230: Get the Hell Out Of Dodge

[Brendan Main]

Get the Hell Out Of Dodge

Final Fantasy VII is a game that people keep playing years after its release. But while it's earned a place among the most beloved games of all time, its starting area is a bit of a slog. Brendan Main explains why, even while he looks forward to replaying FFVII, he dreads going back to Midgar.

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[Magnatek]

Wow. I never really thought of the whole Midgar portion of that game to be that depressing. Then again, it is but a shade of the past to me, as the last time I played the game was (wow) nearly a decade ago. I think I was far too young to start thinking like that.

[small]*sigh* I so want to get a PSP for this, or at least some access to PSN.[/small]

 

[Vierran]

If you wrote the entire game with this kind of language you could sell it, i know i would buy it.

 

[Snork Maiden]

I like the midgar bit (especially Wall Mart onwards). Nowhere near as bad as Baldurs gate II's first dungeon, which is dire.

 

[setvak]

I've had this game for a few years, I got a little bit past the Golden Saucer but stopped playing for a bit, and eventually I forgot what was even going on as far as the plot was concerned. I started again during the summer and got out of Midgar, but haven't had a chance to play it since then. I need to finish this game before it drives me insane, I feel guilty for ignoring it.

 

[Frybird]

I like the midgar bit (especially Wall Mart onwards). Nowhere near as bad as Baldurs gate II's first dungeon, which is dire.

Yup.

Anyway, nicely written, especially liked that reference

It gets to me, gets under my skin. I'm tasked with saving the planet, but I see nothing in it worth saving. Worst of all, I can't leave. Midgar is immense, enclosing me in all directions. Like Alex Proyas' Dark City, there is no end to it in sight

Wich also reminds me: Next Time "Pleasentville" is on TV, watch it like it's a horror movie. First half is scary as hell..

 

[auronvi]

Wow... very well written. As many times as I re-play the game you have given it a different perspective for me which makes me appreciate it even that much more!

Come one Squeenix, remake it already!

 

[Brendan Main]

Amusingly, I feel exactly the opposite to the article author; Midgar is my favourite part of Final Fantasy VII. I like the oppressive atmosphere, the dystopian theme, and in fact, I've been trying to find another game with that sort of theme ever since. In terms of actual gameplay, the linearity is bothersome and the battle system tedious, but I much prefer the atmosphere inside Midgar, with that very apathy and slowness that you criticise, to the chase for Sephiroth that takes place during the rest of the game.

I've spoken to many who agree with you. In terms of design, it's a beautifully realized space. Like it or lump it, there's something to it.

But I wouldn't say that I'm criticizing these aspects of Midgar: I certainly wouldn't do without them. I may not love it, but some part of me loves to hate it. I mean, if I hated to hate it, I hope I'm not such a masochist that I wouldn't just go play Ping Pong instead.

 

[SangRahl]

I can't believe how much I agre with this article/play-by-play of the opening of FFVII... I was practically bouncing when I finally heard the world theme kick in, and I knew I was finally FREE of that place.

Of course, there were other far more annoying segments to deal with later on, but I couldn't help but feel like the whole Midgar opening harkened back to my personal favorite game of the whole series: Final Fantasy.
(Nope, no II, III, ': Tactics', ': Crystal Chronicles', or any other roman numeral or subtitle. Plain old 8bit Final Fantasy from the NES.)

---
You slog along, running from packs of GrImps or the odd MadPony pair to be able to save the resurrection costs for the spells/gear you couldn't afford immediately. You have your first encounters with poisonous monsters who politely teach you that the further you are from a town, the more of EVERY kind of supply you'll need... especialy HEAL and CURE potions. Finally, you brave the first dungeon and after braving your first undead creatures, you face off against the first boss, Garland. (If you were smart, your levels have increased a few times across the whole party, and your casters aren't tapped out after only a couple rounds of casting... If not, then expect a tough fight, or a quick [RESET] to re-equip and have another go.)

You return to the King, triumphant and feeling proud of your first successful endeavor. He commands the building of a bridge, to allow you access to the rest of the lands, and you set off again to explore (after a quick resupply in town, of course). And, as you step upon the great span of of th soaring bridge, the title screen fades into view, the immortal FF Theme building to crescendo while you read the narrative. All of that 'work', just to discover that the story had yet to truly BEGIN. (And don't get me started about the first time you find out about [Select+B], and you can finally see just how LITTLE of the world you've traveled, and how much more you have yet to discover.)
---

Midgar was like that, for me... a very long introduction to what was to be FFVII (though I agree that it was starting to wear on me by the end; all that urban decay and societal rot). Then came the Materia multiplying and Chocobo breeding...

