In my opinion, Final Fantasy did something that no other game has ever done in the history of videogaming. It was the doorway for thousands of gamers into the realm of RPGs.
At first, I was disappointed that FF7 appealed to the masses. I thought that they would change or simplify the story so that their sales would increase. In essence, I thought they sold out. But, in fact, I was wrong. Final Fantasy did a great job appealing to a large audience and maintaining a story and cast of characters that any RPGer would find great.
Final Fantasy VII has everything. Perhaps it's biggest appeal is the fact that it's just a very fun game. It's great. I remember thinking just how fun it was while playing it. When I first put it in my Playstation, I knew that this game had more than lived up to the hype.
Final Fantasy VII captured my emotions at times and it made me gasp in surprise as well. The characters were fun and exciting to control, the story was dark and captivating and the music still brings back great memories.
The greatest thing about Final Fantasy VII (besides Cid) is the villain. Sephiroth is perhaps the most evil and dark villain ever. Most of all, Sephiroth was just plain cool. Just think about all those 15 year old kids out there that were obsessed with killing the evil Sephiroth is enough proof for me that the game is great.
When it comes down to it, Final Fantasy VII is my favorite game ever, hands down. It's fun and more touching that Final Fantasy VIII and I have no doubts in my mind by naming it the best game ever.
Appearance: Absolutely stunning for its time. Great FMV and backgrounds. Realistic character movements. |
10.0 |
Story: The best part of this game, you'll be on the edge of your seat from start to finish. |
10.0 |
Music: The game is filled with captivation tunes and wonderful character themes. |
9.5 |
Battle: Very fast and exciting, the battles are not annoyingly frequent. |
9.5 |
Overall: I have no problem calling this game the best game ever. |
10.0 |
The first time I ever saw FFVII, I was skeptical. I had not been a part of the hype, so the only real thought I had when I started it was, "How can they possibly beat FFVI?" In my opinion, the story and music of FFVII's predecessor were good enough that it was unlikely VII would be able to surpass them. In many cases, though, it did.
Story Overall, the story was very good. You had your good-guys, your bad-guys, and a little of the in-between people. Only...it wasn't so clear-cut. The "good-guys" aren't entirely good and saintly, and the "bad-guys" aren't entirely evil. This gray area made both the story and characterization much more interesting, as I found myself disliking some of the "heroes" and feeling sympathetic towards antagonists. The only thing that bothered me about the story itself was some vagueness. To fully understand what had gone on, you had to find things like the "secret movie/flashback", and a lot of people didn't the first few times around. As for the widely disliked ending, all I can say while avoiding spoilers is that it was well done. Mysterious, not incomplete, as many say. |
9.0 |
Characters I don't think the characterization could possibly have been any better, had all the characters been covered equally. In this sense, VII repeated the same error VI had: ignoring minor/secret characters. Vincent comes to mind as the character most slighted, with Tseng, Reeve, and Shera following closely behind. When I finished the game, found all the secrets, and saw the ending, it still felt as though something was missing. Other than that, characterization was wonderful. I began to understand why certain characters acted and spoke like they did. They didn't just randomly do things; there was a reason. By the end of the game, I really felt like I knew the characters. |
9.9 |
Music The music in this game was typical of the FF series-some songs were incredible, and others made you want to rip out your eardrums. Since there's four disks worth of music to the soundtrack, I'm just going to give a few examples to support my rating. First, the good stuff; the stuff that made you laugh, cry, or just say, "Wow!". 1. Aerith's theme- In my eyes, the masterpiece of the game, even when not connected to he events it was heard with. It so perfectly fits Aerith that no other character theme I've heard can compare with it. This piece is also one of the most emotional in the game. 2. One-Winged Angel- All in all, a very good final battle theme. It sounds like the end of the world put to music, and the Latin chanting very much fits Sephiroth. The whole feel of the song just screams "Final Boss!" at you. This is, in my opinion, the most memorable track on the soundtrack. 3. The Prelude- I thought the prelude in this game was very well done, sounding more...I don't know, ethereal than the past ones. It's a classic, anyway, and automatically has a place on the "good" list. 4. Interrupted by Fireworks- A beautiful track, this song is relaxing and sweet. It's another very emotional song, but it's soft enough that I could listen to it for a long time. 5. JENOVA- This is a "Wow!" *^_^* It's very weird sounding, and works quite well for the battles with Jenova. I really don't know how to describe this one; you just have to hear it. Now, for the *grimace* bad stuff 1. Trail of Blood- On it's own, this is terrible. It's boring, and grates on my nerves. 2. I can't remember the name right off the top of my head, but one of the chocobo themes (plays in Mideel when the little white chocobo is around) is undoubtedly the most annoying theme I've ever heard, even beating VI's "classic"?. That's about it...there were quite a few more good tracks, and a lot of mediocre ones, but not many bad. |
9.5 |
Appearance What saved the rating in this category was the FMV's and backgrounds. I don't really have much to say about the character graphics the rest of the time, though. They were well done enough that you could differentiate between characters, but some things (i.e., the hands) probably could've been improved upon. Fortunately, the backgrounds more than make up for this. The detail involved is absolutely stunning. For the first time in the FF series, houses and villages have very different looks and decor (and people have bathrooms! ;D), and it really does make a difference in the game appearance. FMV's were another major plus. All of them were well done and looked spectacular. |
8.0 |
Miscellaneous This category takes into consideration things like battle, magic system, world map, and transportation. The battle system was good; it was refreshing to see a character actually walk up and slash a monster rather than wave their sword around in the air, and limit breaks were just the coolest thing to a rookie FFVII player since sliced bread. When I first played, I thought that having three characters instead of four would be very detrimental, but I was wrong. It worked out fine. As a final battle note, the characters' different poses and such for victory and casting spells and limit breaks was good, as was the fact that they always kept moving and didn't just freeze in place after fighting. Materia is a kind of a double-edged sword. It was good in its uniformity, level-ups, and possible combinations; it was bad in its uniformity, easiness to find, and lack of change from the basic spells of FFVI. The basic concept was very entertaining and opened itself up to a lot of possibilites ( you could never do something like the Final Attack/Phoenix combo in another game...), but it made it a little boring that everyone could do the exact same thing (like throwing or stealing) by equipping materia for it. I loved the world map. It was varied, 3D, and took into account things like climate and terrain more than its predecessors. The controllable camera angles were also a lot of fun. The wide variety of transportation in VII added a lot to its appeal. It had the standard Chocobo and airship, but it also added a land-vehicle, the Tiny Bronco (for travel in shallow water), and a submarine (for ocean travel). |
9.0 |
Overall This is, in my opinion, one of the best games ever. It had so many elements, and combines them so well you can't help but like it. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who has never played. |
9.5 |
Final Fantasy 7 was revolutionary. It redefined how developers viewed the Playstation, and made people realize what the little gray box was capable of doing. Final Fantasy 7 sold over 7 million copies, proving that RPGs could appeal to the masses. But could it still live up to the incredible Final Fantasy 6 at the same time? The answer is yes, Final Fantasy 7 is one of the few games that I would call a masterpiece.
