Why do you like this Game?
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?
I can't believe I'm posting in the FFVII forums...
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