I imagine I’m not the only one who restarted the game from the last save point, trying to see if there was some way Aeris could be saved
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"Final Fantasy VII" was a watershed moment in RPG video game history. Although perhaps no one element was unique, this was the first time that 3D graphics, lush backgrounds, full motion video cut scenes, catchy music, and an engrossing story with unforgettable characters was combined. The advertising blitz was huge. I had never seen a video game advertised for on TV like this in America. I think anybody that played through Disc 1 still remembers the moment Aeris died. Sephiroth, the main villain, falls from above as she´s about to activate the White Materia to save the world, and runs her completely through. There´s nothing you can do to stop it. I imagine I´m not the only one who restarted the game from the last save point, trying to see if there was some way she could be saved. The internet was alive with crazy rumors on how to bring her back to life, but alas, she was really and truly dead.
The hero of Final Fantasy VII, Cloud Strife, was an unlikely character. Although Cloud initially presented himself as a former member of SOLDIER, Class 1- the most elite of troops in the world- it turned out that it was all a lie. In fact, Cloud was a nobody in the army, a failed experiment to clone Sephiroth that was so disappointing, he was not even assigned a number. In reality, Cloud came from a small town where the girl he liked, Tifa, hardly noticed him (so he thought), and the other kids picked on him. Although he would later rise to the occasion and save the world, Cloud relied on his friends´ support and Tifa´s affection to prop him up.
The only part of "Final Fantasy VII" that was disappointing to me was the very end. Although you see that Sephiroth´s plan to destroy the world failed and that the planet is still alive and kicking some five-hundred years in the future, Cloud´s story was never really finished. I suppose we were meant to just assume that things worked out for him. Then a funny thing happened; Square actually made a sequel, a real sequel, to one of their "Final Fantasy" titles. "Final Fantasy X-2" directly continued the story from "Final Fantasy X", and with it, fans started to hope that other titles might get the same treatment. Then Square really kicked it up a notch- they were going to produce a movie as a sequel to "Final Fantasy VII". "Advent Children" was unleashed in 2005.
I should say right off the bat, if you did not play Final Fantasy VII, or watch somebody who did, you won´t get anything out of this movie. Although the feature disc contains a twenty-five minute flashback from the video game, I doubt it could make anywhere near the impression that 50+ hours of game play would give you. Stop reading this now, and go get a copy of the original game. You won´t be disappointed. In fact, I bought a used copy of the game about a month before this review, just so I could get a quick refresher.
"Advent Children" starts two years after the end of the video game. Cloud has contracted a disease called "geostigma" that is already claiming others across the world. Compounding his problem is Cloud´s lingering guilt over Aeris´ death. At the beginning of the film, Cloud has all but withdrawn from his friends and Tifa. It takes the emergence of the last of Sephiroth´s failed clones trying to locate Jenoa, their Mother, to bring Cloud out of retirement.
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