The Abstract Aesthetics of Final Fantasy VII

Compared to the latest games of the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy VII has distinctly more abstract aesthetics. Over time the games of the series have become more realistic in their overall appearance. This pursuit of realism in the games is because it acts as a means for the general public to visually benchmark the quality of the game (Wolf pg 53).

Though one cannot benchmark the quality of appearance of games through abstraction (Wolf pg.53), it is a neglected aspect of games (Wolf pg. 62). To understand the use of abstraction within more modern games, the following essay will discuss the use of the abstract aesthetics within Final Fantasy VII in relation to Mark J. P. Wolf’s article, Abstraction in the Video Game. This was one of the more modern games of the series that has had more abstract aspects rather than realistic qualities.

FFVII (Final Fantasy VII) adapted the Japanese anime and super deformed style. For example, Cloud’s simplified facial features, enlarged eyes and spiky hairstyle are typical traits of the anime genre. Also, particularly within the gamely, the characters have smaller bodies; shorter limbs and larger heads which is how super deformed characters are designed.

Figure 1: Goku from the anime Dragon Ball Z designed with spiky hair with simplified and abstracted facial features

Figure 2: Cloud also designed with features typical of anime

FFVII was the first of its series to be released on the Playstation, which was a console that could render far more visual information than previous systems. Because of this, the designer’s incorporated the anime style that players were already accustomed to (fig.2) from T.V. such as in fig.1 (Wolf pg.47). Though the Playstation had more capability of representation, the game was only released two years after the console itself was released. Therefore skills of the programmers would not yet have been advanced enough to represent more realistic characters. Adapting the anime style was a substitute for this. Later games such as FFVIII would adapt a more realistic style such as in fig.3 despite being developed for the same system.

Figure 3: Squall from Final Fantasy VIII is highly realistic as compared to characters of Final Fantasy VII

The use of Super-deformed characters on the other hand is also an adaptation from anime. According to Anime News Network:

"Super-deformed characters, SD for short (also called "Big Head", SD Mode, CB or Chibi Body or Chibis for the plural) exaggerates this deformation in the goal of appearing cute and funny.Artists often Super Deform characters in order to show an extreme change in the characters' mood. While the characters' mood may change to anything, seriousness, anger, embarrassment, feigned cuteness; the goal of the animators is always comedic cuteness. Often done at the punch line of a joke for an extra comedic oomph." (par. 1-2)

Figure 4: Ryu from Street Fighter designed in the Super-deformed Style

Figure 5: Cloud from Final Fantasy VII in a Super deformed style

FFVII uses this style to make a contrast between the gameplay and battle scenes (fig.5). Within the gameplay, characters are represented in the SD (Super-Deformed) style and are represented in the usual amine style within the battle scenes. This allows the seriousness of the battle event to be more apparent.

Though this is also a style that the player can identify with, it has already been used within the FF series. Because of the graphical limitations of previous consoles that the series where played on. They also depicted characters in SD so that the player could see their features within the limited pixels that the console could only display (fig. 6).

Figure 6: A scene from Final Fanasy VI where the characters are represented in the SD style

The use of these styles for the visual aesthetics of the game are forms of abstraction besause they simplify characters to their most distinct features instead of representing as realistically as possible (Wolf pg.48).

FFVII is not only abstract within it’s appearance but also with the behavior of the game This is according to Wolf’s different catagories of the elements of behavior. The player’s presence is surragate based and changes it’s appearance according its within gameplay or a battle scene. Also the player has a Limit Break where they can perform special moves within battle scenes depending on weather a bar is full on the battle menu. The enemys controlled by the computer are not always reprepresented within the gameplay yet they are present. As a one travels across scenes, a enemy my surprise the characters and will only be visible once the battle scene begins. Objects in the game that can be collected stand out from the pre-rendered background as real time graphics such as potions, save points or chests. The background environments are less abstract and more realistic than the characters of the game. This may be so that the player’s experience of the surroundings are more intuitive (Wolf pg. 52). The random battle scenes, chests and save points are traits adopted from previous FF games (Wolf pg. 49-50).

Because of these abstract qualities of behaviour, the game provides explanations for them during the course of the game where NPC's (Non-playable characters) explain their purpose and function (Wolf pg. 52). This is so that player’s that are not accustomed to these elements can be informed.

According to Wolf, abstraction can increase identification with the games diegetic world (pg. 60). The world of FFVII is a threating place and abstraction is used to express the character’s in comparison to what is external to them. For example, the character’s are represented as SD character’s within the gameplay yet they appear more defiant in appearance within the battle scenes (fig.7). Abstraction enhances the player’s experience of the world that the characters are within by expressing their interpretation of it.

Figure 7: A battle scene from FFVII

The ‘player’s mind is forced to complete or imagine game details, which engages and involves them more in the game’ (Wolf pg.64). By conversations being represented as text, players represented in a simplified manner, and the exclusion of the appearance of enemys, the player has to use their imagination to interpret the events and build a temporal view of the world within the game. This would be much like what occurs when one reads a book where one gets engaged into the story through their own imagination.

It is understandable that FFVII adopted the anime style within the battle scenes instead of more realistic representations of subjects because of the limitations during the time of it’s development. Despite this it also carried conventions from the previous games of the FF series, particularly within the gameplay when character’s could have been displayed in a more naturalistic manner.

Not only does the game have an abstract appearance but also abstract behaviours adopted from the previous FF games. This brings a nostalgia from previous games if the player has played them before otherwise the player is informed about their function and purpose through the gameplay.

These elements all allow players to be more actively engaged with the game by using their imagination to interpret them. FFVII is an example of a successful game that uses abstraction to its advantage instead of an only using it as an alternative. Games do not have to be created to be as realsitic and represenational as possible.



Works Cited:

Super Deformed. Anime News Network. < http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/lexicon.php?id=44> [accessed 27 04 2008]

Wolf, Mark J.P., “Abstraction in the Video Game”, The Video Game Theory Reader, 2003, Routledge.