Today's hottest game video: Final Fantasy VII trailer [update 1]

by Zack Stern { Dec 3rd 2006 at 12:00AM }

Today's most-watched YouTube game video is a fairly good-quality bootleg of the Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core trailer from this year's Tokyo Game Show. This Japanese-language video of the upcoming PSP game starts slowly, with a lot of exposition. But the last third of the five-minute sequence includes enough action and in-game footage to move the most reserved Final Fantasy fanboy into a foaming, rabid, lurching frenzy. Even regular gamers may like it.

See the whole video after the break.

[Update 1: Thanks, commenters, for pointing out that this clip was already featured in a non-hottest video post. So, we're bringing you an extra hottest video -- the hottestest video -- the SSX Blur trailer. Thrill as snowboarders glide down the mountain, doing tricks on the Wii, presumably with motion controls. See the extra video after the break.]

Tags: crisis core, CrisisCore, final fantasy, FinalFantasy, hottest video, HottestVideo, TGS2006

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

MoonfirePewPEwPEw @ Dec 3rd 2006 12:07AM

"includes enough action and in-game footage"

I stopped reading right here.

I don't call the 15 or so seconds(around 3:34 to 3:46) of gameplay "enough". But I guess you are partly right, as just having cgi is enough to put any rabid FF fanboy in killmode.

RaDd @ Dec 3rd 2006 12:13AM

WOW. Okay so I was going to trade in my PSP at Best Buy and say it was broken, for a Wii with my Replacement Plan, (as soon as they've got some in stock again of course.) Seeing this trailer though...WOW. I gotta rethink this.

Optimus Prime @ Dec 3rd 2006 12:14AM

(an observation)

Nintendo FF games always (ALWAYS) use chubby, cutesy, colourful, and squeaky-sounding character models. While every other platform use androgynous, albino, skinny-ass characters with (thankfully) mature voice-over work.

socrates @ Dec 3rd 2006 12:16AM

Yes - God forbid a game has a story in it! I'd much rather my promotional material revolve around, not the plotline that the game is based on, but bubblegum video of random people playing the controller. That's where the focus needs to lie! I'm so disappointed in you, MoonfirePepe-lepieu. How could someone with such a great name have such a kneejerk, stupid comment?

Thrawn @ Dec 3rd 2006 12:18AM

So....is this a game?

Seeing Midgar in the beginning was cool and then 2 seconds after that everything went completely to crap.
What the hell? I think this is why I stopped playing Final Fantasy main series after part seven.

DannyHibiki @ Dec 3rd 2006 12:45AM

Wasn't this already on the previous page?

2ez @ Dec 3rd 2006 1:02AM

Wait-- this is a game? I thought it was another movie. Or is it a game in which you just press X to move onto the next cut scene?

brian @ Dec 3rd 2006 1:18AM

FFX and FFX-2, and now FFVII, FFVII: Advent Children and FFVII: Crisis Core? Why is it that it takes Square half a decade to go between FFX and FFXII (I choose to ignore FFXI as it wasn't a real FF game) but they seem to be able to rehash and beat with a stick the same series over and over and over at a rate which almost seems like multiple times a year?

Dark-Pen @ Dec 3rd 2006 1:31AM

...why was this posted again? The last time this video was posted (which was yesterday over here: http://www.joystiq.com/2006/12/01/crisis-core-trailer-emphasizes-psp-shortcomings-offers-hope/ ), a whole giant fanboy flamewar started. Do you really want that again?

Even if it was the hottest video, isn't it just too much? Too much fanboyism and anger surrounds and divides the fanbase on this subject every time it comes up.

GD86 @ Dec 3rd 2006 1:35AM

"Nintendo FF games always (ALWAYS) use chubby, cutesy, colourful, and squeaky-sounding character models. While every other platform use androgynous, albino, skinny-ass characters with (thankfully) mature voice-over work."

Well first off the time between an actual main house FF game on a nintendo system is i'm guessing a little over a decade so that may be a reason simply by being system power. Unless you count all those remakes of other FF games from earlier in the series on the GBA/DS where they try to mimic the feel of the orginal game.

