25 Years of Final Fantasy 7 Part 3 – Prequels to Sequels to Remake

Welcome back, readers!  This is the third and final part of a series of posts celebrating 25 years of Final Fantasy 7, and the impact it has had upon me throughout my life.

Click here to read Part 1.

Click here to read Part 2.

A Franchise is Born

I always wanted more Final Fantasy 7.  I played it so much throughout the years, especially every summer break, and it seemed like every time I played through the game, I made a new discovery.

But what happened after the game?  What happened to Midgar after Meteor nearly destroyed it?  Did the world finally stop using Mako energy?  Did Cloud and Tifa stay together?

At the time, I didn’t think I’d ever get to see more.  Despite some cameos here and there, the future (and past) of these characters and their world was relegated to fan fiction.  I also found myself disappointed by the next game, Final Fantasy 8.  I didn’t even try 9 or 10.

Then something strange happened.  In fact, two-fold.  First was when I heard the announcement that Final Fantasy X was about to get a direct sequel, Final Fantasy X-2.  What little I’d seen and read of X didn’t impress me, so my initial reaction was, “Why is that one getting a sequel???”

Then…Advent Children was announced.

A fully-rendered CGI movie that would act as a direct sequel to Final Fantasy 7!  I was in college when I first heard the announcement, and I was beyond excited!  At the time, I’d heard that there would be other content produced alongside of it, such as video games focusing on side characters (I think this is when Dirge of Cerberus was announced,) but nothing caught my attention like Advent Children did.  It would be two more years before it actually released, and I eagerly awaited every scrap of news about it.

When it finally came out, I had moved to a bigger city for college, where I’d met and befriended a fellow gaming enthusiast, Sean.  I honestly don’t remember where we bought it, maybe at Best Buy?  But we rushed to his house (each of us with our own copy in-hand,) snacks and soda at the ready, and plopped down with a couple other friends to watch it.

It did not disappoint.  Whereas Square’s original attempt at a CGI full-length movie was…okay (Spirits Within, I liked it better than most people seemed to,) this was something incredible and superior.  It hit all the notes, had fantastic pacing, was most definitely written to appeal to those who knew the game, and had a very satisfying ending.

In short, it was a worthy successor to the original game.  Superbly edited, perfectly voiced, and stunningly rendered (and at the time, one of my hobbies was 3D Graphic Design, so I was in awe of the technology behind it!)

It definitely didn’t end there.

Prequels and Sequels

Advent Children was part of a planned series of content additions to the Final Fantasy 7 story called Compilation of Final Fantasy 7.  At the time, however, the only one I cared about was Advent Children.

For starters, Crisis Core was on the Playstation Portable (PSP) only.  I had zero inclination to buy one (especially as a poor college student,) and it was a prequel featuring Zack, a character that is not heavily featured in 7 and whom, at the time, I didn’t really have any interest in.  Plus, the PSP had inferior graphics compared to the then-contemporary PS2, and I was a bit of a snob about graphics back then (and perhaps still am.)

Dirge of Cerberus was on the PS2, but was not an RPG and focused on Vincent.  When I watched Sean play a little bit of it, I found myself uninterested in the gameplay and story.

Fast forward several years, and my obsession over Final Fantasy 7 surged again.  After playing through the original game yet again, and watching Advent Children again, I wanted to learn more about Zack and his connection to Aerith and Cloud.  But I still was unwilling to buy a PSP.  So I turned to the internet, during a time when Youtube wasn’t clogged with commercials every few minutes.

I was able to watch every cutscene and major moment in Crisis Core, and found that I’d grossly misjudged it.  The story was intriguing, featured Sephiroth a lot more than I anticipated, and gave some back story to elements of 7 that really helped me understand and appreciate the characters and plot a lot more.

IE: it did what prequels were supposed to do (and a lot of prequels often fail to do.)

I was content never having played it – I considered emulators for the PSP to try it, but ended up not bothering.

I never did go back and give Dirge of Cerberus another chance.  Maybe in honor of the 25th anniversary, now is the time to try it.

Rumors of a Remake

For the most part, after Compilation of Final Fantasy 7 concluded, there was a dearth of FF7 content.  Mostly satisfied with the conclusion we saw in Advent Children, I was okay with that.  I felt like the story had been told, and the rest could live on in our imaginations.

Then Sony and Square/Enix did something unexpected.  As a technology demo for the Playstation 3, and to create buzz and excitement for the PS3, they released a tech demo of the opening sequence of Final Fantasy 7.  Those precious couple of minutes showing Aerith in front of a surging power conduit, the pull-out to show all of Midgar, the dramatic music, and then Cloud’s arrival by train at the Number 1 Mako Reactor.

I don’t know if they expected it or not, but the reaction across the internet spread faster than wildfire – were they remaking Final Fantasy 7 for the PS3?!??!?!?!

Fans wanted it.  Fans began to demand it.  Fans went crazy!  But I…was a bit skeptical.  I wanted it, though, and I hoped – a remake for an RPG into a modern-day platform, could you imagine just how beautiful the world of FF7 could be?!

But…it was not to be.  At least, at that time.  Based on everything I’ve read over the years, as much as the creators of FF7 wanted to refresh the game onto a modern platform, they felt that they could never do it justice.  It would be impossible to create the open world of 7 with the amount of detail expected from modern games.

I was sad.  But damn did that video stick with me.  Later when they refreshed Advent Children into Advent Children Complete, I wondered if that meant there was still hope for a 7 remaster or remake.

