FF7

I love obsessively. Once I decide that a thing or a person is MY thing or person, that’s it. I will love them until I die. Sometimes I feel alone in this passionate fury of single-minded adoration, but then there is the Final Fantasy 7 fandom.

I was nine years old when my brother Roy brought home Final Fantasy 7 for our desktop computer. We had already established a precedent of playing the King’s Quest games together, so when he said I could watch him play, I pulled up chair to the big wooden desk and felt my jaw drop as the chunky, geometrical Cloud leaped off a train in Midgar. By today’s standards, the graphics are laughably horrendous, but in 1997, our tiny pre-pubescent brains were blown away by the realism. Continue reading →

A couple weeks ago, I wrote a post about my love for movie soundtracks. In the comments, Joseph Richardson mentioned video game soundtracks, and I realized I had missed an entire genre of awesomeness. Although other games have wonderful soundtracks (and I will want your comments to inform me of specifics!), for me, it’s always about Final Fantasy. (And some Kingdom Hearts, because FF characters are included in the gameplay.) Click on the links to listen to the songs on YouTube.

1. “Main Theme” – Final Fantasy VII

For me, video games begin and end with Final Fantasy VII. So does my taste in video game music. The slightly ominous beginning builds to an epic melody that will, for me, forever be synonymous with exploration and adventure. Check out an orchestral performance of the song here. Continue reading →