Appearance Final Fantasy 7's graphics were revolutionary. It started the popularity of pre-rendered backgrounds and FMVs. The pre-rendered backgrounds, although nearly as detailed as FF8's, are still very detailed and the best of their time. The battle graphics and FMVs also blew away everything else there was back then. The world map is not quite as good, but still gets the job done. The thing that prevents the graphics from getting a 10 is the god-awful character models. Even though some people like that style, I hate it. The characters are blocky, unproportional, and have hands the size of their body. This wouldn't be so bad if they didn't magically turn into normal looking people in the battles and FMVs, making the deformed models look even worse afterwards. Other than that, the graphics in FF7 are outstanding and revolutionary. |
9.5 |
Story Wow. This is one of the best parts of this game. In my opinion, the main enemy is the most evil villian in the history of Final Fantasy. He/she is very cool, and is the most developed, motivated villain I have ever encountered in an RPG. Not only is the villain cool, the characters are awesome as well. The characters of Final Fantasy 7 are very memorable and keep you playing to find out what they will do next. Some are traitors, some are heros, and they all have a deep history. The main character, Cloud, in particular, is full of suprises and keeps the game interesting. The story in Final Fantasy 7 is definitely the high point of the game. |
10.0 |
Music Although some people prefer Final Fantasy 7's music to 8's, I was rather disappointed by it. The quality of music is not that good, it sounds like anybody could do it with a $300 keyboard. Except for the rare orchestrated song (Aeris' theme, end theme), they are all MIDI. Although some are quite good (world map theme, Cid's theme), some are quite annoying. Perhaps the best song in the game is the final boss song, which just plain rocks. Definitely not the best Final Fantasy music, although it is entirely adequate. |
8.0 |
Battle Final Fantasy 7's battles are good, but definitely have some flaws. The rate of how often a battle is is good, and the battles are also a good length, not too short and not too long. The materia system allows the characters to combine types of materia on their armor and weapons, which is great and adds some depth to the battles. For example, an elemental materia can be paired up with an elemental magic. If they are placed on the weapon, the weapon will do damage based on that element, and if placed on the armor, will defend the character from that element. The combinations are almost limitless, and is the high point of the system. Unfortunately, materia can also get annoying due to how long it takes to master them, which is necessary to beat the Emerald and Ruby weapons. Also, none of the characters are really different from each other, the limit breaks are the only unique things about them. Also, the battles are mostly on the easy side, which is good for the beginning gamer, but frustrating to the veteran RPG players. Although the battle system is not without flaws, it is still very good and gets the job done nicely. |
9.0 |
Bottom Line Although the story, graphics, and the game as a whole were amazing and revolutionary, the music and battles, although excellent, are not quite good enough to issue this game a 10. Still, if you are an RPG fan buy this game, heck, even if you are not an RPG fan, buy this game! |
9.5 |
Psychotic
This is the hardest minigame I've ever played in a FF game and I think I will actually have to give up on it so fast. Who thought analog sticks on a rhythm
Last Post By: Loony BoB 03-17-2024, 06:39 PMPulling a BoB here and making a separate thread by chapter. Will include any spoilers through chapter 1.
The prologue was surprising.
So, I played through Final Fantasy VII Rebirth 3 days ago.
Here are some of my thoughts.
Graphics, Technical
And I don't like it.
Last Post By: Gold_Moogle 03-13-2024, 06:16 AMSquare Enix released the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Demo! Run, don't walk to try it out! Rebirth is the second part of the final fantasy VII remake.
Last Post By: Del Murder 02-11-2024, 05:58 AMAs a means to garner more hype for FFVII: Rebirth, the film is going to be shown thanks to Fathom Events. The showings will also have a preview for Rebirth
Last Post By: Wolf Kanno 01-24-2024, 09:04 AMI have not anticipated a new game as much as this in quite some time. It looks amazing, it has so many of the things that made FFVII special, and lots
Last Post By: Karifean 01-07-2024, 09:59 PMThis comes out in about three months I believe, so what are you hoping to see?
Last Post By: Bocomog 11-25-2023, 09:51 PM