Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Preview

Daemon writes "Daeya.org has put up the first part of a preview of the new Final Fantasy movie. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children will be released in DVD format. The story takes place two years after Earth was saved from Meteor at the end of Final Fantasy VII." Great report, but it's very spoiler heavy. Be warned.

hmm

[ImTheDarkcyde]

this is one movie im really looking forward to, i just hope I don't have to wait for PSP to come out and get it on a little UMD...

Re:Weird numbering system

[VvScythevV]

The numbering system was originally confusing because of the Japanese releases that never made it to America and Squaresoft's attempt to cover this up. Now that Square-Enix is throwing out actual sequels they can't just bump the number up, they have to append additional junk to the title like in X-2.

My feeling is that the franchise is getting out of hand these days and is becoming diluted, there will still be tons of fanboys out there but Square-Enix is losing some because of the growing ridiculousness of what's been happening in recent years.

Probably will flop in America

[ShatteredDream]

Mainstream American audiences don't like anything that is really heavy on fantasy or sci fi, generally speaking, unless it has one of two things: spectacular visuals or has a plot that might as well be a fantasy/sci-fi take on modern day issues. LOTR and SW e 4-6 had the former, old Star Trek had the latter.

Don't get me wrong, I am salivating at the thought of getting my grubby mits on this after looking at the shots taken from it, and I was there opening night for Final Fantasy the movie. Just don't be surprised if this never gets anywhere in America. Imagination and the average American tend to be something akin to mortal enemies.

Why can't they make...

[LanMan04]

a movie version of Final Fantasy II? IMHO FFII had the best plot of all the FFs, and it doesn't have all the anime-esque/techno stuff tossed into it (I'm sorry, I could never get very into FFVII VIII or X). Seriously, Cecil and his battle with his inner demons (and emerging as a paladin), Rydia the summoner, great quest, airships, dwarves, elemental demons, the death of Palum and Porum early on in the flick (shocker!), it would be awesome!! Hell, I was so into that game when I was 12/13 I was depressed for a week after finishing it.

And PLEASE PLEASE, no long, weird, poorly translated speeches about the nature of the human soul or philosophy, a-la Ghost in the Shell.

Re:Halo: The Movie

[Lemmy Caution]

No, the stories aren't *that* good. The thing is that the FF games are *character* driven, and much of the richness of the games is created by side characters and NPCs, not just the main characters. FF7 works as much because of Barrett and Red 13 and Yuffie and Cid as it does because of Cloud, Aeris, Tifa and Sephiroth. And all those characters work well together because we spent hundreds of hours with them, building them up, nuancing their personalities with skills and materia and jobs and some choices (at one point, the exchange between Barrett and Cloud is based on who you form a party with.)

A film has 2 hours to do all that. It can't. Character, in film, is created more by appearence, gesture and style than by dialogue.

Most good films are not *that* character driven - the characters, when compelling, are more story-driven. Final Fantasy and other epic RPGs have more in common with literary epics than with cinematic ones, in terms of how we get pulled into caring about them.

I've repeated this enough that it's gotten tiresome, but I'll say it again: the best videogame that was ever made into a movie was never a videogame per se: it was Run Lola Run.

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Re:Halo: The Movie

[Naffer]

I know you're talking about something else, but you bring up a very important issue about the limitation of current "charachter-driven" RPGs. That issue is the illusion of control. The games give you time to build up personalities, but they don't allow for any deviation on the part of the main charachter. In FF7 you could change a single scene based on how you'd been using your party, and that single scene made me feel so much more a part of the story. The emphasis on the "interactive movie" style of RPG creation is great if you enjoy and can relate to the main charachter, but somehow they always manage to include a few scenes where your charachter makes some of the stupidest decisions imaginable.
Fable tried to be let your charachter be who you wanted him to be, but failed in a number of other respects. Love stories have been used extensively in recent FF games to add to the story (not many things elicit so much emotion, even in dorky guys) but love-story-related scenes are usually the most guilty of stupid ass characther decisions.

So in the process of ranting about charachter development, control, and limitations, I've described exactly why games can never substitue for real life and have backed myself into a corner as to regards of what I want out of a video game.
So I'm going to try again... I want major story arcs. I want at least the semblance of control.

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