For those who are not as immersed in the world of video games as I am, Final Fantasy VII has been one of the most famous video games in the world since it came out in 1997. The Final Fantasy series aren't direct sequels to each other, but they share creative teams and usually follow a band of unique characters working together to stop a villain from destroying the world. Final Fantasy VII was the first in the long-running series on what was then the latest console generation, coming out on the Sony PlayStation and wowing fans with its 3-dimensional graphics. But more than that, the game's setting, story, music, and characters have inspired legions of fans to clamor over it, ultimately prompting developer Square Enix to commit to a full remake on modern consoles, which comes out on April 10th. Though I always preferred the next game in the series, Final Fantasy VIII, to its predecessor, I have recently replayed Final Fantasy VII in anticipation of the remake, and having done so I wanted to give it the Geek Between the Lines style of critique by analyzing the game through the theme of identity. Warning: this post will contain major story spoilers for the original Final Fantasy VII.
Identity is a theme that pervades the story of FFVII, and is particularly interesting when looking at the character Aeris. Aeris has become one of the most famous video game characters in the world because she is the center of the first big twist in the game. Though she is written like she will be the main love interest for protagonist Cloud and the last hope for the threatened world as the the last remainder of the ancient and magical Cetra, she is killed by the villain Sephiroth less than halfway through the game. Aeris' death shocked players, and for years there were rumors circulating about secret ways to bring her back to life. The creators had propped her up as a savior and love interest, leaning into tropes of the funny, pure, (literally) magical young woman who warms the heart of the aloof male protagonist, only to remove her from the game's world just as the impending doom begins. This is not only crushing for the characters in the game, but for players as well.
I think a big part of that comes from the type of gameplay within FFVII. As a turn-based RPG (role-playing game), the player controls a team of characters all at once, able to choose three out of the nine available characters. Aeris is an early member and essential to the plot, and one of the few characters with a clear role in battle as the most magically powerful and a great healer. So when Aeris dies, players aren't just losing a character in the game, they are losing a part of their team, someone who might have been an integral part of the way they interacted with the game's world. In a way, players take on the identities of the characters they play in video games. They serve as our avatars, the mediums through which we are able to move, talk, fight, or explore. Losing a love interest or beloved character in any story can be powerful, but there is an added element that the video game medium provides that makes her loss more personal, like losing a limb, or your heart. Aeris' death is so powerful in part because of her identity as a character, and her role as part of the team that forms the player's identity in the game world.
The theme of identity might most obviously apply when looking at the main character of Cloud. To this day Cloud is often portrayed the way we are introduced to him in the game - as a badass, unconcerned, tough mercenary. Cloud starts the game already seemingly a hero, an ex-member of the elite SOLDIER unit who is only helping out the freedom fighters (or eco-terrorists, depending on your point of view) in AVALANCHE to help out his childhood flame Tifa, and later to protect his new interest Aeris. Cloud then follows after Sephiroth out of revenge for killing his mother and burning down his hometown, but remains disinterested in the fate of the planet or the ecological destruction caused by the fascist corporate overlords of the ShinRa Company. Cloud starts the game mostly-detached and uncaring, the trope of the cool, aloof hero that complements Aeris' savior madonna. Of course, all of that is a lie, and Cloud's character arc is in finding out who he really is.
Even Cloud himself is unaware that the heroic badass he claims to be is a fabrication. But through the game, we find out that Cloud was NOT a member of SOLDIER (he never made it in), Tifa WASN'T his childhood sweetheart (she was always hanging out with the cool kids, excluding Cloud), he is in NO WAY tough (he suffers from motion sickness), and he did not return to his hometown as a hero the way he imagined (he hid behind a masked military uniform out of shame). He did ultimately attack Sephiroth to save Tifa, but otherwise Cloud essentially took on the persona of Zack, a SOLDIER member that Cloud looked up to. The process that ultimately made Cloud so powerful actually stripped away his agency, as the magical cells he was infused with put him under Sephiroth's mental control, making it so that his pursuit of Sephiroth was all initially done under Sephiroth's subconscious demand. Yeah, it's confusing, but it's also really captivating.
