Poll of the Day > Playing FF7 for the first time

(+) Yeah! (+)

fuck. I played for another TWO hours trying to catch a stupid chocobo. I finally caught one, saw that slaughtered animal, made it through the caves to the mines, then my GAME CRASHED AND I HADNT SAVED.

now I have to catch another dumb bird. Ill try again tomorrow.

I couldnt wait for tomorrow. I went though again and now I just saved the girl from a giant sea monster and gave her CPR. I didnt game over, but those HP sucking bubbles were a huge drag.

i played that mini game/sidequest where you defend the bird on the reactor, but I was not a fan at all. I didnt spend any money, and I only placed one soldier, so the monsters reached the fort. I killed it fine, but I think thats still technically a loss? Idk it doesnt seem super important so I think Im gonna leave it alone unless it becomes important, and then I might use a guide.

Yeah, Fort Condor is lame: you can forget all about that. Junon is a little weird, but you get a fun segment again soon.

Pest part of Fort Condor is that it's buggy, incomplete, and the localization uses Tincture for Ether.

you might have to revisit fort condor one more time late in the game for a special item, but by then youll have much more money to spend and its easier. Its not really that big a deal

Fort Condor is really easy. Just use the standard unit (yes, ONLY the standard unit; it's generic so you can swarm everything with them) and play hyper-aggressively, moving the frontline to the lowest possible choke points as fast as possible and putting your units as close to enemies and as far down as you can. You can win every single battle this way and it won't even cost you that much money (and money is so easy to get in this game, so who even cares?).

The real issue is the ridiculous amount of backtracking you have to do at the weirdest times in order to catch some of the fights.

the best part about fort condor is that it's completely skippable.

you do have to go back once later, but even if you lose i'm pretty sure you can get the phoenix materia after some digging in bone village.

I got the tiny bronco

I have the plane. Im stuck. Idk what to do now.

Well, it's a mini open world segment. If you have an optional character Yuffie you can cross to the long island to the west and do a long kind-of-fun, also kind-of-annoying sidequest. Otherwise to advance the plot you're supposed to look around for clues about Sephiroth/etc. If you go to the north you'll find a small 'village' on the southern part of the northern continent. If you go ALL of the way around the eastern continent you'll work around to the islands in the bottom middle of the map, and that's where the storyline really continues.

my least fav ps1 ff
Still amazing though enjoy

MrMelodramatic posted...

I have the plane. Im stuck. Idk what to do now.

In addition to what wpot mentioned, if you didn't already do it, there's an optional puzzle in Shinra Manor that opens a locked door in the basement.

Thanks for the help everyone. I did the yuffie story, then went back to the gold saucer and got the keystone. taking a break now, but it seems like Im headed to the final act temple of the ancient boutta get wrecked

Gaawa_chan posted...

In addition to what wpot mentioned, if you didn't already do it, there's an optional puzzle in Shinra Manor that opens a locked door in the basement.

I got the vampire guy to join my team. Is that what you meant, or is there something else?

there's still plenty left, you're good. (:

MrMelodramatic posted...

I got the vampire guy to join my team. Is that what you meant, or is there something else?

That's it, you're good.

END OF PART 1

woo boy I guess Im not nearly as close to the end as I thought. Looked at a guide because I got lost on the map, and it looks like theres still quite a few things to do lol

Wait are you not playing the PSX version?

I'm playing on the Switch

Yea you're like 1/4 of the way through the game.

well that I don't believe lol. I have my party at their second limit level 3, and everyone is around level 45. There's no way I'd be so strong if I wasn't even halfway through.

2 Qs though:

Is it better to focus on one party and level them up quickly, or to change members every so often and have a more consistent team? I had Aeris at level 46, then she died so <_< now I have Yuffie on my squad and she's 10 levels under the other two. Will other people leave the party, or am I fine now?

I've been on level 3 of my limits for a while. Does level 4 just take a lot longer than the others, or is there some story thing I have to do before I can unlock them?

MrMelodramatic posted...

