Released by Squaresoft in 1997 on the Sony
Playstation, directed by Yoshinori Kitase who would later direct Final Fantasy 8, and
written by franchise regular, Kazushige Nojima as well Yoshinori Kitase, Final Fantasy 7
would be a step in a new console generation. Production for the game started on the Super
Nintendo, and with new consoles capable of 3D coming out, shifted to the disc format
of Playstation and later PC due to memory demands that allowed a jump in graphics and
sound. The game used 3d polygonal characters moving
against linear, pre-rendered 2D backgrounds, though used higher-detailed models in 3D battles. For story, pre-rendered CGI cutscenes, a modern
day setting, multiple minigames, and scripted adventure pieces would ferry the story of
the main protagonist Cloud and the other 8 main characters. For combat, 3 people can be fielded at a time,
and each character is looslely based on a traditional job role. Mechanically, many elements from Final Fantasy
6 are used, such as an evolved version of 6's Desperation attack that would become the
Limit Break system, in which a meter could be charged and spent to unleash a special
command. For progression, 6's Esper system would be
expanded to the Materia system, in which the attached artifacts now grant commands and
modifiers, as well as stat changes as they are leveled up. The tremendous marketing for the game brought
awareness of the franchise for the first time to a larger Western audience with its mainstream
appeal, as well as streamlining the numbering convention. Since its release, the in-game world has been
expanded in several additions, such as a movie, a sequel and prequel game, anime, and many
spinoff projects. While also known for being the best selling
installment in the series, the recent Final Fantasy 10 remake has allowed that entry to
surpass 7's place, though a remake of FinalFantasy 7 is underway and will likely reclaim the
top sales spot for the franchise. The story only gets larger from here, so let's
cut it down to size with a RECAPitation. Set in the world of Gaia, in the city of Midgar,
we see Cloud Strife, a mercenary swordsman, doing a job for an environmental terrorist
group named Avalanche, as they seek to blow up the North Mako Reactor owned by the mega-corporation
Shinra Electric Power Company. Barrett, Avalanche's foul-mouthed leader whom
also has a gun prosthetic in place of an amputated arm, doesn't trust Cloud, as Cloud claims
to be a former member of SOLDIER, the private military under Shinra. He explains to a disinterested cloud that
Shinra converts the life energy of the planet, Mako energy, into electricity, heat, and consumer
goods for everyone to use, however they firmly believe this consumption is deeply harming
the planet. Reaching the core of the power plant, Cloud
sets up the bomb as a mysterious voice cries out in his head that this isn't just a reactor. They defeat a security robot and escape just
as the bomb blows, destroying 1 of the city's 8 reactors and sending shockwaves throughout
Midgar. As they split up to meet later at their hideout,
Cloud crosses the massive panic and collateral damage they've caused, and bumps into a flower
girl there, opting to buy one of the uncommon flowers she sells. He leaps aboard a passing train to escape
pursuing forces, and as he meets up with the others, he is explained the layout of Midgar
in which the city is actually composed of two layers, an upper and lower layer and divided
into 8 sectors. Barrett is quite vocal about how the lower
level cannot see the sky and is full of polluted air, basically degrading into a giant slum. As they return to their home base, which has
the front as a bar, Cloud meets up with Tifa, his childhood friend and martial artist, who
runs this bar, watches over Barrett's daughter Marlene, and is also a member of Avalanche. Barrett questions where Cloud's loyalty lies,
and he replies he doesn't care about Shinra, Avalanche, or the planet, he's just here for
the job. Tifa asks Cloud to stay with them and join
avalanche, if not for the sake of the planet, then for her, reminding him of the promise
he made to her 7 years ago that he'll be a hero and rescue her should she ever get in
a bind, and cloud agreed. At this time, Barrett comes up with Cloud's
payment and recognizes Cloud's strength, and Cloud agrees to stay on for another mission,
which is now the sector 5 reactor. After evading the improved security of Shinra,
Cloud, Tifa and Barrett make it to Reactor 5, where cloud suddenly sees a past memory
of Tifa's father being killed by Sephiroth and she vows revenge on all of shinra. They set the bomb and prepare to leave but
are suddenly caught in a trap. The president of Shinra himself comes personally
to explain they've been expecting a subsequent bombing from Avalanche, so they were prepared. They leave a combat drone to fight them, but
when they defeat it, it blows Cloud off the side of the reactor. They dont have time to save him, and he promises
not to die as their own bomb blows ups, sending cloud tumbling to the slums below. He is waken up by Aerith, a girl who raises
flowers in the church he just crashed down in, who is also the flower girl he met earlier. As they chat, she reveals she has a unique
materia she received from her mother that seems to do absolutely nothing, and Cloud
explains he is a mercenary. As a man in black enters the church, she offers
to hire him a bodyguard to get her home with the payment of a single date, and he accepts. As Cloud approaches the man, he begins talking
to himself then oddly correcting himself, then recalls this man is a member of the Turks,
Shinra's elite espionage agency. As they escape out the back from this man
named Reno, Cloud asks why the Turks are after her, but she doesn't know. They pass through the destitute slums, and
find another flower-filled area which is Aerith's home. After dropping her off, Cloud asks for the
way back to Sector 7 and Tifa's bar, and she offers to show him the way. They rest for the night and head off for Sector
7 by means of crossing through Sector 6. During a break, Aerith asks Cloud what rank
he was in Soldier, and after a suddden mental spark, he replies first class. She reveals her first boyfriend was also a
Soldier first-class, and while she really liked him, she declines
sharing the name now. Suddenly, Cloud sees a carriage pass by with
Tifa within, and they chase after it, finding it leads to the Wall Market, a particularly
seedy area, even for the slums. It turns out Tifa's been taken to the local
brothel, the Honey Bee Inn, where she is being interviewed as a potential bride for local
crime boss, Don Corneo. Cloud is concerned about Tifa, but Don Corneo's
mansion is only admitting women at this time, so Aerith suggests Cloud dress up as a woman
to get inside, and Cloud reluctantly agrees. After indulging in the services of the Honey
Bee Inn women and showering with male dancers for, research purposes, Cloud completes his
crossdressing ensemble, and Aerith joins him in the mansion. They find Tifa, who came here on her own following
a lead that Don Corneo may have insider information on Shinra. As the three ladies appeal to the Don, Corneo
chooses Cloud as his bride for the night and later in his bedroom, right as things are
about to get heavy, Aerith and Tifa burst in to save Cloud. Corneo spills that Heidegger, the head of
public safety for Shinra, hired him to sniff out Avalanche, and after confirming their
hideout, will drop the entire sector 7 plate on top of them. Meanwhile, in Shinra HQ, Heidegger states
the Turks are preparing to drop the plate, but the head of Urban Development, Reeve,
protests the overkill of destroying an entire sector and murdering an entire village just
