As I walked by him every once in a while, I noticed 3 things:
1- Goodness, the graphics suck!
2- The soundtrack rocks.
3- The game is funny.
I played the game when it first came out and loved it as much as its predecessor. I also played all the other main Final Fantasy titles and none since 7 have been as funny or have as good a soundtrack as 7.
Am I on to something or is this just nostalgia talking?
7 was totally unique in its aesthetic. It actually managed to combine elements of fantasy, cyberpunk, steampunk, art-deco-futuristic, and a bunch of other styles. I generally hate “fantasy” which is why I never gave a shit about any of the other Final Fantasies or any other fantasy game. I hate elves, dwarves, gnomes, other weird creatures, faux-medieval shit, and magic. I like guns and dirty, rugged realism. But I was able to stomach FFVII because it combined everything really well. And the characters were very human and likeable, with great complex backstories. The game was amazingly extensive.
I never cared about the graphics.
I played it for the first time a few years ago. I found some things about it underwhelming, while others are still powerful.
The part when Cloud is in a coma was a complete surprise and was very effective.
Sadly, I had this game spoiled for me before I had ever gotten the chance to play it. (Damn gaming magazines, grumble grumble.) But I did play it, and even knowing how it was going to turn out, I still enjoyed it immensely. While it’s not my favorite game, or even my favorite FF title, but overall I feel that it was an important and revolutionary part of gaming history. I should play it again. Just as soon as I finish 6 and 12.
The music was really good. I still listen to some of its soundtrack now and then. I didn’t think the game was actually that great, though it was certainly fun and I don’t regret playing it. Sadly, you’re right the music of later FF’s wasn’t quite up to the same quality, although they did have some great tracks.
I’ve always been confused about the concept that FF7 somehow was a huge leap forward. Maybe I’m jaded from having played lots of the games around then, but I can’t think of anything it did, or even combinations of things it put together, which was particularly original. It’s a good game, just not particularly original. But I remember a lot of precurser games and things developers were trying with the new playstation system at that time. Using CG instead of anime cutscenes was new, but not earth-shattering. What FF7 was really good for was integrating several elements and upping the overall quality of gameplay.
If I remember correctly, FF7 was when the series really went into the mainstream and attracted a lot of people that had never played a Final Fantasy game before. Graphically it was a big step up, but in every other area it was pretty much the same thing as what had proceeded.
I love the game but I think often times it gets more credit than it deserves.
What?
Weren’t all the other Final Fantasy games basically elves/dwarves/mages fantasy faux-medieval stuff?
Wasn’t FFVII the first one to predominantly feature modern (albeit stylized) elements?
Not really.
I mean, there’s magic in them all, but Final Fantasy VI has giant mechas and factories. Airships have been in the series awhile.
I thought it was 16 bit. I can not play my old games at all.
What?
If you have a PS2 and the game for Playstation, then no problem. If what you mean is that you bought it for PC, it had to be 32-bit by then (it could run under Win95 and 95 is a 32-bit OS.) I’m not sure what OSes you can run it under these days and if you have to use compatibility mode to run it under XP or anything, but it should be doable.
I never finished FFVII because I, uh, lost one of the discs that I was borrowing from someone else (Drew, if you’re reading this, it’s true. It’s gone forever. I’m sorry.) and never got around to finding another copy. I had already played IX, X and X-2, but I was still really impressed with a lot of the elements of VII. The story was so much more complete and rich than X and X-2, and it didn’t suffer from “pretty line syndrome”, where basically there’s no possibility of exploration, you travel down set paths on the map and you meet bosses and plot points in a linear fashion (See FFX for a perfect example). It had humour, tragedy, futuristic awesomeness and elements of fantasy, and the score was excellent as well. I would love to see a true to the original remake featuring better graphics and sound but I’m afraid they’d cock it up, so one of these days I’m going to suck it up and find a copy of the original on eBay.
Heh, I still get choked up a bit when I hear the music from Aerith’s death scene. It was a good game.
We’re better picking up a PlayStation 2 on the cheap and catching up that way.
Mages, yes. One of the main characters in FF7 is a “Cetra”, which I suppose is something like an elf. I don’t know of any FF that has dwarves or orcs or other standard fantasy creatures, though FF does have some recurring monsters and Magical Beings (summons, espers, Guardian Forces).
Magic in a FF game works pretty much like technology. You can perform magic according to set formulas. As you gain levels, you gain in ability to perform magic AND to perform better fighting techniques.
Some of the FF games were based on the faux-medieval stuff…but not all of them.
Right now I’m currently replaying FF8, Chrono Cross, and Civ III.
But, Sephiroth could still kick my ass.
Kafka was a bigger jerk, but it was Sephiroth who could kick my ass.
The original FF had a cave full of dwarves from which you had to get the top weapon or armor (don’t remember which it was). There was also a city populated by elves.
A castle of friendly dragons. Standard magic.
Other than the airship, it was a pretty standard “fantasy” setting. The series has grown up a lot in the meantime.
I have to admit, I’ve never played the original FF.
I liked Final Fantasy 7 a lot better before they ruined the ending.
FF7’s ending leaves a lot open to interpretation, but my theory was always that the Lifestream used human souls (the creatures who were hurting the planet) in order to repair the damaged caused by the meteor. This wiped out all of the humans, but let the earth survive. The final scene shows Red 13’s species ruling the planet, and Midgar covered over in plant growth, symbolizing that there will be no more human-caused harm to the planet.
Of course, then Square made that awful Final Fantasy 7 movie, which showed that everything went back to normal after the game ended, and that Midgar was still continuing to operate! I’m not sure how much else the story was desecrated by all those other spin off games that were made…
I tried playing this again recently. It used to be one of my favorite games - I sunk hours into Chocobo Races, beating my highscores at the Golden Saucer, and striving to get all the Limit Breaks. I even beat Emerald and Ruby Weapons!
Lately, tho, the graphics just don’t do it for me. I can’t see past the blockiness and static backgrounds to find the characters and places I love. I’d like to play it through again before I pick up Crisis Core, but with Lost Odyssey taking up my time, it’s just not happening.
Acourse, it probably would’ve helped if I weren’t playing it on the weird laggy Remote Play option the PS3 has. I mean, there was about a second’s lag in doing anything, and that was on a private network mere feet from the PS3 o.o I can’t imagine trying to play a game over the internet, cool as that would be.