Fairy tales usually bring to mind castles, forests, magic and unlikely heroes. Final Fantasy 7 applies those ideas to a late-1990s role-playing game that begins with eco-terrorists attacking an electricity plant. The result is an adult fairy tale about identity, corporate power, sacrifice and hope.
Square Enix’s adventure also has a colourful, anime-influenced visual style and a large cast of complicated characters. That combination helps explain why its story has continued to connect with players for nearly three decades. For more retro-gaming features, visit the RETROCADE Arcade Blog.
7. Midgar is the kingdom at the centre
Traditional fairy tales often place a castle at the heart of the world. The castle represents authority, wealth, protection and the social order. Final Fantasy 7 replaces that castle with Midgar, the enormous industrial city controlled by Shinra Corporation.
Its Mako reactors and central skyscraper form a gleaming monument to Shinra’s power. President Shinra, his son Rufus and their collection of henchmen even resemble a warped royal family. Cloud and his companions begin their journey in Midgar, but the city’s influence continues to shape the fate of the planet long after they leave.
6. Cloud is an unlikely hero
Cloud Strife is a reverse version of the classic humble hero. Unlike King Arthur, who discovers royal heritage after drawing a magical sword from a stone, Cloud starts as a troubled young man from the countryside who joined Shinra’s forces to impress a girl.
His journey is not simply about becoming stronger. Cloud must confront the gap between the person he believes he is and the person he really is. His regrets, insecurity and failures remain part of him, even when he is performing spectacular sword attacks and delivering confident one-liners. That contradiction makes him feel more human than a flawless champion.
5. Mako turns magic into a resource
Fairy-tale worlds assume that magic is real. In Final Fantasy 7, that magic is Mako: a tangible energy connected to the planet and the Lifestream.
Mako combines the qualities of petroleum and a universal mystical force. It powers technology, enables spells and sustains Shinra’s industrial empire. The idea becomes especially potent because the resource is exploited for profit, regardless of the damage caused to the planet. It is a grown-up version of the familiar magical kingdom, where wonder and danger come from the same source.
4. Sephiroth is a distant, shadowy threat
Shinra is a major enemy, but Sephiroth is the story’s most haunting villain. The former SOLDIER manipulates Cloud and the wider party while pursuing the destruction of the planet.
For much of the adventure, Sephiroth remains at the Northern Crater, yet his presence is felt through visions and apparitions that Cloud usually experiences most intensely. Like a witch casting curses from a hidden chamber, he influences events from afar. His fixation on Cloud also reaches back to their confrontation at Nibelheim, where Cloud stabbed him.
3. Red XIII brings the wisdom of nature
Talking animals are central to many fairy tales because they suggest that nature contains knowledge beyond ordinary human understanding. Final Fantasy 7 gives that role to Red XIII, an articulate creature who combines the appearance of a wolf, dog and large feline.
Red XIII’s connection to the natural world becomes clearer when the party visits Cosmo Canyon, his home. His grandfather explains the relationship between Mako, the Lifestream and the planet, expanding the adventure from a fight against one corporation into a much larger spiritual struggle.
That moment serves a similar purpose to Luke’s training with Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back: the hero learns that the conflict is more significant than it first appeared.
2. Its lessons become clearer with age
Children’s fairy tales often end with a simple moral. Final Fantasy 7 offers lessons that tend to land more strongly once the player is older.
- Question powerful institutions. Shinra’s control of energy and infrastructure shows how a large corporation can become greedy, destructive and difficult to escape. The game’s rebellious response is deliberately exaggerated, involving reactor attacks and even plush-covered robots used for corporate espionage.
- You are more than your failures. Cloud is an insecure professional failure with serious mental-health struggles and difficulty speaking to women. He is also charismatic, capable and admired by the people around him. Those truths can exist together; a person does not need to become a SOLDIER First Class to be worthy of love.
1. Aerith becomes a living Sleeping Beauty
Many fairy tales centre on a woman waiting for rescue. Aerith reverses that pattern. She first appears as a determined flower seller from the Sector 5 slums, but later reveals herself as the last of the Cetra, an ancient people able to commune with the planet and the Lifestream.
When Aerith leaves the group at the City of the Ancients, she accepts a responsibility that no one else can carry. In the original game, the final image of her shows her surrounded by the Lifestream with her hands clasped in prayer. She remains spiritually present but no longer alive, occupying a space between life and death much like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty.
The remake trilogy has kept one major question alive: can Aerith be saved this time? Two instalments have been released, with the final chapter identified as Final Fantasy 7 Revelation and scheduled for release on April 8, 2027.
Why the fairy-tale structure still works
Final Fantasy 7 succeeds because it combines recognisable fairy-tale patterns with industrial technology, environmental anxiety and emotionally complicated heroes. Its kingdom is a megacity, its magic is an energy resource, its monster mentor is a talking beast, and its princess is the person trying to save everyone else.
For players who want to bring more classic gaming into the home, RETROCADE’s arcade machines, bartop arcades and arcade machine buying guide offer useful places to start.
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