"Rules are made by people," Sato said, tapping the desk. "We'll run a preliminary report this week. The headline will be: The Shock of Midgar: A Full First-Stage Experience of FF7. Leave the score blank for now; just give it an 'Anticipated' rating. Write down your honest impressions from the last thirty hours."
Takahashi nodded and turned back to his keyboard.
"What should we focus on?" Takahashi asked.
"Technology," Sato said, standing up. "Write about how Square has squeezed every last drop of power out of the Sega Jupiter. Describe the seamless transition into battle without a black screen, the precision of the polygonal models, and the cinematic cutscenes. Tell the readers that this isn't just an RPG—it's a monster of the gaming industry."
"And the characters," Yamada interrupted from the side, not even turning his head. "We have to write about Tifa and Aerith. Square's character design this time is absolute genius. They've even managed to render subtle facial expressions—no longer just a few pixels cobbled together to make a face. Players can feel the characters' emotions directly."
Sato crushed his cigarette butt. "Put all of this in. Four pages, full color. Deadline is 6:00 AM."
San Francisco, California.
The editorial office of NetGeneration magazine.
Chris, the Editor-in-Chief, strode through the cluttered office and stopped at the desk of Tom, a senior editor.
Tom was wearing over-ear headphones, his eyes glued to the monitor, his thumb furiously working the analog stick of a Sega Jupiter controller.
Chris clapped him on the shoulder. Tom pulled off his headphones and looked up.
"Deadline's here, Tom. Where's your FF7 review?" Chris glanced at his watch.
Tom pointed to the screen. "I'm still playing. This game has four CDs, and I've only just reached the world map. The first dozen or so hours all take place in a city called Midgar. I can't give you a final score yet."
Chris planted his hands on his hips. "We're a monthly. If we don't run FF7 in this issue, we have to wait until next month. By then, the hype will have died down. You have to give me something."
Tom pulled open his drawer, took out a stack of handwritten notes, and handed them to Chris.
"This is the first twelve hours of my coverage," Tom said, standing up. "Chris, we need to change the cover."
"Change the cover? This issue's cover is already set as EA's Madden NFL."
"Pull it," Tom said firmly. "No one cares about EA's reskinning tricks. FF7 will redefine the North American players' perception of RPGs. Have you seen how it handles cinematic storytelling? The camera work is completely Hollywood-grade. The combat system's pace is incredibly fast—it's nothing like that turn-based queueing."
Chris frowned as he skimmed the text on the handwritten pages. "You wrote here, 'This is the true beginning of the 3D gaming era'? That's too exaggerated. We have to remain neutral."
"Not exaggerated at all. Look at this." Tom thrust the controller into Chris's hands and pointed at the screen. "This is a boss fight just outside Midgar. Try pressing the attack button."
Skeptically, Chris pressed the button.
On the screen, Cloud leaped into the air, his Buster Sword slashing down in a shower of sparks. The camera zoomed in, capturing a high-impact close-up.
Chris's finger froze in mid-air.
He stared at the real-time lighting effects on the screen, speechless.
"Sega and Square have created a monster," Tom added from the side. "If we don't break this story first, our readers will think we're blind."
Chris handed the controller back to Tom and turned toward the layout room.
"You have two hours to type up the draft and set the layout. I'm going to tell the art department to change the cover."
Wednesday morning.
A newsstand in Akihabara.
The owner had just placed the latest issue of Famitsu on the shelf when a group of high schoolers in black tsume-eri uniforms crowded around.
"Boss, give me a copy of the weekly!"
The lead student grabbed the magazine and flipped directly to the center color spread.
Four full pages were dedicated to high-resolution, in-game screenshots of FF7. The headline screamed in bold red letters: BREAKING! An Unprecedented Visual Revolution: The Complete Midgar Escape Chronicle!
The text didn't give a final score, but every sentence pulsed with the editor's sheer exhilaration.
"Is it true? No loading screens?" one of the students asked his friend, pointing to the text in the magazine.
"The magazine says the battle transitions are seamless. Look at this part—when Cloud swings the Buster Sword, there's no polygon tearing at all, and the lighting effects are rendered in real-time. This is way better than those 3D games released last month."
"I couldn't even buy it!" another boy exclaimed, frantically tugging at his sleeve. "Scalpers have jacked the price up to 1.5 times the original. Now even the magazine is hyping it up this much. This is unbearable!"
"No, I have to go buy a copy of Final Fantasy VII after school today. If I don't have the money, I'll borrow it from someone."
New York, Manhattan.
On the newsstand's shelf, the latest issue of NetGeneration magazine was placed in the most prominent position.
On the cover, Cloud stood with his back to the camera, looking up at the Shinra Building that soared into the clouds.
Beside him, a line of bold text read: "Forget all your prejudices about RPGs. The future has arrived."
A businessman in a suit stopped in his tracks, picked up the magazine, and flipped it open.
He had originally been a hardcore gamer who only played racing, shooting, and sports games.
In the news section, Tom described the game's opening with highly provocative prose.
"This isn't a game that lets you fall asleep selecting commands from a menu. It pins you to your sofa with deafening heavy metal symphonies and explosions. The unprecedented visual fidelity pushes the Sega Jupiter's hardware to a terrifying degree."
A salaryman walked to the checkout counter with the magazine in hand and pulled out a few banknotes.
"Give me a copy of the Jupiter Console Buyer's Guide as well," he added.
The gaming media's early reports were stirring an even bigger storm among players. Those who were still on the fence, or who had missed out on the game's initial release due to stock shortages, were completely ignited by these reports—which lacked final scores but were brimming with superlatives.
Publishing a review before completing a game was a major taboo for the media in the past.
But this December, no one found it odd.
Final Fantasy VII was simply too long.
If they waited for all the editors to finish the game before publishing, it would be at least another month. The gaming media couldn't just hold their breath and stay silent for so long.
Instead, they used the "early report" format to convey the awe of their first few dozen hours of gameplay directly to the readers.
This led to an unexpected consequence.
Players who had originally planned to buy the N64 and Mario Kart 64 stared at the exaggeratedly stunning screenshots of FF7 in the magazine. They silently deposited the money back into their bank accounts and joined the queues to buy Final Fantasy VII and the Jupiter Console.
Please Support me by becoming my Patreon member and get 30+ chapters.
[email protected]/Ajal69
change @ with a
Thank You to Those who joined my Patreon