Why the heck do people call Final Fantisy VII a good game!?

[Gregoriev]

Seriously, i have NO IDEA!!! What do you people see in this game!?

Visual rating: 3/10
all i saw were some pretty backgrounds, and characters that look like they were the greatest 3d acheivements on a damn SNES! The CG looks great, the models look just like syphon filter 3, except syphon filter did not have as a nice texturing, but then again this is CG, not the actual game models you play with. THOSE are a damn joke! they are boxy, the dude with the huge sword..well, his hands, seem slightly separate from his body, the sword twirl gets old after the first three battles you win, the enemies are stupid looking, and the attacks are worse! THe most laughable thing is when they try and add actual facial expressions to these people, OMG that is just so funny because they do it so badly!

Sound: 2/10
They have 5 tracks, each song about 3-4 minutes in length, and i swear, if i didn't turn off the sound and put on my favorite radio station i would go INSANE!!! a damn game that has nice CG cut scenes and spans 3 freaken disks should not have mysic that sucks so badly. and don't give my any BS that you are supposed to play the game with no sound and the radio on, the sound is supposed to help emerse you in the experience, not water it down!

Gameplay: 1/10
OH wow...it's just horrible, and i have played some bad turn based games (anyone remember pokemon?). the random battles are annoying, especially if you have a 10:00 time limit before you bomb goes off. at least turn that damn fearure off during that one part!!! DAMN!!! as if that weren't bad enough, the controls are both clunky and bad. on screen you character wanders around, and you get lost easily becuase the background is drawn so well you have no freaken clue what is an exit, and what isn't. and if your charcter is not being hung up on an invisible wall, or box, or...air, then we would have slightly less of a problem. in battle, using hte same repedative attacks so early in the game is just not right. sword guy uses bolt, black dude using gatling gun, and everyone wins no matter what. the largest ammount of strategy is knowing when to use elixer and potion. wow...so hard...the ps1 is capable of so much more....

Story: ? (it's gonna be low)/10
What is the story? i know that like 40 minutes into a game like this you should know a bit more than you do, and on top of that, what is with the text boxes? i have seen what the ps1 can do, and guess what!? it supports VOICE!!! some voice and subtitles would have gone a long way in helping me give a damn about reactors sapping away the planets magical energy or life fore or whatever. as far as "character building" goes...i have no seen any. and to think, i thought i was going to get something good when i read so many rave reviews. i want to get into final fantasy, i really do, but clearly VII is NOT the game for me.

OVERALL SCORE: 3/10
Why do they like it so much? how could this game have made final fantasy go mainstream and become a masterpiece for the ps1 that like everyone who has ever liked turn based RPG/stragety should own? the graphics suck, the sound is worse, the gameplay is horrible, and i am doubtful anyone really cares about the plot, or cannot stand the first three to the extent they play through enough to start giving a damn.

so plese, fanatical fans of this board, just tell me, why? be civilized about it, i have written like 5 paragraphs from the heart about why this is not a good game, and why it should have never made FF so popular. but now you, the people who like it, tell me why you think i am wrong, or better yet, people who hate it tell me why i am right. or find some possiton between the two. but just tell me why....

[Trumpet Thief]

chaos: Everyone is entitled to their opinion, so now, I am merely stating mine.

Rubedo: One, visuals are NOT a big deal. Gameplay, etc. come way ahead of it, as thought the same way with the earlier Final Fantasies.

Trowa: *Sits and stares* Two... 5 tracks? I'm VERY sure you are mistaken there, and personally, I found the music great, although Aerith's theme a bit repetitive, although "One Winged Angel" greatly made up for that.

Albedo: *Laughs maniacally* Three, there was a lot more to the story, and there a lot of games on the ps1 that do not have voices. You shouldn't take that out on FFVII. The whole game wasn't about blowing up reactors either... and no character building? It seems as though you detested this game since you started, as you haven't been paying too much attention from what I've seen..

Rubedo: There are many other turn based games. I doubt this is the category for you if you don't like them that much, and seeing as you gave gameplay such a low rating, and that was because you either got lost because of the visuals, which you get used to later on.

