The Role of Thresholds in Final Fantasy VII

According to Laurie Taylor, comics and video games are similar because they are both more spatial mediums rather than sequential. This is because of the interactivity that the viewer has with them. In her article she deals with the spatial aspects of the mediums by addressing the use of ‘exacting thresholds’. These are "places where the viewpoint that dramatically changes after movement over a specific line or point" with games and the panels of comic books (Taylor).

The following are the similarities of the thresholds between comic books and video games indicated by Laurie Taylor.

Thresholds
Comics book thresholds are indicated by the panel borders and gutters that separate images.
Video game thresholds are the video frame spaces that only shift to the next space when the player stimulates it.

Focus
The center of the panels of comics are not the only focus but also the layout as a whole may bring a focus to certain parts of the page.
With video games, though the focus is the center of the screen like film, the focus can be changed by the player so they can view the space as a whole.

Retracing
Comics can be reread or retraced easliy without disrupting the flow of the story.
Some video games require the player to retrace certain spaces to advance through game.

Direction of a linear path.
The creators of comics attempt create the layout in a manner so that the viewer follows a certain flow of reading.
Games are also made so that the player is lead in a certain direction, yet the player can take another route at their own will.

Multiple sequentialities
Comic book panels may be placed as a collage so the reader reads them insequentually yet is still be able to read them sequentailly.
Games also allow the player to experience areas in any order yet they can still follow the intended route.

Spatially judged time
The space in a comic book judges time though time may be represented differently in panels.
The amount of space the player moves through judges the time in a game unlike films where one is forced to experience the movie at a set pace.

Direction of time
Artists in both mediums find it difficult to indicate time because the viewer has the freedom to experience the mediums at their own pace.

Division of Panels
Spaces in games are usually part of a large one collectively. These large areas can be considered larger structures that are seperated from each other.
Pages in comic books can also be considered as larger structures that are separated by turning the pages.
Both mediums do not have ‘spaces in which the story of the game "happens" but rather landmarks for the work of reading’ (Taylor).

Conventions for spatial creation
As games draw on cimematic conventions they also draw on the spatial conventions used in comics such as changing perspectives on the same scene or limiting the viewers vision of a scene.

Interrelating Panels.
Some games use 2D backgrounds that may be considered to be flat and lack depth. It’s the interrelation between these panels that give the illusion of depth just like comic panels do.

Doors as transition spaces
Loading areas in games may use a simple animation or image to indicates the transition from threshold space to another.
Comics panels and gutters also indicate the transition from one threshold to another. They both mark and divide structures of both mediums.

Final Fantasy VII (game)
Though it may not be as impressive as when it was first released in 1997, it still is considered by many to be the best game over created. For it’s time it was impressive graphically, with gampley, with it’s narrative and sound. It’s one of many of Role Playing games from the Final Fantasy series.

The story revolves around a company which extracts a substance out of the planet and by doing so is killing it. The main characters are a rebel group who attempt to stop the company from damaging their world any further. As the story unfolds one learns of the charcter’s history, each ones version of the past, and the truth behind their pasts. Also the goal shifts from defeating the company to defeating Sephiroth, the main antagonist of the game.

Though Taylor, the writer of this article, compared thresholds in comics to survival horror games, some role player games also use thresholds in the same manner. This game is an example of one of these games.

Thresholds
This game uses 2D backgrounds and static views much like horror games and comics use. When one passes a certain line in a space, the view changes to another space. For example, when one walks into a door in the background threshold will change to the interior of a building.

Focus
Though one cannot move the camera view such as one can in other games, a large area is viewed as a whole. A certain object may have focus drawn to it by standing out from the background. For example, lighting is used in the slums from the Neon lights which brings focus to what they signify. This directs the player to areas that he or she can access.

Retracing
One often has to retrace areas in a parts of a game to advance. For example, in the begging of the game, Cloud has go deep in to a reactor to plant a bomb, and then retrace his steps to escape before the reactor explodes.

Direction of a linear path.
Items or objects that a character must collect may stand out from the background so that the player knows to pick it up or stimulate it.
For example, items may stand out from the background by being three dimensional while the background is two dimensional.

Multiple sequentialities
The entire game can be read as a whole because one can go anywhere on the planet of the game at any time, unless intentionally restricted. Though there is an intendend linear path that one has to follow to complete the game, one can freely travel anywhere on the whole planet.

Spatially judged time.
The time one takes to move and advance through in the game is judged by the amount of space covered by the player. The player dictates the pace unlike linear media such as film. The game even records the amount of time that is taken to play the game which can be viewed at the menu.

Direction of time
There is no indication of day or night during the game and no exact date or time for the events that occur. This is because the player has the freedom to play the game at their own pace. The only parts where time is a factor is when one has a time limit in the game to attain a goal. For example, Cloud only has ten minutes to escape the reactor before it explodes.

Division of Panels
The cities or towns can be considered larger structures that are seperated from the world map.
Conventions for spatial creation
An area may suddenly be shown in a different perspective so that it would appear more dramatic. For Example, when the main character, Cloud runs away from the soldiers that are persuing him, the view changes from an angle of streets to another perspective as a cut scene.

Interrelating Panels.
Because FFVII uses 2D backgrounds, there are usually multiple perspectives of them that give the viewer the illsion of depth such as in the scene when Cloud is being persude by the soldiers.

Doors as transition spaces
When a battle occurs the player is transferred from a version of a space that has a 2D background to a version of the same space that has a 3D background, and a different style for the character’s. These areas seem to be similar to gutter’s in comic books because they separate thresholds in the narrative. One has to complete and defeat the villian before they can advance in the story. The world map can also considered a gutter because one has to use it as a crossing between important areas that are thresholds in the game.

The 4th dimension
Comics can represent different times simutaneously and separate at the same time. Though this is not indicated by Taylor there is and example in FFVII where Cloud tells a story about his past and the player can move and interact in his past as if it were the present. The scenes also transfer from the past to the present when he is telling his story and back to the moments in time in his story.

Text
Text is placed like boxes much like speech bubbles are placed in comic books. They are positioned according to where the character’s are placed on the screen.