Get Ready For Our Last Game Club Discussion On Final Fantasy VII

A few months ago, we started the Game Informer Game Club where we play games and talk about them with our (awesome) community. The inaugural game has been Final Fantasy VII, and we’ve already had three discussions about the game. Now we’re gearing up to bring the Final Fantasy VII discussion to a close with one last session that covers the end of the game and all the side content.

Mark your calendars, because the next GI Game Club session is happening on March 31, which is when we will air the final segment on the Game Informer Show podcast. If you still need to catch up on our discussions, you can watch part one here, part two here, and part three here.

As with previous discussions, we have a few conversation topics to think about as you play through the game with us:

• What are your thoughts about FF VII's soundtrack? Which specific tracks stand out?
• What are your biggest unanswered questions with the story?
• What were your favorite strategies for taking out the weapons and Sephiroth?
• Did you have any favorite little side stories or places to visit at the end of the game?
• What does the “500 years later” sequence at the end of the game mean? What is humanity’s fate?
• What were your favorite enemies?
• Has playing through this game changed your mind on the amount of praise the game gets? Is it just backlash because of its popularity at the time?
• Is Final Fantasy VII in your top three Final Fantasy games? Why or why not?
• What type of game do you think would work best for the next GI Game Club game? 

Of course, you can use these questions as a starting point; we’re interesting in hearing any of your insights, questions, and observations. Send your comments to podcast@gameinformer.com, and we might address them directly during our discussion.

Thanks for being a part of this! The GI Game Club wouldn’t exist without your enthusiasm and participation!

For an archive of our last live chat, head to page 2.

An archive of our most recent live chat.

[3:00] BenjaminReeves: Hey everyone, let's get this potty started

[3:02] gameinformer: Hey everyone! How's FF VII been treating you?

[3:02] MrTube: This thing working?

[3:02] TheDarkestLink: It's been going pretty Sweg so far

[3:03] MrTube: Sweg?

[3:03] ziffoit: should i be in the bathroom?

[3:03] TheDarkestLink: A few frustrating bosses and a lack of focus, but it's been an awesome journey

[3:04] CKochon: I went ahead like an undisciplined scrub and beat the game but as far as the section we're covering it's definitely a very odd section to play following the Midgar section

[3:04] BlakeAnglin: Hey-o!

[3:04] MrTube: I've only just got onto the ship. Can't remember how far that is from the end of Disc 1. Think I'm quite far behind

[3:04] gameinformer: Is anyone playing this for the first time?

[3:04] TheDarkestLink: ^. yeah. Midgar was so tight and well structured and this is definitely a big constrast to that

[3:05] TheDarkestLink: I am! I know some key story points like end of Disc 1, but besides that, it's my first

[3:05] BlakeAnglin: I've done a few things for the first time on this playthrough, but definitely not my first.

[3:05] MrTube: I heard some say that Midgar was the best part of the game, but I love it all just as much.

[3:06] CKochon: I agree with what Hanson said yesterday about the second part having all the fun character moments

[3:06] TheDarkestLink: that's why I greatly appreciate keeping spoilers out of the podcast. With a few exceptions, this entire game is new to me

[3:06] gameinformer: @MrTube so the stuff after Midgar hasn't slowed you down? What's been your favorite part so far?

[3:06] gameinformer: @TheDarkestLink good to know:)

[3:08] TheDarkestLink: wait is the what's been your favorite part open to everyone?

[3:08] gameinformer: What do you guys think of the game's story so far? Does it do enough to sustain your interest? Any surprises?

[3:08] Tomv: Yeah my first time too

[3:08] MrTube: The long story in Calm (without save points) was a bit of a pain, but other than that, I loved visiting all the new locations, Gold Saucer, Costa Del Sol, even enjoyed Fort Condor.

[3:08] ziffoit: ive been suprised by how little character development there actually is

[3:09] BlakeAnglin: I do like how Sephiroth is mostly a "boogeyman" in the first part, but then transitions to the main driving force behind your journey as soon as you leave Midgar.

[3:09] TheDarkestLink: I think Sephiroth is keeping me going, story wise. It was really good story wise up until the open world but then it's been a bit weaker

[3:09] CKochon: Sephiroth is still as badass as I remember. Cid and his wife is a little rough to watch being older and having a relationship of my own. Cosmo Canyon is and probably will forever be my favorite.

[3:09] Tomv: I had no idea there was a big dinosaur in this game. That was a huge surprise..

