Before you go reading this post, I will have to start off that there will be a lot of SPOILERS for the original Final Fantasy VII as well as possible SPOILERS for Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth. As I do recognize there are still a lot of gamers who may have never played the original or some of the bigger plot points that will probably come up in Rebirth, I’m saying, as early as now, there will be SPOILERS! You have been warned.

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth is just a few months away and a ton of people are excited for it. I’m one of those people, by the way. Square Enix has been doing a fabulous job of keeping the hype train slowly but steadily moving forward. Even with the most recent Theme Song trailer, just by giving fans a glimpse of what Vincent and Cid will look like in the game and just a short possible snippet of the updated play, which will be based on the in-game Loveless show, has a lot of fans squealing in excitement. Suffice to say, Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth is going to sell a jillion copies when it drops at the end of February (or the start of March since I’m in the Philippines).

Of course, the Theme Song trailer also gave us a peek into what to expect from Rebirth. I already mentioned the play but they also showed other areas from the Gold Saucer, like the Central Hub (with Madame M just hanging around) and the Haunted Hotel. There are also other stuff like Cid’s Tiny Bronco taking flight and Barret encountering Dyne, Marlene’s real father. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the final shot of the trailer, with Aerith in the scene that broke a thousand hearts.

A lot of these moments may not mean anything to those who didn’t play the original Final Fantasy VII way back on the original Sony PlayStation. But for fans who did, we’re super excited to see how Square Enix will be transitioning these scenes over to Rebirth as it does evoke a lot of memories. So, with that in mind, let me tell you about my journey through the original Final Fantasy VII.

I will say my first Final Fantasy VII experience was pretty weird because I haven’t really heard of the game when it was released. It may have garnered a lot of hype way back in 1997 but all of that eluded me because I didn’t own a Sony PlayStation then. The first time I encountered and experienced the game was from my friend in college who told me how great a game it was and, get this, he was recording his playthrough on VHS! Yes, before Let’s Play videos were a thing, my friend was already doing his version of it. And, since he wanted me to kind of understand why he loved the game so much, he lent me the tape of his playthrough.

I will say the videotape didn’t enthuse me to Final Fantasy VII because the tape he gave me showed him playing right after Cloud and company escaped Midgar so I had no idea who the characters were. I still vividly remember the first cutscene on the videotape. It was the party meeting Yuffie for the first time and she kept of fleeing from Cloud at the end of the conversation. You have to remember that this was a time when the game was still very fresh and the Internet was still on dial-up. So, a lot of information, such as walkthroughs, weren’t readily available. As this was all “raw footage” of his playthrough, Yuffie kept of running away and the video kept repeating this scene as my friend would stop recording and start again after beating her again. This did lead me to believe that, well, Final Fantasy VII just wasn’t for me. It’s not like it was bad. It just didn’t look like my cup of tea.

Eventually, I did get a Sony PlayStation and, strangely enough, one of the earliest games I got for it was Final Fantasy VII. That may seem strange as I just told you I dismissed the game based on my first interaction with it. But I guess I totally forgot about it. Besides, there was just something about the packaging that drew me in. I just liked the original cover art with Cloud, with his huge Buster Sword strapped to his back, standing in front on an imposing city. But, honestly, the biggest reason why I got Final Fantasy VII for the PlayStation was it was three discs! That’s a whole lot of game, my brain said to me! And since this was the during the days when most of the game I got were bootlegs, money wasn’t really an issue as they were dirt cheap! Even with three disc, Final Fantasy VII cost me less than a couple of dollars then!

Anyway, I did play through Final Fantasy VII and, by this time, websites like GameFAQs were popping up, making obtaining walkthroughs much easier. The problem was, as I relied on the walkthrough too much, I actually didn’t follow the story all too well. All I really knew was Cloud and company was chasing after Sephiroth for some reason or another. I didn’t even really understand how the materia system worked that much and it took me until around the second disc until I understood how to junction All to my Cure materia to heal all the characters in my party! Yes, I was a big dummy then.

Even though I didn’t really follow the story, I still recognized what a big deal Aerith’s death was. Yes, that pivotal scene where Sephiroth dives sword first into Aerith’s back while she’s trying to cast Holy still felt like it was a pivotal moment in the game. But for me, it was for a different reason: I really liked Aerith because she was the magic user of the party. I always have had a soft spot for the healer or magic user in any RPG. They’re not all that strong so taking care of them always becomes a priority for me. So, when Aerith left the party, I was actually in a mad panic to get her back as she was my strongest magic user! I’ve spent a whole lot of time making sure she never got killed off in battle. So, when I saw her actually dying and not even a Phoenix Down could revive her, that hurt me quite a bit because my main magic user wasn’t coming back.