Or I'm guess your talking about Crystal Cronicals which was fun and I felt a bit on the whimiscal side of things. But yeah to call a spade a spade what you call chubby cutsey I call whimisical and you call a thankful change to andorogy and mature I find to be more like looking at the "So Emo It Hurts" group on myspace.

But the other thing to remember is they all have different directors and art stylists so they will change and each have a differnet flavor. But on to the game footage and less about disecting what you like and what I like.

Seems kinda bland. When I played the origional I never really thought about Zack's back story and such so not really that interested in the story this game will tell. Though I'm firmly on the side that if these FF7 post and pres are leading up to a full on PS3 remastering of the main game it would be fun. Though as long as they don't make a habit of it

Count Zero @ Dec 3rd 2006 1:43AM

WTF is this? I don't get it. Anyone else have clue one what is going on? Is cloud;s hair blue? Why is it blue? i'm confused....

Also drunk but I think I'd be confused anyways.

Chris @ Dec 3rd 2006 1:49AM

Answer:

Because the team decided to create an entirely new engine and battle system, which is so complicated that it'd probably take a year to debug. Because said team's director - Yasumi Matsuno - suffers from an illness and had to have his role replaced by several different staff members, limiting his role to creative director and story supervisor (or some variation of that).

And finally, because the game is so freaking big they must've put everything into it but the kitchen sink. Oh, and because a lot of them were working on Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced before this. Do you wish Final Fantasy XII came sooner instead of FFT:A? Granted, the story of FFT:A was nowhere near FFT in scope, but the gameplay was astounding... oh, nevermind.

...seeing Aerith with Zack seems sort of depressing. Like watching Catherine Zeta Jones marry Michael Douglas depressing, but without the "he's an old guy" cringe-feeling. Like someone you admire is taken.

I identify with Cloud more than Zack, so I guess my previous statement fits. This whole thing between Aerith, Cloud, and Zack... feels like a high-school drama: Zack and Aerith are together, but then Zack dies, and Cloud comes literally to take his place. Aerith knows Cloud isn't acting normal since he's immitating Zack, and the real Cloud is nothing like Zack at all. Zack is to Cloud what the goalie of the soccer team is to the outcast, the 1st-class-SOLDIER-you-face-on-the-way-to-fight-Hojo to the-Shinra-soldier-you-faced-off-at-the-game's-introduction. Cloud's been like that all his life, even when Tifa and those other kids used to hang out together: he just got pushed away, or pushed himself away (whatever).

So Zack and Aerith are a better fit, and poor Cloud is out of his league when it comes to Aerith, mostly because of his own problems/weaknesses. And in the middle of this, it seems as though Cloud is forgetting the fact that there's this drop-dead gorgeous woman vying for his attention, who knows what Cloud really is and accepts him just for that. Because even though he's not as strong as Zack, he was willing to risk his life to save Tifa after she climbed up Mt. Nibel, and that's the Cloud she remembers. He didn't have the physical strength or mental stability to become a SOLDIER (i.e., he couldn't handle the Mako energy or the Jenova cells).

But something about Cloud... the fact that he was the one who defeated Sephiroth at Nibelheim's reactor, not Zack; despite the fact that Zack was probably at level 40, Sephiroth level 50, and Cloud level 2... that Cloud was able to hold on and save Tifa, was his strength. It wasn't something that can be achieved by gaining strength or "leveling up". And that thing - whatever the hell it is - is probably what matters most in life.

Maybe if the translators of the game had done a better job more people would be able to understand, and maybe it would not have as bad a reputation as it does with some gamers today.

Splinter @ Dec 3rd 2006 1:53AM

So how many times have they remade this game?

Why not produce a better new product than revamping the same old game over and over and OVER!

Back_Lit @ Dec 3rd 2006 1:56AM

I haven't played all of FF7 but I've got to say even THAT trailer has me pumped.

Negativecool @ Dec 3rd 2006 1:57AM

Count Zero-

If you'd played FFVII you could probably guess that the blue haired guy is Zach. A dead giveaway is the fact that he is sitting in the yellow truck talking to the camera (camera being Cloud). That was a secret cut scene in FFVII found in the Shinra mansion. Also Zach and Aeris apparently had some relationship before the events of FFVII, notice the amount of time he spends with her in the video.
If you watch it again, Zach puts his hand on one of the soldier's shoulders, that (bout 99% sure)would be Cloud.

