What Are Guns In The Universe Of Final Fantasy VII?

Final Fantasy VII has been a world new to me. I have vague memories of seeing a TV commercial for the original PlayStation game when I was young and remember playing the game’s first few hours in a friend’s attic between Mat Hoffman’s Pro BMX sessions. It wasn’t until much later, when I found an inexpensive green label copy at a Circuit City, that I gave it another shot, but, again, I only made it through the first few hours. Square Enix had made the release so I could use it on my PlayStation 3 while also transferring it to my PSP. This was my best performance. Midgar left me, so I saved the game and shut down my PSP. I was completely lying that I would get it back soon. This was over ten years ago.

That is not to say I have a limited understanding of Final Fantasy VII. Most of the characters are familiar to me, Midgar is known, the Lifestream, and Mako’s purpose. Square Enix spends a tremendous amount of time, money, and effort to remake Final Fantasy VII. This is for my benefit as well as the benefit of all who have loved it. Remake is a game I have played in all its original form. It’s a fun series and one I am looking forward to seeing. Also, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion was something I reviewed earlier this year. I am starting to understand the world of Final Fantasy VII, even if I don’t understand how human flight is possible with one wing.

Do the guns’ colors indicate their danger?

I have dozens of questions about Final Fantasy VII I am sure could be answered by playing the original game or texting former Game Informer editor Joe Juba, but there is one basic question I still don’t understand about the world of Final Fantasy VII that I fear does not have a meaningful answer: what are guns in the universe of Final Fantasy VII?

Guns are used to attack and threaten in Final Fantasy VII, but I don’t understand how lethal they are. The majority of soldiers are equipped with guns. However, those who have the greatest power can carry weapons. In Final Fantasy VII swords seem to be more powerful but are difficult to use.

That’s the conclusion I drew after playing through most of Final Fantasy VII Remake, but then, near the end, President Shinra threw my hypothesis into the trash. I won’t go into detail to avoid spoilers, but President Shinra has his back against the wall at one point. He’s scared and trying to negotiate for his life with Barret, who I will remind you has a gun for a right hand. Then suddenly his confidence returns, and he runs to his desk. He is no longer negotiating for his life, but instead insulting Barret’s noble cause because… surprise! He is carrying a gun. And he’s pointing it right at Barret.

Final Fantasy VII is arguably the first videogame to have cutscene fatalities. However, I am not sure. This scene left me confused. There is an earlier cutscene where Leslie, Corneo and Corneo point guns at each others threateningly. It confused me but then I accepted it since those were not party-members. These two seemed to be ordinary people. But Barrett? Barrett was shot more than 100,000 times as he walked to the office of President Shinra. This threat has taken the entire party by surprise, even Cloud, who is the main swordman.

Pictured: Barret getting shot 100,000 times.

I haven’t even brought up the fact that temporary party member, Wedge, took a near-fatal bullet to the butt earlier in the game, despite taking plenty of bullets during combat. I don’t know why the butt shot did more damage than the average bullet.

Although I had hoped that Crisis Core VII Reunion would resolve the mystery of guns and swords, it just made me feel more confused. The game’s ending proves that guns are, in fact, fatal, even if you’re a sword guy.

Final Fantasy VII is a video game universe so I’m happy to accept it as normal. Guns can sometimes be fatal, but most often they only knock a few HP off. Let’s move on. But I do think we’ve moved past ignoring these kinds of story issues in video games, and I can’t help but get hung up on something the developers are probably not thinking much about. They have bigger and more important game development problems that are worth their attention.

Rebirth is my hope for the next chapter of the Final Fantasy VII remake story. If room can be made for eating pizza at Jessie’s parent’s house to give her a little more context, surely Tifa can take a few minutes to explain what guns are in her world, right?