FFVII Compilation

is that a sequel I hear?!

"The most popular game in the history of the Final Fantasy series gets more spin-offs than Happy Days with the Compilation of FFVII."

- Raymond M. Padilla, GameSpy

Final Fantasy VII was the first of the famous Final Fantasy series to appear on the Playstation back in 1997, and it's just a bit of an understatement to say that it took the world by storm. With (then) cutting-edge graphics and an unexpected sci-fi setting (in contrast to the earlier games' high fantasy), it quickly achieved major commercial success. The game followed the confused, spiky-haired hero Cloud Strife as he and his friends fought to save the planet from Shinra, a ruthless megacorporation bent on exploiting the planet's life-energy for its own means. Of course, there was Sephiroth, whose androgynous features and silver hair extensions caught the eyes of fangirls worldwide.

A little under ten years later, Square Enix began to roll out the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII -- assorted sequels and prequels based on the original game. The acclaimed CG movie Advent Children was one of these projects, featuring realistic versions of Cloud, Tifa and company in a high-action, high-fanservice production. But wait, no! That wasn't all Square Enix had up their sleeves; there was also Before Crisis, a Japan-only cell phone game featuring the Turks, and Dirge of Cerberus, the PS2 third-person-shooter starring Vincent Valentine himself. Recently, we have become privy to the life of Cloud's closest friend, Zack, in the PSP game Crisis Core.

For the most part, this tribute will focus on the canon introduced by Dirge of Cerberus. I'll say it right now: that statement does not endorse DoC as a good game. The gameplay was mediocre and the plot had a number of weak points, such as the clumsy integration of Chaos and Omega, and the wholly unnecessary Deepground army. However, I enjoyed it anyway because it offered a more detailed peek into Vincent's past and his relationship with Lucrecia.

Of note is how DoC retconned nearly everything in the original telling of Vincent's story. For example, it explained the circumstances behind Lucrecia's erratic behavior and her rejection of Vincent. Of course, what we're truly interested in are the byproducts of this Epic Retcon: the hints that she did, in fact, have feelings for him. In true FFVII fashion, these hints are frustratingly vague, but they're hints nonetheless.

site index