTH on the cargo ship at like lv15 or something.

FAIL!!!!!

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I thought the promise land was a real land, and I thought Midgar might have been it because the 500 year later scene where Red runs up and howls, you see a lush and beautiful Midgar. It makes no sense now, but to an 11/12 year old I thought it was the ultimate source of irony that somehow Shinra was already pumping out the Promise Land so much that it made it desolate before it could flourish.

Actually, I think it makes complete sense, and is the best explanation of the Promised Land I've ever read. Heaven is where we make it. Or we can turn it into hell. And we are pretty ironical and stupid creatures, aren't we? We have this wonderful planet, and what do we do with it? We trash it. I know that's completely cliched, but I don't care. It's still the most important thing in the world.

 

[Dashell]

I remember I was sick or something when I fought Safer Sephiroth for the first time. So I was sneezing and snot was..... ANYWAY, I didn't clean my controller until after the ending.
...
What?

Not sure how that answers the question but I loled XD

I thought the promise land was a real land, and I thought Midgar might have been it because the 500 year later scene where Red runs up and howls, you see a lush and beautiful Midgar.

Actually I thought this too

 

[Splintered]

I remember I was pretty young when I first played the game and was afraid of losing in battle, so constantly ran away from enemies.

Then I got into a fight with Jenova BIRTH on the cargo ship at like lv15 or something.

FAIL!!!!!

I remember something like that my first play through. It was my first rpg so I didn't know shit about strategy or leveling up. I made it all the way to the wall boss in the Temple of Ancients and didn't understand why me casting fire a billion times didn't work. I died thrice, and I saved after the dragon fight so I couldn't level up.

So I restarted the game and I was massively upset. This time though, I spent ungodly hours leveling up to unreasonable heights so that there was no actual level of difficulty.

Also, I knew how to get Vincent first play through and I did the stupid, "Oh man this guy is sooo cool I'm going to use him for my next boss!-

"...

"Oh shit fuck, his limit break is healing him NOOOO no stop it~! *dies*

"Never again will I use him on this boss!"

Except for I never remembered not to use him and I made the same mistake for about three playthroughs. Ugh.

 

[S and G]

I remember something like that my first play through. It was my first rpg so I didn't know shit about strategy or leveling up. I made it all the way to the wall boss in the Temple of Ancients and didn't understand why me casting fire a billion times didn't work. I died thrice, and I saved after the dragon fight so I couldn't level up.

So I restarted the game and I was massively upset. This time though, I spent ungodly hours leveling up to unreasonable heights so that there was no actual level of difficulty.

Also, I knew how to get Vincent first play through and I did the stupid, "Oh man this guy is sooo cool I'm going to use him for my next boss!-

"...

"Oh shit fuck, his limit break is healing him NOOOO no stop it~! *dies*

"Never again will I use him on this boss!"

Except for I never remembered not to use him and I made the same mistake for about three playthroughs. Ugh.

Hoohoo made the same mistake with the wall boss. I can actually remember thinking in my first full playthrough that the wall boss was by far the toughest to beat. Other than Rapps on the Wutai mission when you had no idea what was going on and no Materia.

Tough times.

I also have vivid memories of my disc one freezing for some reason whenever Yuffie used Greased Lightning. So, of course, overlooking this matter in a battle immediately after completing the Gi caves section without saving, the limit break was used. These are the sort of things that cause crime without motive...

I can also remember being convinced Cloud was a clone (as in BUILT by Hojo) and missing the whole Zack flashbacks like the first 5 times I played the game.

 

[Smaddy]

The 'don't use Galian Beast vs Materia Keeper' issue makes amuses me, because the Unofficial FF7 guide even made it a point to say, "If you get Vincent, do NOT use his limit break!" The first couple times I played, I probably made that mistake. Once I had the guide, I understood.

I remember the wall boss in the Temple of the Ancients and Rapps being exceptionally a pain in the butt to fight.

The most fun was somehow making Jenova BIRTH (the one you fight after Aeris is gone) run out of MP. If you do that, Jenova basically can't attack you- it might have a physical attack, but it's really weak. So the battle consists of failed attacks because of no MP.

 

[Loxetta]

I remember one of my play throughs where I kept feeding all my source potions for disc 1 to Aerith because of her low stats -- and for most of the bosses, particularly the Jenova segment on the Junon cargo ship, Cloud and Tifa wouldn't fucking stay alive and Aerith was the one that got me through the battles and got all the EXP

 

[Dashell]

My first play through I thought Aerith was so useless XD It wasn't until I found Great Gospel that I found otherwise... I love that limit break

 

[Loxetta]

Great Gospel seriously offended me my first playthrough. I found the guy in a cave and spent like two hours getting the stupid Mythril from that bum, then went out of my way to go get the limit break manual for her. And didn't obtain Pulse Of Life until that demon wall at the Temple.

