Playing FFVII after as i said before, 10 years, its given me a new appreciation

[Setharion]

Well...where do i start, basically its just that when FFVII came out back in 97 i was stoked beyond belief but felt let down after i beat it back then coming from my starting FF career in 87, in which gave me the love for the series and genre in so many ways.

FFIII of course blew me away and is still my all time favorite game ever, just was such a special game and time for it, so it really gave me high expectations.

Then came VII and the thing that bugged me was i was playing FF since it started and it just was a bit annoying how people that ignored FF was all over it once it hit PS1.

But as i played VII back then i was turned off from the swearing and the way it mixed in like tvs and snowboarding and what not into a series that to me was established as a medieval fantasy game, it just didnt belong to me, i didnt like that back then. But its just a bit minor now a days as im playing through.

The story between Cloud and Sephiroth was good but that other stuff kind of just left me feeling a bit disappointed. It just felt like they were REALLY trying to please another crowd here, so i beat it and really never looked back.

VIII i did the same, and IX i kind of enjoyed more being it was more old school in format.

Course i did X and such, but this leads me up to now with FFXII out.

I enjoy XII, but im just a stickler for keeping tradition in many formats. XII does feel less like FF than almost any other FF. I put in 90 hours so far, enjoying it but in a different way.

But as i been playing i been tempted to give VII another spin after all this time and wow...all i can say is its amazing what you didnt appreciate at one time can really give you a different point of view after time has moved on.

VII really is up there for a FF game, truely a classic tale between good and evil...its just amazing too how addicted ive been too it, totally drawn in that its been a week since ive played XII...which i plan to get back too once i beat VII. But i just cant get over how much it all reiterates to me that i just love old school FF formats more than anything, random battles, classic music, victory theme etc...i got about 60 hours in and its also amazing just how much there is to do in this game.

Its just classic...and basically when i see how different XII is too VII, what i once thought was SO different from the formula i can really see isnt that different at all now and it truely gives me a new found appreciation for the game...so glad i did it.

Im going back to VIII as well as a side project once VII is done, trying to establish something new there as well

Sorry this was so long, just really wanted to say it though.

[Scream1008]

It wasn't too long; I enjoyed reading it. FFVII is my favorite Final Fantasy and I'm glad you're enjoying it.

[silentenigma]

I'm glad you've noticed the one thing that most oldskool FFers don't:

The biggest difference between oldskool FF's and the new ones is the fanbase.

And maybe in ten years we'll realize that FFXII is more similar to past FF's than we thought. maybe.

[Setharion]

Well not sure about that with XII but possibly i mean ive enjoyed it...but the dramatic change does take a big hit which is fine because i understand how people need that change. I just personally though was happy with random battles and all that old school setup, its just the tradition of it all that i loved.

XII just kind of lacks the touching moments that other FFs had, lacks that real emotional music, lacks the classic esper names etc...just stuff like that is what i loved about the older games. And with it all different it kind of just feels weird, not like a FF game. Great game, but just to me doesnt feel like a high end final fantasy.

But back to VII, just really been having fun with it...its totally sucked me in for days straight now, definitly a good game.

[Omni-Odin]

Ya, I remember it had been a couple years since the last time I played it. Then a buddy of mine suggested that we go through it again and let me tell you, we did nothing that week but FFVII.

It's a classic in so many ways and very emotional, which XII, sadly, did lack. I hope Square can make another great game like it again.

But all they seem to care about is remaking their past games. GIVE ME SOMETHING NEW!!!! (But actually has good story!)

[joshua2412]

Ok, i definitely agree with you, that when 7 came out i was dissapointed, and missed all of the stuff about IV and VI on the SNES that got me into these games in the 1st place.

And yeah, this past summer i went back and played VII again, and beat it and was awesome, and I realized how sweet the graphics (especially the summons monsters) were for an early PS 1 game.

I loved XII though, i liked the gambits, and the no random battles...the fact that the Espers were all the bad guys that we got to beat in Tactics (my favorite FF title) was also a big draw for me.

The music in XII is definitely not as good as i was hoping for, but i really liked the new changes to the gameplay, and i thought the Judges were some of the coolest looking villains yet.

Everyone will always disagree to a certain extent. But its good to know that we can always go back and play our old games again, and gain a new perspective and appreciation for them.

Maybe i'll play VIII again now that i'm done with XII.

