Final Fantasy 7 characters?

[Burnseasons]

I just want to make this clear ahead of time but, I haven't played FF7. I've seen advent children and watched My brother play through the Kingdom Hearts games, at least the areas where they were featured.
That said, I hear a lot of people talking about how popular and memorable these characters are. How they set the bar for characterization for all the FF games to come..Thing is, I didn't find them particularly memorable.
Maybe the other media portraying them doesnt do them justice, but are likes of Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth actually good characters? At most they seem like stock characters, and at worse they seem very..bland and/or emotionless.

Opinions or answers?

 

[NerfedFalcon]

I haven't actually played that much, but most of the people saying that are probably fanboys. You should create your own opinions and don't let fanboys get to you if they disagree.

 

[Who Dares Wins]

How were you able not to find them memorable and you haven't even played the game? The characters are really good, except Sephiroth who is evil for the sake of evil and even then he is well written.

P.S. I played 3 hours of the game.

 

[Shymer]

I played FF7 for hours and hours. The characters stick in my mind. I didn't play any FF games prior to that, so I am not in a position to say whether they "set the bar" for future FF games - but the characters were interesting. Whatever bar they set, I don't think the characters in FF8 reached it.

 

[Burnseasons]

Cloud helped create the "emo" good guy for all JRPGs. Overall, he is characterized as being tough, but weak., if that makes sense.

Sephiroth is either a powerful force, or a big momma's boy, whichever you prefer.

Aeris is part of the "So nice they give everyone in the room diabetes" crowd of anime style characters. Lacus Clyne from Gundam SEED fits this area nicely.

Tifa is the tough girl who isn't really, but acts the part pretty well.

Everyone else's characterization... iffy except for Cid and especially for Cait Sith and Vincent.

So what I'm hearing is at the time they were rather unique and original, but thanks to this game these Character types have become standards?

 

[Who Dares Wins]

How can you expect to know a character if you have not even played the game they starred in?

Yes. They are very memorable. And no one could ever call Cloud emotionless. (Advent Children does not count. That movie was fucking shit.)

except Sephiroth who is evil for the sake of evil

Oh no he is not.

I've said I played only 3 hours of the game (I'm currently on it) and from what I saw he does some things with no explanation but he is still very well written. Please don't spoil the game for me.

 

[tzimize]

I just want to make this clear ahead of time but, I haven't played FF7. I've seen advent children and watched My brother play through the Kingdom Hearts games, at least the areas where they were featured.
That said, I hear a lot of people talking about how popular and memorable these characters are. How they set the bar for characterization for all the FF games to come..Thing is, I didn't find them particularly memorable.
Maybe the other media portraying them doesnt do them justice, but are likes of Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth actually good characters? At most they seem like stock characters, and at worse they seem very..bland and/or emotionless.

Opinions or answers?

Well, I played this game when I was about 13 and thought it was awesome. That says enough about that I think.

And in case it does not;
I cant remember a lot of the characters from FF7. I remember their names and look, but their motivations and stories...not so much. The gaming mechanics from FF7 was fantastic though.

On a story-level I enjoyed FF8 a LOT more.

On a character-level I enjoyed FF9 a LOT more. Vivi is reason enough for that, but there were several other very interesting characters too.

FF7 was groundbreaking in several ways, but so was LOTR, and that is an awful, awful book.

 

[TheSuperiorXemnas]

I found Vincent to be more Interesting out of all of them. And I liked how Dirge of Cerberus worked out on his story.

 

[Burnseasons]

From the sounds of it, it seems I fell victim to
"http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SeinfeldIsUnfunny" (A bit new here, not quite sure how to link yet) ..and I must've missed the part in the video game section specifically highlighting FF7's case. Damn you hindsight!

If so, then sounds good. I dont mind it too much, now I know people have a genuinely good reason for liking them

 

[Jennacide]

Cloud is nothing special as a character. His only real interest is in the fact he's a horrendous liar. Tifa is an alright character, as the "token strong female" archetype, she's one of the better ones compared to Freya/Lulu/Quistis who al have the emotional depth of a thimble and are merely there to look pretty.(Not so much in Freya's case)

And despite all the lunacy around him, Sephiroth is easily the worst villian in any Square game ever. Okay, maybe not as lame as Exdeth, but still, bad. And Ultemicia doesn't count in that race, since she was a "lol SURPRISE" villian. The real one of FF8 was Seifer, who also sucks, but not as badly.