Still, rumors persisted.  Most often the rumors were false.  But then, one day…

Remake and Beyond

In 2015, Square/Enix made it official – they were going to remake Final Fantasy 7!  They had finally found a way.

What was the way?  Split it into multiple parts.  This announcement was met mostly with excitement, and some trepidation – this was on the heels of The Hobbit Trilogy, derided for dragging out a single novel’s worth of stories into a trilogy of movies, and including characters who shouldn’t have even been in it (personally I liked The Hobbit, but agree that it pales in comparison to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.)

Still, I was hopeful.  The way the announcement was presented gave me hope, and the fact that they were bringing back as much of the original development crew as they could excited me.  I knew they would treat the remake with the love and attention it deserved.

They did not disappoint.  When the demo of the first bombing mission was released (reminiscent of how the demo of the original game was the first bombing mission,) I immediately downloaded and played it.

The first thing that struck me was the music, oh god the music was just incredible!  I’ve always loved the music from the original, and the refresh it got for Advent Children was gorgeous, but they took it up another level or 10 in FF7R, and it never leaves my playlist now.

And playing through that first mission, with the new combat system, the new voices, and the incredible expansion of characters in just that little bit of time?  I was sold.

When FF7R was fully released, I started playing it immediately, and, well. let’s just say that whereas the original Final Fantasy 7 is still my all-time favorite game, Remake comes in at a close, close 2nd.  It made me love side characters even more (Biggs, Wedge and Jessie!!!!) and it expanded upon the world, made Midgar actually feel like a big city, and felt like it upped the stakes more than they already were in the original.

TL;DR, I’m a fan ;)

Most notable, they took existing content, and updated to be even more relevant and respectful to today’s society.  For instance, Cloud’s cross-dressing sequence, while important for representation in the original, felt a bit like a gag.  In Remake, it was treated with much more respect to the LGBT community.

Additionally, it feels like they deepened the backstory of the war between Shinra and Wutai (Yuffie’s home.)  It created more intrigue, and even helped fix some plot holes.  Characters that were previously inept or gag characters were turned into something much more interesting and worthwhile (Mayor Domino being the best example I can think of.)

The combat system and gameplay in general was updated as well, and it feels far less monotonous (which, since the original RPG-based combat system from 7 was ahead of its time and was interesting, that’s a big compliment!)

Oh and, I’ve never been one to ‘ship’ character pairings that didn’t exist in canon before, but thanks to FF7 Remake, I totally ‘ship’ Aerith and Tifa, especially after their friendship blossomed in the sewers and train yard of Sector 7 :)  They’d make a cute couple!  Sorry Cloud and Zack.

The Future is Bright

Most recently, in celebration of the 25th anniversary, Square/Enix released footage and the title of the next game in the Remake saga, titled Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and have confirmed that the entire remake saga will be a trilogy.  While I’m a bit…hesitant about the overall direction they are taking (namely, they appear to be changing the timeline,) I know how much the creators love this, and they know how much we love it.  I am mostly confident that the next two games will be as wonderfully and masterfully crafted as Remake was.

Better still, I’ll finally get my chance to play Crisis Core – they officially announced a remaster of Crisis Core, to be released on the PS4 and PS5!  (Thank goodness for the PS4 release, I still haven’t gotten my hands on a PS5!)

As it was when Compilation came out, there are a lot of other titles out there that I’m not so interested in.  The First Soldier is supposedly a battle-royale style game akin to Player Unknown Battleground, and is mobile-only, so I have zero interest in it.  But we’ll see what other titles come out.

Mostly, I’m excited for the Remake trilogy and Crisis Core.

Conclusion

First of all, if you’ve read this entire series, kudos to you!  This was originally supposed to be a single post, but then blossomed into something much too long to be contained in a single post.

That’s just how much this game has meant to me, and how much it continues to mean to me.  It has inspired me as a writer, it has captured my imagination, and I am so happy to be alive today to experience the resurgence of the Remake trilogy.

Thank you for reading!  I hope you’ve enjoyed this insight and this break from my usual writing-related posts.  Until next time!

-Jon Wasik

25 Years of Final Fantasy 7 Part 2 – Why It Matters So Much

Welcome back, readers!  This is part 2 of a series of posts celebrating 25 years of Final Fantasy 7, and the impact it has had upon me throughout my life.

Click here to read Part 1.

Why Does Final Fantasy 7 Mean So Much to So Many People?

I know I’m not alone in feeling such a close connection with 7. As a franchise (because let’s face it, FF7 has become a franchise in and of itself,) it remains to this day the most popular Final Fantasy iteration.  Its legacy endures.  The themes were relevant back in 1997, and have only become more relevant.

Big corpo killing our planet just to make a profit?  Yup, that’s bigger today than ever.

Governments carelessly throwing away citizens’ lives for their own benefit? Yup, we’ve seen that across the globe (PS: We stand with Ukraine!)

Even a mission to save Tifa that requires the protagonist, Cloud Strife, to cross-dress has become more relevant to today and the LGBT community.  Cloud isn’t trans, but for many reasons, not just that one mission, I have come to believe that he’s at least a little gender queer.  (This entire mission was handled even better in the Remake, but I’ll save that for the next post.)

The Overworld Map

And since the game takes place across the fictional world, we got to see a wide range of people of color and multiple cultures represented.  Despite the simplistic character designs, it wasn’t as white-washed as most games were of the time.

Plus with the diverse and sometimes unusual ensemble cast of characters, gamers can usually find at least one character they can relate to.  They were all written so well, so nuanced.  Even characters that weren’t necessary to ‘collect’ as part of the main mission left an impact (a friend of mine absolutely adores Yuffie, yet in the original game, you could beat the entire game without ever meeting her, let alone adding her to your party.)

