Is VII really the best???

[Bolivar]

Pupu - that's understandable, and true

Boko - lol

[Griff]

Alright, I have a theory. I've had this theory for a while and the more I read this board, the more I think I'm probably right.

I believe I have determined what kind of people love FFVII and what kind of people hate it.

It has been theorized many times by many people that the people who love it do because it was their "first." Close. It correlates with age a bit, but you're missing the mark.

It isn't that it had to be the very first, it's just that they had to have been young (teens) when they first played it.

If you played the game first as a teenager you saw the protagonist and thought "wow, he's so cool. He's a badass rebel loner who acts like he doesn't need friends and doesn't want any. He's so deep.... he's just like me." The angsty teenager identifies with Cloud, and so they love the game. If you're a non-angsty teenager when you play it you might not like the game as much, but lets face it, if you're a teenager and playing video games-- especially RPGs-- in the 90s, chances are you leaned at least a little toward angsty.

If you were like me and played the game for the first time as an adult, identifying with cloud was considerably harder. "ooooh, Mr. 'I'm a badass with no sense of humor, no friends, and trying to look tough when I'm a scared little boy. Look at me, I have the personality of a stump!' *eyeroll* Get over yourself you cliche teen angst weakling." And so you hate the guy you're supposed to be role-playing, making it pretty hard to get into the game.

I am almost positive that if I had been 14 when I first played FFVII I would've absolutely loved it and it would be among my favorites today. I know my old self well enough to know I would've had a man crush on cloud. "oooh, we get each other! We're kindred spirits!" Ugh. Luckily I've grown up, but I did so without ever playing VII, without identifying with cloud, and therefore without having fond memories of getting lost in his role.

I would love to agree with this theory. However I first played the game when I was 14 and that at that point I oozed antisocial behavior, and yet I am one of the first to disagree whenever people claim FFVII is the best games in the series. Therefore I am either a major exception to the rule or your antethesis.

Also before anyone claims I'm just hopping on the bandwagon, I was speaking out against this game before it was popular to hate it.

[leader of mortals]

ff7 was the most popular, by quite a bit, but i havent played them all so I cant say which is the best, but i think 9 and 7 tie best for the ones that i played.

[Vivisteiner]

FFVII just set a staple for the kind of quality you can expect from an FF game. A complex and interesting story with exciting and relatable characters, backed up by breathtaking music at times. (Ok, I know FFVI, FFIV and others probably did that but not many people played 'em). It then introduced beautiful 3D FMVs in a 3D environment, which is the reason why it got noticed.

The FFs that followed are not neccessarily any worse, its just that people aren't as blown away anymore. They have expectations of Final Fantasy which they didnt have at first. And also theres the phenomenon of the FF experience. Your first FF is often your favourite. And FFVII was many people's first.

[Comet]

I think FF7 is a brilliant game. I really don't care about the typos and glitches because the game was made in 1997, where amazing A.I in games did not exist yet.

[Avarice-ness]

IGN's top games ever for 2006 (since 2007 isn't out yet) has the highest ranked FF as..

OMG no way!

FFVI, at spot 8.

So no, no it's not! =D



The people can not lie!

[Galvatron]

FFVII was a HUGE disappointment to me, I remember playing it thinking "I'm finally going to play this game everyone says is so great!". And what I got was a mediocre game experience, nothing about the game stood out to me. The story was average, the gameplay was nothing new, the music was just good ol FF music. The materia system was pretty nice though. I wasn't that late to playing it, maybe 1998. Either way I don't think it's the best FF.

[Momiji]

I personally don't like FFVII. It's by far the most overrated game ever in my eyes, and it overshadows FFVIII, which in my opinion is 10 times better than VII.

[Jessweeee♪]

It really depends on what you like in a Final Fantasy n.n

I personally think FFX is the best in the series, while someone else may say FFVII or maybe FFI. None of us are wrong, we just enjoy different aspects of the game.

[ReloadPsi]

Frankly, as much as I like FF7, I sympathise deeply with those who don't, purely for the amount of people who attack them for it: I get attacked for hating Super Mario 64 quite often.

I especially sympathise with those who spent all of disc 1 powerlevelling Aeris only for her to kick the bucket at the end of it on their first play. Good going Square, remove the one person who in gameplay terms isn't totally identical to all the others from the character roster. Real smart. So Yuffie can use Clear Tranquil, whoop-de-smurfing-doo, Restore-All has the same effect. What replaces Fury Brand? Planet Protector? Invinciblity status is only available when you need it one hell of a lot less! Imagine using it to counter Aire Tam Storm! Thanks a friggin' lot! Aeris' death didn't get me emotional at all; because I play games for gameplay, it just pissed me off to be deprived of one of the only unique characters.