to elimate one small group of rebels. However, President Shinra dismisses Reeve,
and sends him off on vacation while revealing the plan to using Avalanches own attacks against
them, setting off another bomb inside the city, easily blame the tragedy on the chaos
of Avalanche, and look good by handling a rescue and relief operation. As Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith hurry to the sector
7 pillar, they see Avalanche fighting a losing battle to protect it. Aerith is sent to fetch Marlene and get her
to safety, while Cloud and Tifa move to support Barrett, but they are too late to stop Reno
and the Turks from arming the bomb. The leader of the turks, Tseng, comes up with
a helicopter, explaining there is no way to disarm that bomb, and that he now has the
last Ancient, Aerith, in his grasp. He leaves as the pillar begins to break, and
Barret conveniently finds a cable that is able to swing them out of the entire sector
as everything explodes behind them and the entire plate crushes everyone else beneath. Appalled at the utter destruction of Sector
7, Barrett is furious at Shinra for definitively killing the rest of Avalanche, and Tifa is
unsure where to go from here. Cloud leaves in search of Aerith, as Aerith
being an Ancient triggered an old memory of Sephiroth who said the same thing. They visit her home, which fortunately is
where she brought Marlene, and her mother explains Aerith is the sole surviving member
of that race. Naturally, she's only her adopted mother as
after her husband left for the shinra war against Wutai, she found Aerith's real mother
dying in the street, and obliged her request to take care of Aerith. Aerith as a kid explained to her that her
mother only returned to the planet when she died after they escaped from a lab so she
wasn't really gone, but she never quite understood that. Later, Tseng and the Turks found her and explained
that as an Ancient, she would be able to lead them to the promised land and make everyone
happy, hence why they hounded her but never hurt her, but she still never cooperated with
Shinra. In the end, Aerith traded herself for Marlene's
safety, and Barret apologizes, finding no way to balance being a good father and pursuing
his mission to save the environment. Barret promises to help save Aerith from Shinra
in return for saving Marlene, even though that means storming Shinra HQ directly. Finding a wire leading up to the upper layer,
the group climbs upward through the lingering wreckage, and waste no time approaching the
Shinra building. While they could climb over 60 flights of
stairs and get in quietly that way, going in loud though the front door proves just
as effective. As they sneak through a ventilation shaft,
they spy upon a board meeting with President Shinra. They hear Reeve recount the sheer destruction
of Sector 7 and his shock to learn the president is not only refusing to rebuild it, but re-starting
his Neo-Midgar plan, in which they will find the promised land by means of an Ancient. At this time, Dr. Hojo, comes in, lamenting
how inferior Aerith is to her mother, Ifalna, as a specimen. Instead, he would prefer to breed her so to
make more hardy specimens for increased study. As the group follows him back to his lab,
they see him prepare a valuable canine specimen for testing, and Cloud notes a sealed chamber
nearby labled Jenova. Looking in he sees a mutilated, headless but
still living corpse, and suddenly his head begin ringing painfully. As they move a panicked Cloud away from Jenova,
they confront Hojo who remains calm as he continues his experiments. As he brings the first specimen in with Aerith,
he explains he intends to breed these two endangered species as a means to save both
of them from extinction. Appaled by the cross-species experiment, Barret
shoots at the cell, causing an overload, which forces Hojo to open the cell to save both
specimens. The canine leaps out and attacks Hojo by the
neck as they rescue Aerith, and sensing a strong monster on its way, the canine gives
them a warning, surprising the group with its ability to speak. Going by the name Red XIII, he joins the team
to help them all escape. However, they are soon cornered by Turks Rude
and Tseng, and brought personally before President Shinra in his office. Aerith is taken elsewhere, as the President
explains she is the last surviving ancient, also known as the Cetra, who used to prosper
thousands of years ago, but are now all but extinct. Shinra buys heavily into the tale that the
Cetra will show the way to the promised land, and will pursue it even if it ends up being
just a legend. The Promised Land is said to be a highly fertile
land, which likely means its rich with Mako. There he intends to construct his new empire
of Neo-Midgar, though he is done talking to the group for now, and they are thrown in
the same cells next to Aerith. They ask her if the Promised Land is real,
but she can't really say beyond just a feeling she has as a Cetra. All she knows is the Cetra are born from the
planet, speak with it, unlock it, and will eventually return to it. The next day, Cloud wakes up to find his cell
door open and guards slaughtered, and beyond they find the Jenova specimen has violently
escaped its container. Following its trail of blood, they find it
leads to President Shinra's office, where they are shocked to find the president dead
and impaled on a long sword. Though, it turns out to be the distinctive
Masamune sword wielded by Sephiroth, the legendary but missing Soldier first class. They see Palmer, the director of Shinra's
space program cowering to the side, and he readily spills out that Sephiroth came and
stated he wouldn't let Shinra have the promised land, before killing president Shinra. The group then wonders if Sephiroth is a good
guy protecting the Promised Land from Shinra, however Cloud quickly refuses to believe that,
stating Sephiroth must have some ulterior motive. Outside, they see Vice president Rufus, the
former president's son, stepping in to claim the recently vacated spot of Company President. He respects how his father built the Shinra
company to control the world with money and have a good public face, but his methods are
different, preferring to control the world with Fear now. Still, he plans to also seek out the Promised
Land and Sephiroth, who is also an Ancient, and for that Cloud declares he won't allow
shinra or Sephiroth to gain the Promised Land. They scuffle, but Rufus gets away, and the
building is surrounded, preventing any normal escape. Thinking quickly, they hijack a few display
vehicles from Shinra's lobby, and crash out onto the adjacent highway, with Cloud on his
motorcycle fending off any pursuers. At the end of the road, the party wonders
what to do, with Avalanche all but destroyed, and the man responsible was already killed
for them by Sephiroth. Despite that, Cloud states he has a score
to settle with Sephiroth so he'll be moving out, Barrett decides to go along as Cloud
convinces him stopping Sephiroth will help the planet, Aerith decides to join in order
to learn more about the Ancients, Tifa opts to follow her friend Cloud, and Red XII just
tags along. With the group assembled, Barrett nominates
himself as leader, though both girls outvote him in favor of cloud. As they rest at a nearby village, the group
presses cloud to reveal the big mission he is leading them all on, which is to stop Sephiroth
and help save the environment. Cloud begins his tales of once idolizing the
war hero Sephiroth and joining Soldier to be like him. Eventually, they started doing missions together
and they became friends. However, after the Wutai war, Soldier was
