I think it's tough for people who didn't play it right when it came out to understand people's devotion to this game. When this game came out, it was truly revolutionary. The cinematics, the scope of the game, and the story were pretty much unrivaled back then (the story maybe by FF6 and Chrono Trigger.) This game was an event for RPG lovers. The return of the epic game. The improvement of the epic game. The fact that RPG fans had waited for multiple years for another great game to come out only made it seem even more special.

A comparison: I like the Beatles. I appreciate their music, and I understand their influence on today's stuff. However, I don't love the Beatles like some because I wasn't around to witness the context they came from. If I listen to them now I can't help but feel that it's dated. I could see FF7 feeling the same way for people who didn't play it right when it came out. Two many other games have lifted (and even improved upon) the things it did, so it just doesn't feel as original or revolutionary.

So I guess it's partly nostalgia, but I think a big part of it is that if you played it back in '97, you probably have a different relationship with the game. Maybe not the case for everyone, but I'm sure there's some who would agree with this sentiment.

It wasn't my first game, but I adore Final Fantasy VII. As someone mentioned, maybe it's simply not your thing.

I loved the storyline, first of all. The game started with an immediate sense of purpose. I loved how the plot developped. Every character had a past that could be explored.

The concept of the ancients I really liked. Ancients and the issue of Mako Energy illustrates the problems in our world.

I rather liked the internal turmoil between Cloud and himself, which was especially enjoyable to play again and think "Hey, that makes sense now."

The characters in general I found very engaging. It was easy to feel some kind of emotion for them. Barret's brash personality and colourful language was refreshingly consistent, Aeris' kind yet playful nature made it easy to like her. Another personal favourite was Vincent, his cold personna and sinister past was rather alluring, I admit.

Either way, I really enjoyed FF7. ^^

It has awesome RPG Gameplay and an excellent story line. What more do you expect in an RPG?

i loved it, but would be worried to go back to it again possibly changing my opinion of it

Well, I think that context applies to any criticism to a degree; we're always judging things from our perspective.

Though a big reason why a lot of people love it, is it was a first RPG for many (at least the gamers I know) and that holds a lot of emotion. Though I personally played VII just last year and loved it as well, though X is still my favorite.

quote:

Originally posted by Suki-Chan:
It wasn't my first game, but I adore Final Fantasy VII. As someone mentioned, maybe it's simply not your thing.

I loved the storyline, first of all. The game started with an immediate sense of purpose. I loved how the plot developped. Every character had a past that could be explored.

The concept of the ancients I really liked. Ancients and the issue of Mako Energy illustrates the problems in our world.

I rather liked the internal turmoil between Cloud and himself, which was especially enjoyable to play again and think "Hey, that makes sense now."

The characters in general I found very engaging. It was easy to feel some kind of emotion for them. Barret's brash personality and colourful language was refreshingly consistent, Aeris' kind yet playful nature made it easy to like her. Another personal favourite was Vincent, his cold personna and sinister past was rather alluring, I admit.

Either way, I really enjoyed FF7. ^^

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Where I think Final Fantasy VII (and it's follow-ups for that matter) really succeeded was in visually expressing the plot in a way that only film, and almost no television (at the time), had done before - all the while telling a story that was structured more like a novel then a movie.

There are scenes in the game which I've carried with me since I first played it in '97. The church where the flowers grow, the destroyed park in the Sector-7 slums, the Golden Saucer sequence, Aeris' death - they were all powerful scenes, and all of them handled with a deft professionalism that the gaming industry hadn't had until then.

Squaresoft in that era did marvelous things with what they were given. Vagrant Story, Parasite Eve, Xenogears, Chrono Cross, and the three PS1 Final Fantasy's were really the gold-standard of video-game storytelling. VII was the first of that, and will always be remembered the most fondly because of it.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobthespirit:
FF7 seems to be widely seen as one of the best games of all time, but I just can't see what so many people see in it.

To me..the battles are monotonous, the plot drags, the characters are cliche, the metaphysical jargon is forced and phony, and the villains are parodies of themselves.

I feel like I'm missing out on something, because unless the reason everybody likes it is graphics, I don't get it at all. Does everybody just look at it nostalgically because it's the first RPG they ever played or something?

well first off, Final Fantasy VII was the first step into 3-D gaming Squaresoft ever made, and it was a costly step. the commercial hype for the game was so astronomical that on the day of release, it sold well over the current highest selling game of its time.

The gameplay to Final Fantasy VII was also very unique. the introduction of Limit Breaks, the return of favorite summon monsters in glorious 3-D (for its time), the unique character plots (compare every character from VII, with every character from the other Final Fantasies, and tell me where the "Cliche's" are).

the plot of the game was also very revolutionary for a final fantasy. yes they took some ideas from past FF titles, but modernized it into a theme of Magic & Machinery that worked better than perfectly. Ane evil corporation (aren't they all) is polluting the planet, draining it of all of its natural resources to power their own rotting city, and a band of revolutionaries vow to put an end to it, and from there, they end up saving the world. hell at the end of the first disc the 2nd main character dies, how many RPG titles do you know of before VII that had the primary healer type character die 1/3 of the way through the game??

