Game Debate #27: Final Fantasy VII (1997)

[Reed Rothchild | 9,504]

 

[Gloves | 11,759]

I'm allowed a lot of 10s so this one squeaks in. It does so much right, especially for the time.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,104]

I don't really even like RPGs, but I thought it was awesome. 10/10.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,504]

1 minute ago, Gloves said:

I'm allowed a lot of 10s so this one squeaks in. It does so much right, especially for the time.

I'M COUNTING

Now you have me curious.  I should go make a list of my top games and decide where a fair cutoff is.

[RH | 4,889]

This game gets so much hate (or at least "meh"s) I'm surprised so many of us have given it a 10.  Should be no surprise, it's a 10 for me.

And considering the general design, as a kid I 100% loved the pseudo-2D/3D implementation.  A lot of people today throw shade at the game and consider it lazy, but back when this game was being developed, 3D on the PS1 was still soooo crude.  The bar for quality RPGs was so high coming off of the SNES era for Squaresoft, they came up with what I think was a genius way of making beautiful looking games on such limited hardware early in it's life.

But that's just once facet of this game!  I've also mentioned how much I love the Materia system and how you can both level the Materia and then pair them together with augmenting materia's and come up with some killer setups that even the devs never fully considered.   I don't really like it when games are easily "game broken" but when there's a way to strategize or analyze ways to break games, especially late-game, I can enjoy the design.  That's exactly what this game offers.

And, of course, there's the story.  It's not perfect, but it's fantastic!  I always loved Sephiroth.  You can't go wrong with a super-bad antagonist that you still feel sorry for.  I also like the jaded, middle-aged Cid that can't give up his dreams and, of course, there's the debate that will never be answered which is "Aeris or Tifa?!"

Great game, pretty well balanced, diverse and there's lots to do.  Not perfect, but about as close as we could have gotten back in 1997.

[Deadeye | 1,595]

So far, only time I didn't wrestle with the rating...10/10.
Loved it in 1997, 100% completed it.  Every optional item, secret, and bosses, all completed.  Have replayed it many times since over the years (on PS1 and PC) and still love it.  The wacky script, tons of mini games, and massive world were really endearing for the time, and graphics were cutting edge as well.  Really got me into RPGs for years after.  

You can nitpick many aspects of the game today, but I think it still holds up.  IMO it is better to enjoy the original release rather than the remaster ports.  I haven't played the remake, so no opinion on it. 

[Gloves | 11,759]

13 minutes ago, RH said:

This game gets so much hate (or at least "meh"s) I'm surprised so many of us have given it a 10.  Should be no surprise, it's a 10 for me.

Don't worry, the contrarians will pop in soon enough.

[RH | 4,889]

10 minutes ago, Deadeye said:

IMO it is better to enjoy the original release rather than the remaster ports.

As a mid-30s man with kids, I have to say I appreciated the iOS port.  Yeah, it's a bit difficult to control using a touch screen, but what I liked was the "cheats" that allow you to boost certain bonuses.  I don't have time to sink 40+ hours into a game I've played 3x already, just 10 years earlier.  Having those cheats helps you enjoy the experience, but skip the grind.

I'm not saying everyone should play it that way.  Certainly not.  However, if you just want a "quick playthrough" it's a good way to re-enjoy the experience without multiple hours of investment.

[RH | 4,889]

1 minute ago, Gloves said:

Don't worry, the contrarians will pop in soon enough.

Yeah, I know... I know.

[cj_robot | 540]

10/10. This was a system seller for me. More than just a great game, it's probably in the top 5 most impactful games of that console generation.

[TDIRunner | 2,721]

I never got into this game.  I remember it well.  I had lots of friends who were playing it and they all said good things about it.  It was always my intention to try it out, but I never got around to it. 

[Deadeye | 1,595]

51 minutes ago, RH said:

As a mid-30s man with kids, I have to say I appreciated the iOS port.  Yeah, it's a bit difficult to control using a touch screen, but what I liked was the "cheats" that allow you to boost certain bonuses.  I don't have time to sink 40+ hours into a game I've played 3x already, just 10 years earlier.  Having those cheats helps you enjoy the experience, but skip the grind.

I'm not saying everyone should play it that way.  Certainly not.  However, if you just want a "quick playthrough" it's a good way to re-enjoy the experience without multiple hours of investment.

My experience is on the Switch remaster.  The speed up and other options are nice.  My comment is mostly in reference to the graphic enhancements.  The resolutions are mismatched (upgraded models and text, but not backgrounds).  I understand why that is, but I prefer no adjustment made rather than mismatched.  

[Webhead123 | 675]

5/10 for me but keep in mind a few things:

1) I didn't have a Playstation in the 90's, so my first experience playing this was through the PC port.

2) Even back then, the chunky "Playmobile" character models were kind of distracting in a bad way.

3) The setting being so drastically different from all previous FF games I'd played was actually a negative for me.

4) It arrived at a time when I was shifting a bit away from RPGs and more into action/strategy games.

5) I never finished the game, as a result of all the above considerations.

So yeah, while I have a certain amount of what I call "indirect nostalgia" (because FFVII was all anyone talked about when it first came out), I don't have the kind of attachment to it that some others have. Going back to try to play it in more recent years, it felt *okay* but fairly cumbersome. I would much rather revisit IV or VI (in fact, that's what I'm currently doing).

