1997. High school. Halfway through senior year. For Christmas, we got a Playstation (PS1) and a game none of us had heard of.
Back then, the internet was more of an expensive toy than the robust network representing virtually the total sum of human knowledge that it is now. News moved slower. Knowledge took time. Life took its time.
Back to Christmas.
I remember unwrapping the box and smiling, smiling and resisting the urge to cheer because I was 17. And then there was a game, also wrapped. Mortal Kombat? Tekken? Street Fighter?
Nope. Instead, there’s a blond guy with a huge sword on the front cover. And, even more suspect, the game was purchased by my game-averse mother with absolutely zero input from anyone that knew anything at all about gaming.
But the back cover of the game case says “…possibly the best game ever.” So I shrugged and decided to give it a try, at least until we were able to borrow other games from my friends.
Fast-forward to over 100 hours of gameplay later, I am red-eyed, shaking, and sobbing openly.
Final Fantasy VII box art
Final Fantasy VII was unlike any other game I had ever played and, while it wasn’t my first gaming experience, it quickly came to be one of my favorites. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced – a massive game spanning three discs, an expansive world of unrelenting wonder and discovery, magic, tragedy, doom, destiny… I couldn’t put it down.
I played that game for years, even as game consoles progressed well beyond the comparatively clunky antiquated graphics and long-rendered cliche story elements, I continued to play.
And, just like that, all of my prayers were answered.
After YEARS of denials and red herrings (including an especially devilish one at E3 in 2005), A few days ago, a remake of Final Fantasy 7 was announced at Sony’s press conference and the trailer was revealed at Square Enix’s show.
I saw this. And I screamed. I screamed aloud in a vocal explosion of pure unadulterated delight and excitement. I’m not exactly a quiet person but shouting in a continuous ambiguous unintelligible celebratory stream of (read: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!) is pretty rare for me.
And now, it’s happened again. Because… well… I mean look!
For those of you who understand, no explanation is necessary – likely, you were screaming too or, if you’re more on the cynical side of things, waving your hand dismissively. For those of you who don’t understand, I’m not entirely sure that any explanation would be enough. Moreover, any explanation I could offer would be rife with spoilers.
Suffice it to say that, this is, once again, the game we’ve all been waiting for. And, at long last, here we go again.