[Gregoriev]

okay, so i may have been exagerating when i said there were like 5 themese, i agree there, i bet it all changes from cd to cd as well, but it was annoying, i guess i just don't have the taste for this music. i will also hve to look out for the 1 good track you mentioned.

now, voice may not be much to you, and i personally was able all the same to get into the plot i could get within 40 minutes, but voice helps you identify with your character, make you feel like you can relate to their situation, and actually care about what happens to them. good plot is needed too, and i am positive this game has a good one. the rating was not based on the plot itself, but mainly by how long it took you to find out enough to even begin to get into it. if it takes too long it turns off begining gamers. you see where my marketing type thought line is coming from?

you are not supposed to "get used" to anything when it comes to a game. innovative controls that enhance gameplay, maybe (Steel Batallion), but visualsthat serve to confuse you more than actually help you find your way, umm...no. you can mess with alot of things when it comes to the "getting used to" department, but visuals are NOT one of them.

as to wether or not i detesed the game from before i started, well, i have to say you have a small point there. i was never a big fan of turn based games based on leveling. i try though, that's why i got FFVII a few days ago. it was supposed to be the best of the best for PS1, so said everyone i knew who was into this kind of game. (i don't own a PS2 yet, so don't even start)

[Trumpet Thief]

chaos: Ah, I understand about voices. I started off with Famicom, so I never actually needed them. If there were good voice actors, I'd be okay, although, sometimes, dubbing would be horrible. Starting off with voiced games, then going backwards isn't any fun at all.

Rubedo: And for some gamers, it is hard to get into it. Personally, I found it easy, but to each their own. The story line gets way better later on, and I never liked it much in the beginning anyways. After the first half of the first disc, things started getting better in my opinion.

[Shoeberto]

Okay. Um. A few flaws with what you're saying.

First off, graphics. This game came out in '97. You have to take into consideration the dating. Back then, it was amazing.

Music. There's a lot more music than what you're saying. It does loop a lot, but there's not much that happens in the beginning - you have to progress.

Story? You've played 40 minutes. You haven't even gotten out of Midgar yet. You haven't even scratched the surface yet, trust me.

Gameplay? Well, if you don't like it, you don't like it. RPGs aren't for everyone. I find mindless level grinding to be annoying, which is what turns me off of most RPGs. Most of the FFs dumb it down a bit, but if you don't like it, than that's it.

[LunarWeaver]

It sounds to me like you are describing someone who hates everything that an RPG is. That's fine if that's the case, RPGs aren't for everyone and this type of game might just not be fun for you.

[=Angelus=]

*shrug* i think theres a button you can press to pin-point the exits(with a red triangle) and your character location(with a finger-looking thingy) this particular feature kinda helps me when i'm totally lost =P (it happens sometimes k??) and well.. FFVII was the thing that gotten things rolling, so without it, there won't be such a thing as FFX or FFX-2 (*cringes in fear*) so i guess we owe it some credit ya? yup, i'll keep FFVII just to see my favourite characters save the world again, or maybe to see cloud in a dress

[LunarWeaver]

Now Angelus don't go saying things like X and X-2 not existing, are you trying to give me nightmares? O_o*

[Mo-Nercy]

Visual rating: 3/10
all i saw were some pretty backgrounds, and characters that look like they were the greatest 3d acheivements on a damn SNES! The CG looks great, the models look just like syphon filter 3, except syphon filter did not have as a nice texturing, but then again this is CG, not the actual game models you play with. THOSE are a damn joke! they are boxy, the dude with the huge sword..well, his hands, seem slightly separate from his body, the sword twirl gets old after the first three battles you win, the enemies are stupid looking, and the attacks are worse! THe most laughable thing is when they try and add actual facial expressions to these people, OMG that is just so funny because they do it so badly!

Did you know that Pacman's graphics are HORRENDOUS because Syphon Filter 3 looks so much more realistic.

Final Fantasy VII was made in 1997. It was the best you could get back then. Take into account that Squaresoft was not TRYING to make the perfect human shape. Prior to FF7, the characters were represented as short and chibi-ish in all Square games. They tried to do it again in 3D and the effect worked out nicely.

Sound: 2/10
They have 5 tracks, each song about 3-4 minutes in length, and i swear, if i didn't turn off the sound and put on my favorite radio station i would go INSANE!!! a damn game that has nice CG cut scenes and spans 3 freaken disks should not have mysic that sucks so badly. and don't give my any BS that you are supposed to play the game with no sound and the radio on, the sound is supposed to help emerse you in the experience, not water it down!

Nobou Uematsu is hailed to be the genius of video game music composition. It's nice of you to disagree but millions upon millions of people across the world including his employers of around 15 years can't be wrong. How long do you expect a song to be exactly? 3-4 minutes is normal last time I checked. Also FF7 has about 40+ tracks, you should pay more attention.

