A LIVING LEGACY: A Journey through Final Fantasy VII - Part 1

Welcome to Part I of an analysis series that aims to break down the workings of Final Fantasy VII’s writing and assess normatively its performance!

Part I covers the following main topics:

- The establishment of my analysis process and the reasoning behind it (applying for this and other media I cover), including a discussion on normativity, objectivity and subjectivity.
- The full context surrounding Final Fantasy VII’s release, from artistic tendencies and technological limitations of the time to the context surrounding the artists themselves and their relationship with hardware manufacturers. An exploration on what defined the game’s development limitations and the foundations that the series it’s a part of left for the title to spring from. Through this history, some core aspects that serve as Final Fantasy VII’s identity are highlighted.
- A demo of my analysis on FFVII moving forward, exploring the First Bombing Mission.

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Timestamps:

0:00:00 - A Living Legacy Opening + A Notice for Part I
0:02:40 - Opening remarks, important reminders, and a discussion on video length

Preface
0:08:30 - Establishing the approach for analyzing FFVII
0:11:41 - A brief summary of yours truly and the goals for the channel
0:14:27 - Establishing the sets of standards to be adopted when analyzing media.
0:15:07 - A discussion on Normativity and its relationship with Objectivity and Subjectivity in art.
0:45:36 - A discussion on the importance of applying a set of standards based on non-diegetic context.
0:50:25 - Summarizing the Preface and a premise for the following segments of the video.

Introduction
0:54:40 - The Age of Impossibility: the artistic context of mid-1990s Japan.
1:17:00 - A history of Squaresoft and Final Fantasy pre-FFVII: the context surrounding the series and some of its artists.
1:42:28 - A brief runup on FFVII’s development beginnings.
1:44:20 - The novelty of 3D Computer Graphics and the Final Fantasy SGI Demo.
1:52:30 - Square’s cinematic goals with Final Fantasy VII.
1:54:42 - The formation of the key team for FFVII’s development.
1:59:37 - A brief discussion on teamwork in audiovisual media’s development.
2:08:16 - The Nintendo 64 Demo for Final Fantasy VII + SEPHIROTH IS IN
2:15:01 - The context surrounding the Nintendo 64 and the hardware specs of the time.
2:22:50 - Final Fantasy VII’s departure from the Nintendo 64 and its landing on the PlayStation.
2:31:49 - A Summary of this video series’ introduction and final reminders before the analysis.

Analysis
2:39:05 - An exploration of the void that opens FFVII, the voices that inhabit it, and Aerith’s introduction
2:47:54 - Analyzing the title card FMV and a brief discussion on Midgar’s design and its implications to the story
2:56:10 - The first transition from FMV to gameplay and a look at the first battle sequence, from a meta and mechanical perspectives.
3:01:48 - Fantasian: Sakaguchi’s new game that evolves the presentation pioneered by FFVII. Don’t forget to check it out!
3:02:14 - Breaking down the first gameplay sequence and a quick deviation into potions.
3:06:00 - First glimpses of Cloud and Barrett’s characterization, Shin-Ra x Avalanche dynamic, and an introduction to FFVII’s use of nameless textboxes for its narrative
3:14:19 - Reaching Mako Reactor 1, Barrett’s speech, Cloud’s lack of political interest, and a quick diversion to a possible Star Wars reference.
3:19:48 - Taking the elevator while Barrett insists his politics on Cloud on their way to the core of the reactor. A look at the disparity between these characters and how characterization is incremented over the course of the story.
3:23:14 - Reaching the core of the reactor. A discussion on mystery through the use of textboxes and how the voice Cloud hears kickstarts one of the game’s main arcs.
3:31:43 - The Guard Scorpion
3:34:18 - Jessie’s characterization and a tease of the discussion on radicalism the game presents.
3:38:34 - Analyzing the scene composition of the first shot in Sector 8 and a glimpse of Shin-Ra in the world of FFVII

Outro
3:45:15 - Closing remarks
3:51:47 - End credits


List of contributors (musicians, arrangers, gameplay footage, etc) is posted in the pinned comment.

References used for this video shall also be posted in the comment section (didn't fit in the description as well).

#FinalFantasyVII #FFVII #ALivingLegacy