[3:09] PintSizedGiant: Having played it before and knowing what was coming, the story held my interest enough. But I can see if someone is playing for the first time, they might lose interest fast.

[3:09] TheDarkestLink: When was the dinosaur?

[3:10] Tomv: The it looked prehistoric to me...i

[3:10] PintSizedGiant: I definitely didn't remember Cid being such a Dick when I played it the first time

[3:10] gameinformer: Sephiroth is widely considered one of the best video game villains, and playing the game again I can see why. Square did a good job introducing him to us and showing why he's doing what he's doing

[3:10] Tomv: The weapon*

[3:10] CKochon: Sephiroth just looms over the WHOLE game

[3:10] TheDarkestLink: ^. His Kalm introductory sequence in Kalm has probably been my favorite sequence so far

[3:11] CKochon: I love how he is just a constant threat/fear

[3:11] TheDarkestLink: His haunting music has probably been one of my favorite tracks in the game.

[3:11] BlakeAnglin: So when you leave Midgar and get your first chance to pick your own party, who do most of you go with?

[3:12] TheDarkestLink: Cloud, Tifa, Red XIII

[3:12] CKochon: Cloud, Tifa, Red XIII

[3:12] MrTube: Cloud, Tifa, Red XIII

[3:12] CKochon: haha

[3:12] TheDarkestLink: eyyy

[3:12] BlakeAnglin: Cloud, Tifa and Aerith for me, but I immediately get Yuffie usually, and swap Aerith out for her.

[3:12] CKochon: OMG Way to combo break

[3:13] BlakeAnglin: B-B-Breaker!

[3:13] gameinformer: @TheDarkestLink Yeah his music is great, and I loved the music in Cosmo Canyon too

[3:13] BlakeAnglin: Yuffie is my girl.

[3:13] Tomv: Cloud, Barett and Aeris

[3:13] TheDarkestLink: man I struggled with my party at the end of disc 1. i accidentally entered Temple of the Ancients with a bad party and all of my good materia on other characters. it was a struggle to beat the Red Dragon and Demon Wall thing

[3:13] MrTube: lol (do we still say lol on the internet? I haven't chatted to strangers online in around 15 years)

[3:13] PintSizedGiant: My first playthrough it was Cloud, Aeris, Barrett. This time i went Cloud, Yuffie, Red XIII for something new

[3:13] CKochon: Yeah materia switching was and is very stupid

[3:14] gameinformer: On the podcast, some of us mentioned that we thought Yuffie was annoying. What was your take on her?

[3:14] TheDarkestLink: good thing that the Red Dragon dropped Bahamut, I grinded like 10 levels to beat the demon wall

[3:14] CKochon: Yuffie is super annoying but her Wutai arc is pretty great

[3:14] TheDarkestLink: eh I got her too late in the disc to really notice her personality, but having her in ToA wasn't great

[3:14] CKochon: Sorry is that not on this disc?

[3:14] BlakeAnglin: I love Yuffie! Gameplay-wise, her whole Wutai sideplot is annoying, but I like the comic relief she provides, and I love using her in combat.

[3:15] madmanmoe: are you guys actually hearing anything?

[3:15] TheDarkestLink: like she totally brushed off the fact that Cloud handed over one of the most powerful magical artifacts to Sephy

[3:15] CKochon: I know that's not a spoiler but I won't talk about Wutai if that's disc 2

[3:15] PintSizedGiant: Yuffie as a character was obnoxious, but as a fighter, her Limit Breaks are great

[3:15] TheDarkestLink: @madmanmoe are we supposed to hear anything?

[3:15] BlakeAnglin: You can do Wutai in disc 1, as soon as you get the Bronco I believe.

[3:15] CKochon: no it's a text chat

[3:16] madmanmoe: gotcha! thanks!

[3:16] BlakeAnglin: It's just really hard.

[3:16] CKochon: I won't go deep into Wutai talk cuz I know some people wait til much later to do sidequests

[3:16] Tomv: I haven't done any side quests, nor do I have Yuffie or Vincent in my party. Am i missing out on alot of cool stuff?

[3:16] CKochon: But y'all should definitely do Wutai!

[3:16] CKochon: Vincent is trash

[3:16] CKochon: =P

[3:16] gameinformer: @CKochon why do you like Wutai?