deployed to put down any resistance. It was 5 years ago, and Cloud was a 16 year
old, squat-loving, energetic personality, when they received a mission to investigate
a malfunctioning reactor that is also producing monsters, in Cloud's hometown of Nibelheim. Sephiroth's strength was always unreal, even
compared to other Soldiers, and when they reached Nibelheim, Sephiroth made small talk
as he had no hometown and no parents beyond his dead mother Jenova. Tifa is strangely mute through all this as
Barett points out that Jenova is the same name as the monster in the Shinra building. As he continues the story, he looked for Tifa
who might have been home, but seeing she wasn't, stole her underwear instead. He also visited his mom in his old house,
and caught up with her, but his memories seem oddly disjointed about it. He also met Tifa's martial arts master, and
Tifa herself ended up being their guide to the reactor. A local fan took a picture of the group, and
the group set off, crossing the treacherous terrain of Mt. Nibel. Once they reached the reactor, the infantryman
they brought with them stayed behind with Tifa as Cloud and Sephiroth investigated within,
and as they fix the problem, Sephiroth sees what Dr. Hojo has been doing in his efforts
to reach the level of Professor Gast. Cloud peers inside one of the reactors containers
and sees a monstrous abomination, and Sephiroth explains that Soldiers are just normal humans
enhanced a bit with a shower of Mako. However, these people have been exposed to
a high degree of Mako, turning them into monsters by the hand of Dr. Hojo. However, a sudden epiphany hits Sephiroth
that he himself is far beyond the normal Soldier too by the hand of Dr. Hojo, making him little
different from the monsters here. To this day, Cloud never understood why Sephiroth
questioned his humanity, nor why Shinra was actively creating monsters. Afterwards, Sephiroth secluded himself in
the Shinra Mansion in town, reading the many research logs there. There, Sephiroth learned Dr. Gast found a
new organism buried in a 2000-yr old rock layer, named it Jenova, and later confirmed
it to be an Ancient. Sephiroth buried himself in the secret research
of Shinra, and days later, Cloud checked up on him, only to be called part of the traitor
species. He explained that per the research, the Planet
originally was dominated by the Cetra, a nomadic species, whom would settle in, move on, and
keep journeying until they found the Promised Land and Supreme happiness. However, those among them that tired of traveling
wanted to just settle down on this planet and so took what the Cetra had built and leeched
off their progress. Those were the ancestors to the modern human. Unfortunately, long ago disaster struck the
planet, and the humans hid while the Cetra were sacrificed, thus humans now became the
dominant species. Jenova, one of the Ancients found, was central
for the namesake Jenova Project, in which people with the powers of the Cetra could
be produced, and Sephiroth was the result of that project by Professor Gast. Now heading straight to Jenova, Sephiroth
began a fiery warpath, burning down the village of Nibelheim as declaration of war against
humanity, and cutting down any that stood in his way. Among those victims was Cloud's mother and
Tifa's father, spurring her hatred of all things Shinra now. Grabbing his discarded sword, Tifa rushed
at sephiroth, who wrestled the sword from her and slashed her down in a single blow. Cloud appears in time to save her, but chases
after Sephiroth, who uncovers the real, mutilated face of Jenova, while also stating how disgusted
he is that humans stole the power of the Cetra, but now the planet. So, its up to him and Jenova to save the planet
from the humans, and become the hero for the Cetra. Cloud is in grief over his own personal loss,
and faces down the new face of Sephiroth, as his story comes to a close. Cloud claims to not remember anymore but is
sure he couldn't have killed Sephiroth, even though official Shinra reports claim him as
dead. The rest of group is puzzled as there are
a lot of holes in that story, and even Tifa senses a few things misplaced in the story
as she was there for parts of it. Still, they agree to stick together and help
solve the mysteries, as they move onward and leave Midgar behind. Learning how to catch and ride wild chocobos
from a nearby ranch, they cross a treacherous desert by which they see more evidence of
Sephiroth's intimidating prowess and proof of passing by recently. They encounter Tseng and Rude again, and this
time with the newest Turks member, Elena, who talks a bit too much and spills that they
are following's Sephiroth's path to Junon Harbor, though the Turks have business elsewhere
and Tseng seemed concerned for Aerith's well-being. Along the way, they run into a curious ninja
girl in the woods who loses to them in a fight, and after a chat with the self-assured tomboy,
they agree to letting Yuffie the materia-hunting ninja onto their team. Arriving in Junon, they see the namesake town
has been run-down by the industrial city and harbor Shinra built above, thus blocking off
their sun and polluting their water. They rescue a dolphin, watch Cloud give mouth-to-mouth
CPR to a near-drowned little girl, and that night, Cloud's inner voice points out obvious
discrepancies and contradictions in the Nibelheim story he told his friends. He asks Tifa for details the next morning,
but she evades the question, and more importantly, they hear upper Junon is preparing a parade
to celebrate the new Shinra president, Rufus. Barrett insists on crashing the party, and
they ride the dolphin they saved to the upper levels of Junon Harbor. There, they see a giant airship docked there,
and Cloud blends in naturally with the other soldiers there, donning a normal infantryman
uniform, and walking down the street with the rest of the parade. Noting the distinct Junon cannon in the harbor,
Cloud manages to get right next to Rufus, hears that Sephiroth has already crossed the
ocean, and learns Dr. Hojo has also resigned all of a sudden. Stowing away on Rufus's boat dressed as Shinra
staff, they cross the ocean alongside Rufus and Heidegger, when suddenly, something comes
aboard and begins killing the rest of the staff. Cloud senses this isn't Sephiroth yet Sephiroth
appears from beneath the floor before them. He doesn't recognize Cloud at all, mentions
the time being right for something, and rushes past the party with inhuman abilities and
leaves them with the arm of Jenova which becomes its own monstrous abomination. Defeating it, Cloud recaps what they know
so far, and that must be that Sephiroth killed President Shinra so he could become the ruler
of the planet by finding the Promised Land instead, and he is taking his mother, Jenova,
with him. As the ship docks at the resort Costa del
Sol, the party disembarks and are surprised to find Dr. Hojo relaxing on the beach surrounded
by girls. When pressed, he explains he left Shinra to
pursue Sephiroth in his own way, and with the appearance of Sephiroth just now, Hojo
suddenly asks Cloud if he himself has experienced some pull to go somewhere, or visit someplace. Cloud says he's focused on going where Sephiroth
is, which seems to intrigue Hojo, who also questions if Cloud was really in Soldier. Aerith now asks if Jenova and Sephiroth are
Ancients like she is, and suddenly Hojo goes quiet and urges them to head west. Heading west, they cross over Mt. Corel and come across North Corel, a coal
mining town destroyed by Shinra that Barrett actually originates from. 4 years ago, Shinra was building a Mako reactor
near Corel, and the townsfolk were ok to progress with the times and move out of coal, except
