Final Fantasy 7 is still held in high regard by many, and with good reason. It has iconic characters, a good story, and an enjoyable battle system. The game is so good that Square Enix is making a full trilogy covering that one game, but with modern mechanics and a real-time combat system.
What’s impressive is that a lot of this is conveyed in the opening. Simply put, the opening act of Final Fantasy 7 is JRPG perfection. It’s well-paced, relays information in a smart way, and is just fun to play through.
It might look dated compared to Remake, but the introduction of this game still hits hard. Hearing those iconic notes and seeing the stars in the sky let players know they were in for a treat. We then transition to Aerith’s face, as she has a typical day in the city, before we cut to a train heading to the Mako reactor.
Before long, we see Jesse, Biggs, and Wedge take out guards, letting us know we’re infiltrating a pretty important place. Barrett then comes down and commands your player character, Cloud, to show himself. We’re then thrust into a battle against two guards who are pretty easy to beat, showing how much stronger Cloud is compared to most people.
After that quick battle, Jesse, Biggs, and Wedge gush about how much Cloud is a SOLDIER. That word is capitalized because that’s a special military rank few can reach in the world of Final Fantasy 7. It essentially makes you a super soldier like Captain America or an anime protagonist, which is doubled down on with the Remake trilogy.
Not long after, you get to team up with Barrett, which makes the battles a bit easier. As these battles go on, we can see that Cloud and Barrett have advantages over certain enemies. Cloud does more damage to regular humans and monsters, while Barrett’s gun can hurt flying enemies just a bit more.
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+ 2Soon after, Cloud is tasked with planting a bomb that will destroy the Mako Reactor we’re in. Just as players are about to press the button, they have to immediately take part in a boss fight. This giant scorpion robot does a lot of damage and resists the regular attacks of Cloud and Barrett. Luckily, Cloud has Materia on his side, with Thunder making short work of this boss.
The bomb has now been set, so Final Fantasy 7 decides to pressure players a bit more. When heading back out, they can still encounter random enemies, so Cloud and Barrett will have to quickly dispose of them or run away. Cloud also has to save Jesse at one point, adding a bit of tension to this opening act.
Eventually, you successfully evacuate the reactor and make your way back to the 7th Heaven Bar. There you’ll meet Tifa for the first time and suddenly have unrealistic expectations for the women in your life. That’s also essentially where the opening ends, though we do get more of Cloud’s backstory through exposition with Tifa.
click to enlarge + 2All of this is well-paced, blending in story moments with actual gameplay that forces the player to be active in this portion. Battles aren’t difficult, but they give players a taste of what’s to come. Exploring becomes a bigger part of the game as well, so this is something of a preview for what’s coming later.
This opening act of Final Fantasy 7 is perfect. Aside from Chrono Trigger, it’s harder to think of a better introduction that gives players a taste of what will happen later. Now, if only the modern re-releases had proper analog movement…
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