Gameplay: 1/10
OH wow...it's just horrible, and i have played some bad turn based games (anyone remember pokemon?). the random battles are annoying, especially if you have a 10:00 time limit before you bomb goes off. at least turn that damn fearure off during that one part!!! DAMN!!! as if that weren't bad enough, the controls are both clunky and bad. on screen you character wanders around, and you get lost easily becuase the background is drawn so well you have no freaken clue what is an exit, and what isn't. and if your charcter is not being hung up on an invisible wall, or box, or...air, then we would have slightly less of a problem. in battle, using hte same repedative attacks so early in the game is just not right. sword guy uses bolt, black dude using gatling gun, and everyone wins no matter what. the largest ammount of strategy is knowing when to use elixer and potion. wow...so hard...the ps1 is capable of so much more....

You must really suck to not be able to get out of the reactor in 10 minutes. You must also have not played an RPG in your life. "Random battles are annoying. I wish I could turn those off." If you're having trouble recognising the door, press Select to get a little arrow to show up and guide you. You haven't play much of Final Fantasy VII have you? Of course the beginning of the game is easy. It's the friggin' beginning of the game! Good luck beating Emerald or Ruby Weapon by casting Bolt and shooting at them.

Story: ? (it's gonna be low)/10
What is the story? i know that like 40 minutes into a game like this you should know a bit more than you do, and on top of that, what is with the text boxes? i have seen what the ps1 can do, and guess what!? it supports VOICE!!! some voice and subtitles would have gone a long way in helping me give a damn about reactors sapping away the planets magical energy or life fore or whatever. as far as "character building" goes...i have no seen any. and to think, i thought i was going to get something good when i read so many rave reviews. i want to get into final fantasy, i really do, but clearly VII is NOT the game for me.

Do you not know how long an RPG takes to complete. 30+ hours for Final Fantasy VII. Don't come on here and start bagging out a game until you've played more than one sixtieth of it. RPGs conventionally use text boxs. That's how you KNOW it's an RPG. Yes, we know the PS is capable of utilising voice overs but then it wouldn't be "role playing" now would it? It'd be some guy that's not you talking in a voice that's not yours. The character building doesn't really begin until later, when you get more materia, more characters etc. At that point, you can really make each and every character whatever you want him/her to be. I agree, Final Fantasy VII is not the game for you. That is, until you actually begin to play it.[/QUOTE]

OVERALL SCORE: 3/10
Why do they like it so much? how could this game have made final fantasy go mainstream and become a masterpiece for the ps1 that like everyone who has ever liked turn based RPG/stragety should own? the graphics suck, the sound is worse, the gameplay is horrible, and i am doubtful anyone really cares about the plot, or cannot stand the first three to the extent they play through enough to start giving a damn.

so plese, fanatical fans of this board, just tell me, why? be civilized about it, i have written like 5 paragraphs from the heart about why this is not a good game, and why it should have never made FF so popular. but now you, the people who like it, tell me why you think i am wrong, or better yet, people who hate it tell me why i am right. or find some possiton between the two. but just tell me why....

Good luck finding someone who hates FF7. A lot of people play RPGs for the storyline and plot. It's the most important factor for most of us. This is what made FF popular. Final Fantasy VII is an awesome game but please, PLAY MORE THAN 40 MINUTES! Instead of speeding through the text, try reading it and getting into the game which is what the term "Role Playing Game" insinuates and you'll find it's a really deep game. The story goes through more plot twists than a badger stuck in a plot twisting machine.

Sorry if that was a little harsh on you. But basically what you've done is disciminate against a game before even lifting the controller.

[ill-fated-life]

-gives a standing ovation for NoMercy-

[xXFiReXx]

Stop spamming ~Matty

[Auronhart]

Yeah, you shouldn't judge a game by the first 40 minutes. However I think that relatively to 8 and 10, 7 is quite a bit over hyped. Oh well, it still has some strong points. (as do all FF's) By the way, Nobuo's music rules. (2/10 yeah right) Yeah, in general, play at least the entire game before making a review of it. (it's common sense really)

[edczxcvbnm]

Graphics
As everyone else has said, this is 1997. Syphon Filter 3 came out in 2000 or 2001. I would hope that it looks better than a 3 year old game. The repeative animations are you nit picking. It is like saying "I hate that after everyone round I win in a boxing game the character puts both arms up in the air and jump up and down". You are going to be winning over 200 battles easy in the game. They don't have 200 special animations for each character. Thats just pointless. Facial expressions had not really made it into many games(if any at all) in this point of time.