Then found out Aerith left the party and was like... FUCK D<

 

[Dashell]

I guess that was the advantage to knowing that Aerith died... yeah unfortunately I spoiled myself by accident

 

[Loxetta]

I knew she died too XD I just didn't know when. So for a bit I was like "Is this it? ......... Is this it? ......... GAH, THIS IS IT *throws controller*"

Should have done more research.

 

[Dashell]

I knew she died too XD I just didn't know when. So for a bit I was like "Is this it? ......... Is this it? ......... GAH, THIS IS IT *throws controller*"

Should have done more research.

OMG I was the same way XD I was always, "Here it comes... no... oh NOW I bet... no..." and then when it finally happened... I cried so hard.

 

[Gym Leader Devil]

I played FFVII the first time waaaay back when it first came out, got it for a birthday present in 97. I had NO idea of the story, beyond the obvious fact that it would include a spikey-blonde guy with a really big sword. So when I first played, I spent a lot of my early playtime (like, up till the flashback in Kalm) repeatedly asking "Who the fuck is Sephiroth? Is this even relevant to the plot? How little I knew.

Now, keep in mind I am a villain-loving type. In general, villains interest me more than heroes. I like evil in my fiction. So when I finally found out who and what Sephiroth was during that flashback, it was like "Holy hell, its the single coolest villain I have EVER seen!" and I started the search for Sephiroth with an over-abundance of enthusiasm. This continued with each near-miss with Sephiroth (or some generic 'man in a black cloak' as I later figured out some of them were) and each actual meeting from Junon to the basement in Nibelheim and onward to the Forgotten Capital.

When Aerith left my party after that fiasco at the Temple of the Ancients, I took her at her word that she planned to come back (still do). I just figured, you know, we'd be picking our asses off the ground (how did we end up in freaking Gongagga of all places after all that anyway?) and go help her do whatever she was going to do. So, rather than any real concern for her, my first thought was "That bitch better not have kept the materia I gave her. She had my best materia damn it!" followed by relief that she had not.

Then we go to all that trouble to get the damned Lunar Harp and pass through the Sleeping Forest, and finally find Aerith. And BOOM! both of my initial thoughts and impressions get bitch slapped. Aerith dies, and suddenly Sephiroth MUST DIE, not for gameplay purposes but because I hated him and want to carve out his insides with the dull side of the Buster Sword. I still think he is the coolest villain overall, of all time. But much more than that, he is the most successful villain in any form of fiction to me, because no other fictional character has EVER made me hate like that. I cried during the entire boss fight with Jenova-Life, and the fact that it was Jenova again instead of Sephiroth fighting me (me not yet realizing, as I'm sure was normal then, that they were essentially one and the same only pissed me off worse, particularly the mockery of her showing her ugly alien face while Aerith's theme was playing.

Yes, I took all that rather personally. I swear the next time I saw Sephiroth at the Whirlwind Maze, I literally threw back my head and screamed his name in this enraged snarl like you see in anime, I took it so hard. And I still get an extra thrill out of watching Sephiroth get his ass handed to him in AC/C when Cloud whips out the new Omnislash because of that lingering resentment.

On a lighter note, I too fell into the trap Square set for us with Vincent showing up right before the Materia Keeper, and Galian repeatedly healing the damn thing. Lucky me, he only used Beast Flare once before I figured out what was going on and set Cloud and Tifa (my party typically consists of two melee-fighters and one ranged fighter at all times, ranged fighter in the middle) to killing the dumb bastard so I could hit him with a Phoenix Down and not use his limit like, ever again for that boss. Lucky me, he had a couple decent spells and Deathblow to fall back on when it inevitably filled again.

One other memory that isn't really mine, but still funny. My best friend back then got into the game when I described the opening and such to him, and picked himself up a copy. And he became the first person I knew who decided to grind. And when I say grind, I mean he would GRIND! By the time he fought Reno for the first time he was using Meteor Rain and Finishing Blow, and was around level 40 for fuck's sake. Can you imagine how many battles with weak ass slum monsters he must have fought to get that high that early? My eyes bleed just remembering seeing that.

 

[carlimeow]

i thought cait sith was a girl , pronounced kate sith hehe , wearing a costume . i didn't even notice the kitty on top

i also didn't know that you know what would happen at the end of disc one i mean i knew it would happen but i expected it at the end of the game or something . . .