[3:16] madmanmoe: I actually like Vincent

[3:16] TheDarkestLink: I got Vincent because you get Odin when you go for him

[3:16] TheDarkestLink: but i don't like his limit breaks at all

[3:16] BlakeAnglin: A lot of people think Vincent is one of the cooler characters, and I would probably agree, but his isn't the most viable combatant.

[3:16] madmanmoe: His limit break is constraining, but i like his design

[3:17] MrTube: I like them all. Actually I challenge you to name anything I dislike about this game.

[3:17] PintSizedGiant: Vincent was my dude originally, then I realized that you can't control his Limits and he just isn't very strong

[3:17] TheDarkestLink: @Tomv not really missing out. Maybe on Yuffie, but if you keep to Cloud, Tifa, and Red XIII, you should be fine

[3:17] CKochon: Yuffie's character has ZERO depth but Wutai does a pretty good job at fleshing out her character and why she is the way she is

[3:17] TheDarkestLink: @PintSizedGiant the minigames/controls for some of the minigames

[3:17] CKochon: ZERO depth before Wutai that is

[3:18] TheDarkestLink: or that rock dodging section in ToA

[3:18] TheDarkestLink: that sucked so hard, trying to dodge all of those rocks to continue

[3:18] CKochon: Plus the game is decidedly Western in terms of its art direction

[3:18] CKochon: So it's cool to see it switch up the set pieces in Wutai

[3:18] BlakeAnglin: I dunno about that Chris. The reason she is gathering materia is obvious, but learning it for yourself gives her some depth, and her whole pagoda sequence is pretty cool. As an optional character, I get that she can;t be overly involved in the plot, but I think they did great with what they could work with.

[3:19] BlakeAnglin: Zero depth before Wutai I would probably agree with.

[3:19] TheDarkestLink: do you think that she's going to be required come the Remake?

[3:19] CKochon: She's gotta be

[3:20] BlakeAnglin: Yeah, she's too popular to just cut, surely. Same with Vincent. I mean, he got his own freaking game.

[3:20] gameinformer: You guys want to talk about minigames for a bit? Are you impressed with how many different game types are in here, or does the lack of quality to most of them bug you?

[3:20] TheDarkestLink: oh man the minigames suck so hard

[3:20] ziffoit: yes and yes

[3:20] CKochon: I am just amazed at how much I loved those minigames when I was a kid

[3:20] TheDarkestLink: that CPR minigame just didn't work

[3:21] CKochon: The bar was definitely VERY LOW back then

[3:21] TheDarkestLink: the dolphin jumping thing sort of worked

[3:21] TheDarkestLink: the parade thing just didn't work

[3:21] CKochon: The Mog game is an atrocity

[3:21] BlakeAnglin: I appreciate that they attempted to change it up by adding so many odd minigames, but that "see what sticks" approach led to some very sup-par moments imo

[3:21] TheDarkestLink: ^. 3x saved me for mogs

[3:21] PintSizedGiant: @gameinformer after a while I just had to laugh at them. I remember pouring a lot of time into arm wrestling and stuff to earn GP to get some prize

[3:22] BlakeAnglin: Has anyone ever actually did the first part of the parade right, where you have to jump in the marching formation?

[3:22] TheDarkestLink: yeah that's specifically the part i'm talking about. was waaaayyyyy too touchy

[3:22] PintSizedGiant: I do remember actually liking the snowboarding though, the branching paths and stuff was fun. But how did I completely forget the giant snowy mountain maze?

[3:22] Tomv: In hindsight I can see they were going this big experience with all these 'cool' you could do. But ultimately it hasn't aged well. I think it detracts from what the game does well.

[3:23] MrTube: @gameinformer the number of minigames blew me away in 1997. I always appreciated a change of gameplay style before that, but I'd never seen anything like that many mini-games. And I still can't think of anything with more variations of gameplay style outside of things like Warioware.

[3:23] CKochon: Wasn't the snowboarding game turned into a standalone mobile game in Japan?

[3:23] CKochon: Like...a flip phone mobile game?

[3:23] BlakeAnglin: I thought I liked the snowboarding, until I tried it this time. Never. Again. Biking wasn't as bad, but still not as good as I remember. The sub section took me literally 20 seconds, which was surprising, I remember it being tough.

[3:24] MrTube: @Tomv I still wish more games tried to do what FFVII did with mini games. I loved Shenmue for them too.

[3:24] TheDarkestLink: speaking of minigames, what did you guys think about the Gold Saucer in general?

