Your Thoughts on the Story of Final Fantasy VII

I wanted to make a topic dedicated to this to follow up the conversation in the FFVII Remake vs. Nostalgia thread. Lots of opinions being presented as facts, especiallypeople assigning their opinion onto the opinions of others.

The nostalgia card was of course played because I guess none of us played FFVII around the same time as VIII, IX or X. The difference of one or two years really made us stupid and vulnerable to VII's terribleness.

Well, having played all those games around the same time, and having since played every other FF numbered game except 1 and the MMO's, I still say FFVII's plot holds up. Cloud is a character totally unlike every other FF Main Protagonist, delving far more into his psychology than any other game dared to do. The themes of the game are strong and consistent throughout and I smurfin' dare any of the haters to point out any othef FF game with such apt real world commentary because it doesn't exist. Your magics and airships mean nothing without substance and FFVII is all about corporate greed, rampant capitalism, the erosion of the environment and culture.... FF at best usually deals with very high-minded, abstract ideas. Which is fine - FFIX's examination of mortality is fantastic. But it still doesn't change the fact there's nothing like VII in the Final Fantasy series.

So yeah. FFVII? Good plot, good game. That's my piece and I'm mainly making this thread for the poll. I want to see if it's all "nostalgia." If we "really think the plot is trout but we like it anyway."

EDIT:

This was a typo-riddden mess 'cuz me was mad.

There are some serious flaws that prevent it from true greatness, mostly regarding pacing and character development, not to mention it got worse as Square Penix kept milking the trout out of it with the much maligned compilation, but judging the original PS1 game on the sum of it parts I still think it does enough right to be considered good, or at the very least above average.

the plot falls apart halfway througb, but the story itself is very interesting

Everyone knows that I'm a huge FFVII fanboy but even I can admit there are plenty of issues with the plot. There are certainly other FFs I've played that have a more cohesive story. If you look at it as a whole though (difficult for me with my glued-on rose-tinted spectacles) it still stands up.

*Cracks fingers*

Watashi wa ... omoide ni wa naranai sa.

I really love FFVII's story, but for me it's really not the best either. I found some parts confusing when I first played it, and there are some of them that I find a little annoying.

Is it the Citizen Kane of gaming? No. But that's fine, because it's good enough. The quality does not remain consistent and takes a dip towards the end, but overall the themes that shone through were enjoyable, there were some emotional moments that got my eyes a little misty (not Aerith's death though!) and there are other moments I'll remember forever. I also don't think any Final Fantasy game other than Tactics and maybe VI has a significantly better story.

It's a solid overall story buoyed from the fantastic Midgar stuff through the wildly uneven and scatter-focused later parts by the general strength of the character writing. Sephiroth is bland, but he serves his purpose well enough and has a few very effective scenes, and Cloud is still a fun character despite the numerous flanderizations and Squeenix's subsequent failed attempts to ape him with certain other protagonists.

Yes. It's flawed but it actually has a lot of resonance with real world themes and can even be poignant. Forget basically everything that isn't the core game though and you've got a game that made such an impact for a reason. It's clear it has something to say beyond telling a story. Environmentalism, pantheism, even Marxist themes are heavy, and I think with the exception of maybe X no other game in the series is scathing of its criticisms of real world phenomena and it's worrying to say the least that Square Enix, being the corporation they have become, intends to "expand" on some of the, let's say, counterculture themes in the remake.

It makes you feel and has a clear agenda. That's more than most games can claim to do 20 years later.

In my opinion it has potential but isn't quite there

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sephiroth

*Cracks fingers*

Watashi wa ... omoide ni wa naranai sa.

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You will if you don't provide at least a thousand words on this subject :colbert:

I think the game's story holds up well enough and remains interesting nearly the whole way through; it isn't my favorite in the series, but it is faaaaar from the worst.

As mentioned in a previous thread, FFVII for me came into my life at the perfect time and resonated with me very well. Plus, I just thought it was a great game to play in general.

I’ve since played it countless times over the years, something that I rarely do for other games, especially in recent years, and while I am aware of its shortcomings, I still think the story holds up today. But it indeed shows parts that are very much a product of the time.

Side note, I think replaying many of the FF games is interesting since I usually appreciate different factors of the game now as an adult that I may not have noticed as much when I was younger.

It terms of the narrative the compilation titles tried to add, I was never a big fan and thought they did more to complicate the story than add to it meaningfully. For that reason, since the remake is trying to be its own thing, I am very much looking forward to the story of ’97 being retold for modern day, whenever that may be.

So yeah, still love it. :D