So, I did play through the game from then on. And, for me, the story got more and more confusing. So, that wasn’t Cloud but some guy named Zack? Sephiroth isn’t a real person but some kind of genetic experiment? Vincent was some scientist before he turned into some vampire with a gun fetish? Honestly, the only story I did really understand was the entire Barret backstory with his town, how he lost his arm and how he became Marlene’s adoptive father. Other than than, I was lost in the deluge of Weapons, the Lifestream, JENOVA and whatnot. I still liked the game as, by this time, I did come to grips with the materia system so I was able to balance out my party even though my main magic user wasn’t going to rejoin the party anytime soon.

I then eventually make it to the Northern Crater and got to the final battle with Sephiroth. I didn’t complete the other major sidequests, like getting each character’s Ultimate weapons. I didn’t fly all around the world to beat up the Weapons. The only one sidequest I did go through was the entire Knights of the Round materia search as, well, there was a walkthrough which detailed how to get it and it was supposed to be the most powerful Summon and the most powerful attack in the game. So, of course I went through the trouble of save scumming to get the proper chocobo colors, run through multiple chocobo races, feeling the right amount of greens to them, etc. I had to get Knights of the Round. And, boy, was it worth the trouble!

While a lot of people had trouble with the final battle with Sephiroth the first time they get to him, I sadly did not have this problem because of a side effect of me getting Knights of the Round and my familiarity with the materia system. I learned you can “grow” your materia as long as you have them equipped in battle. After a while, the materia can “grow” so much that it splits into two. So, guess what I did? I grinded and grinded for days so I could equip Knights on the Round for each and every party member! Not just that, each person had a Master level Knights of the Round! Do you know how many battles it takes to get to that point? A ridiculous amount! I didn’t have to… but there was a compulsion in me to do this insanity!

So, I reached Sephiroth and One Winged Angel started playing. And I just whupped him with three consecutive Knights of the Round summons early on! Sure, he got to cast Supernova on me once in a while but I still got the upper hand early with the beating he took with the three Knights of the Round summons! Oh, this also led me to have three Bahamut ZERO materia on the party who was fighting Sephiroth! After a few more attacks, Sephiroth was toast.

We then get to the ending and I honestly didn’t know what to expect but I wasn’t expecting what Final Fantasy VII gave me. I was pretty perplexed with the ending, partially because I wasn’t following the story. But even if I did, I don’t think I would really understand what happened at the end. I mean, we saw a huge Meteor crashing into the planet but the planet resisted. There was a big flash of light and Aerith’s face shows up. Roll credits. What? So, the party failed? Oh, there’s an after credits scene… but it takes place five hundred years later. And it only shows Red XIII running with his cubs in a desolated landscape? And the city of Midgar is in ruins? So… the party failed for real and Red XIII is the only survivor? I don’t get it! This is why I hope Square Enix give the conclusion to the Remake games a much less ambiguous ending!

As you can see, my first experience with Final Fantasy VII wasn’t really a great one, mostly because I didn’t follow the story. Years later, I started playing Final Fantasy VIII and, once again, I had a hard time following the story. So, I went on GameFAQs not to get a walkthrough, but to go through the forums and try and suss out what all the hullabaloo with this SEED and Sorceresses. I then stumbled onto a debate regarding which had a better story, Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy VIII.

Going through the various people talking about how complex Final Fantasy VII’s story was, with Cloud being an unreliable narrator, the giant twist with Shinra not actually being the big bad and Aerith’s death coming to a shock to most gamers, I did get a deeper understanding of why Final Fantasy VII was so beloved and why it’s impacted a lot of people. Sure, the gameplay is good but the story is complex, much more than you would think should be in “simple video game.” Final Fantasy VII tacked difficult issues like how people are taking the planet’s resources for granted and how death, even in a video game, can traumatize people into trying to escape from the grief and guilt.

Reading all of that did make me want to play Final Fantasy VII all over again… but only after I take a break from finishing Final Fantasy VIII. I mean, I can’t just boot up another epic story after playing through a four disc game, right? It took me a couple of months until I did replay Final Fantasy VII but, this time, I was paying more attention to the story and the nuances. Sure, a lot of things didn’t hit me like it should anymore as I’ve already experienced Aerith’s death and I knew the backstories of all the characters since I did read about them in the forums. But there was a deeper appreciation to it all. I still didn’t go around the world beating the Weapons or get everyone’s Ultimate Weapon. However, I finally understood what a big deal Final Fantasy VII was.

I guess I understand why a lot of people say Final Fantasy VII is their favorite game of all time. While I didn’t exactly get that same experience, I can appreciate why they would say that. Since then, I’ve learned to really try to understand the stories in video games and how they’re not as simple as they were before. I can’t wait to see people play Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth in a couple of months. It may not hit me with the same passion as I can’t say the original is the best game in my opinion. But I just love to see how their eyes will light up with the experience of playing their favorite game but upgraded and different all at the same time.

What was your first experience with the original Final Fantasy VII like? Let me know in the comments section below!