for Barrett's friend Dyne. When Barrett and Dyne were out of town, an
explosion happened at the Mako reactor and Shinra blamed a rebel faction in the town
as the cause, and promptly burned the town down killing nearly everyone including Barett's
wife. To this day, Barrett still blames himself
for foolishly trusting Shinra and contributing to the tragedy. After hearing that sad story of personal loss,
the party then immediately jumps on a train to the Golden Saucer, a fun-filled casino
and minigame park. The bright lights and games don't do much
to improve Barrett's mood, though later they run into a fortune-telling robot named Cait
Sith who claims he can divine missing things. Cloud asks it for Sephiroth's location, and
while Cait Sith's predictions are terrible, one forboding fortune comes out that while
he will gain what he pursues, he will lose something dear in the process. Intrigued at the outcome of Cloud's journey,
Cait Sith invites himself into the group, and after indulging in the many carnival games,
they run into the macho owner of the Gold Saucer, Dio. He shares that Cloud reminds him of a similar
man wearing a black cape with a number 1 tattooed on his hand, that was asking about a Black
Materia not too long ago. Cloud believes this is a Sephiroth lead, however
they are soon accused of involvement of a mass murder in the park done by a man with
a gun on his arm. Dio detains all of them and when Cait Sith
urges them to flee it makes them all look guilty. They are all put back on the surface in a
desert prison, surrounded by quicksand, when they find Barrett there too as the prime suspect. He denies being the murderer and shares there
is actually one other man who also has a gun grafted on his arm. Four years ago, as Shinra was burning down
the town of Corel, Scarlet, shinra executive in charge of weapons development, lead the
clean up crew killing any survivors. When barrett was holding onto a hanging dyne,
the troops shot barrett and dyne's arms off, causing Dyne to be lost and thought dead. They indeed encounter Dyne, who is the biological
father of Marlene whom Barrett adopted, but he has gone mad out of hatred and loss. Fighting DYne and his past one on one, Barrett
defeats dyne, who resigns to his grief, tossses Barrett Marlene's mother's pendant, encourages
Barrett to be a good father, and kills himself by falling off a cliff. Now, in order to win their freedom out of
prison, the group must win a chocobo race, so they elect Cloud as their jockey. With the help of a kind patron, Cloud wins
the chocobo race and the party's freedom. They also receive an apology letter from Dio,
who learned the truth that Dyne committed the murders, gifts them with a full pardon
and an off-road buggy to travel with, and news of Sephiroth's whereabouts. After bumping into Reno, Rude, and Elena,
who seemed oddly ready for them, the thought crosses them there may be a spy among the
group, but Cloud opts to trust everyone. They come across a ruined reactor of Shinra's
outside the small village of Gongaga and Scarlet and Tseng happen to visit at the same time,
revealing out loud that Shinra is looking for a huge materia with which to make an ultimate
weapon for. In Gongaga village, Cloud meets some folks
who recognize Ckoud is from Soldier and ask if they knew of their son, Zack who left for
Midgar 10 years ago and joined Soldier. Cloud doesn't recognize the name at all, but
Tifa seems familiar with it somehow. The couple also mentions Zack wrote them years
ago he had a girlfriend, and while it wasn't Tifa, she leaves all of a sudden in a huff,
denying poorly she never heard of Zack. Letting the matter rest, they move onward
to Cosmo Canyon, where their buggy breaks down. It turns out Red XIII, whose real name is
Nanaki, is actually from here, and manages to get them inside the town, which is popular
for its Studies on the planet. His tribe was actually the protector for this
town and its inhabitants, though he is the last of his kind anymore, and is resentful
of his father whom he calls a coward for abandoning his duty. He introduces them to the only person he considers
family, a man named Bugenhagen, who shares Nananki may be 48, but given his tribe's longevity,
is actually the maturity equivalent of about 16. He can also hear the cries of the Planet and
knows its currently dying, showing them his observatory and holographic projector. He explains that when a person or any living
thing dies, their actual soul returns to the planet as energy, and the converging mass
of spirits that compose all life in the world is called the Lifestream. The lifestream is a river of souls from which
new life is also born from, and so too will return once they die, as the cycle of reincarnation
continues. The spirit energy that keeps the flow going
is also what keeps the planet together at its core, and should that Spirit energy disappear,
then the lifestrem cycle stops and life cannot continue at all as the planet will crumble. Once such way of making it disappear is to
extract and refine it in an artificial process, such as the creation of Mako energy. Spirit Energy is turned into Mako energy by
Shinra, used as a power source worldwide, used to empower members of Soldier, and even
condensed to form the Materia that is commonly found and used, all with no way to return
to its natural form. In short, Mako energy is directly killing
the planet. That night, they gather around a campfire
and reflect on their new knowledge. Tifa has a nagging question on her about 5
years ago in Nibelheim, but is afraid to ask and fears Cloud is somehow getting more and
more distant. Barrett is bummed out about how his wife,
friend, hometown and even resistance group have all been lost to Shinra, but is still
commited to the cause. Aerith deduces from clues by the elders that
Sephiroth is not an Ancient and she really is the last Cetra. Finally, Nanaki is still mad at this dad for
leaving them when he was little, but Bugenhagen invites him to see something. They enter the cave of the Gi and see the
petrified body of Seto, Nanaki's father, who died singlehandedly defending the canyon from
the hostile Gi tribe that tried to sneak in through here. Realizing his father wasn't a coward who abandoned
his family, but rather a strong and unwavering hero, Nanaki realizes how foolish he's been. Bugenhagen tells him that while Nanaki was
considering leaving cloud to protect the Canyon, he should continue helping Cloud, even though
Cloud and Barrett's plan of saving the planet won't actually work and can't stop the planet
from dying. Still, to help a planet in need is worth fighting
for and Red 13 feels bolstered to live up the warrior name of his father, causing tears
to miraculously fall from Seto's stone body. With their buggy fixed, they head off and
visit Nibelhiem, Cloud and Tifa's hometown, though they are shocked to find it normal
and Not burnt to the ground. However, it's full of strange cloaked people,
and the shinra mansion is full of strong monsters. In the basement of the mansion they find a
coffin with a man who speaks of nightmares and atonement, and when Cloud mentions the
nightmare known as Sephiroth being real, the man apparantly also knows of him. His name is Vincent and used to be one of
the Turks, and asks if Cloud, also formerly Shinra, knew of Lucrecia, assistant to Professor
Gast and Sephiroth's birth mother. Even though Vincent loved her, he let her
become part a Jenova experiment and thus feels guilty to this day. Further along, they are surprised to find
Sephiroth the basement lab again, and asks Cloud if he will join the Reunion with Jenova,
while also all but conirming Jenova is not an Ancient after all. He invites Cloud to meet him up north and
