The Game's difficulty is a joke

[Bubba]

I'll be honest. Final Fantasy 7 was my first proper RPG and I did struggle with the materia system on my first playthrough. I understood the concept, materia such as 'Fire', 'Restore' and linking them to 'All' was pretty easy to work out. I just struggled with finding effective combination such as utilizing 'Elemental' and 'Added-Effect'.

Also, there were a few boss fights that I was ill-equipped for. This was due to me not knowing their weakness or the fight just taking me totally by surprise. There were a few points where I really struggled on that first playthrough. Bosses like Lost Number, Demon Wall and Rapps (OK, materia not an issue for that one but still hard first time round).

As previously said, after two or three playthroughs you know exactly what you're doing, what materia bosses are susceptible to and how to beat the game comfortably. Maybe if you're on a first playthrough now it would appear easy as gaming has moved on quite a lot in the last 15 years.

But for a 14-year-old, RPG newbie back in 1997. I would say there was plenty of challenge in the game for me.

[Mirage]

Lost Number's always been a rough fight for the level you're normally at when you first get to Nibelheim. It was the first boss that gave me a game over on my most recent (current) playthrough, actually. I must have forgotten just how hard it was able to hit.

[Bolivar]

The marketing definitely was pretty huge for FFVII. I remember it being on TV commercials around my favorite shows and in all the comic books I was reading. But I remember FFVI having those, too. I guess VII was more prevalent. Plus they had the console manufacturer behind them 110%.

It wasn't on day 1, that's for sure. It was probably in 1999 or 2000, meaning I was somewhere around 14-15 years old.. And why wouldn't I play FFV? It's a fantastic game, and at the time, I didn't have a PS1 or any other consoles, so all I had was emulation on my PC.

1999 = You're not a real fan. Kidding! And FFV is definitely a good emulation choice.

[Mirage]

At the time, we hadn't figured out that we could store our ROMs in different folders to get more save slots, so my brother and I played separate games because there were so few save slots for each game. I played FF5, he played FF6. Of course, we eventually got smarter.

[Cloudane]

'tis as difficult as you make it

I remember the first playthrough, getting absolutely brick-walled by that machine the turks throw at you in the submarine mission. The one that picks you up in its arms and tosses you around. It took me weeks to pass that... (I think in the end I gave up and loaded an earlier game, levelled up moar and had to go through the whole underwater reactor section again)

But when you've played it a number of times probably greater than the number of years the game has been in existence, you end up knowing all the good strategies and generally being better at the genre's battle style as a whole.

Using that dock machine thing as an example boss, at that point either you could have whizzed through the game and not really know what you're doing and REALLY struggle

Or you could know about Big Guard and everything and find it medium-to-challenging

Or it could be your first boss since getting Omnislash and/or KoTR (ISTR you can first get one or both of them just before this) and you completely and totally break the game and finish this boss in 10 seconds flat without losing even 20% of your health.

Same with Sephiroth really. Early playthroughs, he took me SO many retries (oh the frustration of getting to the one winged angel form, getting Supernova'd and some other cheap followup attack and having to go through the WHOLE final battle descent and sequence again)
Nowadays by the time I say "f--- it, I've done everything, time to finish the game" I can take him down just by standing there. Literally. A quick counter-attack or two while I laugh at being tickled by hit and it's all over.

[Mercen-X]

only chuck norris can beat chuck norris mode

I demand to see Chuck Norris beat Chuck Norris mode... aaaannndd NOW!

[Hollycat]

only chuck norris and I can see the following screenshot of chuck winning at level 0.

[Mercen-X]

Here, on this day, and by witness of those few paying attention to this thread, to commemorate the memory of a memorable mutant, I do solemnly bequeath unto you the utmost outrageous title no one would ever admit they want: I hereby crown you "King and High Emperor of Nothing"