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Final Fantasy VII altered the course of video game history when it was released in 1997 on Sony's PlayStation system. It converted the Japanese role-playing game into an international gaming standard with enhanced gameplay, spectacular cutscenes and a vast narrative involving an iconic cast. In the decades after its release, the Final Fantasy VII franchise has grown to encompass a number of video game sequels, prequels, a feature-length film, a novel and a multi-volume remake series.
This volume, the first edited collection of essays devoted only to the world of Final Fantasy VII, blends scholarly rigor with fan passion in order to identify the elements that keep Final Fantasy VII current and exciting for players. Some essays specifically address the game's perennially relevant themes and scenarios, ranging from environmental consciousness to economic inequity and posthumanism. Others examine the mechanisms used to immerse the player or to improve the narrative. Finally, there are several essays devoted specifically to the game's legacy, from its influence on later games to its characters' many crossovers and cameos.
List of contents
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Editors' Note
Introduction: Let's Mosey
Jason C. Cash
Disc 1: Narrative
The Bringer of Light Becomes the Fallen Angel: Sephiroth, Lucifer, and Frankenstein's Creature
Ceschino P. Brooks de Vita
Angelus ex Machina: Economic and Environmental Justice in the Compilation of Final Fantasy
Jason C. Cash
The Death of Aerith: Traumatic Femininity and Japan's Postwar Modernity
Yasheng She
Fragile Materials: Memory and Ecology in Final Fantasy
Nickk Hertzog
Disc 2: Player Experience
"A body hast thou prepared me": Algorithmic Suture, Gamic Memory, and (Co-)creating a Rhetorical Network of Identity-Trauma in Final Fantasy
Samuel Stinson
Final FantaSi' VII: Role-Playing the Eco-Ethics of Laudato si'
Gregory D. Jones, Jr.
"Action combat trash": Final Fantasy VII Remake, Control, and Combat Nostalgia
Indira Neill Hoch
Disc 3: Legacy
Very Superstitious Spoilers on the Wall: A Deep Read of Fan Reactions to Tragedy in Final Fantasy
Craig T. Olsen
"Because, you are ... a puppet": How Final Fantasy VII Anticipated the "Posthuman Turn"
Nicholas Langenberg
Square's Lifestream: Examining the Impact of Final Fantasy VII Characters Across the Gaming World
Carlos Cruz
The Timelessness of Final Fantasy
Kathleen Morrissey
Conclusion: Where the Rail Takes
Craig T. Olsen
About the Contributors
Index
About the author
Jason C. Cash is an associate professor at SUNY Delhi, where he teaches literature, composition, and film. His research interests include Irish fiction and video game narrative. He lives in Oneonta, New York.Craig T. Olsen is an associate professor and director of the writing center at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. His areas of research include gaming literacy, music and storytelling within video games, multimodality, digital spaces, writing centers, and creative rhetoric.
Summary
The first edited collection of essays devoted only to the world of Final Fantasy VII, this book blends scholarly rigour with fan passion in order to identify the elements that keep Final Fantasy VII current and exciting for players.