flies away, and as they leave, Vincent halts them and asks if they will also encounter
Hojo. Since the odds are good as the doctor is also
after Sephiroth like they are, he decides to join them and resolve his personal history. Regarding the rest of the town, everyone within
it is cloaked in black with a number tattooed on their hand, in a daze and muttering about
Reunion. yet no one originally from the town is there
though the buildings are. Even the normal people there refuse to talk
and look nervously over their shoulder. Confused, they move on following Sephiroth's
trail. Coming across Rocket town, named for its derelict
rocket ship, they spot a small plane called the Tiny Bronco and move to steal it, but
are interrupted by a lady named Shera, who informs them the captain of this plane is
in the rocket nearby and they are expecting President Rufus today to check on things. Cid, the foul-mouthed captain who's in charge
around here, refuses to hand them his plane, but has hopes the Space Program will be re-instated. Before Shinra became a power company, they
were a weapons manufacturer and made a lot of money in the last war. They even built this rocket, and Cid, the
best pilot in the world, was about to launch but they had to abort at the last second and
since then the program was abandoned. The company found Mako energy, shifted focus
from space to electricy, and never looked back, crushing Cid's dreams of being the first
astronaut. He seems a bit hard on his assistant Shera,
but she accepts it to this day as gratitude for being the one whose actions caused Cid
to halt the launch in order to save her life. Palmer and Rufus arrive, not to reinstate
the Space Program, but to take Cid's plane to cross the ocean after Sephiroth. However, Cid is upset at Shinra constantly
taking his passion from him like the rocket, his airship, and now his plane. The group sees Palmer make a go for the plane
and fight him for it, though he runs away, albeit unsuccessfully, and they hijack the
plane instead. They take off uneasily as none of them are
pilots, and as Shinra tries to shoot them down, Cid make a break for the plane as well. The plane is hit and goes down in the ocean,
but can still operate as boat, which works for now. Cid decides to come along as well, not really
for thier quest for Sephiroth, but for the chance to come after Rufus and get his revenge. Along the way, Yuffie leads them to an incidental
ambush that results in her showing her true colors and stealing all of their materia and
fleeing north. They follow her to Wutai, the nation that
Shinra subjugated in the last war for resisting their global economic empire, now reduced
to a tourist attraction. They corner her, and have her surrender their
materia, though as she does so, she shares with them the fall from grace of Wutai from
a nation of proud warriors and ninja to a resort town. Cloud really doesn't sympathize with her as
she gives them the run around, but ends up being caught by Don Corneo who happened to
not only happened to be vacationing here, but also captured Elena of the Turks, who
were on a mission to bring in Corneo. The group forms an uneasy alliance with Reno
and Rude, and right as Corneo decides he's going to bed with Yuffie, the group interrupts,
and stalls Corneo long enough for Reno and Rude to nab Corneo and kick him off a cliff
to his death. As thanks, they look the other way and allow
the party to get away for now. They leave after Yuffie returns their Materia,
though she still tags along as thanks for saving her, but still conniving as ever. On the road again, they hear Dio of the Golden
Saucer has a Key Stone that is rumored to open the Temple of the Ancients, and after
putting on a good show in the Arena, they win it from him. Resting for the night, the group asks Cloud
why they are all on this mission together, since even the veterans of the group seem
confused on their motivation and goal. Cloud reminds them they are hunting Sephiroth,
who seeks the Promised Land, a land abundant with Mako according to Shinra. They are reminded the man in a Black Cloak,
whoever he is, is also seeking the Black Materia, whatever it is. They recall the members of Nibelheim all wore
black cloaks and had numbers tattooed on them, just like how Red 13 has a 13 tatooed on him. Hojo put the tatoos on him and likely the
others during some experiment, but its unclear for now what all that has to do with Sephiroth,
so they plan on asking directly once they find him. Red 13 is worried he'll go mad like the other
subjects, and TIfa expresses a strong concern for something else, but the rest of the group
doesn't feel the hunt has all that much to do with them, but they agree to continue on. That night, Cloud goes on a date full of silly
theatre and heartfelt fireworks, but on the way back he spots Cait Sith with the Keystone
they just earned and suddenly runs from them. They chase him, but are too late to stop him
from tossing the Keystone to Tseng of the Turks waiting nearby. Afterwards, he confesses to being a Shinra
Spy, but insists they continue on like this never happened. He reveals there's nothing they can actually
do to him, as Cait Sith is just a remote controlled toy by his real person over in Shinra Headquarters. They refuse to listen to him, until he reveals
he has Marlene as a hostage, so they are compelled to keep silent and look the other way about
his betrayal, though he admits their selfless fighting is a bit inspiring. As consolation, he tells them he can guide
them to the Temple of the Ancients, though they will arrive there after Shinra. As they approach the Temple, within they find
Tseng, gravely injured, who imparts to them that Sephiroth isn't seeking the Promised
Land like they thought. Further in, Aerith can feel the many Ancient
spirits here talking to her from a literal pool of consciousness, who reveal what just
transpired with Tseng. He was looking at ancient murals, and when
detected by Sephiroth, learns he is trying to become one with the Planet via the amassed
wisdom of the Ancients permeating this temple, and absorb the very power of the Lifestream. He slashes Tseng as an invitation to return
to the Lifestream, and soon the group finds the hall of murals themselves. Within is Sephiroth, who explains to them
whenever the planet is hurt, it gathers Spirit Energy to heal itself, and the greater the
injury the greater the energy summoned. Thus, if something were to threaten the planet
itself, the energy amassed would be immeasurable. At the center of that injury would be him,
merging with all of that Spirit Energy and ascending into a new existence as a God. This temple reveals the ultimate destructive
magic, Meteor, which is the key to it all, and he leaves. Suddenly, Cloud begins to act possessed, claims
to remember his way, and then snaps to, as if nothing happened. They learn meteor is magic that will grab
a nearby small planetoid and smash it into the Planet, certiainly creating the global
threat Sephiroth desires. They then find an altar with a puzzle and
the inscription Black Materia on it, and when Aerith asks the Planet about it, its revealed
the temple itself is the Black Materia. There is a trick about it, in which when anyone
solves the puzzle within the temple, the person and the temple both shrink, so, if one wants
to shrink the temple to the point where it can be transported, then someone must stay
behind, solve the puzzle, and shrink alongside the temple, getting crushed during the compression. Cloud rationalizes that if they don't take
it, Sephiroth will send his Black Cloak minions in until they solve it and he gets it. Cait Sith points out his fake body is perfect
