Pat Holleman's book "Reverse Design: Final Fantasy VII" (2018) examines the game's themes and topics in detail. He summarizes the game's plot as telling "a story about survivors". He explains that it is "a story about characters who have outlived the people, places, and things that gave them their identities" and that most of the characters are "motivated by the loss of something that once defined who they are". He notes that nearly all the major characters exhibit the "survivor's trio" which consists of losing "the world that defined" them, a "near-death experience" and "something that connects" them to their past. He also notes that the game is, "at times, a deconstruction of a revenge story" in the sense that it "dismantles the idea of revenge in an insightful way". He considers Barret's story to be the clearest illustration of the "tragic survivorship" and "survivor's trio" themes, such as the loss of his coal mining hometown, seeking revenge through militant environmentalism before eventually realizing revenge isn't the right motivation, and safeguarding a future for his adoptive daughter Marlene who is the only surviving connection to his past. He also considers the Limit Break mechanic to be a gameplay representation of the survivorship theme. He argues that these are themes which only adults can fully relate to, and were misunderstood by much of the game's predominantly adolescent audience upon release.