For me, the characters are a big, big part of it.

Cloud in particular.

Searching For Identity

One of the biggest character and story elements in Final Fantasy 7 is the fact that Cloud’s identity comes into question.  Tifa and Aerith in particular suspect he’s not what or whom he claims to be, but most importantly is that Cloud questions his own identity throughout the game.

In fact, it might be safe to say that Final Fantasy 7‘s primary character-driven conflict revolves around questioning one’s identity.  In the flashback in Kalm, when Cloud tells the (partially true) story of how Sephiroth became a villain, even Sephiroth discovers that his own past was a lie.  This identity crisis breaks him.

Which is perhaps another place where Final Fantasy 7 has a strong story – both the protagonist and the antagonist parallel one another, and the choices they make, what they do when they find out they aren’t who they thought they are, is what defines them, what makes one the bad guy, and the other the good guy, so to speak.

In any case, Cloud’s struggle is nuanced and, in many ways, groundbreaking for its time.  He thinks he knows who he is, but even in the beginning, he gets flashes that things might not be what he thinks they are.  Subtle, layered, difficult to recognize what they are until you know the truth much later.

It felt like I knew his struggle.

Remember, Final Fantasy 7 came out when I was a young teenager.  So maybe it seems like a natural thing that a teenager would identify with such a struggle.  What teenager has never questioned who they are, what they believed, etc?

Plus, let’s face it, often times Cloud is socially awkward.  Compound that with the fact that dialogue in the original game was written, not acted out by voice actors, so I could put my own inflections into his voice, I could read his dialogue in my head in such a way that I identified with him even more.

Believe you me, there are awkward teenagers, and then were was me.  I mentioned it in the previous article, I’ve always had a hard time making friends.  I was always uncomfortable around people, didn’t know how to make a joke, and all of my passions were apparently ‘dumb’ or ‘too geeky’ or what have you.

I saw myself in Cloud.  I was awkward, but trying to figure out who I was.  And many times throughout my teen years, I had vivid memories of just…standing in my bedroom, looking around and realizing that I really didn’t know who I was.

Granted I never had a full-on meltdown like Cloud did.  But in a way…I grew into who I was while replaying FF7 over and over.  I found comfort in that game in a way that no other game has ever provided.

An Ensemble of Memorable Characters

Beyond Cloud are the other characters in your team, all of whom have a story of their own, nuanced and complete.  That in and of itself is cause for praise – how many games, how many stories have throw-away characters?  Ones created to serve a single purpose, then just sort of exist in the background.

Likewise, there are character moments that are easy to miss in the game, but if you seek out every moment, you learn more and more about the characters.

Barret isn’t just a hell-crazed maniac bent on revenge against Shinra.  But that certainly was the beginning of his journey.  Even then, his little daughter kept him grounded, and his primary goal by the end was to save the planet.

Tifa is the heart of Avalanche, of the Sector 7 Slums, and a fierce fighter and friend.  Her concern for her friends is central to her character, and she would do anything to protect them.  And she can make a helluva drink to boot.

And then there’s Aerith…  The soul, the healer.  The one destined to perish.  I felt a particularly strong attachment to her character in my youth, and because of how many times I had to restart the game in the beginning, I was able to spend more time with her than if I had a straight playthrough, so perhaps that partially strengthened my attachment to her, and made her death even more heart wrenching.  And yet, even when faced with death, she still did what she could to protect and heal the planet, and those she loved.

I always viewed those three as the core supporting characters, no doubt because we spent more time with them than any others.  But that is not to say that the others made any less of an impression.

Red XIII, Nanaki, whose mysterious past comes back to haunt him (almost literally,) and whose wisdom and intellect are quite unexpected, considering his animal form.

Cid Highwind.  Definitely an ass, especially to Shera, but his love of space and exploration was definitely something I connected with.

Yuffie’s unusual antics and childlike behavior seem annoying, but beneath the surface, she yearns only to provide for her home and prove herself to her family.

Vincent’s strange, Castlevania-esque appearance and mannerisms are symptoms of a deep pain, a difficult past, and a monster within that he struggles to control.

And…well, Cait Sith was definitely memorable ;)  Yet the man behind the controls is the insider within the enemy ranks, a man disenfranchised by those he served, and now wishes to make amends to the world.

I’ve barely scratched the surface on these characters.  I’ve probably not come close to doing them justice.  They are so unique, so memorable.  Compared to some of the later Final Fantasy games’ supporting characters, they all stand out, unique and interesting and, for most of them, loveable (really, Cid, do you have to be such an ass??)

Yet for all of their differences, these characters come together for a common cause, and together they save the world.

What’s not to love?

It is therefore unsurprising that so many people yearned to see more of them.  And in breaking with the usual Final Fantasy tradition, the creators delivered exactly that, and for the next twenty five years, we got to see more of these wonderful characters.  We got to learn more not just about what happened to them after Final Fantasy 7, but also what led them to be the persons they were in the game.

But that, dear readers, is best left for another time.  Come back next time for the conclusion to this series, in which I take a look at the franchise that has been built upon this incredible foundation.

Thanks for reading!
-Jon Wasik

25 Years of Final Fantasy 7 Part 1 – First Experiences

The video game Final Fantasy 7 has had an incredible and indelible impact upon the world in general, and upon gamers specifically and the industry built around them.  And much to my surprise, this year marks the 25th anniversary of a game that has touched my soul more than any other video game ever has.  That is no exaggeration, either – FF7 remains my favorite video game of all-time.