for this, as it doesn't matter if it gets left behind and sacrificed, so they reluctantly
allow SHinra to help with this. He leaves and admits to himself, its a bit
embarassing to play the hero and save the planet, and outside the group sees the temple
indeed turn black and compress to a materia they can carry out. They also note none of them have the spiritual
power necessary to even use such a powerful magic, and Aerith states Sephiroth shouldn't
be able to find the Promised Land since he isn't really an Ancient. Suddenly, Sephiroth appears, and says he's
actually superior to the Ancient since he became a traveler of the Lifestream and gained
the knowledge of the Ancients. As a demonstration of his control, he commands
Cloud to wake up and suddenly Cloud finds himself in an out of body experience, helplessly
watching himself simply give the Black Materia to Sephiroth. After Sephiroth leaves, Cloud is appalled
at himself, yet curiously Aerith is strangely sympathetic and consoling to him as if nothing
was wrong. She doesn't even resist as Cloud pushes her
down and begins beating her with his fists, though at this time Caith Sith's body replacement
comes in time and they knock Cloud out to save Aerith. As he dreams, he speaks to Aerith, apologizing
for his actions though she still isn't mad, and instead tells Cloud that she'll handle
Sephiroth as only she can as the last Cetra. She tells him goodbye and advises him not
to have a breakdown, however Sephiroth, also in Cloud's mind, notes her threatening interference,
and urges them both to stop her. As he wakes up, the group is ready to pursue
Aerith and Sephiroth in the City of Ancients, but Cloud is scared of himself now, despite
the encouragement of his allies. They make it to the City of Ancients, and
see Aerith praying, but Cloud insists on stepping ahead alone. He is suddenly compelled to take out his blade
and behead Aerith while she prays, but the shouts of his friends snap him out. Instead, Sephiroth descends down and finishes
the job, impaling Aerith and killing her to prevent any defense against Meteor. As she dies, the inert Materia she carried
around with her all this time falls off, and Cloud expresses his anger, which amuses Sephiroth. He explains that not only has she returned
to the lifestream, but Cloud's emotions can't actually be real. Another piece of Jenova attacks, and after
they defeat it, Sephiroth explains to Cloud he is just a puppet so his feelings aren't
his own. In mourning, the party lays Aerith's body
to rest in the waters of the Ancient City, and Cloud adds this to the reasons he must
take down Sephiroth. He asks the party if they'll continue with
him in case he loses control again, and while they are unsure, they agree anyway and head
north. As they reach the snowy fields of the Icicle
Inn, they find an old research lab, with records of Professor Gast. They first watch a video of Gast and Aerith's
birth mother, Ifalna, wherein they talk about how 2000 years ago a colony of Cetra here
in the north responded to a cry from the planet. Something fell from the sky and left a giant
crater, and while the Planet was pulling togehter Spirit energy to heal itself, it warned the
Cetra to stay away. Before they could leave, something that was
a shapeshifter, which they called the crisis from the sky, appeared in the form of friends
and family among them in order to infect them with a virus. The virus would make the cetra go insane,
turn into monsters, and the shapeshifter would move on from clan to clan. Next, when asked about Weapon, which are giant
living weapons, Ifalna reveals Gast mistook Jenova as another Cetra during his initial
discovery and report to Shinra, and the Planet viewed Jenova as a legitimate alien threat
it had to destroy since it could never fully heal so long as Jenova was around. So, by sheer will the Planet formed the sentinel
force called Weapon to combat Jenova, yet there is no sign of them ever having been
used, as by the time they were ready, the remaining Cetra had defeated and sealed away
Jenova. For now, Weapon lays dormant somewhere on
the Planet, as the Planet keeps an eye on Jenova. The final record there reveals that Gast and
Ifalna fell in love and had a baby named Aerith, but barely a few weeks after she was born,
Hojo broke in, ready to collect the whole family for experimentation and Gast died trying
to help his family escape. Opting to Snowboard down the steep slope past
the village, and climbing up the icy cliffs beyond, they arrive at the North Crater, where
the planet is still gathering energy to heal the scar Jenova's impact left it with 2000
years ago. At the same time, Rufus is arriving with Cid's
Airship, the Highwind, with Hojo in tow, who is more interested in seeing the Reunion theory
in practice. Many of the black cloaked minions are gathering
here as well, though many are dying during the pilgrimmage. Sephiroth is there to slay the rest, and admits
its about time to abandon this body as well, and that all those with Jenova's cells obey
their master Sephiroth. The party clashes with Sephiroth who turns
out to be another Jenova creature, defeat it, and regain the Black Materia. Its also suddenly revealed that the person
responsible for killing President Shinra, attacking them on the boat, stealing the Black
Materia and even killing Aerith, was actually just Jenova shapeshifted to look like Sephiroth
ever since they encountered it in Hojo's lab, hence why Jenova monsters would attack during
each of those encounters. They actually have not ever encountered the
real Sephiroth yet, though he's just beyond this point. Not trusting himself with the black materia,
Cloud hands it over to someone else, determined to finally take down Sephiroth. As they get closer, they enter an illusion
of Nibelheim Cloud is sure is just another of Sephiroth's confusing tricks. As the scenes of the visit and subsequent
burning of Nibelheim play out, a man with spiky black hair and signature heavy blade
comes in, instead of Cloud, and while Tifa seems panicked, Cloud refuses to believe any
of it. An image of Sephiroth appears to explain the
real illusion is Cloud's memory, and what they are seeing are the true events of Nibelheim. After the burning, Cloud was taken in by Hojo,
experimented on and essentially rebuilt with Jenova cells and Mako energy. As one of his many attempts to create a Sephiroth
clone, Cloud was deemed such a failure he wasn't even given a number like the rest of
the tatooed number black cloaks. Tifa is scared at this point, and urges Cloud
to ignore all of this, and Sephiroth laughs, urging Cloud not to be upset at Tifa's concern. It turns out Jenova's cells inside of him
have the ability to change his looks, voice, and words in response to other's memories,
perfect for a shapeshifter. Thus, Cloud can just be a random stranger
with a persona created from Tifa's memories, which explains the discomfort she had whenever
Cloud recounted the past. As proof, Sephiroth points to a 3rd party,
the picture taken of the group 5 years ago, which shows the same man with black hair instead
of Cloud there. Cloud denies that by explaining his history
again, yet comes short on basic details he should and would remember, frustrating him. At the same time, Rufus and Hojo arrive, impressed
at all the naturally formed Materia here due to the sheer amount of energy about but they
are present for the awakening of Weapon, which was hidden here all this time. Elsewhere, Tifa comes to retrieve the Black
Materia from the party, which turns out to be another of Jenova's Shapeshifting tricks. The party is then transported to where Rufus
is, and Cloud is once again mind-controlled to take the Black Materia. Cloud apologizes for deceiving everyone's