 

[TheDist]

From the sounds of it, it seems I fell victim to
"http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SeinfeldIsUnfunny" (A bit new here, not quite sure how to link yet)

If so, then sounds good. I dont mind it too much, now I know people have a genuinely good reason for liking them

I think that trope does basicaly fit for it.

When I first played the game, two things hit me, first was wow I really like the combat, it can be a little flashy and long but hey thats ok it all looks cool enough.

Second thing that hit me was wow this story is weak, be it partly due to bad translation and in my own personal opinion poor writing.

I did enjoy the game though despite the flaws I saw in the story. The characters are honestly quite shallow in a lot of ways, though looking at the later FF characters I don't think they are too shallow.

Don't think though that a shallow character is always a bad character. Just don't expect too much from the game, just enjoy it for what it is, you don't have to dig in deep for higher meanings and such that may or may not be there.

Also remember a lot of people are remembing it through the nostalgia goggles.

 

[deleted_by_strongbad]

I actually don't think that the FF7 set any real standards, they pretty much follow a lot of the same archetypes started in early Square games. Though in my opinion, Square still gets the credit for creating the character archetypes, plot mechanics, and general cliches used by every JRPG since.

That being said, the characters and plot (which can't really be separated) are really memorable. I think they get so much more credit than the previous square games because it was the first time (at least here in the states) it was all presented with, what was at the time, amazing graphics and cut-scenes. They felt so much more real than any previous RPG I, and many of my friends, had played from east or west. I think that was part credit to the game itself and the visuals. This is why the people who think of FF7 as the best final fantasy will probably never think otherwise, I don't think there is a way to make that level of impact again unless the next one is like full VR or something.

Though Sephiroth was a REALLY fleshed out villain, and the interconnection between him and Cloud was really cool.

 

[Aurgelmir]

I just want to make this clear ahead of time but, I haven't played FF7. I've seen advent children and watched My brother play through the Kingdom Hearts games, at least the areas where they were featured.
That said, I hear a lot of people talking about how popular and memorable these characters are. How they set the bar for characterization for all the FF games to come..Thing is, I didn't find them particularly memorable.
Maybe the other media portraying them doesnt do them justice, but are likes of Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth actually good characters? At most they seem like stock characters, and at worse they seem very..bland and/or emotionless.

Opinions or answers?

I disagree that they set the bar for FF characters, its just that a lot of the characters after that sort of sucked. Honestly the FF6 characters were a lot more varied and interesting in my opinion.

What made the FF7 characters interesting and deep is the fact that none of them are particularly cookie cutter. I was going to list each character and do an analysis of them, but cant be bothered

That said Advent Children and Kingdom Hearts doesn't do these characters credit, and besides Advent Children is fan service (so is Kingdom Hearts to be honest)

The characters are a lot deeper in FF7.

 

[Archangel768]

The problem is the way they're portrayed in Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy VII Advent Children
This games and movie portray the characters with a different atmosphere about them.
While the Kingdom Hearts games are good, the way they portray the Final Fantasy characters are to me at least, quite embarrassing.

Final Fantasy VII is extremely hyped up so the chances of the characters meeting the expectations set upon you will probably be low. However, even if they don't live up to the hype, they are still great characters that feel LOTS of emotion. You really need to play the game to understand them better. I watched the movie before the game like you did and never thought to much about the characters but more recently since I've played through Final Fantasy VII, I understand them so much better.

It's definitely worth playing through Final Fantasy VII before writing the characters off. By the time you've finished the game you should come away with a much clearer understanding as to why the characters are considered great even if they don't live up to the hype. After finishing the game, I watched the movie again and was able to appreciate the characters so much better, while before I could hardly sense the emotion going through the characters because of how subtle it is, however, after finishing the game, I could really sense the emotion. If you enjoy the game you'll probably understand what I mean

If you do get to play the game (easy to get off of PSN for PS3 and PSP) then I hope you enjoy it. I can't help but feel kind of sorry for people that can't appreciate the game. It seems like they're missing out on a lot fun and memorable moments and characters.