Is it better to focus on one party and level them up quickly, or to change members every so often and have a more consistent team? I had Aeris at level 46, then she died so <_< now I have Yuffie on my squad and she's 10 levels under the other two. Will other people leave the party, or am I fine now?

You're fine in regards to party members for the long term, although there are some segments on disc 2 where you'll be required to use a certain character and/or not use a different one. It's nothing to worry about too much, though: I'd recommend just picking three who you like (either for their limits, which are really the only thing that's different about them in battle apart from whether they are ranged or not, or their personalities) and going from there.

MrMelodramatic posted...

I've been on level 3 of my limits for a while. Does level 4 just take a lot longer than the others, or is there some story thing I have to do before I can unlock them?

You're progressing quickly. :) The fourth level needs to be learned from an item, most (but not all) of which become available late in the game. Red's fourth limit, for example, came from the chest in the mansion...you should have it.

Note that you learn the second limit in a level by using the first one multiple times, FYI.

Alright I got through a TON of story, and I finally gave my full team back (save for Aeris RIP in peace). I still have some bits of plot that arent exactly clear to me yet but I think should be lol. But thats ok!

I also got Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Yuffie, and XIIIs final limit items. I think before I move on to the underwater part of Junon, Im going to work on being able to use all of Yuffies limit breaks. Shes part of my main squad but still at level 1.

MrMelodramatic posted...

I still have some bits of plot that arent exactly clear to me yet

There's an optional scene if you go back to the basement in the Shinra mansion that ties up many of the loose ends, FYI. Frankly, it's important enough that it seems like it should have been mandatory...

MrMelodramatic posted...

I still have some bits of plot that arent exactly clear to me

Wrote this for a reason:
Judgmenl posted...

I expect a writeup about your analysis on the story.

But yes, watch the scenes in the Nibelheim basement first and write up what you think is happening. Because of the poor localization, what you think is happening might not actually be what's happening. Also after you watch the scene you might understand how the bad localization actually makes the game better.

Wow that flashback really shouldnt be optional lol.

Judgmenl posted...

I expect a writeup about your analysis on the story.

tbh Im having trouble understanding the timeline of events haha. Zack dated Aeris, right? Was that before being incubated at the shinra mansion? What happened in the two lost years in clouds memory?

MrMelodramatic posted...

Wow that flashback really shouldnt be optional lol.

Indeed! There's lots of necessary info there. Heck, that scene was the primary background for an entire spinoff game: Crisis Core.

MrMelodramatic posted...

Zack dated Aeris, right? Was that before being incubated at the shinra mansion?

Before. Afterwards not much happened other than them trying to return to Midgar and Zack getting killed.

MrMelodramatic posted...

What happened in the two lost years in clouds memory?

He was floating in a tube. Also, IIRC it was 4 years.

Ready to write it up? :)

MrMelodramatic posted...

tbh Im having trouble understanding the timeline of events haha. Zack dated Aeris, right? Was that before being incubated at the shinra mansion? What happened in the two lost years in clouds memory?

This is all explained in Crisis Core I think.
I've never actually finished that game.

Mr25YearsLate

amirite?

I actually never played FF7 either but that wont stop me from saying FF8 is 10x better.

Suuure ok so

The Cetra are a race of aliens who came to earth thousands of years ago as part of their journey to reach the promised land. While there, another alien, Jenova, (for unknown reasons) hit the planet with a meteor. The planet used its lifeforceenergy to start repairing itself, and created Weapon to stop Jenova. The Certa were I guess waiting for the planet to finish healing, but along the centuries began to die out. In the meanwhile, people learned to use the life energy to create mako which makes materia which can be used to make magic and I assume other things like electricity and whatever. Shrina becomes a dominant force in the world because of their Mako minining and Materia production. however, stripping the earth of its resources is killing the planet, so Shinra begins using the Cetra to look for the promised land, which they assume is full of Mako. The last remaining Certa were Aeris - who was killed by Sephiroth - and her mom, who was killed by Shinra.

