Defining Moment: Aeries Death Alright, inevitably some readers at this point will immediately head to the comments section to complain about the fact that FFVII wasnt the first decently plotted RPG in video games, FF(number 7) was. Yes, youre probably right. But FFVII was the first mainstream one, and the first that actually looked and felt like a movie. For lots of gamers, it was the first time we found ourselves playing a game just to find out what would happen. And it was brutal. When you saw Sephiroth thrust that sword into Aeries, and had that grim realisation that no amount of phoenix downs would bring her back, it was hard not to feel a slight, manly twinge of sadness. Other popular video game plots of the time included a plumber rescuing a princess from the huge lizard-type thing that had captured her, a gorilla trying to recapture his bananas from the huge crocodile-type thing that had stolen them, and a blue hedgehog trying to retrieve the chaos emeralds from the mad scientist who had stolen them. Final Fantasy VII helped a mainstream audience see the potential for plot and character backstories in video games. And did I mention that it was one of the first games to successfully and powerfully use AMV in story telling? Honourable Mention: Metal Gear Solid A year later, Metal Gear Solid further showed the cinematic potential of games. It also took rather seriously the idea of a compelling plot in video games arguably too seriously, as the MGS series plot is only comprehensible if youve done extensive background reading, played through the franchise at least eight times and had a candlelit dinner with the scriptwriter.
Laurence Gardner was born in Canterbury, England. After moving around various cities during his childhood, and spending some time travelling in Europe and America, he studied English Literature at Oxford University. Since then, he’s been living abroad, teaching English, learning a range of languages, and writing in his free time. He can currently be found in Heidelberg, working as an English Tutor and Translator and studying at the University. If you liked this article, follow him on Twitter to get automatic updates on his work.
Alright, inevitably some readers at this point will immediately head to the comments section to complain about the fact that FFVII wasnt the first decently plotted RPG in video games, FF(number 7) was. Yes, youre probably right. But FFVII was the first mainstream one, and the first that actually looked and felt like a movie. For lots of gamers, it was the first time we found ourselves playing a game just to find out what would happen. And it was brutal. When you saw Sephiroth thrust that sword into Aeries, and had that grim realisation that no amount of phoenix downs would bring her back, it was hard not to feel a slight, manly twinge of sadness. Other popular video game plots of the time included a plumber rescuing a princess from the huge lizard-type thing that had captured her, a gorilla trying to recapture his bananas from the huge crocodile-type thing that had stolen them, and a blue hedgehog trying to retrieve the chaos emeralds from the mad scientist who had stolen them. Final Fantasy VII helped a mainstream audience see the potential for plot and character backstories in video games. And did I mention that it was one of the first games to successfully and powerfully use AMV in story telling? Honourable Mention: Metal Gear Solid A year later, Metal Gear Solid further showed the cinematic potential of games. It also took rather seriously the idea of a compelling plot in video games arguably too seriously, as the MGS series plot is only comprehensible if youve done extensive background reading, played through the franchise at least eight times and had a candlelit dinner with the scriptwriter. 