This is a prequel to the FFVII story. It explains more about Sephiroth, Shinra, Zach and Aeris, and probably a few other things.
Does that clear it up?

Dark-Pen @ Dec 3rd 2006 1:59AM

splinter: ...FF7 has never been remade, what the hell are you talking about? I believe the word you're looking for is SPIN OFF. Seriously, dude, what a fucking kneejerk reaction.

otakucode @ Dec 3rd 2006 2:00AM

brian: You forgot Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus for the PS2.

Count Zero @ Dec 3rd 2006 2:07AM

I've never really passed the beginning of the second disk. I just though the entire game went to shit after the first disk. To be fair, I never really played it though. I've played the shit of the first disk but I only ever did the first part of the first disk, the snowboarding part. Someday I will finish it. It's installed on my computer right now. Someday I'll finish FF IV too... and V, and VI, and VII, and VIII... Now that I think of it, I've never beaten a final fantasy game. I'm at the last boss on IV and V. About halfway through VI and I'm on the second disk of VII and at ragnarock on VIII.. on IX I'm inside Sin.... Man am I having on hell of a bad streak going....

Mephistopheles @ Dec 3rd 2006 2:11AM

But Cloud was actually stronger than everyone else. I killed the other two members of my party and beat Sephiroth with just Cloud to prove it. I don't understand how he couldn't have made it in SOLDIER.

If they ever do remake FFVII maybe they can make a coherent plot without leaps to conclusions and a decent motivation explanation. Or better yet, without Cloud repeating the same crap throughout the entire game. Yes, Cloud we get it, you're not fighting for the planet but for yourself oh and for the planet to contradict your earlier statement.

TopaZ @ Dec 3rd 2006 2:13AM

It would be so awesome if the people that wrote for Joystiq actually READ Joystiq!

What? @ Dec 3rd 2006 3:05AM

Rawr Pew Pew Pew

Jecrell @ Dec 3rd 2006 3:50AM

@3

This issue is mostly business related and hardly a conspiracy. The Gamecube's hardware could run Final Fantasy 12 (see Resident Evil 4). However, Square-Enix has special deals with Sony that keep that from happening.

There's also the fact that Nintendo doesn't require their business to make money on their systems. I have no doubt that Square-Enix set up a special division for Nintendo relations, and that probably resulted in the art styling we have seen on Nintendo systems and handhelds.

ChiTownMexican @ Dec 3rd 2006 4:37AM

This game blows, Mass Effect is gonna kill this game.

Pince @ Dec 3rd 2006 4:46AM

Do they have this game in CGI-only form? Or hell, even book form. Graphic novel? Hell, then I wouldnt even need a PSP. I really don't want to actually "play" FF anymore; I just want to know what the story is.

Bah, oh well, I guess I could always read the inevitable gamefaqs spoilers but where is the fun in that.

Pince @ Dec 3rd 2006 5:19AM

And just because now I am thinking about it - which FF do you think has a tougher story to pick apart, FF7 or FF8?

I don't know what I would say because I have played through both multiple times (and somehow, managed to miss the scene in the shinra mansion that gives you the scene with zack - dammit) and, for each, I still don't know completely what is going on.

There are tons of parts of the FF7 story that I still don't quite get and that is most likely because, well, if you really think about it, there are a shit ton of characters and all of them are screwed up or just plain weird. No matter how many times I play that game, there are several points where I lose track of everyone's motivations. So wait...Sephiroth is doing what now? What!? Why!?
Oh well...now I'm fighting a dragon in any icy cave, nevermind.

And in FF8 you have the whole time...thing...compression, what? So Ultimecia is a sorceress from the future er the past who possesses the body of some other sorceress who was...frozen in space? to summon monsters from the moon and compress time so she can...um, because she doesn't like time.
Hell, I cant even remember which nations are fighting which.

And don't even pretend that you understood both of them 100% the first time through.

I love FF7 and FF8. *sigh* I think, I'll play them again.

