The Story...
The story is a little more unique this time. The bad guy is a world power supply company which also controls the government. It's name... the Shin-Ra corporation. To my knowledge of kanji, "Shin" means God and "Ra" is used for names and usually in evil ones(well duh). Anyways, a terrorist group called the Avalanche was formed to resist the Shin-Ra corporation. Cloud met members of the Avalanche at a bar and was paid to join their sabotage mission to destroy the Shin-Ra's power generator, 'Makoro'.
Ok folks, here's more on the story. Before destroying the power generator, Tifa, Cloud's childhood friend and a member of the Avalanche, asked Cloud to join them, and he did. That's why they went to destroy the generator. After destroying the generator, Cloud returned to Tifa, and they watch President Shinra give a speech stating that the Avalanche are responsible for the terrorist attack and that the Shinra will bring in more soldier to rid of them. And just when the three of them were trying to escape, they run into President Shinra and was capture. Stay tuned for more...
The Battle System:
The battles look incredible. They are 3d, yet Square manage to make it look really smooth. The characters, monsters, magic, attacks, and background are the best I have ever seen in a RPG. Words simply cannot explain it to you, you have to see it for youself. There are a few changes to the battle system so far. First, you can't target all enemies with your basic attack spells like you can in FF6 and FF5. You'll need to have the spell at a certain level to atack all, which will be indicated by a red diamond next to its name. Another change is the "Limit" (Special in US version) bar. This bar fills as you fight. After a number of battles, it will become full and you can then do a "limit attack" (special attack in US version), which is a choice of special attacks. They are different for each character.
The new Materia system
That's right, FFVII has a new type of battle system. *grin*..if you ask me, they're pretty much the same, they just added a little here and there... Anyways, Masteria, is anything solid that you can draw power from(?). There are five types: Magic, Command, Independent, Summon, and Support. The way you use them is pretty much the same as FFVI(FF2), except a that you can tie magic with your weapons.
The High Wind:
Man, you just have to see this!! The High Wind, which should be one of the new airships. The great details and the beautiful backgrounds will make you think you are looking at a real airship. How the heck do they do it?!?!