25 years.  Wow.  As Sony and Square/Enix (Squeenix!) continues to celebrate the anniversary throughout 2022, I thought I’d share my own journey – how I was introduced to FF7, the impact it had on me, and how I feel about it and the many spinoffs it has generated.  Come with me on this journey through time and space…

What is Final Fantasy 7?

On January 31st, 1997, the seventh in a long series of Japanese RPG’s came out.  The Final Fantasy series had a long and storied history even before 7 came out, with only 3 of the 6 originals making it to the United States, and the series defined the video game RPG genre for years to come.  Having said that, I’d never touched nor heard of the Final Fantasy series, despite how much I loved video games throughout my life, until early 1997.

Final Fantasy 7 was the first of the RPG’s to go 3D, or at least partially 3D, rather than characters made of low-detailed sprites.  It also was one of the first, if not the first, to have full-motion cinematics for important story moments.

Like its predecessors, combat in FF7 was largely turn-based, but utilized a mechanic introduced somewhere midway between games 1 and 7, and that is the Active Timed Battle, or ATB.  Perhaps most notable, however, was the materia system of magic, utilizing crystals (a common trope in Final Fantasy games) to allow characters to cast magic.

Most important to note is that while this was the seventh game in the series, none of the main numbered games connect to one another, they do not share universes.  Mostly the series is connected by themes and tropes.  That means that Final Fantasy 7 was not bound to continuity from previous games, and this allowed the makers to depart from the typical high fantasy setting, and make 7 a more technological, perhaps even steampunk-esque setting.

My introduction to Final Fantasy 7

Before I heard about Final Fantasy 7, most of the games I played were not exactly centered around any complex story or characters. Super Mario Brothers, Sonic the Hedgehog, Battletoads – basically platformers and such were the games I was most familiar with, along with early Atari games before that (Pacman, Galaga, etc.)

Back then, I lived in Wisconsin, but my family was getting ready to move out west, to the deserts of New Mexico. One of the last times I got to hang out with my best friend at the time, Devin, he showed me this new game on the Sony Playstation, a roleplaying game called Final Fantasy 7.

It seemed like a…weird concept. A video game that focused on character development and story, rather than something that was just a challenge to play.

The combat system seemed kinda cool, and I liked the characters in that first chapter, but that was all we played. My memory is a little fuzzy about that evening, and it may have only been the demo of the game, which allowed a complete playthrough of the Reactor 1 Bombing mission. It was neat, but I didn’t have a Playstation at home, and I doubted my parents would buy one for me at that time.  I never expected to see or play the game again.

When we moved, I said goodbye to everyone I knew in Wisconsin. I’d always had trouble making new friends, so I could only count maybe 4 people as friends. But since this was before the internet was ubiquitous, I had little hope of keeping in touch with them for any length of time.

And when we moved to New Mexico, well…there was a bit of a culture shock. And whatever troubles I had fitting in at Wisconsin schools, it was even worse in New Mexico. That first year of Junior High (for the younguns around here, that’s what we used to call Middle School) was a depressing time for me. I had made a few acquaintances, but at the end of the school year, I didn’t think I’d made any real friends (turns out I was wrong about that, and that summer, one acquaintance became my best friend for life, Nick.)

A scene in the preview that stuck with me and made me ever-more curious about FF7

But one day during our first year in New Mexico, we went to the movies, and the weirdest thing happened – during the previews, usually reserved for upcoming movies, there was a video game preview for Final Fantasy 7. I was in awe. The cinematics, the music, the graphics, it was incredible, and the creators spent money on getting a commercial for it into movie theaters?!? What????  Perhaps even more important was that I felt a connection to the scenes shown on-screen (little did I know it included the funeral of an important character…)  I felt an emotional connection.

Some weeks later, my parents, seeing how depressed and lonely I was, decided they would offer to buy a new console for the family (mostly for me, since my parents didn’t play video games as much by this point.) I immediately asked for a Playstation, and when we went into the tiny little town’s only Wal-mart, we asked the clerk if we could switch out which video game came with the console. The store clerk said yes, and I chose Final Fantasy 7 – I had to find out more about this game!

The only downside? The Playstation had no built-in storage for save games, and so my folks would have had to spend money on a memory card. But the store clerk also mentioned this intriguing little thing called a Gameshark, basically a way to cheat on video games. It was an add-on dongle you plugged into the back of the Playstation, which would allow you to enter cheat codes before launching a game. My parents gave me a choice – the Gameshark or a memory card. I don’t remember what I was thinking or why I chose it, but I chose the Gameshark. This became very important soon after.

The Beginning – Again and Again and Again

I had no idea just how long of a game Final Fantasy 7 was. I’d never played anything quite like it (the closest was the original Zelda, but I only ever got to see that game when I visited a friend’s house, so I didn’t know how long the game was.) So we got home that first night, I plugged in the Playstation, found that the Gameshark had some pre-coded FF7 codes in it that I activated (infinite Gil, or money, as well as super fast leveling up) and I started playing.

To say that I was in awe is…an understatement. I got through that first reactor bombing. I played on. Learned more about Barret and Tifa, saw some cool cinematics, learned more about the big city, Midgar, and why we had just attacked the reactor. Turns out the protagonists were eco terrorists, bent on saving the planet from being sucked dry of life by greedy corporations. (Hmmm, I wonder what that could be an allegory to….) Then there was Aerith…or Aeris, as it was mistranslated in the original version. Meeting her briefly, and then spending time with her after the second bombing mission was something I felt was rather magical. I liked her, a lot.

