The Unreliable Narration of Final Fantasy 7

What has always drawn me to writing is the power of the narration. A character’s voice and views can shift the tone of the narrative like a conductor leading the orchestra. Readers can be whisked away by their favorite character and overlook the faults of the voice they love. I myself love using unreliable narration in my own novel, and I love seeking out stories that like to mislead the reader. Even so, when I downloaded Final Fantasy 7 for my switch, I never expected what was in store for me. 

Firstly some information on the video game: it was released in 1997 by Square Enix for the PlayStation. It falls under the category of JRPG’s (Japanese role playing games) a genre of video games known for immersive storytelling and combat that is more turn-based. The main themes of Final Fantasy 7 revolve around loss, grief and identity. Each character has wounds from their past, and their reactions to their past helps them grow. 

The game follows Cloud Strife, who is hired by the eco-terrorist group Avalanch to help fight the mega-corporation Shinra Electric Power Company, who attempts to drain the planet's lifeblood as an energy source for profit. Cloud joins Shinra at a young age and befriends Zack, a Soldier (enhanced humans) and mentor. During a mission to Cloud’s hometown, Nibelheim, a tragedy occurs and everyone in the town dies, except Cloud’s Childhood Friend Tifa. Zack and Cloud get captured and experimented on by Shinra. Only after Zack manages to break free do they escape the company’s clutches. With Cloud unresponsive (or as I call it, in a ‘plot coma’) Zack protects him and ends up sacrificing himself for his best friend. Unable to accept Zack’s death, Cloud subconsciously takes on Zack’s life as his own, forgetting his friend in the process. Now Cloud goes through the game, unaware he is living inside a lie he created to protect his fragile mind. 

Of course I had no idea this was the plot of the video game when I started playing. I knew only that Cloud Strife was an edgy mercenary with witty one liners. So I begin, playing this 26-year-old game, I’m chugging along until the game does something sneaky, and I love that so much; it makes you doubt the character you love in a subtle way. 

The something sneaky, in short: Cloud tells his friends what happened in Nibelheim, but it’s Zack’s account that Cloud didn’t witness - only heard about. Tifa makes this observation a little later in the scene, once Cloud leaves. In her recollection, Cloud was never in Nibelheim, and that is made very clear to the player. 

With one conversation, I was instantly taken aback and felt genuine confusion at that revelation. This moment is one of many where the narrative pokes holes in Cloud’s story, making me become more and more suspicious of Cloud. The story knows it has the players searching for reasons why Cloud is “lying” to his friends, and the narration throws a curve ball to distract from the real reason. The experiments conducted on Cloud gave his body the strength of a Soldier, which is great and all if the cost weren’t a disease called “Cellular Degradation” that mainly causes individuals to slowly descend to madness until they end up in a vegetative state. Cloud shows symptoms of CD, and his friends and I, the player, are convinced he is slowly going insane.

We take his stories with a grain of salt, and when he begins to act out, his friends treat him with kindness and keep him at arm’s length for their own safety. I felt bad for Cloud as he seemingly began to lose himself, but then — BAM — the narrative hits you like a truck with a revelation no one saw coming; Cloud is forced to realize that his own memories are fake, and he remembers Zack’s death in vivid detail. The scene is brutal; his persona is deconstructed by force, and what remains is a broken man with no sense of identity. I will admit I had to pause and take a break at this point. The narrative pulls a fast one on the player, and just like Cloud, we are violently pulled back into reality. Boy, does it hurt. 

My writer-heart sang and cried when the narration revealed its true colors about 80% through the game. The way Cloud seems untouchable at the beginning, slowly begins to doubt himself half way through, and completely breaks down at the end, is an example of genius writing. It’s why Final Fantasy 7  will forever inspire me as a writer to keep going.