 

[Max Caulfield]

I saw AC before I played the game, so when I first started FFVII I thought that Cloud was a mopey emo, who pushed every one who loved him away from him... all the while doing nothing in the movie but run around delivering packages. I was completely and utterly confused in the beginning of FFVII when he was a total badass.

(Play the games and watch the movies in order, kiddies, it saves you hours of going, "Why is he so different?!" before you finish.)

I thought that Denzel was going to come into the game at some point.

Also, I knew that Aerith was going to die, so when I reached it at long last, all I said was, "FINALLY!"

 

[Edley]

1. The Turks were cooler than Avalanche. (True)
2. Tifa knew some terrible secret. (True)
3. Vincent was a vampire. (False)
4. Tseng dies. (Crap Translations)
5. Barrett was a walking cataclysm of a stereotype. (Awesomely True)
6. Yuffie was asking for it. (Not in that way perverts.)
7. Zack would play a bigger role in the story before the end. (Yes and No.)
8. Cloud was kind of dumb. (Unsophisticated would probably be a better word.)
9. Sephiroth would come to his senses at some point. (Negative.)
10. Bugenhagen smoked the good stuff.

Wasn't that shocked by Aerith's death. I'd played RPGs before where main characters had died and it seemed logical that she'd get pinched. I really hoped Midgar would have been fleshed out completely, as it was absolutely awesome going through the sections on the first disc. The most emotional I got was during Barrett's back-story part as the whole Dyne encounter just caught me as really heart breaking. I remember seeing Tifa's picture in the instruction book and figuring that she would be the classic RPG ditz girl and was glad she proved me wrong. Cid won points for being laugh out loud funny in his misogynistic arrogance.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Yuffie was asking for it. (Not in that way perverts.)

Correction: She was begging for it.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

1. The Turks were cooler than Avalanche. (True)

Wasn't that shocked by Aerith's death.
I really hoped Midgar would have been fleshed out completely, as it was absolutely awesome going through the sections on the first disc.
The most emotional I got was during Barrett's back-story part as the whole Dyne encounter just caught me as really heart breaking.

Same, same, same and same.

 

[Ghost X]

Pretty sure I've said it elsewhere, but even though FFVII wasn't my first RPG, I thought when I left Midgar the first time, it was the end of the game. 3 odd hours of gameplay first time through, and I was happy to think I'd finished the game and got value for my money (I was used to playing games that didn't take that long to finish at the time). Little did I realise how wrong I was until the game kept going. Then I got stuck at the Midgar Zolem area, having accidentally sold the chocobo lure materia. I started another game, and did it the right way =P.

 

[Loxetta]

1. The Turks were cooler than Avalanche. (True)
6. Yuffie was asking for it. (Not in that way perverts.)
8. Cloud was kind of dumb. (Unsophisticated would probably be a better word.)
10. Bugenhagen smoked the good stuff.

I concur.

 

[Fangu]

Old thread, but I just had to reply.

I played FFVII the first time waaaay back when it first came out, got it for a birthday present in 97. (...)Now, keep in mind I am a villain-loving type. In general, villains interest me more than heroes. I like evil in my fiction. So when I finally found out who and what Sephiroth was during that flashback, it was like "Holy hell, its the single coolest villain I have EVER seen!" and I started the search for Sephiroth with an over-abundance of enthusiasm. (...) When Aerith left my party after that fiasco at the Temple of the Ancients, I took her at her word that she planned to come back (still do). I just figured, you know, we'd be picking our asses off the ground (how did we end up in freaking Gongagga of all places after all that anyway?) and go help her do whatever she was going to do. So, rather than any real concern for her, my first thought was "That bitch better not have kept the materia I gave her. She had my best materia damn it!" followed by relief that she had not.

Then we go to all that trouble to get the damned Lunar Harp and pass through the Sleeping Forest, and finally find Aerith. And BOOM! both of my initial thoughts and impressions get bitch slapped. Aerith dies, and suddenly Sephiroth MUST DIE, not for gameplay purposes but because I hated him and want to carve out his insides with the dull side of the Buster Sword. I still think he is the coolest villain overall, of all time. But much more than that, he is the most successful villain in any form of fiction to me, because no other fictional character has EVER made me hate like that. I cried during the entire boss fight with Jenova-Life, and the fact that it was Jenova again instead of Sephiroth fighting me (me not yet realizing, as I'm sure was normal then, that they were essentially one and the same only pissed me off worse, particularly the mockery of her showing her ugly alien face while Aerith's theme was playing.