So I've replied once already saying that no, FF7 isn't the best. I think that award goes to 10 despite my own personal criticisms of that game.

[McLovin']

7 isn't the best I don't think but 7, 8, and 9 are the greatest.

6 too I guess...

[Elpizo]

I never considered VII the best. The title of best FF for me will always go to IX and nothing will ever change that. Never before did something so grab me like IX. It didn't let me go until I had finished it (and I was sad I did).

Now about VII, maybe it was because IX set such high standards for me. Or maybe it was just because people say it's the best. It didn't grab me. It's not a bad game, but it's nothing revolutionary or super amazing in my eyes. Compared to VI, the only huge step I could see were the graphics and the FMVs. Gameplay was altered a bit like it was in every FF. For me VII's like X, average, an alright game, but it never lived up to my expectations. That'll teach me to listen to an army of fanboys shouting as one that VII's the best thing since sliced bread.

It's not the best, not the worst (the worst is VI). For me it is surpassed by quite some other FF titles. But I don't regret playing or buying it.

Oh, and Aeris death didn't do that much to me. What one thinks of that scene is purely opinion. I didn't laugh that she was gone either, but I can't say I was sad. It was spoiled for me too much already. The saddest death in my eyes was Aria's in III DS, regardless of what other people think of it. Again, other deaths from other FF titles surpassed hers.

[Serapy]

It is the most overrated FF ever. Many people I have seen like it because it was their first FF they ever played. And the fact that it is so overrated makes people fail to see that it is actually the worst FF ever made.

Why is it the worst? Well, it was supposed thought to be a "revolutionary" game by many people, since it was the first ever FF in 3D. Though it just didn't give what was expected. The graphics were poor and they could have done a better job in my opinion, since FF8 came with much more improved graphics later. There's also the usage of four characters went down to three, which is ironic since FF7 was so much easier than other FF's before it. Not to mention Sephiroth was such a mediocre villain. Basically, I'm saying it is bad because it was supposed to be a huge change in FF, but I didn't think it really improved much.

Just because you think FF7 is the worst FF game doesn't mean it's overrated in reality. Many other people have different opinions, most of thier opinions are much different than yours, thus it's not overrated. Also it's nonsense to call them failures for not realising that FF7 is the worst FF game just for the sake of your disagreement.

I love FF7, of course not it's not my first FF game I ever have played. I played almost all FF games and I believe that FF7 got my vote because of many reasons, everything in the game truly has touched me.

[PuPu]

It is the most overrated FF ever. Many people I have seen like it because it was their first FF they ever played. And the fact that it is so overrated makes people fail to see that it is actually the worst FF ever made.

Why is it the worst? Well, it was supposed thought to be a "revolutionary" game by many people, since it was the first ever FF in 3D. Though it just didn't give what was expected. The graphics were poor and they could have done a better job in my opinion, since FF8 came with much more improved graphics later. There's also the usage of four characters went down to three, which is ironic since FF7 was so much easier than other FF's before it. Not to mention Sephiroth was such a mediocre villain. Basically, I'm saying it is bad because it was supposed to be a huge change in FF, but I didn't think it really improved much.

Just because you think FF7 is the worst FF game doesn't mean it's overrated in reality. Many other people have different opinions, most of thier opinions are much different than yours, thus it's not overrated. Also it's nonsense to call them failures for not realising that FF7 is the worst FF game just for the sake of your disagreement.

I love FF7, of course not it's not my first FF game I ever have played. I played almost all FF games and I believe that FF7 got my vote because of many reasons, everything in the game truly has touched me.

Ugh. I knew I'd probably get bashed by lots of FF7 fans because of that post.

I already gave an explanation 14 posts ago about how my first post in this thread was a bit harsh. Here it is, in case you were too lazy to read.

I still stand by my reasons as to why I didn't like FF7. But I can agree that the way I said them might have seemed a bit harsh, since saying "FF7 is the worst because..." and "I think FF7 is the worst because..." are quite different. Unfortunately, I sounded more like the former than the latter, which probably made myself sound like a rabid hater to many people.

Yeah, sorry if I offended anybody for my first post.

Any other rabid FF7 fans?

[Monsey]

smurfing hell, calm down chaps.I didn't mean to wind anybody up that much.Haha aha