The US version of Final Fantasy IV was the first RPG I had ever played. Before journeying with Cecil, Rydia and the others, I had no concept of the RPG genre at all. I remember flipping through my monthly Nintendo Power magazine and seeing the "Epic" section, which was where they covered all the current RPGs, and I seriously hated that these ten or eleven pages were being stolen from the Mario brothers and MegaMan. Who plays these epic games? They looks so stupid! I wanted cheats for Clay Fighters and level layouts for Metroid, not item shop lists for the Secret of Mana. This was pre-sixth grade, keep in mind. Like most adolescents, I had little knowledge of what was out there, and I didn't care. Platformers and occasionally fighting games were all I had ever played, and the $3 it cost to rent a game was too precious to take a chance on a game I might not like.

This is really FFIV, but Square likes to confuse the dumb Americans.

     But, fate intervened one afternoon when I decided to rent Final Fantasy II for SNES. I don't remember why I picked it up, with my passionate dislike for "epics", but I did. I don't remember being excited to play it while I sat in the back seat of my mother's car on the way home from the video store. What I do remember is jamming it into my SNES and sitting, dazed, for hours upon hours, engrossing myself in this "epic." The storyline and character development where like none other that I had ever experianced. You mean the story isn't to simply save the Princess? Whoa, that's crazy. Crazy, indeed. Events swirled and wove together to form a tight-knit storyline where I actually controlled a lot of what was going on. I got to name the main characters myself for crying outloud! I think that was one of the main points of initial fascination with it, naming the characters. It made the game so much more personal, and I'm sad that the latest games in the Final Fantasy line have restricted this function to main hero only, though I understand its need when heavy voice acting is priority.
     In the end, I made it to the Magus Sisters and had a three day late fee built up for my mother to pay. I'm not sure why I never rented it again, perhaps my funds were tight, as they usually were except around my birthday and Christmas. But, the seed for an obsession for RPGs was planted firmly in my mind. I was writing those three little letters everywhere, my trapper, my homework, the chalkboard before class, anywhere where someone might see it and ask, permitting me to enroll them into the greatest club of all, the Loser's Club. It's no secret that the DnD players are by no means popular in school, and perhaps this was a turning point in my life. I could have either started in sports or band and become popular, or I could endulge myself in, basically, nerd hobbies. I was already into comics, so it was easy for me to continue my path to the Loser's side. I remember finding out that Final Fantasy III for SNES did not continue the story of II, but started an entirely new one in a new world with new characters. This really didn't bode well with me at the time. What the hell? That's dumb. I wrote it off completely as a failure and didn't give it a second thought. In my mind, nothing could live up to the greatness and marvel that was Final Fantasy II. I guess my mind was still pretty small, all things considered.

Oooh! A secret cameo, this game is a giver.

     My next RPG, the first one I actually finished, was Super Mario RPG. My old best friend had his own RPG. Characters I was very familiar with in a format I was just starting to fall in love with, a no brainer that I would swoon over this game night and day. Over the course of several rentals, often times having to start all over again cause the last guy to rent it had erased my game, I finally beat it. I remember, it was a rainy afternoon. I was the only person home and I just sat down and taught Smithy a lesson. Now, with some solid RPG EXP under my belt, I pretty much rented RPGs exclusively. Although, most of the ones I rented turned out to be duds compared to the two I had enjoyed so very much. I played most of A Link to the Past, I played some Ninja Brothers game, some game where you're in a mine cart... Nothing spectacular to me at the time, so my intrest in the genre fizzled out for some time.
     Almost two years and half years post playing Final Fantasy II on the Super NES, I started to see commercials for a new game. It was Christmas time again, and marketing for the new Playstation was running rampant. Crash Bandicoot and Tomb Raider were just a couple of the titles you couldn't leave your house without hearing about. The one that really caught my attention was a game called Final Fantasy VII. VII? Man, I've been out of the loop here... Months later, after some online detective work, I finally discovered the truth about Square's numbering of the US releases. But, at the time, I was like "Hmmm... cool." This was shortly after my mother's divorce and I found out one of the small wonders that come from the mental trauma that can be caused by such events; I was getting twice as many gifts, the usual from my mother and my father was getting us something, too! (Us being myself and my two brothers) It was something like a few days before Christmas, so my dad needed gift ideas. My mother advised, because my father was a simpler man, that we think about one big gift instead of a big long list like we traditionally gave her. My brother, Andrew, who is the closest to my age of the two, and I decided on getting a Playstation; but then it came down to what game would we get with it? Final Fantasy VII We got the Playstation and the game from my father a few days later. Would this installment in the riddled series live up to my expectations? No. It rose far beyond them within the first minutes of gameplay. Not only did it have everything I loved in II, it also had better graphics, a more intricate story, CG-fucking-I cutscenes and more. Out of the box and into my bedroom, this game blew me away. Only one solitary thing disappointed me about it, I needed a memory card. Christmas was over and my wad of cash was non-existant. So, I just started new games over and over. It was that good that I didn't care. New by No Doubt is a song that really puts into words and melody that feeling I had and remember so very fondly. I never had that taste in the past... new. The farthest of my several attempts at playing before I finally got a memory card was the Rufus boss fight right before you leave Midgar. He beat me that time, cutting me off from the outside world map.