Some time before FF7 begins, Shinra accidentally awakens Jenova while mining, mistaking her for a Cetra, uses her cells to make Sephiroth, a super warrior who can look for the promised land. Everything is hunky dory until a mission at Nibelheim reveals the truth to Sephiroth - that he is a clone of Jenova (who he believes to be Cetra) and that his race was wiped out by the natives of earth. He goes crazy and murder everyone in this town and resolves to get his revenge.

meanwhile, childhood neighbors Zack, Cloud, and Tifa grew up at Nibel. Cloud was a shy kid with a crush on Tifa, but never expressed it. After Tifas mom died, she got into an accident trying to climb a mountain, and Cloud is blamed. After this, cloud decides to join SOLDIER, isnt good enough, but does become part of Sephiroths entourage, along with Zack who is a SOLDIER (and was dating Aeris at some point).

after seeing Seph kill Tifa and Zack during his rampage, Cloud kills him. Sephiroth is thought dead, but is taken in by Shinra to make clones. Cloud and Zack are also taken in, and injected with Sephiroth cells to make pseudo-clones. Somehow, Z escapes with Cloud and they both leave to Midgar. Zack is killed, and Clouds confused self gets his identity and Zacks messed up, and takes on Zacks dream of becoming a mercenary at Midgar. when cloud gets to Midgar, he reunites with Tifa, and Aeris starts talking to him because she is reminded of Zack.

back in the present, a cone of Seph finds the PL, Summons a meteor, and awakens the real Sephiroth.

Crisis Core was kind of like FF7R: it didn't change anything in regards to the basic Aeris/gap/etc details, but it tacked on extra stuff...some of which was OK and some of which was awful.

As for the writeup, pretty good! Some corrections (as I understand them):

• Jenova is an evil space bug: it doesn't really seem to have "reasons" so far as it's possible to tell in game. (That said, it was a shape-shifter that talked to the Cetra in the past, so...maybe)
• Jenova didn't hit the planet with a meteor as I understand. It rode in on a spaceship/something and made the crater itself when it landed. Maybe it was a FF5 style meteor. :)
• The Cetra died out rapidly fighting Jenova. Not over centuries.
• Zack grew up in Gongaga, not Nibelheim. He and Cloud didn't meet until the Nibelheim mission.
• Seph didn't kill Zack (or Tifa). Just "defeated" him such that he ended up in a tube. And Tifa got carried away by her martial arts teacher.

The last sentence is the most confusing and debated part. Hojo created a bunch of Sephiroth clones: black-caped guys. Sephiroth can control them remotely and make them do things. He can also make them look like himself. When you see Sephiroth in-game you're either seeing a black-caped man that Seph is controlling or you're seeing a psychic version of himself that he's projecting out from the North Crater. He is conscious and controlling things for the entire duration of the game from the North Crater.

Just a reminder that materia defines how you level, so try keeping characters in a set role to maximise their ability.

wpot posted...

The last sentence is the most confusing and debated part. Hojo created a bunch of Sephiroth clones: black-caped guys. Sephiroth can control them remotely and make them do things. He can also make them look like himself. When you see Sephiroth in-game you're either seeing a black-caped man that Seph is controlling or you're seeing a psychic version of himself that he's projecting out from the North Crater. He is conscious and controlling things for the entire duration of the game from the North Crater.

This was the key part here.

Judgmenl posted...

This was the key part here.

Yeah, and it's difficult to grasp in-game.

wpot posted...

* Jenova is an evil space bug: it doesn't really seem to have "reasons" so far as it's possible to tell in game. It works best to think of it as a virus, I think. (That said, it was a shape-shifter that talked to the Cetra in the past, so...maybe there's more to it)

interesting! I expected am upcoming twist to be that Jenova was the real antogonist, and had been controlling seph or Rufus to finish destroying the planet. But that seems unlikely if jenova doesnt have motive. Kinda weird for a reactionary being to be the big bad.

* Jenova didn't hit the planet with a meteor as I understand. It rode in on a spaceship/something and made the crater itself when it landed. Maybe it was a FF5 style meteor. :)

hmm okay. Was jenova the one woman-looking thing, or is that just one of the Jenovas?

* The Cetra died out rapidly fighting Jenova. Not over centuries.

gotcha.