memories and hopes they find the real Cloud, as he is collected by Sephiroth, and Hojo
explains the person they call Cloud was a failed Sephiroth clone attempt after the real
Sephiroth died 5 years ago, though he's glad Cloud proved the Jenova Reunion theory. The theory states that even if separated,
Pieces of Jenova, even those of a cellular level like the failed clones, will all converge
to a single point to reunite together. He thought the pieces would converge at Jenova's
body in the Shinra buidling, but even that has deferred to the will of Sephiroth who
has overpowered the original. Cloud realizes he wasn't pursuing Sephiroth
so much as answering his call, and at this time, the real Sephiroth finally comes out
encased in Materia, Rufus decides to evacuate everyone out, and Cloud hands over the Black
Materia to Sephiroth. Everything collapses around them after the
exchange, as Rufus gets them out just in time, and the Weapons all awaken in response to
the new threat and shoot off to the far corners of the world. Tifa gets knocked out and and recalls how
she first met Cloud, who was an incoherent mess in the slums, and how her memories were
probed and Cloud came up with a fake narrative based on her real memories. She now recalls the distinct errors in her
memories and suspicions she always had about Cloud and his inconsistent memories. In fact, she really wanted him around in the
beginning to keep observing him and find out the truth for herself if he really is Cloud
or just an imposter. When she wakes up, its been 1 week as she
and Barrett have been captured by Shinra, Sephiroth is in the northern crater protected
by a barrier of light, the Weapons the Planet made to destroy Jenova have been running amok,
Shinra is trying surpress the Weapons, and Sephiroth has summoned a Meteor, which is
now visible on its path to destroy the Planet. Rufus comes in to collect them for their execution,
which is being used a PR stunt by Shinra to blame the entire crisis on them. However, at this time, the Sapphire weapon
attacks where they are in Junon harbor, and while Cait Sith frees Barrett, Shinra does
its best to repel the sea monster. Amidst the attack, Barrett and the others
steal the Highwind, Sapphire Weapon fires a beam at the cannon, conveniently just missing
Tifa and freeing her, the Junon cannon kills the weapon with a point blank shot to the
head, Tifa and Scarlet have a slapping match, and Tifa escapes by leaping to the highwind
as it flies away. Tifa feels helpless without Cloud, and the
group is divided on what they should do about Cloud, or the person they call Cloud. Red 13 suggests Cloud may have fallen into
the Lifestream when the ground fissured open, and may stil be alive. In fact, they find Cloud alive but rendered
mentally inept from Mako Poisoning in the town of Mideel where the Lifestream washed
him up on shore. Barrett is unsure if Cloud is even worth the
trouble at this point, and Tifa announces her intention to stay behind and care for
Cloud from here on out, chosing to believe in her memories. Two assets down, the group moves on with Barrett
resuming leadership, and Cait Sith, who turns out to be Reeve of the Shinra Executives,
letting them know Shinra is planning to smash Meteor with a warhead made of highly concentrated
Huge Materia they are putting together from various regions. They are excavating the last bits from Corel,
Fort Condor, and Junon now, and Barrett feels the need to stop Shinra, despite being the
only people with a plan to stop Meteor, and use the huge materia to power up their own
materia to fight Sephiroth. After declaring their mission now, he admits
he's not a very good leader and elects the sleeping Cid nearby as the new party leader,
since he's the only guy with an airship. The rest of the party goes with the flow. In Corel they hijack a train to chase another
train with the Huge Materia on it, and steal that train before it reaches the town. For Fort Condor, they help another anti-shinra
resistance group direct their army of mercenary units with real time strategy to defend a
giant phoenix that has made a nest of an abandoned reactor. In Junon, the Huge Materia is in an underwater
reactor, but before leaving for there, they opt to check in on Tifa and Cloud. When they arrive, not only is the Lifestream
threating to erupt right under the town, but Omega Weapon happens to come nearby and attack
the town. They fend off the weapon for now, but the
Lifestream still tears out of the ground, and while Tifa does her best to wheel Cloud
out to safety, the ground gives way beneath them as they fall into the Lifestream. Tifa now finds herself inside Cloud's subconscious,
where he is still trying to pull himself mentally back together. Inside are his true, unfiltered memories,
and Tifa helps him come to grips with them. In Nibelheim, it wasn't Cloud who was the
Solider who visited with Sephiroth, even though the reason he left to join Soldier was to
become strong like Sephiroth and impress Tifa ever since he was there when Tifa had an accident
that left her in a coma for a week when they were kids. Cloud now remembers it was a young, vibrant
Soldier named Zack who was in Nibelheim that day, and who fought sephiroth, but Cloud himself
really was there to witness it. For, he was the lowly shinra infantryman who
accompanied them and hid his face from Tifa as he told everyone back home that he would
join Soldier and couldn't face the failure. Still, he really did come to Tifa's rescue
as promised, and after Zack fought Sephiroth but lost, Cloud challenged Sephiroth, and
to his own surprise, managed to hurl him into the Lifestream below, presumably killing him. Now, with no more secrets and accepting of
the truth, Cloud recovers from his mental breakdown, and Tifa is glad to finally know
this Cloud is the real Cloud, even if he wasn't who he said he was for the last 5 years. The group is there as they both wake up, and
Cloud humbly sets the record straight on his self-delusion. His strength actually comes from Hojo's reconstruction
of him when he attempted to make Cloud a Sephiroth clone, and his soldier first class persona
was really based on his friend Zack. From this point on, he will be living as himself,
and help right the wrong he helped create with Meteor. For cloud, he visits Nibelheim again, which
was rebuilt by Shinra to mask the fact that it was burned down in the Sephiroth incident. While Tifa was rescued by her mentor, townsfolk
that didn't die in the fire were collected by Hojo, turned into experiments, and became
the failed black-cloaked Sephiroth clones they put back in the town. He recalls that after that incident, Zack
and Cloud were taken and rebuilt by Hojo with new, refined Jenova cells to be on par with
Sephiroth. Zack got Cloud free, who was under Mako poisoning
and mentally broken, changed him into a spare Soldier 1st class uniform he had, and tried
to take care of him as he got them back to Midgar. As an actual Soldier 1st class, Zack figured
he could make a living being a mercenary, since he can't really settle down in his girlfriend
Aerith's house. However, the Shinra army caught up to them
and brutally shot down Zack. They spared Cloud, who crawled over to a dead
Zack, and took his Buster Sword and identity in the midst of his delerium. Now ready to tackle the underwater Reactor,
they head to Junon and note the giant cannon is missing, but still hijack a sub and shoot
down another sub carrying the huge materia. Following a transport plane to Rocket town,
they see Shinra prepping the rocket for takeoff with the materia bomb already loaded. However, when Cid sees its his own crew getting
ready to launch the rocket, he stops the party and sees an opportunity to finally live his