Dark-Pen @ Dec 3rd 2006 5:31AM

And, of course, the fanboyism starts all over again. Beware, passerbyers, for you may lose your head to VOLLEYS and SALVOS of RETARDATION.

MasterPaul @ Dec 3rd 2006 6:32AM

FF for PSp looks boring like hell, especially the pre rendered cutscenes.

FinalFan3 @ Dec 5th 2006 11:14AM

Yay! It's Gackt-san!!

Douglas Cartland @ Dec 3rd 2006 6:53AM

Where can I get this trailer song? I absolutely LOVE the beginning section's guitar!! The drum 'n bass rock section's not too bad either.

Ian M @ Dec 3rd 2006 8:21AM

Negativecool pretty much hit the whole explaination on the head, but Id like to add something there,

YES we love cloud more than zack so seeing him with aeris/th can jar a little, but RIGHT at the beggining of the game when you meet here aeris/th mentions that her first boyfriend was a first class SOLDIER much like cloud - this isnt something they came up with spontainiously it links with the way cloud becomes zack after his memories are left open to manipulation by HOJO's experiments.

also I think that cutscenes are a much better way of advancing the plot than X bashing through lines of dialogue with minimal or no voice acting from the charachters because the in game graphics will always pale in comparison to FMVs
~Ian

Josh @ Dec 3rd 2006 9:42AM

Wow, the amount of pigheaded-ness here is crazy. Its not squares fault that you dont "get" the story! FF games are like a good long book, I guess the problem is kids these days dont read and get what they are reading any more.
I would just like to go on record and say that the psp has no killer apps. for me, and this looks like one.
Zacks story is the whole thing guys, with out him there is no cloud as you know him. Live Learn Love Him, hes all we have now.

MikeG @ Dec 3rd 2006 10:46AM

Josh: "good long book"? Ya, you're right. That's probably why I don't really care for FF games. Too much video watching and not enough game playing. I lost interest in the FF series during part VII when in the middle of an extremely long cutscene, the game asked me if I wanted to save before continuing on with the rest of the cutscene! WTF?

There are definitely people who love this series and more power to them. But personally, if I wanted to watch a movie, I'd rent a DVD. Oh, wait, Square actually makes full length movies now because they can't get the story telling out of their system. LOL!

peter7898m @ Dec 3rd 2006 11:40AM

I want an FF8 remake

The ZeroCorpse @ Dec 3rd 2006 11:47AM

Storytelling? This is not storytelling. NOTHING in the world of modern anime or manga is what I'd call storytelling. It's a bunch of random character interactions with very little reason, and one stupid plot point (a quest or goal) holding the whole thing together... But the characters usually meander around ignoring their goal for 75% of the story because they'd rather banter and pose and fight.

In terms of storytelling, FF games are about as sophisticated as Archie comics, but a lot less interesting and far worse at character development. If this is your idea of a "good long book" then I'd hate to see how you react to being asked to read Tolstoy. The average FF fan would probably choke on Louisa May Alcott or Nathaniel Hawthorne.

FF is the literary equivalent of a cosplay convention. I've heard better dialogue in an episode of Three's Company, and seen better action on an episode of Fantasy Island.

deaftly @ Dec 3rd 2006 12:22PM

jesus christ, @12, chris you are a fucking dork

lordroba @ Dec 3rd 2006 1:12PM

Some of you people should really watch Final Fantasy VII:Last Order. This should clear up a few things (especially about Zach). It's the story before the original FF7 and After Crisis Core.

Lem-Lem @ Dec 3rd 2006 1:13PM

I hope Nobuo Uematsu didn't write the shitty music in that trailer. I would be severely dissapointed in him.

Goldspire @ Dec 3rd 2006 2:05PM

wow, so Square Enix is taking a page from the book of EA?.. seriously, is anyone else sick of this?. I had no problems with the Advent Children movie, but 2 game spin-off with Dirge of Cerberus and Crisis Core is a bit much. Although, it's of my personal opinion the series quickly slid downhill from FF7, so.. maybe they're doing the right thing...

uclatommy @ Dec 3rd 2006 2:15PM

OMG Aeris in a spaghetti strap top.

ahhhyeaa @ Dec 3rd 2006 2:25PM

THE ONLY SSX POST HERE:

dude what the fuck was that!!!!! unless they've changed the series again that was the exact start point of SSX 3, which was released 3 years ago!!! damn being an ssx fan i was really happy to hear the news, but seeing the same map from 3 years ago was a downer

i just hope it was a "test" track for the time being and not in the final game.

dont be afraid to make changes to the game EA!!!