[3:24] BlakeAnglin: Speed Square! FTW!

[3:24] CKochon: I love the Gold Saucer. Even if it's just a place to walk around I love it

[3:25] TheDarkestLink: did you guys get the Kefka-laugh easter egg in there?

[3:25] CKochon: Having a casino in the sky is just such a silly concept to me

[3:25] BlakeAnglin: Wonder Square needs more to do. Mog House, Claw Game and Basketball, plus the vehicle games, just isn't enough. And let's not talk about the paper/scissors/rock fighting game......

[3:25] MrTube: @TheDarkestLink Gold Saucer was probably the happiest I've ever been in a game.

[3:25] BlakeAnglin: I did notice the Kefka laugh in the snow village!

[3:25] gameinformer: @PintSizedGiant Totally, the Mog game was just ridiculous

[3:25] gameinformer: Do you like the designs of the various towns? Does each one feel interesting and distinct? Which one is your favorite?

[3:25] PintSizedGiant: It seemed like what Japan thought Las Vegas was. A complete escape from everything else *** going on in the world.

[3:25] MrTube: To me it was like finding a whole arcade inside a game.

[3:26] BlakeAnglin: Cosmo Canyon, the design, the story and especially the music, I just love that place.

[3:26] TheDarkestLink: the towns were different but it didn't really feel like it mattered. Nibelheim was the best though, if simply for story reasons

[3:27] gameinformer: I loved the story revelations in Cosmo Canyon

[3:27] gameinformer: I really liked that planetarium design, and that whole sequence

[3:28] MrTube: and the design of Cosmo Canyon

[3:28] TheDarkestLink: what happened story wise (like main story), in Cosmo? was it just the planetarium?

[3:28] CKochon: And the Red XIII Seto backstory

[3:28] BlakeAnglin: Yeah, that whole thing is really, really cool, especially how it incorporates your character models in the whole "lifestream" demonstration. Still kind of jawdropping actually.

[3:28] BlakeAnglin: But that music tho...

[3:28] gameinformer: @TheDarkestLink Yeah, you learn about mako and Red XIII's backstory

[3:29] BlakeAnglin: So good.

[3:29] CKochon: Seto at the end

[3:29] TheDarkestLink: yeah, i remember now. it's been a blur, cause i crammed all of my playtime into a week

[3:29] CKochon: Gets me errytime

[3:29] Tomv: So we can all agree Cosmo Canyon is the best? I liked learning about what Mako is etc

[3:29] TheDarkestLink: but yeah Cosmo was pretty cool. i liked the eternal fire moment, talking with everyone

[3:30] BlakeAnglin: I like Kalm. It's one of two towns you can completely skip, but there is some cool stuff there on both a gameplay and narrative front.

[3:31] gameinformer: A few people mentioned the Tiny Bronco. What do people think about the vehicles in the game so far? Do they make exploring more fun? Do they just feel like a stopgap until you get the airship?

[3:31] CKochon: Mt. Corel is depressing as hell but I think that's the point

[3:31] CKochon: Yeah they're placeholders

[3:31] CKochon: The Tiny Bronco is cool just because of how you get it

[3:31] TheDarkestLink: especially with how the Tiny Bronco is just so limited with movement

[3:31] BlakeAnglin: Yep, they feel more like long-form keys than actual gameplay devices to me.

[3:31] TheDarkestLink: definitely a placeholder

[3:32] PintSizedGiant: I know you guys mentioned it in the podcast, but I completely forgot you even got the red buggy before the Tiny Bronco, and when you got it, it felt so freeing even though it was still kind of useless

[3:32] BlakeAnglin: Mt. Corel though...for what seems to be the literal only gateway to the premiere attraction in the world, it is so depressing.

[3:32] gameinformer: @PintSizedGiant Yeah, you only use it to get to like two places

[3:32] TheDarkestLink: was it faster than walking around or was that my imagination?

[3:33] CKochon: it is faster

[3:33] PintSizedGiant: @TheDarkestLink and I think it gives you less random encounters, but I could be completely wrong

[3:34] TheDarkestLink: that didn't matter for me so much as usually when i was on the open world i just turned off encounters and when x3 speed

[3:34] gameinformer: Who's using the "cheats" to speed up the game and skip battles?

[3:35] CKochon: 3x on all movement, text, and trash battles

[3:35] BlakeAnglin: I would live life in 3x if I could.

