The Greatest Moments of Final Fantasy VII

THE GREATEST MOMENTS OF FINAL FANTASY VII

Not featuring Cloud in a dress

 

THAT DEATH...
You knew it would be this - shocking, sad and brilliant on the part of the Squaresoft team, a certain character is murdered by Sephiroth at the climax of the game's first act. It's notable because it is so brutal, but this brave move to take the character out the story meant Final Fantasy VII would be forever remembered by players.



OMNISLASH
The entire game builds to this final conflict between Cloud and Sephiroth, where the hero sliced the grey-haired villan in spectacular fashion, using his final Limit Break, Omnislash. All right, so it isn't necessarily the first time you use Omnislash, but it's still a thrilling component of the game's conclusion.



THE WEAPONS EMERGRE OUT OF THE CRATER
Sephiroth unleashes Weapons on the planet, giant boss-style creatures that, when put together, look like something out of a Japanese monster movie. The idea of the optional super-boss is a Final Fantasy staple - here, they're made a key turning point in the story, in another example of Square's pioneering FMV's



500 YEARS LATER
After the credits, we're treated to this brilliant but somehow chilling scene, 500 years into the future. We see Nanaki and his children running through a canyon, before emerging onto a vista that shows an abandoned Midgar, overgrown and free of the technology that drained the life of the planet.



THE PRESIDENT IS DEAD
The player reaches the top of Shinra Headquarters and find the President dead, impaled by Sephiroth's katana. It's a brilliant way to bring the villain into the story, having him lurk just out of reach.

SUMMONING KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND
Knights of the Round was easily the most lavish summon spell in the entire series up until that point. The animation for the attack, Ultimate End, sees 13 knights battering the enemy with a slew of extraordinary powerful moves; a just reward for the exhausting process of breeding a Gold Chocobo to get it.



SEPHIROTH WALKS INTO THE FLAMES
The highlight of the entire Nibelheim flashback, told from the village of Kalm early on in the stroy, is an eye-opening cinematic where Sephirtoh turns away from Cloud into the flames, after the twisted warrior burns the town to the ground. Perhaps the most visually recognisable part of the game.



ZACK AND CLOUD ESCAPE NIBELHEIM
In this falshback, the events of the Nibelheim incident are fully disclosed. We learn that Cloud borrowed Zack's identity, and that this member of SOLDIER was gunned down by Shinra outside Midgar. This sequence is made all the more sad when you've earlier encountered Zack's parents in the town of Gongaga, where both his mother and father are completely unaware of this tragic fate.



EMERALD WEAPON SWIMS OUT OF THE DARKNESS
Late into the third disc, heading into the ocean with the submarine gives the player a few surprises, including the final whereabouts of the Turks, Shinra's agents whose paths cross yours throughout. That's before you see the bubbles emerge out of the black, though - when the fearsome Emerald Weapon drifts towards you in terrifying fashion. Brr! It's an absolute bitch to kill, too.

GETTING THE HIGHWIND
Final Fantasy as a series is ingenious in the way it lets you manoeure around the world. When you get the Highwind, you can go almost anywhere in the entire world, a gloriously freeing reminder of the diversity of locations within a game.