Final Fantasy VII
A Final Fantasy Tribute
As a former die-hard RPG fan, I've played every Final Fantasy I could get my hands on since the yee old days of the NES, GAMEBOY, AND SNES. It's a fact that I did indeed only buy the PSX, because SQUARE had teemed up with Sony. If you are new to the RPG genre, company SQUARESOFT, who is responsible for Final Fantasy 7, is in my opinion, the best producer of this genre. How can anyone forget about "Chrono" or "Mana"?! Let me just say that their story-lines rock, and they really know how to develop likeable characters. But on to the reason you are reading this synopsis: FF7 and FF8
For those who are new to the Final Fantasy scene, the number after each title does not indicate that it is a sequel to the previous title. In fact, the storylines really have nothing to do with each other *sigh* ... as much as I did love FF6 (or FF3 in the US).
FF7 follows the story of ex-Shinra soldier Cloud Strife.
Now for the part she likes sooo much..... the VILLANS!!! (dum, dee dum, dee dum....). Since FF7's plot is so complicated, it is hard to say who exactly are the villans, and who aren't, but one obvious one, is that SEXY SILVER-HAIRED HUNK-A-BURNIN'-LOVE:
As far as gameplay goes, I don't have the patience I once had, but if you do want the "perfect" FF7 game,
Final Fantasy VIII
Not much info. has been released about FF8, although working
designs of it were showcased at E3. Basically it is supposed to be lighter than FF7, following the lives of Squall Leonhart (mega-kawaii) who utilizes the weapon "Gunblade" and Laguna Lenoire or Lanoire a former journalist.
Lastly, I would like to recommend that all fans of Rurouken try out the RPG version, published by Sony. I cleared it, and I'm neither Japanese or Chinese, so at the time of clearing it, all the language looked like little squiggles. It was a lot of fun though, and used kind of a "rock, paper, scissors" battle-system. A little time consuming because of the language barrier, but hey, it was worth it when I finished it. Graphics wise, you could say it's kind of ghetto, but they do have these neat anime sequences in which events take place, using the authentic seiyuus from the series. (Yep, Mayo Suzakaze and the gang are all there). Well
good luck with all of your anime-hunting and gaming.... JYA NEE!!
© Demonic Fox Kurama, 1998
** I want to give a big thank you to my close friend Mel for letting me borrow her politics essay and taking excerpts out of it to post onto my page. Arigato Mel-sama ^_^
By: Mel
Although I don't want to give much of the story away, it has a lot to do with the search for the meaningness of life, and rediscovery of oneself. An interesting point on this theme, was that the producer/director's mother had died during its making, which is why much of its undertones, were very dark and depressing. Cloud has to learn to simply trust others and himself, as well as find out who he really is inside. Along the way of his journey, he teams up with childhood friend Tifa Lockhart, Avalanche leader Barrett Wallace, Ancient Aeris or (Aerith in Jap.) Gainsborough, thief Yuffie Kisaragi, spy Cait-Sith (I think it's pronounce KAT-SHEE), former Turk Vincent Valentine (who I know a lot of the ladies love), lab specimen feline Red XIII, and disgruntled pilot Cid (I forgot his last name). Funny thing about the Final Fantasy universe, is there is a Cid in every single Final Fantasy game. FF7 was the first that showcased him as a regular playable character. Incidentally, if I have forgotten to list any characters, sumimasen, and e-mail Yukii, so I can make amends.
Yoko Kurama.... whoops! Wrong cartoon.... what I meant to say was SEPHIROTH!!! Since Yukii loves him so much, I'll elaborate on his character a bit, and hopefully not add too many spoilers. He was a former general for Shinra, until one day, he totally lost it, and became the evil bastard he is today. *MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!!!* It turns out that he and Cloud were actually clones... Cloud being a failure, he being the deranged--yet successful prototype, and he delusionally thought this creature Jenova was his mother. Because of Cloud's mental instability, Sephiroth is able to bend his will at times forcing him to obey him, all the while causing poor Cloud to suffer a mental collapse. Though I do admit he is quite a looker, looks aren't everything, so my personal favourite is Cloud. Other villans Cloud & co. encounter are the Turks employed by Shinra (some of them are pretty Kawaii, particularly Reno), GORGEOUS SHINRA president Rufus... I think it is... well in any case, the son, not the father (although he's pretty evil too), Shinra lackies Don Corneo and Heidiegger, Jenova, Sephy's deranged father/creator Hojo, and JIN KAZAMA.... FIGHT!!!! (j/k my mind's straying from my task... although if you haven't played Tekken 3, do so a.s.a.p.). 
you will have to put in countless hours of gameplay so if you really don't have the time to do much, this is not the game for you. The story-line is pretty engaging, and played from the third-person point of view, so it isn't as involving as some gamers like...but then again, RPG's in my opinion usually are played from the third-person point of view. The mini-games such as Gold Saucer, and Chocobo raising are quite fun, as are the mini story-lines, such as Cloud's *gay-stick-drag* experience... (don't ask), but if you
expect to be one of those gamers who beat Ruby, and Emerald Weapon, as well as obtain those mega-materia things, prepare to hibernate in front of your t.v. set for a few months.
Both men are supposed to be entwined in a love triangle with some woman (that would be me...j/k), but I am not sure what the real plot is at the moment. Interesting points to notice about this title, is that unlike seeing the standard one person on screen, while all the other characters suddenly pop out of nowhere, all your characters will be visible on screen. Also, SQUARE is finally getting rid of the choppy SD look typical of most RPG characters while wandering around the world, and replacing it with realistic looking game sprites instead. I believe that the ATB from FF7 is still in this game, as well as a more complicated materia system. As usual, most spells are updated to look better than the previous game's. So far the graphics look stellar, and backgrounds look fabulous. I believe a demo is available for play right now with Parasite Eve (SQUARE's latest title), but release is not slated until sometime next year (but don't quote me on this b/c you know how release dates are subject to change).
