I Don’t Want to Live in Midgar Anymore

This column is a reprint from Unwinnable Monthly #198. If you like what you see, grab the magazine for less than ten dollars, or subscribe and get all future magazines for half price.

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Here’s the Thing is where Rob dumps his random thoughts and strong opinions on all manner of nerdy subjects – from videogames and movies to board games and toys.

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Whether you’re playing the PlayStation original, one of the seemingly infinite re-releases, or the semi-recent remake, you’re going to spend time in Midgar. The iconic Final Fantasy VII location makes up a solid portion of the classic title’s beginning portion, as well as the entirety of the remake, so either way you’re going to be neck deep in amoral capitalist bullshit – or outright mass murder for fun/profit/optics. Here’s the thing: This corporate owned and operated whole-ass city shouldn’t have been a template for any society, but here we are.

Now, yes, technically the United States hasn’t quite reached the level of “steampunk fantasy Detroit from Robocop” just yet, but holy shit has it been making an effort. There is no singular business that we can point at as the sole arbiter of the country’s infrastructure, employment, housing, “security” and so on. We have no singular HQ building, where all of the insipid little monsters responsible for a significant portion of our society’s numerous problems will hang out while giving themselves back pats and bonuses, to direct our ire.

What we do have is a military that’s so wrapped up in capitalism it’s wasting unfathomable amounts of money on purpose just so it can claim any sort of spending reduction would be a bad idea. We do have politicians who are supposed to act on behalf of their constituents who choose to completely ignore those voices in favor of a fat “donor” check. We do have vast gulfs of economic disparity that is almost always punished by the powers-that-be (“being sick/poor is a moral failing”). We do play (mostly unwilling) host to an administration with such an aversion to regulations – unless they discriminate against queer or non-white people, anyway – that it’s honestly a small miracle that we still have stoplights at intersections. We have Citizens fucking United.

Gun-toting semi-sentient sacks of feces have been running roughshod all over the place, kidnapping people – and literal children – based on vibes (i.e. the color of their skin), while also indiscriminately murdering people. Hell, even the vile inhuman monsters at Shinra at least tried to pin the blame for murdering a fuckton of civilians on somebody else rather than openly revel in the bloodshed it was directly responsible for. You do not, under any circumstances, have to hand it to them.

I want to believe that, much like Final Fantasy VII’s antagonistic business/pseudo-government, justice will eventually be served. I mean, a downfall is inevitable – history has shown us that much several times over – but I don’t just want it to end. I want the people responsible to face consequences. Real, tangible, consequences. It doesn’t have to be an explosive end at the hands of a gigantic super weapon, either. I’m not picky. But it needs to happen. Sooner rather than later.

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Rob Rich got his first taste of Final Fantasy with Final Fantasy VI (originally numbered as 3 in the US) on the SNES. It’s still his favorite after all these years, likely because it was his first, but he’s also a big fan of Final Fantasy IX. That said, despite liking it quite a bit he has gotten quite weary of just how popular Final Fantasy VII – what with its bland protagonist and uninteresting villain. His favorite character is a toss-up between Vivi, Freya and the remake version of Jessie. His favorite villain is definitely Kefka.