* Zack grew up in Gongaga, not Nibelheim. He and Cloud didn't meet until the Nibelheim mission.

oh yeah duh I met his parents

* Seph didn't kill Zack (or Tifa). Just "defeated" him such that he ended up in a tube. And Tifa got carried away by her martial arts teacher.

right I knew that. I just used killed at shorthand :p

The last sentence is the most confusing and debated part. Hojo created a bunch of Sephiroth clones: black-caped guys. Sephiroth can control them remotely and make them do things. He can also make them look like himself. When you see Sephiroth in-game you're either seeing a black-caped man that Seph is controlling or you're seeing a psychic version of himself that he's projecting out from the North Crater. He is conscious and controlling things for the entire duration of the game from the North Crater.

I got the jist of this, but thanks for clarifying! So Sephiroth was alive at the north crater this whole five years? Why wait to start the reunion to summon meteor?

two more Qs:

1. Was nibelheim being destroyed a fake memory, or was it rebuilt, or why are there two of them? Cloud did grow up there so why didnt anyone remember him? Surely they remember his mom.

2. It seemed like a big plot point that cold thought the massacre was five years ago when it was actually seven. Why the discrepancy? What happened in those 5/7 years?

MrMelodramatic posted...

interesting! I expected am upcoming twist to be that Jenova was the real antogonist, and had been controlling seph or Rufus to finish destroying the planet. But that seems unlikely if jenova doesnt have motive. Kinda weird for a reactionary being to be the big bad.

As you get further into it it's kind of hard to separate Seph from Jenova as they both use each other to achieve similar goals. Someone once said that Seph is best thought of as an evolution of Jenova who has taken over control: that might be as good as anything. Still, the Meteor plan appears to be fully Seph (would Jenova survive that?) so he's in control.

MrMelodramatic posted...

Was jenova the one woman-looking thing, or is that just one of the Jenovas?

That is THE Jenova that was terrorizing the Cetra. Everything else (including Seph) is just something that had cells injected into them from that thing. Psychic Seph carries the body of it around (the head is with him in the North Crater) after getting if from Shinra HQ and throws chunks of it at you that shape shift into something you fight.

MrMelodramatic posted...

Why wait to start the reunion to summon meteor?

I think it's generally accepted that it took him time to absorb the knowledge of the lifestream and figure out how to use his psychic powers. Or something like that. :)

MrMelodramatic posted...

Was nibelheim being destroyed a fake memory, or was it rebuilt, or why are there two of them? Cloud did grow up there so why didnt anyone remember him? Surely they remember his mom.

Nibelheim was destroyed and everyone who was originally there was turned into black-cloaked people. The cloaked people in the rebuilt town were the original residents (you can see it most clearly with the two kids that got turned into black-cloaks). Shinra rebuilt the town to cover up the Sephiroth incident and moved in new people (who didn't know Cloud). It's unclear why they let the original people hang around: probably plot convenience.

MrMelodramatic posted...

It seemed like a big plot point that cold thought the massacre was five years ago when it was actually seven. Why the discrepancy? What happened in those 5/7 years?

Cloud worked for Shinra for 3 years and floated in a tube for 4 years. As for 5 vs 7 I think the point is that Cloud's memory is broken...not that there are two missing years in particular.

neat, thanks!

This is my first FF. when I finish VII, are there any others that I should maybe get into (preferably legally available either on Switch or able to run on a non-gaming computer)? Is watching Advent Children and reading up on the plot of the other games worth doing, or does the story just get increasingly convoluted and bad a la kingdom hearts lmao

MrMelodramatic posted...

does the story just get increasingly convoluted and bad a la kingdom hearts lmao

I would say this is what happened, unfortunately: just enjoy the original for what it is. The new Remake is really good about 85% of the time IMO. But they added "fate" as ghosty characters and the other 15% is garbage (IMO). If they had just left well enough alone it could have been great. Crisis Core (Zack's story) is much the same: it's kinda fun about two thirds of the time, but the stuff they added is just dumb.

There isn't another game that is strongly similar to FF7: they change significant things about the formula every time. I think everything F6-X is a great game, but I like them for different reasons.

