Final Fantasy VII has become such a special game for me. I played it when I was younger and of course back then I loved it too, but it hit harder now that I'm older. It's sort of strange in retrospect really. Just one day in September I decided to replay it on a whim and I don't regret it at all.

I've seen people say that this game is dated and to be quite frank I don't see it all. That was made clear to me during the opening sequence of the game when you see Cloud jumping off the train and fighting Shinra soldiers for the first time. As well as blowing up the reactor with the members of AVALANCHE and escaping via the trains. This game just feels so ambitious and cinematic in spites of hardware limitations. There were several little moments throughout the game that moved me dearly due to its cinematic feel.

Midgar was the perfect setting to start the game with. How I see it is that Midgar is the natural progression from kingdom settings in previous JRPG's. Midgar is a Capitalist nightmare where Shinra HQ feels like a corrupt government, hell its even stated they ARE above the officials of Midgar. You see the effects of Shinra through the towns you visit throughout the game. How its ruined both the environment and the lives of the people living there. The feeling of defeating the evil modern empire of Shinra is an entirely fulfilling one. So if anyone tries to tell you that the game isn't politcal, don't listen.

The main selling point as to why FF7 is one of my favorite games and has had a profound impact on me is how much humanity it has. FF7 has the perfect cast of characters. I hate how narrow minded readings of Clouds character can be dismissing him as an "emo edgelord" when that really isn't the case at all. Cloud is a very human character and is the victim of trauma and suffers from PTSD. For spoiler reasons I won't delve into, we see the person Cloud truly is. If he's a little moody then that's fine, thats part of being human. Cloud proves that you don't have to have a stoic badass for your video games.

All of the other characters are incredible too, given their own depth and emotional arcs throughout the game. Tifa figuring out her relationship with Cloud, Barret confronting his past and trying to become a better man, Red XIII confronting his lineage and becoming a hero, Yuffie wanting to reclaim the honor of her village by destroying Shinra, the grand yet hopeless ambitions of Cid, Vincent wanting revenge on Hojo, Cait Sith's strive for redemption, and then there's Aerith. Aerith is one of the most attachable characters ever. There's this sense of pure good within her and when you see her you'll always be glad to see Aerith. Aerith isn't the kind of perfect where she's boring, thankfully. She has so much life, often acting mischievous even. Constantly wanting to have a good time which leads to some of the best parts of the game, most notably if you take her to a date at Gold Saucer. All of those factors still make THAT scene still feel incredibly tragic, even if its been referenced and joked about so many times.

I really am grateful that I've replayed this game because its become one of my absolute favorites. Everything about it from the music to the storytelling will always leave an impact on me. I will treasure this game now and forever.