Yes, I took all that rather personally. I swear the next time I saw Sephiroth at the Whirlwind Maze, I literally threw back my head and screamed his name in this enraged snarl like you see in anime, I took it so hard. And I still get an extra thrill out of watching Sephiroth get his ass handed to him in AC/C when Cloud whips out the new Omnislash because of that lingering resentment.

Oh man, that was just great to read. The fact that you just _had to kill that bastard_ after the shock of Aerith dying. Well done game script writers

Then I got stuck at the Midgar Zolem area, having accidentally sold the chocobo lure materia. I started another game, and did it the right way =P.

Hahaha

As for me, I didn't know when the Aerith scene would happen either, so I was kind of waiting for it - but when I recognized the scenery of where I know it was going to happen, I was all "oh no!!!! don't wanna!!" and the scene was just heartbreaking. What I wasn't prepared for was having to fight Jenova straight afterwards. It just felt so meaningless. Great game!

What I love about playing it after knowing a bit about the story (I started playing the game, gave up around first time in Junon because I was playing it on my PSP and the graphics were so small in some scenes I simply got lost, and got bored of it ; then watched ACC; then decided to give it another try - this time on my computer + TV) is all of the scenes that I wasn't prepared for. Like Cosmo Canyon. Wow. And the story about Cid and the rocket ship. It was just so amazing - especially the scene where you see the rocket - then fast forward x years and the rocket ship is still standing there, all crooked. Blew my mind. And the astronomy scene thing in Cosmo Canyon. Great stuff.

What confused me was the whole Fort Condor-stuff. It annoyed me. So do I have to go back to the fort? Or no? What? Do you really need the cash? HELP! lol

Also I loved seeing the surfing dudes in the Icy village. "Snowboarding? Hmm wasn't the surfing guys talking about snowboarding?" And then I saw them in the bar. Awesome.

So I guess for me, it was noticing the little stuff that made the game for me, as I already knew most of the larger stuff. (I have to confess, I haven't finished it yet. I have a ton of sidequests I want to do before finishing it, so I'm taking a break. When I start playing, I _play_, and it is very time consuming.)

 

[Kobato]

Copied and pasted from Quex's forum xD

-I kept on dieing at the Seventh Reactor because I didn't know that your NOT supposed to attack while the Scorpion's Tail is up, and didn't know that that your supposed to help Jessie.


- I didn't understand what " Next to you who wouldn't " ? meant when Tifa asked Cloud how his sleep went. 0_O

-I wanted to go into the Honeybee Inn because I thought that the bees were cute, and I really badly wanted to get in and was disappointed that couldn't get inside.

- I told Aerith that I saw her at the Slum Drunk. Or she's the Slum drunk, it's one of those things.

- I thought that Cloud dressing up as a girl was the best thing ever, and I spent ages around the market enjoying 'Lady Cloud'.

- I kept on resetting the game thinking Don Cornero will pick a different person each time, but he kept on picking Tifa and didn't understand why. Cloud and Aerith not pretty enough ?! >:


- I thought that Sephiroth was a 60 year old man because he had grey hair.

- I thought that it was really well done of Sephiroth, thinking that he's 60 to be able to manage to kill Aerith. I thought that he must be very healthy and have good bones. xD


- Got stuck on the Carry Armour in the Underwater Rector for years, months, days. It was horrible. Added Reno to hate-list since he calls the robot out on you.


- Got the High affection Highwind scene. Thought that Cloud's eyes looked funny in the night light.

- Thought that Cid saying shit was awesome.

 

[null]

- I thought there were alternate endings. At the time it came out, the rumor was that the ending depended on whether you collected all the materia in the game, and/or whether you beat all the WEAPONs.

- I was absolutely positive Aeris would either get resurrected or be possible to resurrect. Again, rumor. (One that never really died.)

- The &$#% room in the Honeybee Inn creeped the shit out of me. It was so random.

- Emerald Weapon creeps the shit out of me to this day. He's second only to Warmech in scary mechanical boogeymen.

- Nibelheim creeped the shit out me. Generally there were a lot of parts to this game that felt like the Twilight Zone.

- Loved Midgar. Will always love Midgar.

- Part of me will always be 16, locked in time, playing the first few hours again and again. It reminds me of my old friends and a great time in my life.

 

[Ryushikaze]

- Emerald Weapon creeps the shit out of me to this day. He's second only to Warmech in scary mechanical boogeymen.

Whyfor null fear Neut Ziel?