FFVII and Game Logic

by Mike Benedetto 

In "The True Meaning of FFVII's Finale", Thomas Mastrangelo makes few points that have not been made before about the final images of Final Fantasy VII and the intentions of the Planet in invoking Holy. Granted, the points he makes are all justifiable... but they are ultimately not correct. Or rather, if they *were* correct, it would reflect a serious flaw in the structure of the game.

And it all stems from one crucial scene, a scene which encapsulates the spirit of FFVII. Immediately before going in to face Sephiroth, everyone gets out of the airship to return to what they consider most important. And here it is revealed that Barret, for all his talk of the Planet, really has been fighting for Marlene. Yuffie values her hometown Wutai the most. Cloud and Tifa are, among other things, trying to protect their budding romance. None of them are fighting for the sustenance of life itself, but for the smaller things that they truly love.

According to Mr. Mastrangelo, Marlene dies immediately after this scene. Wutai is destroyed. Cloud and Tifa never get a chance to explore their feelings for one another.

This is beyond tragedy. This is a contradiction of everything that has preceded it in the game. When we compare this ending to the similarly ambiguous ending of Phantasy Star II, the contrast is obvious: the characters in that game have already *lost* the things they valued the most -- friends, family, careers, homes -- and are probably about to lose their lives as well. But it doesn't matter, because they know that the villains must be fought back for the salvation of Algol. That's the purpose they've had from the outset. If they die, then so be it. It's an utterly satisfying ending whether one posits that they survived or were killed.

The "tragic" interpretation does not work in the case of FFVII because very few people would ever consider the "sacrifice" worthwhile. By playing the game (and its dozens of minigames and side quests), the player has managed to secure the long-term safety of one supporting character. No towns. No NPCs. The planet itself... whatever that's worth now that no one other than Nanaki is around to enjoy it.

And that simply doesn't wash with me. The appropriate reward for finishing a game is to get the thing you were fighting for, not to be blithely told that you won only something that you couldn't care less about.