The air feels dense and heavy in Midgar, uncomfortable to breathe. A young woman is selling flowers on the street corner nearby. She catches your eye and sends you a wink.

It took me a long time to love Final Fantasy VII.

I received Final Fantasy VII for my fourteenth birthday, I'm pretty sure. At the time, I'd already played and loved VIII, IX and X.

My expectations for this game were sky-high. Everyone kept saying it was so much better than its successor, and I absolutely adored Final Fantasy VIII, so surely this had to be great. Plus I'd already read a bunch of fanfiction about Cid and Vincent making out, so I was looking forward to actually meeting those characters.

Midgar was a really cool setting, which was an early positive. But the shine of this game quickly began to wear off for me. The English translation was so awkward that I struggled to follow the plot. The visuals and animation had none of the nuance of Final Fantasy VIII. Cid and Vincent didn't make out once.

More importantly, everyone continued saying it was so much better than my beloved VIII. It was hard not to resent Final Fantasy VII a little when people constantly used it to put down something I loved.

In the end, it was Crisis Core, the Zack prequel game, that won me over to the world of Final Fantasy VII. Crisis Core has its flaws; Genesis is a silly addition, and I found its portrayal of Aerith disappointing. But Crisis Core helped me to understand the plot of Final Fantasy VII at last, and to care more about its characters. I replayed the original VII straight afterwards, and this time I enjoyed it a lot more.

Final Fantasy VII has strong characters and an interesting plot, but it's difficult to appreciate them on account of the original game's awkward graphics and poor translation. Because of this, I was delighted when the remake was announced.

We're two games into the remake trilogy now, and I'm having a blast with it. There are things I'd change if I could, but I'm still looking forward to the final instalment immensely.

My favourite characters are Cloud and Aerith; it's hard to choose between them! I love how fun and bold and playful Aerith is. I love that Cloud is an absolute psychological wreck.

I've written two short works of fanfiction for Final Fantasy VII. The first is Across the Distance, a brief conversation between Aerith and Yuna of Final Fantasy X. The second is Divisions, the (non-explicit) story of how Barret, Tifa, Cloud and Aerith end up having a foursome. Don't give me that look.

• Return to Balamb Garden's bridge.
• Return to Balamb Garden's entrance hall.