[3:35] CKochon: I never used god mode

[3:35] TheDarkestLink: oh totally. i grind in x3 and it makes me feel so good

[3:35] CKochon: Turned off zero encounters on the open world map

[3:35] TheDarkestLink: when i just want to do story stuff, i turn on no encounters

[3:35] BlakeAnglin: Same as Chris, I started off trying not to use the battle boost, but I did eventually warm to it to heal. I didn't use it on any boss battles though.

[3:35] PintSizedGiant: I definitely did. If it were my first time I don't know that I would have, @gameinformer, but since I've played it before, I had no problem turning 3x and god mode every once in a while

[3:36] MrTube: It doesn't feel right to x3 the speed, unless something repetitive is happening.

[3:36] TheDarkestLink: usually i didn't use it for boss fights, those are sacred moments and the music is awesome

[3:36] CKochon: 3x speed has taken away a lot of rust from this game a s a whole

[3:36] MrTube: I want time to admire those backgrounds

[3:36] TheDarkestLink: but when i'm grinding and i'm using Bahamut over and over again, x3 goes on

[3:36] gameinformer: Does anyone use "god mode"?

[3:37] PintSizedGiant: after a while, when using 3x as much as I did in battles, any time I turned it off, it felt like my PS4 was about to explode it looked like the character models were chugging.

[3:37] TheDarkestLink: i used it on Red Dragon after I died to the demon wall and didn't save in between, but no other time than that

[3:37] BlakeAnglin: God made made grinding easier definitely (though that was more end game related for me), but I did use it as a "quick heal". I rarely simply kept it on though.

[3:38] CKochon: I plan on going god mode for my endgame optional boss grinding

[3:38] JoeyFatoney: Yeah, if you're just throwing time away through grinding, that's like the perfect use of god mode.

[3:39] BlakeAnglin: I actually beat the optional bosses legit, but grinded to get to be able to do that with God mode all the way.

[3:39] BlakeAnglin: God mode is also awesome for quickly unlocking limits

[3:39] TheDarkestLink: speaking of limits, did anyone get aeris's 4th limit break?

[3:39] PintSizedGiant: @BlakeAnglin unlocking limits is what I used it for too. Did it with all the characters I didn't want to use for my final party

[3:40] JoeyFatoney: Doesn't that take a reeeeally long time?

[3:40] JoeyFatoney: Without god mode, I mean.

[3:40] CKochon: I have beat this game probably 10 times and have never got Aeris's level 4 limit...I am the filthiest of casuals

[3:40] TheDarkestLink: depends on if you use x3 or not, but probably

[3:40] BlakeAnglin: Same here. I missed out on Aeriths this go-round, I saved inside the Ancient Temple before I grabbed it. Whoops.

[3:40] JoeyFatoney: Did you guys grow up with any playground rumors that you could somehow save Aerith?

[3:40] PintSizedGiant: @TheDarkestLink I did, after I found out that new limit levels are just tied to kills for that character, I was able to just stick a Fire3-All materia on her and only let her attack

[3:41] BlakeAnglin: Matra Magic + Mythril Caves is the best way I've ever found to quickly grind for limits.

[3:41] gameinformer: Many of you already talked about the Golden Saucer, but how does it fit with the tone of the rest of the game?

[3:41] gameinformer: Also, who did you go on a date with?

[3:41] TheDarkestLink: Tifa, but i felt really bad doing so. i felt it should have been Aeris

[3:41] PintSizedGiant: Tifa was my date

[3:42] JoeyFatoney: I think I tried to go for Barret and got Tifa.

[3:42] CKochon: Aeris was my date

[3:42] TheDarkestLink: speaking of which, knowing about aeris's death really changed my play style. i barely used her throughout the game

[3:42] CKochon: Gold Saucer is a nice break for me cuz that game gets really dreary up to that point

[3:42] MrTube: @gameinformer The game has so much variety of locations, the Gold Saucer works well to add another element to that.

[3:42] BlakeAnglin: With Aerith, which was a surprise, because I always try for Tifa

[3:42] CKochon: The happy music is a nice change

[3:43] PintSizedGiant: @gameinformer It seemed like it was out of place, but only where it was located, it seems like a place that should have been attached to Midgar, thematically anyways

[3:43] TheDarkestLink: i think it sort of fits, but the micro-transaction like things really scare me for the Remake

[3:43] TheDarkestLink: the GP could be bought out of game

[3:43] BlakeAnglin: My first time, I did legitimately think that Barrett went on a killing rampage there.

