Now to the actual storyline( if you don't want to know about it don't finish reading this paragraph)

You play Cloud and Ex-Soldier (Soldier is an army-like group controlled by Shinra who control basically the world and are based in Midgar City) At the start you are helping avalanche (a terrorist group) destroy one of the many reactors which surround Midgar. These suck Mako out of the planet, but Mako is the lifeforce and it is these reactors that are killing the planet. Barret is their leader intent on saving the world, whilst you control the stoic mercenary. The planet means nothing only the money. After the sucess of the first mission a second is planned but a trap is laid for the unsuspecting group. Cloud ends up hanging off a balcony in an explosion then falls to his apperant death.

 

He awakes in a church being cared for by the beautiful Aeris, a girl he previously met in the slums selling flowers. She says the ground is sacred and it is in his mind as flowers are growing there. But she has a fearful secret and is chased by a member of the Turks, a secret group inside the Shinra force. She runs away and he finds out Tifa, a childhood friend has been captured by Don Corneo to rescue her from him he dresses as a woman to infiltrate his house. Depending on the items you collect then you are invited to his bedroom (!) and he tries to seduce you not realising his mistake until Tifa, and Aeris leap in just as he is about to kiss you. But Don Corneo is a tricky chap and drops you into the slums.

 

The resistance movement however has annoyed the boss of Shinra and he decided to drop the plate above the slums therefore killing all those underneath. However Barret is not about to let that happen. They try and stop the destruction but the Turks have already set a bomb on the pillar and you can't stop it. They've also captured Aeris but not before she has saved Barret's daughter Marlene and stowed her at her house. The pillar is destroyed and the plate drops but not before They escape. However the others are not lucky and the rest of avalanche are killed.

 

At this point Barret is undestandably annoyed, Aeris has been taken to the Shrina building and togather Barret, Cloud and Tifa decide to recuse her. After meeting Red 13 a monstrous lion-type thing we discover that Sephiroth (a lengendary soldier who possessed incrediably powers but then disappeared) has murdered the president and taken Jenova, a creature that was being experimented on by the mad scientist Hojo.

 

After deciding on the best course of action they decide to follow Sephiroth hopefully to find Aeris as well. Thye find out she has gone to the abandoned city of the ancients. She is an ancient, one of the Cetra who were on the planet before humans and could reveal the promised land, The head of Shinra (now the presidents son Rufus who I always though was straight but I'm not sure any more. Wait what does this have to do with the story? ah forget it) belives it is full of mako energy and hopes to fuel a neo-midgar by building there. By now we have found out Sephiroth wants to destroy the planet by using the black materia. When the others finally find Aeris she is praying with the white materia. The only thing that can halt the balck materia.

 

Then Sephiroth kills her and Cloud is devastated. With her goes the chance of saving the planet. Cloud discovers he was not who he thought he was. The soldier he thought he was, was called Zack. And Sephiroth burnt his village after discovering the truht about the experiments that were unleached upon him. It seems cloud was experimented upon as well. He fell into the lifestream and discovered this. Sephiroth summons meteor andyou think the world is going to end when  a ginormous meteor is hovering in the sky but Cloud doesn't give up To cut a long story short the team (now with Yuffie, Cait Sith, Cid and the GORGEOUS Vincent) attack Sephiroth and kill his various states. Then he is destroyed overall by Cloud's final attack. The holy spell doesn't work though and draws meteor towards the earth. All is lost, then the lifestream joins with holy and the planet is saved. Apart form Midgar city which is apperantly destroyed basically. The world is safe. And at the end you see red 13 who lives longer than any human with his children overlooking the remains of midgar, 300 years later.

Phew, I've probably missed loads but my hands are sore and I cannot write anymore.