FF6 is old-school FF on a (nice) 2D map. The gameplay is a bit simpler and the plot is good but it isn't nearly as twisty as 7: it actually ends about halfway through the game and you have an open-world segment for the second half. I recommend it...if you think you could enjoy 2D.

FF8 has a twisty storyline that's fun at times, but it's also nonsensical at times and the characters are military school kids obsessed with the hero's romance (unlike the fairly adult FF7 crew). The gameplay is also strange to adapt to (some weird mechanics) although it's pretty fun after you figure it out. All in all it's a very mixed bag: it's great when it's "on" and stupid when it's not.

FF9 is a modernized version of the old (quasi) medieval FFs. The art style and early plot (evil queen) makes it feel a bit childish in the beginning, but it's a pretty solid entry after it gets going. It's the anti-FF8: always good, but without as many highs and lows. The storyline is more straightforward.

FFX is probably the most similar to FF7 in terms of having a rather epic storyline. However, some people are annoyed by the teenage angst of the main character that pops out from time to time. Battles are fully turn-based. It takes a good while to really get going, both for plot and gameplay, but it does get there IMO.

I would personally vote FFX, but you started on top as far as storylines go.

MrMelodramatic posted...

neat, thanks!

This is my first FF. when I finish VII, are there any others that I should maybe get into (preferably legally available either on Switch or able to run on a non-gaming computer)? Is watching Advent Children and reading up on the plot of the other games worth doing, or does the story just get increasingly convoluted and bad a la kingdom hearts lmao

Wow. Terrible choice for first FF IMO. The entire series took a serious drop in quality from 6 to 7. It is a shell of itself at this point.

MrMelodramatic posted...

neat, thanks!

This is my first FF. when I finish VII, are there any others that I should maybe get into (preferably legally available either on Switch or able to run on a non-gaming computer)? Is watching Advent Children and reading up on the plot of the other games worth doing, or does the story just get increasingly convoluted and bad a la kingdom hearts lmao

Sure. Personally when I play a series I like to go as far back as possible, but the NES games are not really a priority imo, so maybe try out the super Nintendo ones? 4, 5, 6? Those three do pretty much everything the NES games do but better, and 4 is a quick game to bust through.

If you do play 4, know that there are 2 versions. I like both, but most people seem to like the 2d version the most.

However, if you don't wanna do things like that, 6 and 10 are probably the most highly regarded after 7.

MrMelodramatic posted...

neat, thanks!

This is my first FF. when I finish VII, are there any others that I should maybe get into (preferably legally available either on Switch or able to run on a non-gaming computer)? Is watching Advent Children and reading up on the plot of the other games worth doing, or does the story just get increasingly convoluted and bad a la kingdom hearts lmao

i would say look up advent children if you really enjoy ff vii, but its not really that great and you arent missing out on much.

for other FFs, I would recommend sticking with the PS1 gen, those are the best imo. They have should have VIII and /or IX on the Switch. I think both are better than VII imo.

Id most likely recommend IX because its easier to enjoy. its epic and fun and romantic and you get some really deep characters

FFVIII is my personal favorite but its not for everyone. You kinda have to like the sappy love story to really enjoy it. It has some of the best characters in the series though

If you're gonna watch Advent Children, you gotta watch the Complete extended version

check out 6 or 9 after you finish 7. there's good stuff before 6 but a lot might feel dated, and people tend to really love or really hate (mostly really hate) 8. i think it's better than people give it credit for, though.

theres a lot of people who love 8 too, Nade

There's people who love Sonic '06 also

Stopped Weapon. A much easier fight than I expected. Now onto the crater!!

just looked at the selection of FF on the switch.. really weird/annoying that none of the games that debuted on a nintendo system aren't on the nintendo system except for crystal chronicles.

i happily purchased crystal chronicles though. <3

MrMelodramatic posted...

Stopped Weapon. A much easier fight than I expected. Now onto the crater!!

Now we'll see what you think of the ending...

I wonder what the crater is gonna be like in Remake

Do you have a favorite party yet TC?