Quote Originally Posted by Kenshin IV View Post
The line between complex and convoluted is paper thin. I look at convoluted as being something that is not fully explained. Or twisting something to make it seem like something it's not. Which is not at all the case with Final Fantasy VII. Everything in the story is fully explained. There aren't any "Guardian Forces made us forget stuff"-sized plot holes, and the only thing convoluted would be the poor translation. And that is certainly not the story's fault. Of course, that's only how I look at defining it.

And part of why the story lines of games like Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy VII are so revered and have withstood the test of time is because they touch upon mature, deep, and complicated situations. That they touch upon them is fact, whether or not you can relate, or find any entertainment value in them, is your own personal opinion.

I actually agree with you about the endearing quality of VI and VII as well as most of the FFs but I do feel VII is convulated.

Warning! I am only going to make this comment once and any further deviation from the thread topic shall be ignored cause this is not a place for plot analysis. If you want to discuss these plot elements, make another thread please.

As for my reasoning...

The Reunion is never given a proper explanation and acts more like a red herring than an actual plot element. The Ultimania, I feel explains the situation much better. Tifa keeping the truth from Cloud is also never really touched upon in a satisfactory manner nor does the games explanation leave enough logical reasoning for the player to come to a satisfactory conclusion. My only reasoning I can find is that its never explained so the whole plot twist about Cloud would be more exciting and surprising. These are about the only two that really bother me and everything else is more of personal taste than faulty writing.

Back on topic...

I understand that some people were fully impressed with the change to 3D back 97. I was not one of them. Virtua Fighter was impressive cause it brought a major new gameplay element, even Mario 64 utilized 3D in a way to bring a radical change to the genre. Its not so much that VII didn't utilize 3D well as much as its the problem that turn-based JRPGs do not gain much for jumping to the 3D world. It gained a graphical boost and for some that might have been enough. Yet, I cannot say the jump to 3D was really significant for the turn-based RPG genre.

Graphically? Yes. gameplay-wise? Not so much though there are glaring exceptions. This is not to say 3D is inferior to 2D or even that RPGs would have been better off staying 2D cause the benefits are slight. Rather that only until this past generation have we seen JRPGs utilize 3D effectively. One is not superior to another, rather they are different styles that have different strengths and weaknesses. Yes, there are certain genres that benefit more from one style to another. I think most would agree that 2D is a lousy art form to use to make an FPS yet at the same time, 3D cannot do Metroidvania style games to save their life.