[3:43] MrTube: True, it seems like a theme park in the middle of nowhere. @PintSizedGiant

[3:44] TheDarkestLink: ^me too. would have made his character much more interesting, especially because i feel like all of the characters are too perfect

[3:44] PintSizedGiant: @TheDarkestLink GP itself wasn't worth almost anything to me when I have played, so I don't think micro-transactions would really do anything worthwhile.

[3:44] CKochon: Bold prediction: GP will be available via microtransactions in the remake

[3:44] gameinformer: Well @TheDarkestLink brings up a good point, did knowing Aeris' fate change anyone else's playthough? I hardly used her

[3:44] MrTube: Do square Enix have micro transactions in games often?

[3:45] BlakeAnglin: Same here, After learning her fate, I stay away from her, leveling her just feels like a sunk cost.

[3:45] PintSizedGiant: @gameinformer after I knew, I only really used her to get the trophy for getting her Limit Break

[3:45] JoeyFatoney: Yeah, I didn't see a point in using her. I think I formed my team around who I wanted to fight the final bosses with.

[3:45] TheDarkestLink: I feel like that's also part of the reason that her death was more impactful than it was today. you don't put her in your party because you know she's going to die, then you don't get to have her little interactions

[3:45] CKochon: Yeah she seems less important when you know she's got a shelf life

[3:45] TheDarkestLink: and then that makes her death less important

[3:45] BlakeAnglin: Aeris's "best by" date expired after Midgar...

[3:45] Marc: When the game first came out, i heard a rumor that if you get Aeris to lvl 99 you get the white materia... so i did. the Jenova battle after her death was very easy

[3:46] MrTube: She was one of my main 3 first time I played through. It made her fate even more shocking.

[3:47] JoeyFatoney: Aeris' white materia shows up as an item in Final Fantasy tactics :o

[3:47] TheDarkestLink: darn playground rumors. the rest of teh game must have been really easy as well

[3:47] CKochon: I think a lot of people use her their first go around

[3:47] CKochon: Cuz her healing is beast

[3:47] gameinformer: Anyone have a favorite limit break so far? I still havn't unlocked my favs

[3:47] MrTube: @CKochon true

[3:48] PintSizedGiant: @gameinformer Meteor Rain was always a favorite of mine

[3:48] JoeyFatoney: Omnislash is a classic. Kind of a boring answer but oh boy, it's so cool.

[3:48] BlakeAnglin: I love how Tifas chain together.

[3:48] TheDarkestLink: Climhazard, but i haven't gotten above lv. 2 for anyone yet

[3:49] gameinformer: @PintSizedGiant That's a good one

[3:49] JoeyFatoney: Why is nobody mentioning Cait Sith? lol

[3:49] TheDarkestLink: because he's lame

[3:49] gameinformer: Sure let's talk about Cait Sith. How much do people dislike him?

[3:49] JoeyFatoney: I know, I was just joking. He has objectively terrible limit breaks

[3:49] gameinformer: Or does anyone like him?

[3:49] BlakeAnglin: He's just....the worst.

[3:50] MrTube: I never understood what it was.

[3:50] JoeyFatoney: I have never used him, but I think overall I'm pro Cait Sith hahaa.

[3:50] CKochon: Dolphin Blow is forever the best limit break

[3:50] PintSizedGiant: @gameinformer @BlakeAnglin There is something super satisfying about getting a full chain of Tifa's slots. Especially when she pile-drives something 20 times her size

[3:50] gameinformer: He's terrible from a gameplay perspective, and just absurd from a narrative perspective

[3:50] CKochon: I used Cait Sith in my party for the first time ever for my final party

[3:50] TheDarkestLink: he lost all respect when he a. gave up the materia thing. b. came back after he died

[3:50] CKochon: He sucks

[3:50] CKochon: forever

[3:50] PintSizedGiant: Yeah, he's awful

[3:50] gameinformer: @PintSizedGiant Yeah, especially when you get a bunch of them, I still only have two

[3:52] TheDarkestLink: i have three, but hoping i fill out all of them before Sephy

[3:53] gameinformer: Alright. What about the world map? A lot of modern RPGs don't do world maps like this anymore. Do you miss that?

[3:53] MrTube: What do you think of Costa Del Sol? It really took me back to holidays in Spain.

