Why do you like this Game?

[Bolivar]

There's been alot of talk in the General FF forum about why people like this game. People have claimed graphics, futuristic, because it was their first one, alot of weird things. I would like to see what the actual facts are.

Personally, the storyline is what does it for me. The way that it is presented to the gamer, how the game lets you in on why each character does what they do, is very well done for a video game. When i talk about this game with people, I find gameplay, graphics, music all take a backseat to story in the discussion. This gets talked about in the same manner and detail I see people interpreting books and stories. Not to mention it was alot longer and in depth than the ones before it.

So, what's your reasons?

[Dr. Acula]

I love this game mainly because the storyline was complex and interesting and better than some storylines we see in RPGs today (although it was, at parts, a little confusing). The characters were awesome too, and each got plenty of development (even the "secret" characters, Vincent and Yuffie). The whole love-triangle thing was good too, as it was left up to the player to decide who Cloud really loved.

So yeah, that's why I like this game.:)

[d£v!l'$ ph0£n!x]

i think maybe cos it was my first ff, and therefore the definitive original to me. but also the stroyline :D you really had to concentrate to make sure you understood it all and thats what keep you hooked i think. even now when i understand the whole thing i keep coming back to ff7 cos the story is so compelling

[Garnie]

i remember as if it was yesterday! ffvii is my first ff and ever since iv played it i have loved ff ever since. not only is the storyline fantasic but it brings you to another world you can get lost in....

my fella has to live with the fact that i love ff just as much as him....and i love jay a lot! hopefully if everything goes well ill be getting married in yunas wedding dress in 2 years time. something i cant wait to do!

so yeah... i love it....:P

[Comet]

My first ever FF, and due to levelling up of materia, making characters stronger and stronger. I found it very fun to train, unlike in some games.

[Hazzard]

This game was my second FF, and I love it regardless of the fact that it isn't my first. The characters engulfed me into the game more, and the whole concept of the story was very interesting and left you on edge to keep on playing. I especially like the way that Sephiroth and Cloud have a huge rivalry/hatred feel, and how comical the characters can be at times. Cid was probably the best in the series in this game, and set an image for himself.

[true cloud]

this was also my first, and i love it for many reasons the story keep you wanting more and it was perfectly put togeter, it gave you insight into the charaters lifes as if you knew them and what there going trough,it put real emotion into the gameing experience and the music was brill asweel. I was seven when i first played it,i used to watch my bro play it untill he gave up and i finished it for himXD
but it allmost felt real it had all the best elements of an amasing movie and a brilliant book plus the fact that it was one of the best rpgs just for the game play and still is,but thats not just in the case of ff7 all ff games are more then a game and thats why i love them
every ff game i own is in my top 20 games

[LunarWeaver]

I like it because the storyline makes me desire to see things through to the end and I think it's fun to play. I have no reason to dislike it, you know? As far as RPGs go, it does all the things it should to keep me nice and entertained.

[NeoCracker]

Because Cid and barret kick ass.

[Christmas]

Cause Aeris made drugs. (http://forums.eyesonff.com/final-fantasy-vii/59430-aeris-flower-girl-more-like-weed-girl-if-you-ask-me.html) :bigsmile:

[NGU]

Cause the story the characters it all makes you hunger for more. Even now it has the best storyline of any game I have played. It just throws you into a world with characters you immediatly fall in love with. Its villians have not been surpased yet in an FF. Im sorry but seymour and Vayne are clones and still choir boys compared to Sephiroth. And I couldnt bring myself to hate Sephiroth or any villian from the FFVII series. Its espcially apparent in deepground in DOC that they arent BAD its just the only thing they know. The same can be loosly said about Sephiroth. All in all it just captures you in a world unsurpassed by a game or movie yet.

[Wolf Kanno]

Though I'm not actually a fan of VII, I thought it would be insightful to hear a casual fans feelings. I am not here to incite a fight but rather present a less bias opinion.

VII was my fourth FF game I've played (I, IV, and VI coming before it) and though it's far from my favorite in the series I have come to terms with this game. Most of my dislike came more from dealing with the fanbase than the actual game though I do feel the game has it's share of faults (but what game doesn't right?)

My favorite thing about VII is probably the world. I like the Cyber Punk style and the concept of the Lifestream was incredibly intriguing. The game brought about a lot of philisophical questions. I only wish the story had touched upon them a little more rather than stick to the eviromentalist themes the game had. I still have issues with Tifa keeping the Nibleheim incedent a secret as I personally feel it was rather unrealistic of her to do so. As well as the true history of what happened being unrealistic as well, I mean Sephiroth is presented as a bad ass but Cloud beats him? Thankfully, Last Order gave a much more satisfying explanation of what happened.;)

Cloud's past really bothered me and was perhaps one of my major issues with the storyline. The game keeps building up this hype in the story about who or what Cloud really is and then you get what we got... In hindsight though, it was actually clever so it doesn't bother me anymore.

