Game Debate #27: Final Fantasy VII (1997)

[Estil | 1,264]

It might be the one that gets all the attention but I honestly think FF9 was a LOT better (especially in terms of story/plot/characters).  One thing that really sticks out for me when I first played this around 2013-14 or so (when I finally started doing turn based RPGs...better late than never right?) was that not only did it take me ten hours or so just to get through that initial building (I was really taking my time and soaking in the experience so to speak as this is a very historic sort of game) and when I saw the overworld for the first time, it seemed EXACTLY like how in the first game you cross that bridge and it then shows the title screen...in both cases its their way of showing that now the REAL game begins.

And as for that one really sad iconic moment in the game (I'm trying to say it in a spoiler-less way)...what most gamers in the US didn't realize was that this was NOT the first time FF did that kind of eh, plot element (and if you ask me, it was that first time that I think was even sadder than the one in FF7 that was so famous  ).

[Reed Rothchild | 9,523]

I enjoyed IX.  But if you put me on the spot right now I'd have a real hard time naming the cast.

Whereas I could definitely name each and every character in VI and VII.

[Brickman | 3,983]

When I was younger I would have given it a 10 but now I would say 8. I still think it is a fantastic game, but there are better in the series.

For me VI followed closely by IX are the better games. Both those games bring it more back to the fantasy roots and the storyline for IX is absolutely amazing and miles more philosophical then VII imo.

If people haven’t played IX or want to revisit it, I suggest playing the remaster which has quality of life features such as battle speed up.

[Kguillemette | 1,544]

This is what I was wearing while flipping eggs today. Obv. 10/10

 

[Nintegageo | 582]

I gave it a 10. Second fave game in the series and a legend in its own right. I miss the company that made those games

[YOURTURN | 1,256]

I gave it a 9/10. Out of all the Final Fantasy games it is my favorite. But what keeps me from claiming it is a '10' has to do with a few tidbits and other issues. Things I will not get into since this game (and Chrono Trigger) are two of my favorite non-Dragon Quest related Square Enix properties. Among other things that include my 2018 return to Tokyo.

Boring stuff. So all I can say is that it's worth playing, it's worth owning, but it is a smal margin away from being a '10' in my book.

[twiztor | 850]

voted 8, probably should have been 9. i'm not really a fan of most RPGs, but this one is fantastic! the variety of gameplay seems unprecedented for its time. i love the graphical style- cartoony without looking childish. 

and, my favorite part by far is the Materia system. i would spend SOOOOO much time selecting *just* the right materia for each member.

my biggest gripe is the cutscenes. i just didn't like them. how the characters moved especially. although the bike down the stairs is still badass.

[Kguillemette | 1,544]

Final Fantasy 7 is the best storytelling in any video game ever. Sephiroth is the most compelling villian and Cloud is among the best protagonists. The entire cast is colorful and believable. The game paces just right with really well integrated mini games to break up the monotony of random battles. 

[RH | 4,903]

2 hours ago, Kguillemette said:

Final Fantasy 7 is the best storytelling in any video game ever. Sephiroth is the most compelling villian and Cloud is among the best protagonists. The entire cast is colorful and believable. The game paces just right with really well integrated mini games to break up the monotony of random battles. 

This guy gets it. Sephiroth is waaaaay better than... I don't know.  A psychotic, clown mastermind.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,523]

32 minutes ago, RH said:

This guy gets it. Sephiroth is waaaaay better than... I don't know.  A psychotic, clown mastermind.

I'd defer judgement to the people who actually played through all of the above titles 

[Estil | 1,264]

3 hours ago, Kguillemette said:

Final Fantasy 7 is the best storytelling in any video game ever. Sephiroth is the most compelling villian and Cloud is among the best protagonists. The entire cast is colorful and believable. The game paces just right with really well integrated mini games to break up the monotony of random battles. 

Not nearly as good storytelling as FF9, or DQ5, or DQ11, or...

[Webhead123 | 675]

2 hours ago, RH said:

This guy gets it. Sephiroth is waaaaay better than... I don't know.  A psychotic, clown mastermind.

[Jeevan | 8,910]

Gave it a 9, solely for the fact that I haven't played it since my original run through.  It is great tho.  I would play it again if i had it!!!!!

[AstralSoul | 502]

Just barely misses "one of my favorites of all time". Still an epic game, my first Final fantasy, one of my first RPGs, a game that had a huge influence on me in many ways including creative writing and art. Over the years I've become a slightly less die hard fan of it, not anything against the game, as I still love it, but a bit of the nostalgia and love for the game has lessened over the years. But, like I said, excellent game, still a 9/10, but just barely misses that 10/10 mark.

[SpoonMan Abrams X | 697]

12 hours ago, Gloves said:

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

That might be me? lol

I look at this game much like I look at Ocarina of Time; it was a platform for it's system/genre on which an entire series was propped on, so the praise is mostly deserved... but there are other games before and after I enjoy a lot more and are way better polished & and just personally more enjoyable for me at this point.