dream. He knows there is countless knowledge of the
Ancients they can use to stop Sephiroth in the Huge Materia, but he chooses to stay true
to his heart, trust in science and humanity vs Ancients and their magic, even if its sponsorted
by Shinra. The rocket launches, and after enjoying the
euphoria of being in space, Cid concedes to letting the party take the huge Materia after
all, and after realizing Shera was correct in idenifity the costly mistake from years
ago, Shera actually appears to help them, having been there to prep an escape pod this
entire time. Cid finally lets go of his anger from the
past, and finds a new appreciation for Shera and the party as they land back on the Planet
and watch the rocket smash into Meteor. The bomb only does minor damage without the
full warhead, which makes the party wonder if they did the right thing after all. Still, with all of the Huge Materia in hand,
they suddenly hear the Planet's Scream like how Bugenhagen described, and decide now is
a good time to consult him. They agree to give him the Huge Materia for
safe keeping, and also bring him to the city of Ancients to explain what Aerith was trying
to do when she was killed. They learn of the ultimate White magic, Holy,
and that its the only thing that can hope to counter Meteor. Also, if a sould seeking Holy reaches the
planet, then it will appear, and wipe out Meteor, Weapon, and possibly even humans depending
on the judgement of the planet. Humans have no way to speak to the Planet
except for possibly praying through the White Materia, in which case it will turn a pale
green if accepted. Aerith had the White Materia which was the
little bauble she carried around, and they see during a recording of the event that it
did turn pale green so she succeeded at the last minute in praying for Holy and sparing
the humans. Howewver, the reason Holy hasn't happened
yet, is also the reason Sephiroth hasn't acted up yet, and that is he is personally holding
back the energy of Holy within the Planet Core. Now, they recieve word that Shinra is planning
on using the big cannon to destroy Sephiroth by moving it to Midgar powering it up with
Mako. At the same time, the Diamond Weapon rises
from the sea and makes a beeline straight for Midgar. Barrett is concerned for Marlene, but Cait
Sith assures him she and Aerith's mother are safe. When Barrett then says he doesn't care who
else dies, Cait Sith points out a lot of innocent people died when Avalanche blew up their own
bombs within the city, so he and the rest of the group have no right to act justified
when they kill or do whatever they want with saving the Planet as their excuse, or act
defensive when there are consequences for their actions. In fact, he's only still at Shinra not for
love of the company, but in order to help the citizens there as much as possible. As the party fights the weapon to try and
slow it down, Shinra prepares to fire the Mako cannon, pouring every ounce of energy
in the city for it, and as it fires, the Diamond weapons primes and fires its own salvo as
well. The party witnesses both attacks cross each
other, and the Diamond weapon is pierced completely by the ray, as it continues on and actually
succeeds in destroying Sephiroth's barrier, so Shinra has literally gained two birds with
one stone. However, the Diamond weapon's attack bombards
the city, taking out Shinra Headquarters with Rufus still inside. The party ignores all that and sees the door
now open to Sephiroth, but the Mako Cannon is now being hijacked by Hojo, who intends
to now use the cannon's energy to fed Sephiroth everything Midgar has to offer, and see his
evolution run its course. Reeve knows the cannon will overload and blow
up, leveling Midgar, but Scarlet and Neidegger restrain Reeve now that they believe the president
is dead. Reeve urges the party to save the citizens
of Midgar, and Cloud and the others agree, now moving to stop Hojo first. Leaping off Highwind and parachuting in directly
where they need to be, they fight the Turks for the final time, destroy Heidegger and
Scarlet within their own massive anti-weapon weapon, and confront Hojo. It comes out that Hojo is actually the birth
father of Sephiroth, as long ago, he and his wife Lucrecia agreed to participate in Professor
Gast's Jenova Experiment, wherein Jenova cells were implanted on Sephiroth in the womb. Now, he joins his family by injecting himself
with Jenova cells, turning into a powerful, grotesque monster but the party still manages
to kill him once and for all and stop the cannon from overloading. Back on the Highwind, they reflect how there
is only one more week till Meteorfall, and Cloud urges them all to take the time to discover
a reason to fight beyond just save the world, as if they fail, its all over anyway. For him, its a personal fued to settle his
past as a Sephiroth clone. Barrett admits being a terrorist, blowing
up bombs, and getting people killed, wasn't the right way to doing things, and in the
end, he's fighting for his adopted daughter Marlene. The rest of them leave to do a little soul-searching. Tifa states all she wants is to be with Cloud,
and after they share a quiet moment and sleep together, Cloud and Tifa set off the next
day for the final mission. They are suprised to see Barrett, Cid, and
Red 13 back, and more embarassed that they saw what went on when they were alone. They are even glad to see Vincent, Cait Sith
and even Yuffie agree to come along. Cid pulls the lever to upgrade the Highwind
to jet power, and they blast off to face down Sephiroth. Descending down to the center of the planet,
hordes of monsters come after them, so Cloud takes a few allies ahead and the rest hold
the line. First, the part faces down the complete form
of Jenova, and finall defeat the alien menace once and for all. Falling towards the Planet Core they see Holy,
and Sephiroth sealing it back. Sephiroth now begins rapidly evolving through
greater and greater forms, but the party of 8, Cloud, Barrett, Tifa, Red 13, Yuffie, Caith
Sith, Cid, Vincent, and the memory of Aerith rise to the challenge and beat the one-winged
angel and prodigal son of human science, ancient magic, and alien power. With Sephiroth defeated, the party can do
no more as its up to the planet to use Holy and stop Meteor, and starts their long climb
upwards. However, Cloud stops as he still feels Sephiroth's
spirit lingering. As Sephiroth attempts to grab his mind from
beyond the lifestream, Cloud fights a literal mental duel, as his mind defeats his mental
ideal of Sephiroth in an overwhelming fashion, finally breaking the psychological shackles
Sephiroth had on him. As he sees the hand of Aerith reach out to
give him a hand in the lifestream, he is snapped back to reality as Tifa gives him a hand and
they both escape a collapsing cavern. The Highwind falls in with the group, and
as they climb aboard, Holy erupts out, carrying them up violently. The Highwind begins falling apart, when Cid
pulls another lever and jettisons and emergency shuttlecraft for them to escape safely in. As the game ends, we see Marlene sense Aerith's
spirit as Meteor is just about to fall, and its mere precense is devastating Midgar. Suddenly, a sheet of Aerith's Holy rushes
in and shields the city but Sephiroth's Meteor proves too strong. However, the Planet now saves itself by sending
the Lifestream itself from around the world to pierce and destroy the Meteor. We then cut to 500 years from this point where
we see Red 13 still alive with his own growing tribe look over the ruins of Midgar reclaimed
by nature. Final Fantasy 7 has enjoyed the success of
selling over 10.5 million copies worldwide.
50 minutes jesus christ this guy is dedicated.