Sound
I can't do anything about you not liking the music.

Gameplay
Your background problem is your own fault. If you had read the instruction manual then you would know that hiiting select brings up an arrow over your character's head as well as arrows near exits so you don't get lost.

Damn near every game has repeative attacks at the beginning of the game because you are a new player and they are not going to throw the whole game at you. In warcraft or starcraft they don't start you out with everything. The first level is just learning how to build basic structures.

Story
No RPG on the PSX supported full voice. The ones that did support voices didn't have very many because it takes up so much room. Metal Gear Solid was 2 discs because everything was voice acted. The script is long but the script for one of these games has got to be longer when you account for side quests and everything. You are talking about a 8 disc game now.

You played like 1/28th of the way through the game if that. From what you described you beat the first boss and then turned the game off. RPGs, unlike most games, take a while to get into the meat of the story. 40 minutes of play time before you know a whole lot of anything in the story is not uncommon.

Conclusion
You have proven to me that you know next to nothing about gaming or what you are talking about.

FFVII is far from a great RPG. Its battle system makes the game way too easy and there is not much balance between the characters. The cinmea scenes go between blocky characters and more realistic ones at times. Make up your minds!

That is more of a valid arguement than everything you typed out. Your arguement equates to basically this mentatlity

"Most bogart films are crap becaues the picture is in black and white and not color"

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

All my biting comments are taken already. Damn.

[Flashback007]

Ok, luckly you have right on your own opinion, but I don't agree with you. I am going to take the same paragraphs as you to explain why.

Visual Rating:
Like already said the game was from 1997 and during that time those graphics were asome. Ofcourse if we look at the current games the graphics from FFVII would look very ty if it was made today. But that isn't so. And I can imagine if you look at all the current games at first you're very dissapointed, but if you get futher in the game you will learn to like them, I think.

Sound:
I can agree with you if you just left Midgar or still are in Midgar that you think: "That music again?". But as soon as you get to a certain point at the game you get some very good music: Those Chosen By The Planet, JENOVA etc. And ofcourse the legendary One Winged Angel. But then again if you don't like the music, it's gonna get hard to get over it. If for example you don't like the music played during the normal battles, well, that can be very annoying, but then do what you did turn on the radio or favorite cd. The music isn't nessary, although you will need sound for certain mini-games.

Gameplay:
Ok, I think if you don't like the gameplay, you're having a major problem, cause every FF has the same sort of gameplay. So, that can be a problem. But there is one but, the buttons aren't the same. Do the same as I did, grab your manuel from another FF-game and adjust immeddiatly in the beginning the buttons to the buttons that you're working with at the other games. And for the rest, yes, what I already said most of the gameplay in the FF's is the same. The leveling up stuff etc Only thing different is the Materia, but the Materia is actually good stuff, cause every charachter can use any kind of magic. And a tip: don't try to make one charachter a summoner or a healer, it will cost lot's of HP. Instead try to spread them a bit. Give at least every charachter an healing Materia and every charachter an summon-materia. Also a few command materia's and independent or support-materia's would be wrong. Also if you have problems with leveling up, try to go back to the world map and to the easier part, it will maybe take a while, but then you can go on playing without problems.

Story:
It's actually one of the best FF-stories. But it doesn't unwrap itself untill you left Midgar. And I can imagine that you're still in Midgar within the 40 minutes. As soon as you left Midgar the story will unfold itself and then it really begins. You will be suprised for certain plot twists and other things. And the textboxes, yeah, that's virtually the same problem as the gameplay, if you don't like the textboxes you're not going to like the rest of the FF-series on the PS1, especcialy not the older ones from the SNES etc. Every FF on the PS1 uses tectboxes, with exception of FFIX, it uses textballoons. But you cannot go around it. I think it's the same as with the graphics. The technic from 1997 wasn't that developed yet, to use voices for the game-charachters. It just used textballoons. An advantage from textballoons is that foreign people (like me) that doesn't understand English very well, or when people talk fast, you can read it in textballoons and you can let it stand there as long as you wish. I know you can use subtitles, but even subtitles are annoying when a conversation is very quick. So that's a big advantage from textblocks.

OVERALL:
I think overall it's one of the best FF-games in the history, not the best but second best. It has a great storyline, great charachters and great music, at least that's my opinion. The story really begins when you leave Midgar. Then the real game does begin. But it's really good. I hope you will understand your opinion, but I also understand yours, if you are used to other games, you will suprised in a negative way by FFVII. But give it a change and I hope you will like it.