Also, am I the only person in existence who didn't like the Materia system? I mean, I appreciate the flexibility it gives the player but it just makes the game so much more tedious and complex to manage.

Edited December 10, 2020 by Webhead123

[Webhead123 | 675]

1 hour ago, RH said:

...and, of course, there's the debate that will never be answered which is "Aeris or Tifa?!"...

The answer was always Tifa.

Yeah, I'm a shallow, shallow person.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,504]

I'll be giving it an 8 or 9

I remember first learning about this game either in a magazine ad, or from a Software Etc. ad in the store.  I don't remember which.  But I was immediately enthralled.  That iconic image of Cloud looking up at Shinra s very provocative 

I also remember being very confused.  Where the hell were IV, V, and VI?  III hadn't come out that long ago, had it?

I also remember the TV ads.  I remember seeing the physical copies in stores and lamenting my lack of a PS1 (or any money whatsoever).  I even looked through the ENTIRE strategy guide one day at Barnes and Nobles.

I also remember when it was announced for PC, and being ecstatic.  When PC Gamer had a demo disc, I immediately installed it.

...and broke our PC.  Sound card driver issues I believe.  It was kind of a big thing.  My dad spent all night tearing the thing apart and installing software.

Later, when Future Shop was going out of business, all of their games were half off.  So I grabbed FFVII on PC.

The full game broke our PC too.

Suffice to say, I never got to play it on PC 

In high school I finally acquired a PS1 and started hoarding all of the big titles.  Especially Square games.  For whatever reason I bought and played through VIII before VII, and had a good time with it, problems with that game aside.

When I finally got to VII, I have to admit that I was a bit underwhelmed.  The story didn't wow me.  The graphics had already become dated.  I already knew Aerith's fate.

I finished it (and got the chocobos, fought the weapons, etc.) but it wasn't the masterpiece I wanted.  I preferred VI.  I don't even know that I like it more than VIII.  I definitely didn't prefer it over other PS1 games like MGS, SoTN, or Final Fantasy Tactics.

But it's definitely still a great game.  Possibly in my top 100.  Definitely top 200.

[Webhead123 | 675]

8 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

...In high school I finally acquired a PS1 and started hoarding all of the big titles...

Hoo boy! I really misread that sentence the first time! Just a little bit Freudian, maybe. I was just talking about Tifa...

I remember our PC had trouble with the game, too, although I don't think I ever fully crashed it. But the framerates were pretty choppy, especially during the cutscenes and if I recall, the sound card had regular problems and would often cut out.

Edited December 10, 2020 by Webhead123

[RH | 4,889]

7 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I definitely didn't prefer it over other PS1 games like MGS, SoTN, or Final Fantasy Tactics.

Considering the whole initial reason I bought this system was FF VII, I think pure nostalgia is what keeps me from ranking FFT higher. It's a different style of he, but it's much more polished and the story is told much better. However, it benefited from being a game that came out after Squaresoft had experience on the PS1 and probably didn't have as high of a crunch to ship it.

Probably my top 3 PS1 titles are, in fact, FF VII, FF T and Xenogears. If I were to play these games today, my ranking order would probably be Tactics, VII and then Xenogears but since I played them as a kid, it's Xenogears, VII and last Tactics.

[RH | 4,889]

14 minutes ago, Webhead123 said:

The answer was always Tifa.

Yeah, I'm a shallow, shallow person.

You are entitled to your own opinion even if it is 100% factually wrong. :')

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

Never played any of the Final Fantasy games, but I know for a fact I will get around to, at a minimum, VI and VII at some point in the future.

If I had to guess, I'll probably like them

[Webhead123 | 675]

1 minute ago, RH said:

You are entitled to your own opinion even if it is 100% factually wrong. :')

How's the saying go?...If loving Tifa is wrong, I don't wanna be right...

Edited December 10, 2020 by Webhead123

[BortLicensePlate | 652]

1 minute ago, ZeldaFreak said:

Never played any of the Final Fantasy games, but I know for a fact I will get around to, at a minimum, VI and VII at some point in the future.

If I had to guess, I'll probably like them

Same, would rather just play VI though, not overly interested in VII

[Hammerfestus | 3,817]

Easy 10.  Easy.

[RH | 4,889]

3 minutes ago, ZeldaFreak said:

Never played any of the Final Fantasy games, but I know for a fact I will get around to, at a minimum, VI and VII at some point in the future.

If I had to guess, I'll probably like them

 

2 minutes ago, BortLicensePlate said:

Same, would rather just play VI though, not overly interested in VII

I honestly wish this weren't so but I've started FFVI countless times and I've managed to get as far as the river rapids 3 times, but I just can't get into it. I don't hate it. It just doesn't grab me and by that point, I put it down and I just don't end up prioritize coming back to it.

 

[Hammerfestus | 3,817]

1 hour ago, RH said:

This game gets so much hate (or at least "meh"s) I'm surprised so many of us have given it a 10.  Should be no surprise, it's a 10 for me.

That’s some revisionist bull crap by I would suspect children who may or may not have been born when this was released. I’d guess all of those tens played it in the 90s.

[Strange | 1,700]

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