[3:54] TheDarkestLink: eh. i'm more for a continuous stream of maps like in Xenoblade

[3:54] BlakeAnglin: I do miss world maps, something about flying around to all the places you visited before is just awesome, plus really seeing how everything fits together.

[3:54] TheDarkestLink: there's the overarching Bionis/Mechonis (which you can't warp to) but then each location has its own personality

[3:54] MrTube: @gameinformer Yeah, massively miss world maps. It was the best part of Ni No Kuni.

[3:54] CKochon: I miss world maps. Having everything available to you in a grand scope makes everything feel more "video-gamey" to me. Sometimes I think developers go a little too much on the side of realism

[3:55] JoeyFatoney: I think that because games have the technology to create fully fleshed out worlds, it's more interesting for me to traverse a huge, fully rendered world.

[3:55] PintSizedGiant: @gameinformer I do miss them. They make the world feel so much more familiar and like you are actually inhabiting it, rather than just bouncing from level to level.

[3:55] JoeyFatoney: There's still a place for world maps for sure though.

[3:56] BlakeAnglin: FFVII (and FFVI actually) did a great job with their dynamic world maps, I love how the map changes after certain world events.

[3:56] gameinformer: Man time is flying. Before we end this thing we should probably talk about the end of disc one. How did you all take the death of Aeris the first time around? Did you find it as moving this time?

[3:56] MrTube: Aeris dies?

[3:56] gameinformer: I had it spoiled for me unfortunately, but I was still frustrated by it and thought that maybe she'd come back somehow

[3:56] CKochon: The way the song starts with the cutscene hits hard everytime

[3:56] BlakeAnglin: It is still probably my most shocking video game moment. I mean, that just sin;t supposed to happen.

[3:57] BlakeAnglin: *isn't

[3:57] CKochon: And how it keeps playing through the Jenova fight is brilliant

[3:57] TheDarkestLink: I liked how Cloud finally showed emotion

[3:57] TheDarkestLink: his line "it doesn't matter. Aeris will never laugh... never get angry..." really struck me

[3:57] MrTube: First time I'd ever seen a character you play as die mid-way through a game. I couldn't believe.

[3:58] BlakeAnglin: I know so many people, myself included, whose final save right before that was untouchable.

[3:58] MrTube: it

[3:58] TheDarkestLink: i actually made a different save when it prompted me to save after disc 1

[3:59] PintSizedGiant: I was somewhat used to an FF character dying after playing through 4, but she was getting groomed to be the savior of the world and then was taken away, it made you feel like you were screwed

[3:59] TheDarkestLink: if i might derail the discussion a tiny bit, what games do you guys want to do in later game clubs?

[3:59] CKochon: Oh yeah back in the day I had saves before every single cutscene

[3:59] BlakeAnglin: I've seen theories that she isn't actually dead, and Cloud basically drowns her...that is very dark.

[3:59] CKochon: No YouTube so I had to make due

[3:59] TheDarkestLink: @PintSizedGiant yeah FFIV and FFXIII were my two previous FF games so everyone dying in FFIV kinda desensitized me

[4:00] JoeyFatoney: For a future game club I would want to see something from the Souls series, personally.

[4:00] TheDarkestLink: I'm rooting for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney real hard

[4:00] JoeyFatoney: That's another great one.

[4:00] CKochon: I want them to pick something super out of the box

[4:00] MrTube: @CKochon Yeah, FMVs were so special. I can't believe how many ways FFVII amazed me.

[4:00] CKochon: I'm excited for what's next

[4:00] TheDarkestLink: something that many people haven't played, maybe?

[4:01] gameinformer: Well that just about all we have time for. That's everyone for participating. I'll keep the chat up for a little bit longer if you all want to finish out some final thoughts.

[4:01] TheDarkestLink: I think The Swapper might be a good choice for that. not a lot of people have played it and it's rife with discussion material

[4:01] PintSizedGiant: The hard thing will be deciding something that's very accessible at this point

[4:01] JoeyFatoney: See you guys later!

[4:01] gameinformer: Thanks for playing the game with us. It's been a lot of fun. See you all again for the end of disc two!

[4:01] PintSizedGiant: @gameinformer Thanks for doing this, have a great weekend!

[4:02] TheDarkestLink: see you guys in three weeks

[4:02] MrTube: See you all

[4:02] CKochon: Take it easy everyone. And if you haven't we got a fan run FB group we've been talking constantly so come and join us if you wish!

[4:02] CKochon: facebook.com/groups/1121771234500009