Once a year, I take a break from my usual mindless ramblings to give the people what they truly want. Whether it’s a convincing essay on the merits of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood or a scientific analysis on why Garrus Vakarian and Commander Shepard should totally be together forever, I save some of my most fun ideas for February 14th. And that’s because Valentine’s Day is the day of love. Today, it’s all about expressing love for those close to you – or, as in my case, writing nonsensical blog posts expressing my love for various digital men.
My obsession with Cloud Strife began in 2007 when Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was released for the PSP. Crisis Core is a prequel to Final Fantasy VII and the story probably would have made more sense if I had played it before picking up Crisis Core, but I didn’t understand that at the time. I thought Crisis Core was a standalone game, and since I was looking for a good game to play on my new PSP, I tried it out. What followed was an intensely interesting story with compelling characters and an emotional rollercoaster that has left its mark on me. I was utterly hooked. At the game’s heart is Zack Fair, Crisis Core’s protagonist and one of the best boys of all time. He’s a good person who wears his heart on his sleeve and joins the Shinra Electric Power Company SOLDIER division with idealistic dreams of becoming a hero. Along the way, hilarity ensues and Zack’s perception of Shinra gets complicated, but in the end his actions are that of a hero.
Image Credit: IMDb
I know you’re probably asking yourselves why I’m droning on and on about Zack when this post is supposed to be about my love of Cloud. That’s because: 1. I need to recognize Zack as One of The Best Boys of All Time and 2. I’m getting to that! The bottom line is that I loved Crisis Core. I remember clearly spending an entire summer break playing the game, and reading obsessively about it online. While Crisis Core was not my introduction to Final Fantasy, I have played comparatively few titles in the series and didn’t know much about Final Fantasy VII at the time. Well, after scouring the internet and finding some fight scenes from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children – an animated movie showing the events taking place after VII – I was even further intrigued. I was enraptured by Cloud Strife, protagonist of Final Fantasy VII, a guy with blond hair, piercing blue-green eyes, and a flimsy “IDGAF” attitude. Young Aurashot was smitten, the latest victim to join a club with innumerable nerdy members.
I hadn’t played Final Fantasy VII until this year, so it’s important to again note that while I was doing all of my Cloud/FFVII obsessing, I still didn’t really understand who he was or what was going on aside from the fact that Crisis Core is a prequel. I found more scenes from the sequel movie, Advent Children, on YouTube, and was introduced to characters like Barrett, Red XIII, and Vincent Valentine (another obsession.) I had no idea who these people were, but while the storylines and timelines were jumbled up for me, I found them all captivating.
So what do I think about Cloud, Zack, and Final Fantasy VII in 2025 as I write this very serious research paper? I think that my obsession with Cloud is in line with one of the main themes of this blog site. In Crisis Core I found a story that resonated with me and I tried to learn all I could about it, even though I was missing some key details. It doesn’t really matter that I didn’t fully understand the game’s timeline, because obsessing over it was a lot of fun.
Image Credit: IMDb
Playing Final Fantasy VII has been great for a number of reasons. Besides its status as one of those games at the core of gaming culture – more specifically, important to the JRPG genre – experiencing the game helped me to close the loop on an interest I’ve had since around 2007. Diving back into the world and characters of Crisis Core, I rediscovered my fascination with them. Nostalgia is certainly powerful. Digging deeper, I realized recently that I have a love of complicated or convoluted lore. My mind loves trying to make sense of stories such as Elden Ring or Neon Genesis Evangelion, and I owe that to my exposure to JRPGs at a young age. Even though I haven’t played very many JRPGs, the gears started turning for me with titles like Final Fantasy X and Chrono Cross.
Anyways, even though Crisis Core is one of my favorite games, my cru-INTEREST in Cloud serves as a reminder of my greater nature. Once I find something I’m interested in, I latch on and ease up only after weeks of obsessively learning everything I can on the topic. I didn’t plan on this post getting this deep, or reminiscing, but I guess that’s just my way.
Cloud and Zack are two very good boys who would do anything to save their friends. In fact, Zack and Cloud met during the events of Crisis Core and had each other’s back when things went from bad to worse. In a lot of ways they are similar characters, but Zack is Cloud’s inspiration for joining SOLDIER and even parts of Cloud’s personality. Zack had the same impact on Cloud that Angeal, Zack’s mentor, had on him. It’s a wonderful and bittersweet story; one that I’m glad to finally be filling in the gaps with my recent playthrough on Final Fantasy VII (dedicated post pending!)
So, Happy Valentine’s Day! But don’t wait until a specific day each year to express your gratitude. If you’re lucky enough to find someone who loves you like I love video game characters, or like Zack Fair loves the Buster Sword, consider yourself lucky indeed!
All images in this post, including the cover image, were taken from IMDb’s Final Fantasy VIII Remake and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion pages. Thanks!