The Musical score was epic beyond anything games were currently using. Nobuo Uematsu really did a number on the game with the amazing boss themes, the romantic scenes, the battle themes, even the gold saucer, the games own THEME PARK, had a catchy tune. and also, VII was the first FF title to be recorded with an actual Orchestra.

The gameplay, albeit similar to old FF titles, was reinvented with the Materia system, allowing any character to be focused on any aspect of fighting you wanted them to. you can make your guy a mage, a fighter, or a healer / auxiliary type if you wanted to. the introduction of Limit Breaks, an entirely new feature to FF titles, allowed your characters to perform incredibly powerful abilities once they endured enough damage. The mini-Games included (Motorcycle chase, Submarine battle, Chocobo racing, snowboarding) were even replayable for a fee at the Gold Saucer if you wanted to, adding many more hours of replaying if you wanted. The gameplay to Final Fantasy VII was also very unique. the introduction of Limit Breaks, the return of favorite summon monsters in glorious 3-D (for its time), the unique character plots (compare every character from VII, with every character from the other Final Fantasies, and tell me where the "Cliche's" are).

The Cast was completely unique with how their attitudes were, their personalities, even their fighting style showed originality for the most part (a man with a gun attached to his arm, a talking dog.....) each character had their own unique backstory that led them to where they are now, and each character had certain strengths and weaknesses you had to utilize to get the most out of them. as for the villains, "the villains are parodies of themselves" what does this even mean??? Sephiroth was regarded as maong the most infamous villains of any video game ever, from the fact that he always seemed to be completely calm, and the sword he wielded, the "Masamune" was about 10 feet long. the villains' persona was unique, as opposed to those that wanted to take over the world or rule it, he just wanted to destroy it all. Sephiroth is, to this day, probably the most famous and greatest villain of any final fantasy. hell his final battle song "One Winged Angel" was a work of art.

The graphics were VERY sub-par for the most part, resembling popeye more then final fantasy at times. but the cinematics really helped you deal with the shoddy in-game graphics. before VII, no game had cinematic quality videos included in their games, at least as well rendered as Squaresoft's. but for those that play the game for the fun factor and not the eye candy, you were able to see through the lack of graphical quality and enjoy the game for alot more.


in short though, you can dislike VII for your own reason,s but you have to admit the game was a major breakthrough for all RPG's and there is yet an RPG that can compare to the impact VII had. VII is actually not my favorite final fantasy though. I've always enjoyed VIII more, and Tactics was my favorite for a very long time.

Not to be pedantic, but FF7 didn't invent Limit Breaks. FF6 had something akin to them, though they were incredibly rare, and Lufia II had a system very similar to what FF7 would have.

Also, I kind of like the graphics in FF7 more than the ones in FF8 or most of the later Final Fantasies. FF8 is when everyone started to look the same.

quote:

Originally posted by odysseyandoracle:
I kind of like the graphics in FF7 more than the ones in FF8 or most of the later Final Fantasies. FF8 is when everyone started to look the same.

I thought that 8 looked really good, and the characters were pretty distinct from one another.

I agree with you on 7, though it had blockish characters outside of the battle sequences, it didn’t really matter to me because the backgrounds were so awesome, and the game had so many distinct locations that set the mood excellently; Midgar brought an instant dark, and industrial feel, and even though the game soon progressed beyond Midgar, it still remained cohesive, because most of the different towns and various places had felt the sting of Shinra, and though they were unique from one another, you could see that they were still stained with repression.

Because of Shinra’s interests in the Ancients, and the various events with Sephiroth and Aeries that were a result of those interests, you’re led to some really memorable locations like: The Temple of the Ancients, which brought this ancient Aztec element to the world. The City of the Ancients had a very organic, fantasy, yet haunted feel, with the deserted town of shell homes, and the inner city that looked like it was made of crystal. Cosmo Canyon had that Native American, western look to it. Wutai brought a pre-modern eastern Asian feel with Japanese, and Chinese inspired architecture.

In terms of visual presentation, 7 had a very full and rich world, coupled with brilliant music that was perfectly applied to each location.

I played FFVII around 2004, after I'd worked my way through many good RPGs (Chrono Cross, Super Mario RPG, Earthbound, Lunar: Silver Star Story, etc.) and I enjoyed it. I played it very objectively, as I knew it was universally hailed as one of the greatest RPGs of all time. While I didn't find it to be that, I could see why so many people loved it (even if, like Bobthespirit said, it contained a lot of storytelling/character flaws).

That being said, I could easily see myself as a 12 year old in 1997 to be completely wowed by every aspect of that game. But as a 19 year old in 2004, it stood up to me as simply a solid RPG that held my interest. And, though I've tackled this subject in a different Squaresoft thread, it begs to be repeated: compared to the crap Squeenix is pushing out right now, FFVII is pure gold.