Oh, and I couldn't help but start humming Leonard Cohen at the bottom of page 1. Really, that's not fair, laying a pavlovian landmine like that, in the middle of a trip down memory lane.
::starts growling to himself:: 'Everybody knows that the dice are loaded...'

 

[IckleMissMayhem]

Never has a game roundhouse kicked the player in the nuts quite so often as FFVII. I gave up shortly after the 1st disc, never went back. Got much more play value and enjoyment out of FFVIII and FFX. Hell, even FFIV on GBA. And I played that bad boy stuck on a stinky coach travelling to southern Spain with 45 drunken idiots.

 

[laura3lizab3th]

Midgar never bothered me that much to make me think of it as depressing :| The bit with Don Corneo always amused me too much to see it that way.

 

[robot55]

I agree wit the author's depiction - and it is very well put. But I doubt it fits the editorial "game done me wrong" theme. On the contrary, it is a rare treat when a video game's narrative is as deep, complex and dramatic (not melodramatic) as that of a novel or a good film.

The fact that a game can inspire such feelings (or feelings at all, for that matter) within the user is a testimony of a game done right, IMO.

If the article addressed the gameplay aspect of FFVII's Midgar scene - the linearity of it, which is a repeating hindrance in FF games opening sequences, it would fit more with the "game done me wrong" theme.

On the whole, I found the article beautiful, but then again, like the author, I'm also a returning fan of FFVII - played it 3-4 times from start-to-finish in the last decade


Robot55

 

[Silent Biohazard Solid]

Amusingly, I feel exactly the opposite to the article author; Midgar is my favourite part of Final Fantasy VII. I like the oppressive atmosphere, the dystopian theme, and in fact, I've been trying to find another game with that sort of theme ever since. In terms of actual gameplay, the linearity is bothersome and the battle system tedious, but I much prefer the atmosphere inside Midgar, with that very apathy and slowness that you criticise, to the chase for Sephiroth that takes place during the rest of the game.

I completely agree with this. If it were up to me, you'd get a chance to visit every single sector before leaving Midgar. And after you leave Midgar, you'd discover that the rest of the world is exactly like Midgar.
That would be an awesome game!

 

[John Funk]

Every time I try to replay FF7, I love Midgar. Then I get to the Kalm flashback and just can't SOLDIER (har har) through.

 

[The_Decoy]

Beautifully written, just wanted to say that I really enjoyed reading that If you wrote a whole book in that style I'd totally get it from a library (found my paperback habit was costing me more than food and alcohol combined).

I'm a big fan of the series, you captured it well

 

[Axeli]

Huh, Midgar is the heart of VII; Depressing, dark, ruined, sad and so magnificent. I didn't like all the trivial fetch quests that take place there, but as a setting it's one of the best seen in the series. Going back there after it has been totally abandoned was one of the redeeming features in Dirge of Cerberus.

 

[Allandaros]

I started playing FF7 in high school; it was my first exposure to the Final Fantasy series. I got really excited, due to the wonderfully atmospheric nature of Midgar...and was sorely disappointed when I found out that you leave after Disc 1, the rest of the game feels nothing like Midgar, and there's a half-hour cutscene which you can't skip or pause to save the game.

 

[Firia]

Amusingly, I feel exactly the opposite to the article author; Midgar is my favourite part of Final Fantasy VII. I like the oppressive atmosphere, the dystopian theme,

Ditto. I love playing through Midgar just to claw my way out of it. It's the intro levels, you aren't power leveled and well equiped to demolish everything. Things are challenges, and you have to use your wits to overcome a few. So nothing about Midgar (save maybe those stairs) really gets me down.

When I departed from Midgar the first time, I actually tried to find my way back IN before advancing in the rest of the game.

 

[Dectilon]

Well, that was emo. You can write man, but DAMN!

If you're this easily broken emotionally by video games, and a final fantasy game in particular, maybe it's time to look into a less intense activity. Like mowing the lawn, unless the grass dying gets you down.