As a player, we again feel this battle of identity because of the mechanics of the game and its narrative. Cloud wields a truly massive sword (the Buster Sword, because obviously it can bust things up), has access to magical powers, and is the most powerful character on your team, making you believe that he is the heroic figure he claims to be. We play as Cloud in his memories of the incident leading to Sephiroth's rampage and his revenge, not realizing that most of what we are playing are memories that Cloud doesn't even know are false. In a few key moments, Cloud starts to lose control of himself, meaning we aren't able to control him, granting Sephiroth access to the key items and information needed for his plans. This culminates in Aeris' death, when we are forced to move Cloud slowly into position to kill Aeris himself, our button presses represented by resistance but only those that move us closer to the death blow actually progressing the games story. No matter how long you want to resist, it is only after fully preparing for the strike that Cloud is brought back in control with the help of his friends. But immediately after, we watch Sephiroth kill Aeris right in front of us, with neither the player nor Cloud able to do anything about it. As Cloud questions his sanity and control, we can empathize because we are right there alongside him. A player might ask what the point of fighting through countless battles and boss fights is when at the end the character we have been controlling just gives up the world-threatening treasure to the villain?
After again giving Sephiroth the material needed to start his doomsday plan, Cloud suffers an breakdown, believing the only explanation we are given for his behavior that he isn't a regular human at all, but that he is a clone of Sephiroth made five years prior. Like Aeris before him, Cloud is torn from our team and hospitalized, until an extended section where he rebuilds his true memories and identities with the help of his childhood friend Tifa. The game's narrative (and even some gameplay mechanics) hint that Aeris would be the winner of their love triangle, but this segment shows how Tifa is more than just the one who ended up with Cloud because she lived. In this section, we not only learn that Cloud was not the heroic figure he presented himself as, but that he and Tifa weren't really the childhood friends they seemed to be. We learn almost as much about Tifa here as we do about Cloud. We learn about her despair from losing her mother at a young age, he desire to see Cloud again after their hometown was destroyed, and especially her unwavering love and support of Cloud for who he is. Tifa, who is the player's avatar during this scene, puts Cloud's mind back together, making the team whole again, or whole in a new way. When Aeris was faced with a similar breakdown, she abandoned Cloud to try to save the planet on her own - which clearly didn't work. Tifa is successful by working with Cloud, by not setting unattainable expectations but walking with him even as his entire identity falls apart. I honestly don't know whether I think Tifa and Cloud are meant to be together romantically, but I have so rarely seen in video games as great an example of a good friend.
I could clearly go on and on about this game and how it engages with the theme of identity. Each character has their own fascinating character arc: Barret struggles between his desire for revenge, his belief in the planet, and his love for his daughter; Cait Sith's ridiculous stuffed puppet avatar is comical and absurd because his operator Reeve is ashamed of his identity as a ShinRa executive; Red XIII claims no identity when we meet him, but we find out that the awesome and mysterious talking fire-lion hides a (relatively) young soul fueled by ideas of honor and familial burdens; Yuffie is more than a thief and comic relief, but a child of war who saw her entire community torn down around her and struggles with the powerlessness and rebellion that has instilled; and Vincent is an emo vampire dealing with the guilt and self-punishment of what his decisions have wrought for himself, his loved ones, and the planet. Cid is just Cid - not a lot going on there. I could also talk about more meta concerns, like how the early graphics hide as much as they portray, helping the player to actively imagine the emotions of those on screen, or how the rushed translation doesn't help the convoluted story, encouraging players to read between the lines and talk to their friends about the meaning behind the game.
There is truly so much to talk about with this game. I mentioned in the beginning of this post that I always preferred Final Fantasy VIII, and that game still holds the highest place in my heart. But playing through this game again and thinking about the characters' journeys has made me fall in love with FFVII in a way that I never felt before, with so much more appreciation for the nuances behind the tropes and convoluted psuedo-scientific backstories. I am now so much more excited for the release of the Final Fantasy VII Remake, and if you feel as fascinated as I am, I hope we can continue to talk about these themes together.
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