I'm afraid the only character I really liked was Cid (best Cid in series) but I found most of the cast satisfactory at least; except for Yuffie whom I hate with a passion. Cloud had an odd bi-polar thing going on which prevented me from liking him (and I'm not talking about his weird mental episodes either), Aerith was nice but I feel her personality was presented in a way to make her some kind of "ideal" rather than a realistic character. It makes her death more profound that way though.

Tifa was my favorite of the girls until the odd plot twist. Red XIII was interesting but I really feel he had little to do with the story. Barret was interesting but it was sad to see him get first overshadowed by Cid, since Cid became the new casual swearing old man in the group, as well as watching him get fazed out of the story. After disc 1, he doesn't get any more screentime. Even the Mako Train scene really didn't need him to be there.

Cait Sith is interesting but is generally overlooked in the story or terms of the characters. Vincent has more to do with the plot than most of the cast but he sadly gets little screentime. Yuffie just plains annoy me and I cannot deal with self centered pain in the ass character slike her in real life. If I didn't love Leviathan, I would never recruit her into my party.

The villains is where this game really shines. I love the ShinRa corporation and I love how it's used in the story. Rufus is your atypical ruthless corporate mangaer and I love the Turks. The Turks are hands down the best characters in the game. I love how proffesional they are and yet they easily stoop to comedy showing the sheer versatility in their characters. Heidegger and Scarlet round out the whole group by being sincerily ruthless and arrogant.

Hojo was nothing really new to the series but he's presented well and at least gets more back story to show just how mad this "mad scientist" really is.

Now for Sephiroth... He's an interesting antagonist, but I personally feel Jenova and the ShinRa corps are far more deserving of the "main villain" title than he is. I'm part of the group of fans that believes that Sephiroth is a pawn of Jenova. Objectively, his only true crimes were killing innocents in Nibleheim, killing Aerith, manipulating Cloud, and attempting to destroy the planet. Most of his body counts are ShinRa soldiers which Cloud and company would have killed as well. He's fascinaing cause he honestly believes he has a motive when in reality he is just acting upon Jenova's cells within him.

Also, I feel that Cloud and Sephiroth's "rivalry" is entirely in Cloud's head. I never once felt like Sephiroth really thought any thing more for Cloud than he did anyone else. He killed Aerith to stop her from summoning holy, he destroyed Nibleheim for it's connections to ShinRa, he manipulated Cloud because he was the only one who was stuck in limbo with the Jenova cells. Most of the real SOLDIERS, had strong wills and could overcome it's influences while the Sephiroth clones succumbed to the cells and were used as vessels for Sephiroth to move around while he was stuck in the Promised Lands. Cloud on the other hand, battled with the cells throughout the game and was emotionally unstabled. His dislike for ShinRa made him a wonderful choice as he could be used whenever it was convienent. Sephiroth thought of Cloud as a simple pawn, not as a person who should be considered a threat

Jenova might have been more interesting had I not played Chrono Trigger since she isn't too far off from what Lavos is. But I give the game credit for doing something different and unique with the idea of the "alien parasyte".

The music is really good and is actually one of my favorite soundtracks in the series.

The gameplay is really fun and I liked the strategy involved with using the materia system. I only wish the game didn't suffer from "End game godhood" which has been plaguing the series since FFV. I do like the sheer variety of abilities and magics but I do feel certain things could have been balanced out a bit better. Am I the only one who stopped using magic materia cause Enemy Skills and normal physical attacks were just so damn more useful? I don't like the "Ultimate" weapons though... I feel they are a major contributing factor in the games unbalanced gameplay that appears end game.

For it's time VII was graphically awsome but sadly has not aged very well. But that is not really the games fault and just a testament to how far we've gone in terms of technology. ;)

This is just my opinion and you are free to ignore me as you wish:p

[Spawn of Sephiroth]

I liked this game because of the depth of the storyline and all of the side quests and it is just alot of activities in it.

[Ashley Schovitz]

This game really had a lot I didn't like with it, mainly the story and the music which bugged me death especially Shinra HQ. The graphics too, but it's not all that bad. I didn't like the materia system either and also the Limit ability replacing the attack option so that way I couldn't save my limit for later unless I used magic every turn. It's few highlights for me is the gameplay and just a little bit of the story. Most of the characters were developed well except for Cait Sith and Vincent. You just barely knew anything about him I guess that's why they came out with DoC. I agree with Wolf Kanoo on most parts about the story except with Cloud's situation of finding himself and I also agree about the rivalry too, if Cloud was a threat to him then Sephiroth would've killed him like Aeris, it wouldn't have been very hard too since he can control him, he could even perhaps made Cloud kill himself.