This was the moment I came to truly despise Shinra and its leaders

The game drew on. And on. And on.  I loved every moment of it, but I was wondering when it would end. And then…Shinra dropped one of Midgar’s plates, killing thousands. This was done in such a dramatic way that it left my jaw on the floor. I couldn’t believe they’d done that in a game. The emotions I felt, the hatred for Shinra and its president, the sympathy I felt for Barret and Tifa when they lost friends, including poor Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie.

That’s when I realized it, I think. This wasn’t a short game. This wasn’t a short story.

Not getting that memory card was a mistake.

And as much as I wanted to keep the Playstation turned on at all times so I didn’t lose my progress, I also didn’t want to overheat and kill the brand-new Playstation. So that night, cringing as I did so, I turned it off. Erasing all of my progress on the game.

But that was okay. I loved the game so much that the idea of going through that beginning again didn’t seem like a drawback to me. I gleefully powered it back up the next day, and spent more time exploring every location, every scene, trying to get every nuance out of every bit of the game.

“Into the Unknown” ;)

The more I played, the more I wanted to play. A guy I met on the school bus during the school year, Nick, came over out of the blue one day, and when I told him about the game, he wanted to see it too. I played more of the beginning, risked leaving the Playstation on overnight at least once, and got all the way to the part where the characters leave Midgar for the world…and the scope of this incredible, nuanced world just captured my imagination.

I had to see it all.

My First Full Playthrough

After a few weeks, I’d saved up enough allowance money to get a memory card myself.

Finally, I was no longer stuck in the first 6 to 12 hours of the game. And soon after…well, that was when I got to the first heart-breaking moment of the story – when a video game killed off a major character, and it was the one character I had fallen in love with. I was devastated. Heartbroken. Reviewers today often state that Final Fantasy 7 taught gamers how to cry, and it definitely had that affect on me.  Aerith’s death affected the rest of my playthrough, and every subsequent playthrough. To this day, when Aerith’s theme plays, on the radio, in a game, in a movie, I get a little choked up.  Every single time.

The One-Winged Angel

I think my first complete playthrough took me about 60 hours. I thought I’d explored every nook and cranny of the world of Final Fantasy 7.  Until I got to the end battle, and lost.  Despite the Gameshark cheats I used, Sephiroth defeated me.

Around this time, my parents got dial-up internet. I started finding online guides and info bits. I realized then that I’d barely scratched the surface, that there was still so much to uncover and explore. I hadn’t even bothered with Chocobo breeding, for starters, and that turned out to be a big, big mistake.

One of the Knights of the Round

So I played through the entire game again, looking for every secret, every easter egg, every last thread of character development and story development.  And I obsessed over chocobo breeding, so that I could get a fabled golden chocobo and find a secret island containing the most powerful summon materia of all – Knights of the Round.  My love of Arthurian mythology made me love that materia (not to mention it was what allowed me to finally beat Sephiroth.)

I found out that dialogue choices and how much time you spent with characters determined who would go with you on a ‘date’ at the Golden Saucer, and I was determined to see every single version of that date, so that meant multiple playthroughs.

And once, just once, I played through without the Gameshark to challenge myself and “do it right.” I didn’t feel like it changed my enjoyment of the game one way or another, because the story, oh the story and the characters were what drew me in, made me obsessed.

I have no real way of knowing for sure, but as of today, if I had to guess, I’d say I’ve completed at least twenty complete playthroughs of the original game, including once last year when the game was re-released on the PS4, so that my wife could see the original game (after we completed FF7 Remake.) Including all of the ‘false starts’ from my first experiences, I’d guess I’ve logged at least 1,500 hours of game play over the last 25 years.

Maybe I’m obsessed.

But no other video game has inspired me, touched me, or left an impression on my soul like this game has. Some have come close. The Elder Scrolls series, especially Skyrim, certainly has. And the recent FF7 Remake is right up there with it, but that’s for another post to discuss.

Speaking of which, this concludes part 1.  In part 2, I’ll discuss more of why FF7 had such a huge impact on me, and in part 3, I’ll talk more about the additional games that have featured characters from FF7, as well as the resurgence that has come in the shape of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Trilogy.

If you have a story of your own first experience with Final Fantasy 7, or your favorite game, share with us in the comments section!  I’d love to read all of your stories :)

Thanks for reading!
-Jon Wasik

New Way To Tell Stories – Star Wars and The Void

Hey everyone!

With our honeymoon coming to a close, I wanted to tell you all about an incredible experience we had here in Orlando!  And that was Star Wars – Secrets of the Empire!

Haven’t heard of it?  Worry not, because I wanna tell you all about the state of the art in Virtual Reality Technology, and the new possibilities it opens for story telling!

Total Immersion – Holodeck-like Experience!

I know, I know, this is about Star Wars, but when I first heard about Secrets of the Empire, the first thing I thought about was Star Trek TNG’s holodecks.  If you’ve ever watched any of the Trek shows after the original series, you’ve probably seen this wondrous technology, where you step into a room, and whole other environments, complete with interactive people, suddenly appear!

Is that what Secrets was like?  Well, we’re not to that level of tech yet, but it certainly was the most immersive experience I’ve ever had.

After signing a waiver, my wife and I, along with another random couple we were paired up with, followed our guide into a room with a big screen, where we received an urgent message from Cassian Andor (from Star Wars Rogue One).  After that, each of us were able to choose the color of our Stormtrooper armor’s pauldron.  There were lots of colors to choose from, but it’s a good idea to coordinate your choice with the other members, because you can double up and this can make it confusing in game!