Adran @ Dec 3rd 2006 2:44PM

@33

Wow... while I would certainly NOT compare the storytelling in something like an FF game to that of an excellent author like Tolstoy or Dostoevsky (both of whom I love) or Hawthorne or most major authors, I also think that your statements are unnecessarily harsh, as well. Video games are rarely made with the intention of being truly significant or poignant (Though I would LOVE to see one which was), but they are still quite capable, thematically. I don't think FFVII is the best example of this (out of the FF series, I'd say 10 does this the best), but I would without question say that there is greater artistic value in FFVII than any of the things that you compared it to.

People definitely have different expectations from games. Some people love a good story, some people don't care about the story at all, and there are games for both sorts of people. I think that the medium has a great deal of untouched potential regarding storytelling and theme, and I hope that over time this potential is realized. But to say (or at least imply) that those who enjoy the storytelling in games don't know a thing about good storytelling is a bit insulting, I think.

chris @ Dec 3rd 2006 5:12PM

Mephistopheles, you're confusing the actual in-game story with the gameplay. Everything I discussed about Cloud was what took place 5 years before Cloud's adventures, before you took his role and started levelling up. True, his strength kicked Sephiroth's ass at the end, and that just reinforces my claim that Cloud's inner-strength was the one real strength. But back 5 years ago he was nothing compared to Zack. And when he and Tifa confronted his dilemma in the Lifestream, he was able to remember who he actually was, and made sense of everything.

The ZeroCorpse, you're statements are too harsh. If you gave the games a reconsideration you'd be surprised at how poignant they are (to steal the wording of Adran, of course).

As an example of underrated work, most people think Frankenstein and Dracula are nothing but silly horror stories, especially after considering the huge amount of derivative work Universal Studios has done with these licenses. However, if you were to go back to Mary Shelley's republished 1931 print of Frankenstein (can't remember the precise date, but it is the second version of the book that's better) or Bram Stoker's Dracula, the stories are much more intense and meaningful than you'd ever imagine. This is, of course, assuming you haven't read these books, and if you have, well I don't know what to tell you.

deaftly, this "dorkiness" is what my strength is - it has gotten me through high-school, it's getting me through college, and it will get me through graduate school, so if you've got a problem with my dorkiness, then it's just that: your problem, (not mine) :P

adran, thanks for your added input. Storylines in games can go much further, and they can redefine storytelling because games have the power of placing you in the role of the main character, which is much stronger than simply reading about a character or watching him on a television or movie screen.

Question @ Dec 3rd 2006 6:01PM

I'm playing FFVI right now,and now(IMO) it's tied with FFVII as one of the greatest in the series.

The trailer seems interesting,it does play like FFXII,I assume it will be released next year,since FFVII will now be 10 years old.

But,SquareEnix,where's my Chrono Trigger(for the DS or otherwise)? Maybe they'll get the development team back by bribing them with I dunno,Moogles?

Mephistopheles @ Dec 3rd 2006 7:32PM

It's not Square's fault that many people don't comprehend their stories? I guess it's not my fault if you can't understand what I'm saying either. Hell, I not bother write not bad justifying the reason it's your error that you are not getting my thoughts in my head. So clear; you understood so why bother putting any effort into making it easier to understand?

Wii the People @ Dec 3rd 2006 10:12PM

All right, I might be a little confused about the story in FF7 so if some of you could answer a couple of questions that would be great.

When Tifa tells Cloud to build the ark because she's going to flood the earth, is that literal or figurative?

When Sephiroth challenges Cloud to a fiddle-duel in order to win his soul, is that fore-shadowing?

What is the "Forbidden Fruit" that Sephiroth tempts Zack and Cloud with?

Oh wait...I must have been playing the "Bible Game" while listening to "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and made up my own game. Nevermind. This is my FF 7 question: Cloud is gay, right?