 

[Kalikin]

What makes Cloud and Sephiroth interesting characters, I think, is the duality that they have.
Cloud struggles throughout most of the game with his own emotional issues that essentially stem from his admiration, jealousy and general inferiority complex regarding Sephiroth - the reason that Sephiroth is such a great villain is probably because MOST of the information we get about him is filtered through Cloud.
It's kind of like Final Fantasy IV, where Cecil has to renounce his dark sword to defeat Golbez, only here Cloud has to sort out who he is, and get out of Sephiroth's shadow before he can be overcome.
If you removed any of that, I doubt they would be remembered at all, because they are reliant on eachother to shine as individual characters. Actually, that's what made the whole game.

As for the other characters, they each have their own stories, but for me they are quite forgettable. Tifa is very decent, but unfortunately she is more remembered as a sex symbol... Not that I would call any of them "bland", with the exception of Cait Sith - he may as well have just been thrown in there as the comic relief is the character didn't find Yuffie.

 

[WilliamRLBaker]

Agreed with ya man they are emotionless blobs. Really you hit on the big secret...the only reason most people like ff7 is because it was their first rpg and nostalgia is clouding alot of things...frankly ff7 was the fall of square for me...I had been a fan since the early days and I just marveled at how sucky ff7 was specially the ending.

Even with that at the time ff7 was released there were far better rpgs being released whos characters actually had emotion.

 

[King of the Sandbox]

All I remember right now is that I liked Cloud a lot more before I realized he was a whiney, emo, copypasta of someone much cooler and more fun to be around.

Out of the others, Cid and Vincent stuck out the most for me as memorable. Cid because of his gruff nature, determination to achieve his goal of space flight, and the sacrifice he made of that dream for the woman he loved. Also, he smoked Marlboro's. While fighting them. Pretty epic.

Similar thing with Vincent, mostly in the relationship with his lost love aspect. Also, he had the dopest outfit and could turn into Jason/Frankenstein with a chainsaw and the devil.

 

[Shirokurou]

I just want to make this clear ahead of time but, I haven't played FF7. I've seen advent children and watched My brother play through the Kingdom Hearts games, at least the areas where they were featured.
That said, I hear a lot of people talking about how popular and memorable these characters are. How they set the bar for characterization for all the FF games to come..Thing is, I didn't find them particularly memorable.
Maybe the other media portraying them doesnt do them justice, but are likes of Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth actually good characters? At most they seem like stock characters, and at worse they seem very..bland and/or emotionless.

Opinions or answers?

Nobody said they were complex characters. They are very nicely visually designed and memorable characters. They are memorable and loved due to that somewhat stock manner.

Also, yeah I watched Advent Children before even knowing about FF's plot and still immediately understood who was who due to their... trope personification.

 

[Elvoret]

FF7 is ok. I wouldn't vouch for any of the characters though.
Except maybe Cait Sith, that guy was the greatest.

 

[Bakuryukun]

I just want to make this clear ahead of time but, I haven't played FF7. I've seen advent children and watched My brother play through the Kingdom Hearts games, at least the areas where they were featured.
That said, I hear a lot of people talking about how popular and memorable these characters are. How they set the bar for characterization for all the FF games to come..Thing is, I didn't find them particularly memorable.
Maybe the other media portraying them doesnt do them justice, but are likes of Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth actually good characters? At most they seem like stock characters, and at worse they seem very..bland and/or emotionless.

Opinions or answers?

So....you made judgments on characters....without playing the game that has like 80% of their dialog and character development, and then your surprised that they aren't memorable? I kid.

To answer your question though, I've always liked the cast of FF7, Cloud and Tifa especially. Your probably going to get a lot of people saying that they are forgettable characters, but that's really a retrospective opinion, especially on Cloud, aloof, cold sometimes depressed main characters are common now, but when FF7 first came out it wasn't really a trend yet.

Tifa on the other hand is probably the best and most well defined characters in the game by the end of it, if you put yourself in her shoes on your second play-through when you know everything that's going on, you really get to see how interesting of a character she is.

Fun Fact: Everyone seems to forget that Tifa was the innocent one and Areith was the flirty one. Most people think it's the other way around.