A long-awaited fantasy.
This is an amazing week in nerdom, with the release of Dune: Part Two and the main topic of today’s post, Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth. Both are being released today, February 29, 2024. As much as I’d love to talk about Dune, I’m here to discuss Final Fantasy, as I have images to share with this game in mind. Let’s start with a little backstory…
I was first introduced to Final Fantasy (referred to as FF from here on out) through FFVI (FFIII in North America) on the Super Nintendo back in 1994. It was my first foray into the world of role-playing games (RPGs) and I was hooked. The graphics were as good as they could have been back then, the gameplay was great, but the storyline and cast of characters were something else. I sunk hours and hours into this game. I played it over a couple of months last summer, highlighting how entertaining it still is, a true testament to its staying power.
Then in 1997, two years after the first Sony Playstation hit the market, Final Fantasy VII was released. It was an instant hit. The cover featured an image of Cloud Strife, one of the main characters, reaching for his giant Buster sword. It looked so badass. The game was spread out over three CDs, and I don’t know who needs to hear this, but back in the day, that meant the game was COLOSSAL. The graphics and 3D renders were revolutionary for the FF series. It was something completely different. I sunk many hours into this game as well. Then one day the game ended, years passed, and we’re now sitting at FFXVI as the latest installment of the series. Admittedly, I’ve played very few of the releases since, and if I have, I’ve never finished them in their entirety.
Cover for Final Fantasy VII in 1997
At one of the weirdest times in a lot of our lives, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, a miracle happened for gamers and fans of the original FFVII. A remake was released for the PS4/PS5, of which I was lucky enough to have the latter at the time. Taking advantage of the power of the PS5, the remake was something that I had never experienced before with a FF game. The graphics were outstanding, and a new type of battle system was introduced. It was really fun, and we were all stuck at home anyway, so the timing of the release was perfect. I could sink many guiltless hours into playing, which I of course did. Except, there was one problem: it ended. Of course games end. That’s the point. But much like I didn’t know that the first Dune movie was split until I saw the words “Part One” appear under the title at the theatre, I didn’t know that this remake of FFVII was going to end where it did. Our characters escape the city of Midgar, a cutscene happens, and then it is over. I thought something was wrong, so I scoured the Internet and learned that yes, it was true, the game ended where it did. I was dismayed.
Knowing how much more story was supposed to occur based on the original game (three discs, remember?!) I felt cheated. But mostly, I wanted more. A DLC (downloadable content) was released, as well as a PS5 version of a game that was made for the PSP (Playstation Portable) which gave some great backstory to our main character, Cloud, but it wasn’t FFVII and it wasn’t what I wanted. There was little to no news about whether they would continue the story, only rumours existed. Then, in mid-September 2023, an announcement was made, proclaiming February 29, 2024, as the release date for Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, the next and hopefully full and final installment of the game. Now you’re all caught up, which brings us to why I’m writing this.
Last year, I started following a cosplayer on Instagram named Amy, who goes by the handle @queenamydalacosplay. She creates many of her outfits and props by hand. A lot of her content is inspired by different characters in the Final Fantasy series. Talks ensued about putting a shoot together when the timing worked out, and it just so happened to work out at the start of this month, a few weeks before the release of Rebirth. Amy and I discussed doing a shoot dressed as one of the characters, Aerith Gainsborough. A place that can be visited in the city of Midgar is an area called Wall Market, which is a neon-lit, seedy/sketchy part of town, akin to Amsterdam’s Red Light District minus all the window shopping. There is a brothel, however, located at the Honey Bee Inn. To advance the game, three of the characters, Tifa, Aerith and Cloud, have to complete missions to get their hands on different styles of dresses in an attempt to seduce the leader of Wall Market, Don Corneo for information.
Amy had altered a dress like Aerith wears in her Wall Market adventure, and we decided that this dress at night with the city lights, would be a perfect tribute to bring this character, her style, and the setting to life. We met at the art gallery downtown, and with the help of her fiancé John as bodyguard/bag watcher, we were able to get some amazing pictures that I’m super happy with. I’ve included a few images that show the dress design in both the original and the remake, so you can see the crazy amount of work that Amy put into styling this outfit. I hope you enjoy the photos, and if you’re into gaming, I think this is one you might want to get. Thanks as always for reading, and please go give Amy a follow! She puts a lot of hard work into her designs and would love to see her get as much recognition as possible for it.