Trying to be as objective as possibly I would say at the minimum it's an 8 for being forebearer of JRPGs in the west and PS1 RPGS in general.

Personally looking outside it's all the attached a 6 would be where I'd rank it as far as (re)playability currently.

If this was me back in 1997-8 it would almost certainly be a 9

For the purposes of this thread I gave it a 7, cause thinking on it I'd at least entertain the idea of playing it over a number of other games.

[themisfit138 | 523]

Easy 10. I had 400+ hours on my original save. Trying to get all the best gear and powers. FFVII is also one of the games I continue to go back and play. This has been made much easier with the rereleases, also. I like being able to speed up the battles.  

[Sumer | 221]

I gave it a 2.  Yep, hate on me, but at least I didn't give it a 1, because I know many love the game.

But, this game ruined FF for me.  As a 40-something, I grew up playing the Ultimas, Wizardrys, and the old school FFs that were Japanese love letters to those two game series.  We already talked about why I hate FF7 in another thread ("Highly Acclaimed Games--that you just don't like!" thread), so you can go over there and see why.

I think the only other person who may agree with this low of a rating will be @Tanooki!  

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

10/10. This is easily my most anticipated and most played single player game of all time. I poured over pictures of the Japanese version in EGM for months as I anxiously awaited the US release. I simply could not believe how fantastic the game looked. I daydreamed about it and counted down the days until September 7th, 1997. I had my mom take me to Best Buy on release day, terrified they would be sold out. Thankfully there were hundreds of copies.

I loaded it up as soon as I got home and was not disappointed. The graphics were beautiful and the CGI cutscenes were unlike anything I had ever seen before.  The music is the best of the series and remains among my all time favorite soundtracks (deadlocked with Chrono Trigger, of course).The story was sprawling and epic and mature. Your character and weapons visibly changed when you equipped new items. The attention to detail was astounding.

When I finished the meaty Midgar section and found a whole world waiting to be explored, my mind was blown. I stared at my screen in absolute horror as Aerith was struck down right in front of me. I kept waiting for them to revive her and when it didn't happen, I felt like this game was truly something different. I became obsessed with finding the best weapons and armor combinations for the materia system because it was just so damn fun.

It cannot be overstated how much of an impact this game had in popularizing JRPGs in the west and pushing gaming to where it is today. This game is an absolute classic and definitely one of my top five games of all time.

Edited December 11, 2020 by DoctorEncore

[rdrunner | 422]

8/10 for me.  I don't play a lot of RPG's and honestly this was the game that made me swear them off.  Nothing against it personally, but this was where the games from this genre just got too long for my level of free time.

That said, I fully see why people love it.  Modern world setting (revolutionary for the time), fun "new" game mechanics (limit breaks/materia), and timeless music.

Story had me going for the first part of the game, especially Midgar and a certain spoiler that may or may not qualify 25 years later.  However, a large portion of it was rather difficult to follow, to the point where I had to read falsehead's excellent plot analysis on GameFAQs to make sense of it.  For what it's worth, I enjoyed watching the Advent Children movie.

Overall, this is still my second favorite Final Fantasy, behind only FF4.  Take that with a grain of salt, since the only ones I've played are 1, 4, 6, and 7.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,523]

Agreed that this is the point where FF storylines started to go off the rails.  Hell, most JRPGs...

One thing about the more simplistic and straightforward nature of 8 and 16bit games: they tend not to stray into incoherence

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

On 12/10/2020 at 1:25 PM, Reed Rothchild said:

I enjoyed IX.  But if you put me on the spot right now I'd have a real hard time naming the cast.

Whereas I could definitely name each and every character in VI and VII.

I thought FF IX was almost as good and I couldn't even remember who the main character was.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

Final Fantasy VII also gave us possibly the greatest final boss theme of all time.

 

[fox | 1,667]

Killer game.  Great characters. Great Story. Great Soundtrack.  Materia system is fun and gives you a lot of flexibility with how you want to make your characters.  Little to no grinding required (cept for limit breaks.)  Very approachable and easy to digest for an RPG.

I played it again on Switch (4x speed ftw), and the game holds up really well.  What didn't hold up are the mini-games.  They are all really shallow, control poorly, and just aren't very interesting.

[ookii_risu | 206]

Gave it a meh rating. I wasn’t impressed with it after playing VI. There are many reasons I don’t like it. A main character like Aerith dying was not a new thing to RPGs, the polygons were horrendous, the fact you couldn’t skip animations made the battles long and tedious, one-winged angel is a horrible song (especially after having to listen to it for at least a half-hour because Sephiroth destroys the universe over and over and you can’t skip it)... the list goes on and on.

Edited December 12, 2020 by ookii_risu

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

7/10, it aight. I’ve always thought random repetitive battles are pretty bad game design and one of the most lauded JRPGs ever is no exception. The fact that you can turn them off or speed the game when up it’s boring in the remake kind of proves that.

Edited December 12, 2020 by DefaultGen