[Zeromus_X]

I like it because the storyline makes me desire to see things through to the end and I think it's fun to play. I have no reason to dislike it, you know? As far as RPGs go, it does all the things it should to keep me nice and entertained.

[demondude]

I dont:(

[Hazzard]

I've never thought of it before, but maybe Cid did overshadow Barret, in every way. He took control of his emotional speeches, and swore constantly with his matching cigar. He helped the group largely, with the whole Highwind, but Barret is still great though.

I think Cloud was just irrelevant to Sephiroth, but was merely a tool at his free disposal. He only realized that Cloud was a threat, once he had challenged him at the north crater, and from then on the rivalry had began.

[Jigsaw]

I really liked the story, especially the first half or so. I didn't really get everything that happened near the end, but I was prettymuch hooked by then :) The materia system is cool too. Finding new materias etc

[Edge7]

Interesting story, awesome battle system and graphics good for it's time. 'nuff said

[hanawa]

Intriguingly awesome storyline. Nothing beats it. Though i cant deny the fact that it got me really confusing during my first time.

Characters are fine. I mean their innate abilities (limits), appearance, attitude etc. Though i don't really like Cid at the beginning cos he's aint a gentleman! But as time goes by he seems to be ok. Owh im craving for Sephiroth despite being a villain... He's so damn gorgeous!

Did anyone ever notice that this game comes with awesome soundtracks? I cant live without them! That explain why i filled my MP3 and notebook with most of em. However Aeris' theme song sounds similar to one of the early FFs'. Perhaps FFV or VI, i forgot which.

The battle system is easy to master. I personally love the materia-filling system. (N materia-hunting missions =P) Unlike other advanced FFs, one not need to upgrade weapons and stuffs. Basically all you need to do is engage into battles as many as you might and thats it. You earned yourself enough gil and go check out the nearest weapon shop for the latest in town. And steal a whole lot from the bosses! You might get lucky to have some awesome goodies to be equipped.

[Mirage]

Wolf Kanno's post sums up most of my opinions.

[Wolf Kanno]

Did anyone ever notice that this game comes with awesome soundtracks? I cant live without them! That explain why i filled my MP3 and notebook with most of em. However Aeris' theme song sounds similar to one of the early FFs'. Perhaps FFV or VI, i forgot which.


It sounds very similiar to "Celes' Theme" and to a lesser extent "Aria Di Mezzo Carattere" ;)

[Mirage]

I don't think Aeris' and Celes' themes are very similar.

[Lynx]

allthough not my favorite FF still a good one. the incredible amounts of fanboys annoys me though misguided souls who have never played FFIX or FFVI.

anyways ill break it down into sections.

characters:
great cast of characters. cloud definatly goes thrgouh a lot of character development. goes form a cold hearted money hungry mercenary to a passionate hero. his background is confuseing and yet interesting. through half the game you think one thing until you finnaly get the whole story later on.

barret kinda gets overlooked a lot. he was mainly only important in the beginning. but he befriends cloud and thats what makes him continue.
tifa an old friend of cloud gives her a strong role in the story nice to see a girl in FF who packs a punch. aries her nice character builds up the sadnbess for when she dies. redxiii was cool he was smart yet could be kinda childish when at home. also it was cool haveing a talking wolf cat on your team. cait sith kinda confuiseing seeing as how hes just a robot or something like that. cid was the coolest cid in FF. yuffie was annoying but i think her weapons are cool. vintcent was a very important character too bad hes only optional.

story:
love the complex story. shinras draining the planet of life so you go to save hte planet. but then a new familiar threat has arrived. giant monsters known as weapons are set free to restore the planets life by killing everyone. is cloud just a clone or not? a meteor is comeing crashing down towards the planet. cloud keeps getting taken over by sephiroth. how is sephiroth alive if cloud killed him. who is zack? what really happened all those years ago on that "incedent"? you run into the turks yet they dont feel as if they should fight you. jenova, cetra, turks, chocobos.

some of the many things involved in FFVII that make the story great.

bad guys:
shinra was the best empire like enemy in FF in my book. the turks were an awesome part of the shinra organization.

sephiroth everything about him screamed power. a legendary swordsman who kills without mercy. hes just so evil. you wake up in jail and the halls are covered in blood. he gives a rather creepy vibe to the whole game.

jenova kinda like the enemy in the background. little does everyone know jenova is pretty much the main enemy.

[Wolf Kanno]

I don't think Aeris' and Celes' themes are very similar.

You're right, I was listening to them again and they don't match up. But it does match up a bit to Aria Di Mezzo Carattere

[Devourment]

it brings you to another world you can get lost in

That, & I love fantasy stuff.

