Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children E3 2005 Updated Impressions

It's been a lengthy wait, but Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is at last poised to arrive for the legions of hungry fans. While Japan will be seeing the movie on September 14, and those of us in the United States will be getting it not long afterward, a new trailer of the film was shown at Square Enix's press conference earlier today. We've secured much of that trailer for viewing at your leisure, and it contains a few new story tidbits as well as truly gorgeous animation.

Some of the characters in the movie, including Cloud, were known to be infected with geostigma, a fatal disease resulting from exposure to the planet's lifestream energy. There appears to be more to it than a simple malaise, however. Vincent tells Cloud that his body is reacting to an "unwanted visitor," while the villainous Kadaj tells a group of children that "the planet doesn't like our powers." He then tells the kids that the planet is the source of the pain that they're experiencing, and that to end their suffering, they need to "strike back at the planet." Kadaj is revealed to have a connection to Jenova, meaning that the world is once again imperiled by the calamity from the skies. At the very end of the trailer we saw, Sephiroth was revealed by a slow camera panning up the length of his slender frame (so he definitely has his part in the story, though his origins aren't made clear). Vincent does tell Cloud that it was possible for another Sephiroth to be created, so it's within the realm of possibility that we're dealing with a clone.

The trailer features plenty of eye candy, including a scene with Kadaj summoning Bahamut from the skies and the Final Fantasy VII gang fighting him in spectacular fashion. Barrett hangs from the edge of a building and fires rapid rounds from his gun arm, as Vincent takes to the air via some sort of jetpack and brings battle to his foes that way. Yuffie acrobatically twists and flips through the skies to attack the summoned monster, while Cid brings his spear down and rains death from above. Everything is intricately detailed, from the kinetic motorcycle battle sequences with their raised dust and gunplay, to the rust that's invading the simple designs across the surface of Cloud's buster sword.

While the end of the trailer displays a date for the North American release, we've been told by Square Enix that the company is still in talks with Sony Pictures Entertainment in regard to a release date outside of Japan. However, the release should be close to Japan's September release date, so fans in the United States shouldn't have to wait for too much longer to get their Final Fantasy goodness. If there are any new developments on the film, we'll be sure to report it, so stay tuned to this gamespace.