After that, we were led into the gear room, where an Oculus Rift headset and haptic-feedback suit awaited us.  After putting our gear on and getting them synced up with our wristbands, we were led into a square room, and lowered our visors.

And suddenly, we were stormtroopers.  All of us.  My wife, with her purple pauldron, stood next to me, and was rendered with her accurate height!  I think I even made the joke of ‘aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?’  The other couple was across from us, the tall guy with his black pauldron (I chose blue) and his significant other, who also had a purple pauldon but thankfully was a little taller than Beck so I didn’t lose track of who was who.

We were in a small compartment on a troop transport, and suddenly the door opens…and K2SO pops his head in to give us a mission update!

What was really incredible was that we were free to move around in the rendered environment.  When we moved into another compartment and were asked to sit in the rendered seats, we sat and there were chairs.  When asked to get onto a moving platform, we did and it felt like it moved.  When entering a lift and told to pull the lever, there was a lever we could actually pull, and it was rendered in real-time as we pulled it!

What’s more was the feel and smell.  I don’t want to give too much of the story away, but when we were in a place with fire, there was heat and I could smell burning wood!  When stormtroopers shot at us, I felt the impact and heat from when I was hit!  The designers and creators, The Void, did a really good job mixing a physical environment with virtual, creating an incredible experience!

It wasn’t perfect…to save money and time, there were no gloves, so your avatar’s hand movements were tracked with motion sensors.  This sometimes glitched, and when my hands were in my lap, I’d look over and it would look like I had my hand in my wife’s mouth.  And one of the four blasters kept malfunctioning and not showing up in the game, so they had to start us over two times before it worked properly.  Plus blaster bolts moved annoyingly slow (like Elder Scrolls 4 – Oblivion arrows) and that made the fights a little less intense than they should have been.

But all said, the experience was incredible and immersive, and is definitely the closest we have come to holodecks!

What Does This Mean for Storytelling?

I’m extremely excited about what this represents!  Right now, Secrets of the Empire is the only thing like this that I am aware of, but it opens the door for some unique storytelling!  As the technology improves, things will only get better.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Star Trek jumps on the bandwagon soon.  I mean, come on, who wouldn’t want to step onto the bridge of a Starship or fight through a Borg ship?

Or what about Harry Potter??  Some more tweaking of the tech, but as you wave your wand and speak the words, the system reads it and you see your spell unfold before you!

Unfortunately right now, I don’t see sword fights happening with our level of tech, but how long before they figure out a way to make that happen?

What stories could be told interactively?  Sure the settings are finite, but some amazing stories can be told in small spaces.  Such as the Star Trek bridge mentioned above.

Secrets of the Empire was pretty much scripted, but as we’ve seen with video games, stories can change depending on choices, and as long as those choices are planned ahead…there could be some pretty big facilities made for some impressive interactions in the future.

I think that this is just the beginning!!  Now if only The Void would open more locations…like one in Denver!

Audition for the Explorers Wanted Contest!

Hi everyone!

I know this article isn’t about writing, but I just had to share this :D

Image Source – bioware.com

I don’t know how many of you are gamers, but not long ago, the company Bioware, makers of such awesome games as Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, and Mass Effect, announced a contest: fans could submit audio auditions for a possible role in the upcoming video game, Mass Effect Andromeda!  Click here to read more about it!

Now I have no experience in actual voice acting, but I do have practice with my voice from over 14 years of choir.  Beyond that, I’ve been complimented often on my voice impressions of various movie, TV, and video game characters.  I have also been (slowly) working on an audio book for The Sword of Dragons.  So I thought…what the hell, why not?

Armed with a mic that Wayne of VtW Productions has graciously let me borrow, I set to practicing.  In the contest, we could choose from both scripts, so I practiced both, hoping that I could submit both so that they might see the diversity in my voice.

Image Source – wall.alphacoders.com

Unfortunately, the rules are very vague about whether or not I could submit for both scripts or only one, and most entries on YouTube were only one of the scripts.  So a couple of nights ago (with only 5 hours left on the deadline,) I recorded my best take, and submitted it!

And then I thought…why not share it with others to get people’s thoughts?  I mean, the contest deadline has passed and I’ve already submitted, but I have threatened to do a vlog on here once before…so why not start with just a voice, and see what you all think?

As a primer, the instructions were to read the lines of only the indicated character, not both characters in the dialogue, so that’s what I did.  But just so you all aren’t wondering what the heck is going on while listening, I’ve attached the script I read from.

Click here to read the first script

And beyond that…here goes.  My entry into the Explorers Wanted contest…  *gulp*  I hope you all enjoy!

Click Here (or the image below) to hear my entry!

Image Source – masseffect.com

Please leave comments either here or on YouTube to let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading (and listening)!!  :)
-Jon Wasik

I’ll Be On The Show X Podcast This Weekend!

Hi everyone!

I have some exciting news: I’ll be interviewed on VtW Production’s Show X once again this coming weekend!  :D  Hosted by the ever-enthusiastic Wayne (and he has the hair to prove it ;) ) and his co-host Ken, Show X is a podcast dedicated to everything geek related.  While the website itself says it focuses on technology and games, pretty much anything geek goes (which is why a fantasy writer like me is welcomed in :D )

So check us out this Sunday, 24 January at 2PM EST, 7PM GMT (for those who live in the mountain time zone with me, that’s Noon :) ).  We’ll of course talk a bit more about where I’m at with the Sword of Dragons series, but there will also be lots of fun geekery involved!

To make your lives easier, here are links to where you can listen or WATCH the show live!  Yes, you can watch it as it airs :D

To listen, go to http://www.vtwproductions.com/ and on the left side there will be an audio play button, just click that a couple minutes before the show starts, and you should be good.