I've completed FFIX 23 times. :eep:

[Bolivar]

I didn't want to give my thoughts until I got a good variety of answers. I'm glad to see alot of good points in here, with reasons to back them up.

If I were to sum up why this is my favorite FF with one reason, it would be the artistic undertaking that it was.

I remember the commercial saying it was 2 years in the making, over 200 programmers working on it. This is the game that changed video games as we know it. Without it, I wouldn't be surprised if PSX went the way of Sega Saturn. At the time, there was alot of reaction to CD's, alot of people preferring cartridges for different reasons, and that this format couldn't compete. This game changed that. Now, discs have become the standard, and it was FFVII that showed why.

Artistically, to me, this game puts to shame the first 6 FF's and will always be the measuring stick for games that come after it. Since story seems to be the dominant factor among posts in this thread, I'll start with that.

This game's story is told "en media rey" (spelling might be off, it's been a while since I took english lit). This means that it starts off in the middle of the action, that being AVALANCHE'S fight against Shin-Ra in Midgar. Next, it proceeds to a flashback which details what happened before the story began, the events 5 years ago. Afterwards, the game picks back up to current events and leads to the climax and resolution. Such a literary technique being used in a video game is impressive, and part of why the story is such an appealing factor.

The way that the events unfold is also very well done. The game begins in the largest city, then exploring the rest of the continent, the next portion of the game taking place on the next continent, then the northern continent, until finally the story takes place all over the world, in a scramble for the huge materia that just screams "Final Fantasy IV."

I guess you can't talk about this game's story without mentioning its antagonist. Sephiroth. Whether you love him, hate him, or love to hate him, every fan of FF seems to have a strong opinion about him, one way or the other. I feel he has the best introduction of any FF villain for one fact - so much is said about him and he heavily impacts the story before you actually see him. Several characters mention "The Great Sephiroth." Metaphorically, he is described with the trail of blood that leads to the most powerful man in the game, dead, impaled by the legendary sword. He turns the game's plot upside down on its head before he even makes an appearance. And for the entire game, he still isn't present, he lies dormant in the northern crater, manipulating different actors in the game like pawns on a chessboard.

There's so much more to be said about the story, but for the sake of length, I'll delve into other factors. I'll stay with the artistic ingenuity. Visually, the game was groundbreaking for its time. Each of the pre-rendered backgrounds by themselves could be its own painting. Scenes like Junon and the northern crater are truly breathtaking. Film is also another artistic medium that this game excels at, obviously this game set the precedent for FMV's. Sequences like Sephiroth walking into the flames and tearing off the guardian in Jenova's chamber stay with you, and portray his character like previous games couldn't. I would go into the music, but the series has been acclaimed for it long before VII.

That sums it up for this game's artistic qualities. The mediums of Storytelling, Drawings, Film, and Music all being combined into one work is probably this game's greatest accomplishment.

And of course there's gameplay. I have to say out of the series, I probably enjoy the battles in this one the most. The materia system was very useful, as not only do they teach abilities, but they augment your stats right away, rather than at level up. Alot of people didn't like only having 3 characters, but it was a refreshing break from the stereotypical 4-person party, as I find FFIV. The amount and length of sidequests was pushed further than before with VII. The range of mini-games has been unmatched since. It's fun to explore the world and all its secrets, and you get a good amount of vehicles to do that.

And I'm gonna leave it at that before this gets longer than it already is.

[Peter_20]

First of all, it starts off very good, in medias res, with plenty of action, and this alone gets you pumped up for more.
I also loved how the game flowed and never dragged on too much; when you choose a command, the character actually executes it at once, rather than standing around and waiting a century for nothing in particular.

The characters are cool, get plenty of development and don't feel exaggerated; even the main hero, Cloud, who looks like a typical "macho dude with spikey hair-style, c3wl-ness-zorz" feels natural and likable.

[Dreddz]

Great Music, great setting, great characters and a pretty good story unless you want to go through it with a fine tooth pick. The game doesnt excel in anything particular but its all roundness in quality make it a memorable experience.

[NeoCracker]

Great Music, great setting, great characters and a pretty good story unless you want to go through it with a fine tooth pick. The game doesnt excel in anything particular but its all roundness in quality make it a memorable experience.

While I think less of the game than this, this basically sums it up. Nothing great, but worth playing.

[Orichalcon]

it's cool :)

everything from the opening mission to meeting strangers on the afternoon-sunlit corel road to ending up in the northern crater was an unpredictable
urban-and-surreal adventure. everything from the amazingly fit and feeling music to the graphics in Wall Street that made you feel like you were in Hong Kong, to the lake in the Ancient City. it doesn't try to trumpet itself but just feels like you strapped a buster sword on yourself and went off backpacking :)

it was exploring! :)

[silentenigma]

story

[leader of mortals]

i love how customizable the characters are, thanks to materia