INFORMATION

• Introduction
• Biography & Stats
• Background
• Astrology
• Blood Type
• Her Name
• Seventh Heaven
• Nibelheim
• Appearance
• Zangan
• Love Triangle
• Cloud Strife
• Aeris Gainsborough
• Barret Wallace
• Advent Children
• On the Way to a Smile
• Voice Actresses

IN-GAME

• Gold Saucer
• Don Corneo
• Quotes
• Limit Breaks & Weapons

GALLERIES

• Official & More
• Advent Children
• Dirge of Cerberus
• Cosplay

SITE RELATED

• Link In
• Links
• Affiliates
• Joined
• Besaid.com

FINAL FANTASY VII

The world where Final Fantasy VII takes place is economically, militarily, and politically dominated by a company called Shin-Ra, which profits from the use of machines known as 'Mako Reactors'. These reactors pump 'Mako Energy' out of the planet and convert it into electricity. A by-product of the electrical refinement process is a substance known as Materia that has magical properties.

In actuality, this Mako Energy comes from what is called the 'Lifestream', a flow of souls beneath the surface of the planet. Life comes from the Lifestream, and death is a return to it. The Lifestream represents the soul of a planet from which all other life on that planet is born. In other words, Shin-Ra is draining the life of the planet to make electricity.

The powers in charge of Shin-Ra are fascinated with the idea of the 'Promised Land'—supposedly a place where the land is incredibly fertile and where Mako flows abundantly. Only a race called the Cetra, or the Ancients, are, according to legend, able to find it. However, the Cetra are extinct, save one girl: Aeris. As such, Shin-Ra is trying to find her.

In Midgar, a city created and run entirely by Shin-Ra, where their main headquarters are located, a resistance faction known as AVALANCHE is attempting to destroy the Mako reactors, on the grounds that the reactors are literally sucking the life away from the planet. The story begins as AVALANCHE hires a mercenary named Cloud Strife, an ex-member of Shin-Ra's elite warrior force, SOLDIER, to help them destroy the eight Mako Reactors positioned in a ring around Midgar.

Cloud is initially uninterested in AVALANCHE's cause and is in it only for the money, but he soon begins to see the danger posed by Shin-Ra, who are also responsible for the destructive acts of a man he knew in the past named Sephiroth, and so he joins in the escalating conflict to protect the planet.

Sephiroth, who was a legendary SOLDIER, it turns out, is still alive and is working against Cloud and AVALANCHE to execute a very sinister plot. And as the story progresess, Cloud's identity and his past come into question.

Some have gone as far as to call Final Fantasy VII the hands-down best game ever made. And if you enjoy a good Japanese-style RPG, chances are you will agree. However, Final Fantasy VII, for all its astonishing features, is not a game with the sort of mass appeal that its massive marketing blitz may lead you to believe. For one thing, you can't finish it in a sitting, as Final Fantasy VII will be a solid 40 to 50-hour commitment for the average role-playing gamer. Otherwise, you might be taken aback by the extensive, text-heavy dialogue; there is no speech at all in Final Fantasy VII, in the interest of letting your imagination do a little work. Though you will make many small-scale decisions over the course of the game, on the whole, the story follows a very linear path. This linearity is a by-product of the plot's complexity, however - certainly a respectable sacrifice.
Greg Kasavin, GameSpot
Posted Sep 29, 1997