To watch the show live on youtube, go to their youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/versustheworldvideo and you should see the ‘current show’ at the top.

See you all out there!
-Jon Wasik

Taking It Personally – When Does Fiction Become Public Domain?

Hi everyone!

In about 24 hours, the movie millions have been waiting for, Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be released!  In and of itself, the release of a new Star Wars in theaters is exhilarating, and given that it is the continuation of the story from the Original Trilogy, nerds everywhere (myself included) are ecstatic!

More so because George Lucas has no involvement in its creation!  ….wait, that seriously excites everyone?  The very man who invented Star Wars.  Who created the characters that has inspired generations, and invented the concept of the Force.

But let’s face it, over the past 20 years, in the eyes of countless fans, Lucas has slowly dismantled Star Wars and turned it into something that old-school fans despise.  I’m not one of them, mind you – I don’t love the prequels, but I don’t hate them either.  And I actually like most (but not all) of the changes he made to the Special Editions of the Original Trilogy.

Never-the-less, the fire Lucas has received has been incredibly harsh, so much so that he has been quoted recently as avoiding the internet altogether in order to avoid reading the criticism against him.

Which brings me to the point of this article…

A New Era – Fans Taking It Personally

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article about how Star Trek and Star Wars seem to build upon each other’s successes.  But they seem to be linked in another way as well – the fans react quite vehemently when something is entered into the fictional canon that they don’t like.

The Jar Jar of Star Trek? (Note: I actually like Neelix :) )

I still can recall discussions in fan forums back during the DS9 and especially during the Voyager and Enterprise era of Trek where fans were flat out blaming Brannon Braga for ‘destroying Trek and everything it stood for.’  They were taking it personally, and with each new series, the open hatred towards the producers grew worse.

The same thing has happened with Lucas…but it hasn’t stopped there.  No, not by a long shot.  In fact, if anything, this trend of being offended by aspects of their fandom that they don’t like has only grown worse.

Remember when Daniel Craig was announced as the new James Bond for Casino Royale?  Fan and media reactions were both very harsh.  Many people criticized him as being not handsome enough, not tall enough, and any number of other criticisms.  In fact there’s still a website online, http://www.danielcraigisnotbond.com dedicated to making sure everyone knows that Craig is not a suitable Bond.

In reading up on this history recently, I learned that former Bond star, Roger Moore, had a few words to say about this.  While I cannot seem to find that article again, and so cannot directly quote Moore, I recall that he was surprised by the negative reaction to Craig.  He commented how 30 years ago, no one would have reacted to such a different direction for Bond, or any other franchise for that matter.

And then there’s Mass Effect 3.  The ending of this phenomenal trilogy of video games, with such an incredibly in-depth story and amazing characters, was considered to be one of the greatest let downs in the history of video games.

In fact, it was so bad that a law suit was filed against EA via the FTC, claiming that EA was guilty of false advertising.  Reactions were so bad that EA actually released a free DLC for Mass Effect 3 that revamped the ending, adding more choices, and created a somewhat better final experience for the game.

Does Fiction Belong to the Fans?

From the looks of things (and based on fan reactions to The Hobbit movie trilogy) this trend is only growing.  So as a writer, this raises a very serious question: does fiction belong to the fans?  At what point does our creative work no longer belong to us?  Should I cater to the desires (or even demands) of fans for where I take my stories?

To my fellow writers out there, I’m willing to bet most of you are going to immediately say “No!!!  Never change your artistic direction to sate fans!  Nor should you do so for commercial reasons!”  I’ve heard this stance over and over throughout my entire life, especially in college, the domain of “Literary” fiction.

But you know what?  Fans matter.  Here, let me repeat that.

Fans Matters.

This has been my stance from day one of this blog, and goes back much, much further than that.  It has always been my greatest desire to connect to readers, to engage with them, to hear their thoughts and desires and opinions about my works.

Is this me selling out?  I don’t think so.  No matter what, my stories will always be the product of my creative vision.  But I also have an active and adaptive imagination.

I’ve also put this into practice.  My old fan fiction, Star Trek Dragon, is the perfect example.  I had this amazing idea to do a crossover between Star Trek and Star Wars.  The setting was perfect, because the USS Dragon was already lost in a galaxy ‘far, far away.’  And my idea was to make it a permanent crossover.

It was not well received.  In fact, it is safe to say that the episode titles “A Long Time Ago” is the most disliked episode of STDragon.  So at the end of Season 3, I dropped that crossover…mostly.  And took STDragon in a very different direction from what I had originally planned.

 

And it turned out better.  So much better.

This is not to say writers should cater to every whim of the fans.  Do NOT try to please everyone, because that is impossible, and you’ll only drive yourself crazy.  And do not abandon your original creative endeavor.  The original story is still your creation.

All I am saying is don’t ignore them.  And what ever you do, do not ever think of your readers as simple-minded, as stupid, or as crazy.  The majority of readers are intelligent, sensitive individuals who enjoy quality entertainment (yes, I borrowed that quote from the 200th episode of Stargate SG-1.)

I’ve Digressed – Who Owns Fiction?

This is a question I asked my friend Wayne today.  Who owns fiction?  At what point does a fictional body become the domain of the public?

After discussing it with him and thinking further on it, I’ve come to the opinion that it is both, the moment it is released ‘into the wild.’  It is still the creator’s work, and they still will be the ones to guide it into the future.  But it also belongs to the public.  You’ve inspired them.  You’ve engaged their imagination, made them think.

