Wutai Slot Machine Ff7
This is part of an ongoing series about my favorite memories from video games. You can find the original list and table of contents in last week's post or by clicking here. Please be aware that these posts are going to be full of spoilers
This zany cat-creature rides upon a fat, stuffed, cave-moogle Golem (the moogle has a visible zipper on his back). Cait Sith commands the moogle with commands shouted in his megaphone. He also has a slot machine attack with several random (and interesting) attacks. Final Fantasy Kingdom, the final word in fantasy. Final Fantasy Kingdom is 2005-2020 Final Fantasy Kingdom, & I.M. Meckem Web Design. Final Fantasy is a of Square-Enix Co. All images, music.
which may ruin the impact of these events on anyone who wishes to experience them on their own in the future. I hope you enjoy traveling down my memory lane as much as I do!#10 - Zack's Death (Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII)
Crisis Core: FinalFantasy VII was released in the US in 2008 for the Playstation Portable(PSP). It is the youngest game on my list of greatest memories. It is part ofthe Compilation of Final Fantasy VIIwhich is an ongoing project to pump out more products related to one of thegreatest games Squaresoft (now Square Enix) ever made. Sadly, I find theCompilation only diluting an otherwise marvelous game experience withsuperfluous nonsense that doesn’t add anything substantial to the main product,Final Fantasy VII. This particulargame is the sixth product to come out in the Final Fantasy VII universe and attempts to provide back story to acharacter who is dead shortly before the events of the main attraction. Mypersonal vote on adding to the FinalFantasy VII universe would have been to leave well enough alone, but ifpressed I would have told you I was most interested in a prequel.
Unfortunately, all the things we know happened before thestart of Final Fantasy VII are all more or lesssettings for missions without much plot or consequence. For example, we know Midgar (Shinra) was at war with Wutai where the villain of VII, Sephiroth was a triumphant war hero, but that still seems to go on in the background of Crisis Core rather than being fully developed. At every aspect wherewe could learn more about the history of this world from Final Fantasy VII this game just uses asa setting from which they launch new ideas, new plots, new antagonists; it's all junk Ihonestly don’t care about because when FinalFantasy VII starts all of these things are never mentioned – almost likethey didn’t happen and have no consequence on the future story!
Unfortunately, all the things we know happened before thestart of Final Fantasy VII are all more or lesssettings for missions without much plot or consequence. For example, we know Midgar (Shinra) was at war with Wutai where the villain of VII, Sephiroth was a triumphant war hero, but that still seems to go on in the background of Crisis Core rather than being fully developed. At every aspect wherewe could learn more about the history of this world from Final Fantasy VII this game just uses asa setting from which they launch new ideas, new plots, new antagonists; it's all junk Ihonestly don’t care about because when FinalFantasy VII starts all of these things are never mentioned – almost likethey didn’t happen and have no consequence on the future story!
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I consider all this stuff to distract from the powerfulstory of Final Fantasy VII ratherthan add to it or make it easier to understand. Though you get some interestingglimpses of Sephiroth before he becomes the tragic villain, the maindraw of the game’s story is the one that actually impacts the events in Final Fantasy VII. That is Zack’srelationship with Aerith. It’sunfortunate that they couldn’t have made Wutai a villain and divulge all thisinformation about the Wutai War that we know next to nothing about. Despiteall these downfalls of the writing choices and the plot direction, the developers reallypackaged a surprisingly fun game to play.
You control Zack Fair as he hacks and slashes his waythrough this action role-playing game by taking missions from Shinra andgetting to know his SOLDIER (Shinra’s elite) companions. As he forges strongerrelations with his friends and coworkers he gains access to new abilities whichactivate whenever his 'Digital Mind Wave' slot-machine lines up their portraits. This seeminglyrandom way to trigger abilities represents Zack’s memory of past events andpeople. Trust me when I say it seems kind of silly at first, but this device’srole in the ending is what makes the game all come together to an amazingmoment. This all amounted to a really fun battle system and I found myselfexcited to take on more and more missions and hoping they would test my skillsand my memory-slot-machine luck. I put the story aside and got into thischaracter and his ability to tear through a battlefield. Zack is a very unusualprotagonist in video games because he’s a prepackaged badass and that was quitefun and refreshing. He is, of course, unsure of himself due to being surroundedby greatness like Sephiroth. Nevertheless, Zack holds his own in combat and is amazingly fun toplay.Ff7 Wutai Fire Cave
| The Game Needed More of This |
What this all comes down to, though, is how do they handle the ending? Will it all tie together with Final Fantasy VII? How will this game handle Zack’s death? I assumed it wouldbe a cutscene filled with over-emotional dialogue, but the more I played thegame the more I was wishing and hoping I’d get to fight it out. I wanted tostand on my feet before the countless waves of Shinra soldiers and make my final heroic stand against insurmountable odds. I fearedI would not be allowed to do so, because most games don't use battles to convey strong emotional moments. This isn't true in CrisisCore and what I got defied all expectations.
Not only does the game allow you to stand off againstinnumerable enemies which you can fight until you’re blue in the face (or yourPSP runs out of batteries) if you have the tenacity and the healing items. It also finally makes sense why they wanted to use this random slot-machine totrigger Zack’s memories. As he battles to his last breath, his life begins toflash before his eyes via this slot machine. He remembers people and places andevents that give him strength. As the fight goes on thememories of his comrades begin to fade (stop showing up on the slots) and ashis struggle to survive continues he remembers his mentor, Angeal, and his protégé,Cloud. When he’s unable to concentrate on anything else the entire slot machineappears to break, some panels stuck outright and others flickering the sameimage over and over – Aerith. Right before Zack succumbs to darkness of death’ssleep, his only thoughts are of his love, Aerith.
As I played through this battle, most of my mental energy was focused on trying tolast as long as I can on this battlefield. It was surprising and amazing for meto see how much emotion they jammed into this (predominantly) action scene. Iremember tearing up when I glanced at my slots and saw only Aerith appearing. Iwas so touched while playing Zack’s last stand. I expected (like every other momentof plot in the game) I’d be eye rolling and wondering what the writers werethinking, but instead I was treated to this innovative way to portray Zack's life flashing before his eyes all while I fight off these swarming soldiers. I was completely blown away. I feel the entire game exists for thatmoment. It uses the battle system (and terrible plot) to get me to feelsomething for Zack as a character, and then snatches him away while allowingthe player to go out in a blaze of glory. It’s just an incredible experienceand I wish the rest of the game had matched that amount of expression.
| Zack and Aerith |