Awe, shit. I forgot to get the W-Item materia in Midgar...

     The following months after getting it are a very happy, sureal blur mixed with songs of the Spice Girls. *sigh* Two other things I had gotten for Christmas that year were a small tape player/radio and the Spice Girls first cassette. Whenever I played FFVII, I listened to that tape. It's really strange and almost funny how whenever I hear any of those songs it immediatly conjures up images and feelings from my first runthrough of the game. Is it sad that the two media phenomenons are permanently fused in my subconscious? Perhaps, but, I don't care. Spice Girls were fine. Fine. *heavy sigh* Just thinking about that time, 1997/98, god... If I could break off my life and one point and start it anew, I think that point might be it. My friends Roger and Lee also had played it the same time as I did. We often compared notes and it was almost a race I think, maybe not to all of us, but for me, to finish it first. The game was all we talked about, all I thought about, all I wanted to do. Sephiroth would pay for killing Aeris! AHHH! A main character dies midway through the game?! That's what I call classic, my friends. Classic. Gathering up all the different materia, training golden chocobos, exploitng Knights of the Round, defeating Sephiroth and finally, weeks later, the Emerald and Ruby weapons. God, what a ride.

The best part of FFVIII, Edea's cleavage.

     In 1999, Final Fantasy VIII was released and I snatched it up immediatly, like a hungry lion catching his first meal in a month. It was good, but not as good as VII. Technically and visually, it was superior, but, it wasn't... new. I'm sure there are a lot of flame-wars about what Final Fantasy is the best, but I don't think anyone could ever really win doing that. I have this theory that, the first one play will be you favorite, because, without a doubt, whatever future installments you play, you will always be comparing it to your virgin experience with the series. My first was indeed II, but, I didn't play it for longer than a few days. Likewise, when comparing it to VII, it was blown out of the water, in my opinion. None have come close to matching that feeling for me, that undescribable feeling today, I can only achieve when listening to the Spice Girls. Strange, but true. Not even playing game itself will bring back that old feeling, I've played through to many times from that first time to today. Nothing takes me back to the first time I played, except those damn Spice Girl songs. So, I'm greatful to them.

Me, when I found out the news.

     About eight months ago, I found out some pretty trippy news. Cloud was coming back. After downloading the trailer, not knowing what to expect, I watched the first preview of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOHMYGOD! It was the return of the king, in glorious 3D rendering. What was apparently coming out in the summer of '04 was what the Final Fantasy: Spirits Within should have been, a good movie. But, nope. This was going to be a grand, "epic" movie with characters I was already in love with. That killer ending to the original game was finally going to be expounded upon. The following morning, nothing could bring me down from the high of knowing. Work was work, but in my mind, I wasn't at work, I was in the Promised Land. Under my breath every so often, I whipser "Final Fantasy Seven Advent Children" and giggle madly to myself. A dream come true, in the simplest terms. I immediatly started a new game on the ol' Playstation but, after the initial high wore off a couple weeks later, I let it go. Then, a few months after the first, a second trailer was released, and this time I was starting a new game for real, seriously. I began it on the PC version my brother bought ages ago and never really played. It was better looking than the PS1 version, so in a way, it was... new. Not that new, but new in a way all its own. With school and such getting in my way, I let it slip for about a month after getting Yuffie. Every once in a once, once a week maybe, I'd pick it up for a few hours, knowing I needed a good refresher course for Advent Children.

Cloud is back, fuckers. And he still knows how to rock.

     This last week and weekend, I went through it like mad. Through Aeris' death and onto disc 2 then 3 I made it to Sephiroth's lair. Was I strong enough to beat him? I didn't train chocobos or collect the choicest materia, but I went straight after him anyway. I was going to defeat him again if I was up all night (and I was, as of right now it is 4:47AM). Miraculously, I conquered him and sat back to watch the incredible CGI ending to my favorite video game of all time. Then, I went into my archives and watched the Advent Children trailers. God! I'm so hyped for this movie and my love for the game has been renewed. I was a virgin nerd before Final Fantasy VII and on a quiet evening in January of 1998, this game made me a man.
     Am I excited about Advent Children? Hell yes. Is Final Fantasy VII my favorite Final Fantasy? Hell yes. Is Final Fantasy VII my favorite game of all time? Hell yes! With every bit of info that comes along about Advent Children, my blood starts racing again and when I finally feast my eyes upon the Sequal, I may wet my pants. Final Fantasy VII, what can I say about this game that hasn't already been said?

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