And do not underestimate the impact you’ve had on readers.  If they react strongly to something you’ve written, it means you have succeeded in making them fall in love with your work.  That’s something amazing, and not to be ignored.

Not to mention, collaboration between creators and fans can result in an amazing product.  Look into Star Citizen for a perfect example :)

What do you all think?  This is a pretty heavy and hot topic, and I have no doubt that opinions will vary widely on it.  Please comment below!!  (But please keep it civil!)

Thanks for reading,
-Jon Wasik

VtW Gamefest – Geeks Know How to Party!

Hey everyone!

Geeks do it best.  There’s just no way around it :)  And this weekend, I was lucky enough to get to go to VtW Production’s Gamefest, a weekend-long LAN (Local Area Network) party hosted by Wayne!

The setup for Gamefest

A few weeks back, I had written an article about rediscovering my creative roots, including gaming.  Well, I finally was able to dive in head-first!  :D  Granted none of them were story-driven games, but it was a blast!

Plus, it was soooooo needed.  A weekend away from everything else, just hanging out with fellow geeks, gaming, drinking, and all around having fun!  While yes, it was a LAN party, it was so much more than that.  Half of the time, I was upstairs getting to know all of these amazing people, folks I wish I’d met a long time ago.

Fellow Geeks of the World – Unite!

I am not exaggerating – every single one of the persons I met this weekend are truly amazing – full-on geeks who are not afraid to show it, confident and fun-loving.  No joke, I found out that there is an actual training academy in the Denver area for learning how to fight with a lightsaber!

Alcohol and twister – not necessarily a good idea, but definitely amusing!

From computer engineers to nurses, people from every facet of life came together for the common cause of gaming and enjoying one another’s company.  Not to mention twister!

I also discovered the amazingly fun, but oh-so inappropriate game known as Cards Against Humanity.  So much fun that we stayed up until about 4AM playing!!  (Warning – not a game for kids, or for the easily-offended!)

Plus we had some amazing cooks at the party!  Sure there was plenty of junk food – pizza, candy, chips, salsa.  Oh but the salsa wasn’t just store-bought, Wayne made some home-made in a crock pot.  And then there were home-made cupcakes.  And chicken dumplings.  Sooooo much good food everywhere!

The Games of Gamefest

Then there was the gaming.  Upstairs was an awesome rig setup for Rock Band, so I got to rediscover drumming (and learned I am embarrassingly out of practice!)  Downstairs, well, lots and lots of incredible machines chugging away at some fantastic games, almost all of which I had never played before.

Including the new Star Wars Battlefront beta!!

The graphics really are this good!

While full of glitches, it IS the beta.  The graphics were amazing, and the gameplay was intense!  It was also the first time I’d ever played a game that actually required you to download the latest drivers for your video card, they wanted to ensure as few problems as they could.

The downside, though, was that the ability to get into the same game as your group of friends was glitchy, at best.  I hope they fix that in the final release!

We also played a fair bit of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, a game I had never played before.  I learned very quickly that whatever skills I thought I had in FPS games, they were nothing compared to these veterans!

In fact, if I had to come up with a kill ratio, I’d say it was probably 10 of my deaths to one kill.  :-/  But the most important part was that it was a blast, and playing the game with these awesome folks meant that no one was childish about it, and we all had fun, no matter our skill level!

And finally, there was Tribes: Ascend.  I had never played Tribes before, but THIS was a fun game.  Seriously, check it out, and make sure you look into learning the ski function in it – that’s what sets it apart!

We also played a bit of Left 4 Dead 2, that was so much fun to have a full 4v4 team going!  I love playing the monsters in the game, heheh.  I also saw others playing Wareframe, which has sparked my curiosity into it.

Then I was introduced to Chris Roberts’s newest upcoming, totally crowd-funded game Star Citizen.  This is an incredibly ambitious video game in the works, and the results are already amazing!

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/

Imagine hopping into your ship, heading into battle with some friends.  There’s a large enemy ship.  Want to capture it?  Board it, hop out of your ship, grab your gun, and begin the invasion.  I really want to look into it some more, I only saw glimpses, but the details and the mechanics seemed really awesome.

An Exaustingly Relaxing Weekend

Little sleep, lots of fun, and a fair bit of alcohol – this was a totally exhausting weekend.  And yet, I’ve come out of it feeling more relaxed than I have in a long, long time.  For a couple of days, the past several months of trials and hardships were forgotten, and my nearly-depleted energy levels were refilled.

So kudos out to VtW Productions, to Wayne, and to everyone I met at Gamefest (You owe me a rematch, Lt4ork!! ;) )  Thank you all for an awesome weekend, and I look forward to seeing you all again!

Thanks for reading,
-Jon Wasik

PS: Gamer Geeks ;) (Thanks Tara for posting this image!)

Live interview tomorrow!!

Hey everyone, I have exciting news!  I will be interviewed on a live podcast tomorrow, for VtW Productions!

http://www.vtwproductions.com

The interview will start out about my latest book, The Sword of Dragons, but will then go on to talk about games and other geekery.

VtW Productions is dedicated to everything geek, especially gaming.  I met Wayne, one of the hosts, a couple of months ago and he has showed a real interest in my writing and the process of self-publishing.  I’m really excited to be on the show!!

The podcast is at 12 Noon MDT, and is called “Show X.”  It is available to listen to on their website, and will be broadcast on their youtube channel as well!  So if you have a couple of hours and want to know what my voice sounds like, tune in Sunday, May 31st :)  And if you miss it, they archive and make available all of their past shows.

Thanks for listening!  :)
-Jon Wasik