FFVII: Parting is such sweet sorrow

Finally, finally, finally, I’m finished with disc 1. And let me say that it felt pretty good to put in disc 2 when I turned on my PS3 yesterday evening.

And after complaining about feeling like I wasn’t getting anywhere in past few weeks, a lot has happened (in the game) since my last post. I was more than a little amused that once I got back on track after my extended foray in Wutai, and my search for the keystone for the fabled City of the Ancients led me back to the Golden Saucer, the team to a few minutes to figure exactly where they stood and what it was they were doing. And no one had any idea. Half of them didn’t remember what they were after, and the half that remembered were totally confused as to why. I thought it was a nice touch to bring the player back in to the story before things really get rolling.

And get rolling they do. As Daniel spoiled last week, Aeris dies at the end of disc one. (Although, seriously, if you didn’t know that by now, I think we’re way past the point of “spoilers.” I knew Aeris dies, and I’d never played the game before.) After a brief romantic interlude at the Golden Saucer, Aeris inserts herself into the battle party for the trip to the Temple of the Ancients. There’s some confusing business with Cloud once you’ve made it through the temple—Cloud doesn’t seem to be able to stop himself from doing everything Sephiroth tells him to do—and Aeris responds by fulfilling every horror movie cliché and going off on her own.

So yeah, she was dead, dead, dead. It was just a matter of how.

It’s hard to judge the effectiveness or impact of Aeris’s death this far removed from the original release of the game. Its harsh sure, but it didn’t hit me like it did in FFIV when Palom and Porom, two kids, mind you, turn themselves to stone to save the main character’s life. Sure, they get healed at the end, but I didn’t have any idea that was going to happen when I was playing the game. All I knew was that my favorite members of the group were suddenly statues, apparently forever. Did I mention that they were kids?

On the other hand, while the interlude in the Golden Saucer works hard to give me some investment in Aeris before she um, goes away, I’ve been far more interested in Tifa. She and Cloud have some history, or they don’t but think they do, which is even more interesting. Aeris is, well, a bit of a goody two-shoes, and not all that useful in the battle party.

So, you know, I’m bummed. But not that bummed.

And I’m almost to the airship. Almost. Next week.

Which leads to my last conundrum for this week. I’m enjoying FFVII, really I am, but it’s monopolizing my rather limited game time, and while that was okay, and even fun while I was playing FFX back in 2003, it’s not so great when I’m playing a PS1 game on my PS3. (Especially when the characters actually look worse and not better in the higher-resolution cutscenes, which are cool for scenery, but man, Cloud looks like a dork.)

Because when you get the Highwind, suddenly the world of side quests opens up. And I’m normally all about side quests, at least the ones that get me the best weapons and the awesome summons, but I think maybe, just maybe, I going to try to work around them this time. I’m nearly at 30 hours of gameplay, and I’d like to see if I can finish in another 10-20 hours.

At least, that’s the thought for now. Any input, Andrew and Daniel? Which side quests are really essential, and which are not?

Where you at?

Disc: 2

Cloud’s Level: Dunno. Gone AWOL. Tifa’s at level 44

Location: Junon Branch, 2f

Timer: 28:49

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Read Daniel J. Hogan’s week 9 post

Read Andrew Simone’s week 9 post

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