[d£v!l'$ ph0£n!x]

i'll be honest, ff7 was my first ff so m,aybe i do belong in the new, sucky fanbase. but, since they were released on ps1 i hav purchased all the original final fantasies (apart from 3 cos it was only released in japanese, but my my recollection, isn't the international 6 the same as the japanese 3?).

out of all the original ff's, 1 has to be my favourite. i like how the characters put their problems aside in order to come through and vanquish the enemy. sure maybe it lacks a little emotion but it never really bothered me.

saying that, i love the new generation ff's. i always come back and play them agen, at least once a year. 7 in particular i hav played through plenty of times. 9 is probably my least favourite in the next gen games. tho i can never decided which i like best in 7,8, and 10.

i think they all have their peaks and lows. in terms of battle system, i wud hav to actually say 10-2! i love the whole job concept which is probably y i like 1 and 5 so much too.

wot r ur favs in terms of story? battle system? etc

[Avarice-ness]

I'm glad you've noticed the one thing that most oldskool FFers don't:

The biggest difference between oldskool FF's and the new ones is the fanbase.

And maybe in ten years we'll realize that FFXII is more similar to past FF's than we thought. maybe.

No, most of the 'oldskool' FFers do notice that, FF7 is one of the reasons the games before arn't played as much, and is also the reason it will prolly be the most popular FF till the end of time. I was 12 when FFVII came out, FFIII(FFVI) was my first FF when I was 9 so I hold the SNES FF's more partial to me than the Playsation ones, but now since the biggest peak of FF7 has come years after it's release it causes all the new generation of FFers to be partial, more so because their age (when I was 12-14 I too though FF7 was the most awesome thing since sliced bread) and the biased-ness to FF7 in the FF series. For that reason the fan-base for FF7 is expanded everysingle day and the other fan bases for -every other game- go down slowly.

FF7 will always be a new game for every generation hence it's mass fan base, in 5 or 6 years the game will prolly explode like it did recently, due to older brothers or sisters who are currently FF7 fans or some friend giving the younger generation FF7 to be their first FF game. Just look in the general chat on this forum, all the noobs love FF7, their 13 and it's conveinently their first game. It came out -ten years ago in september-.

Regardless of how high of regards I have FFVI, I admit that FFVII is the -peak- of the FF series, it went up a nice steady slope of awesomeness until it hit FFVII where it hit it's peak, then it just started to tank off slowly and each game after that tried to take a peice of all the past FF's hoping to create something like the FF that was at it's peak, hence you have movies, new games and what not.

FFVII is both the beginning and the end of FF for the reason of, yes it is regarded as the best FF, but now that all the FF's try to take a peice out of every other FF, FF is only doomed due to lack of originality.
No real FF fan can say that FF games after FF7 have been as good as the FFs before it. When you have a peak the only place it can go is down, once the FF series hits rock bottom then the only place it can go is up and I'm -really- hoping it will hit rockbottom soon so we can get good FF's again.

Hell, I'll even accept a FF7 remake just so I can have a game that was originally made in 97 and was -still- better than all the one's made after that.

[/BeingBitterTowardsallthecrappyFF'smadeafterFF7]

[joshua2412]

I think you probably have a point to some extent...

but part of the reason that FF VII keeps blowing up, is b/c Square (enix) keeps churning out new games/movies for it and thereby keeping it in the public eye.

I think there's a group that discovered VII first, and they think it's the be all, end all of FF games, but a lot of gamers put their stock in the 1st game of a series they play.

I could argue that Tecmo Super Bowl was the greatest football game ever made (which it is), but most people who grew up in the PS/PS 2 era would laugh at me.

But I would disagree that VII was the peak...VI was better, and Tactics was better and those are two games directly in front and behind VII. (although Tactics isn't part of the series proper i guess)

[Avarice-ness]

But I would disagree that VII was the peak...VI was better, and Tactics was better and those are two games directly in front and behind VII. (although Tactics isn't part of the series proper i guess)

I agree, but I go by the number of FFVII fans to the number of FFVI fans, I believe FFVI is better in everyway. Saddly most people don't notice it due to FF7's constant mass marketing.

[ReloadPsi]

Being a european gamer, I never even heard of Final Fantasy until FF7 came out, so I was a bit thrown. Sure enough, I ended up getting the earlier FFs, first as ROMs, then in their rereleased forms on the PSX.

I love FF1 to bits, I've completed it more times that I've completed FF7, but were it not for number 7, I would never have played any of the others as, like I said, it was europe's first...

[cloud21zidane16]

Being a european gamer, I never even heard of Final Fantasy until FF7 came out, so I was a bit thrown. Sure enough, I ended up getting the earlier FFs, first as ROMs, then in their rereleased forms on the PSX.

I love FF1 to bits, I've completed it more times that I've completed FF7, but were it not for number 7, I would never have played any of the others as, like I said, it was europe's first...

same here aparrt from ccompleting number 1 loads of times, i dont think i would of ever bought a final fantasy game had i not played vii, it really got me involved in it and i wanted all of them. Theyre all great

[joshua2412]

I agree, but I go by the number of FFVII fans to the number of FFVI fans, I believe FFVI is better in everyway. Saddly most people don't notice it due to FF7's constant mass marketing.

I agree 100%.