So I've been wanting to put something like this together for a while now. I love Final Fantasy as a series and I wanted to talk more in detail and share my experiences with the series, from how I got started with it, to my personal feelings about each and every Final Fantasy game I played. In most of these retrospectives people tend to start from Final Fantasy 1 and work their way up. For me, I want to talk about my experiences with the games in the order I played them.
What I am going to do is split each post in this thread by game and since these will probably be long winded, I'll only talk about one game per post. I request that you guys keep discussion about your own experiences with these games limited to the game I most recently posted about.
Let's all start with the first game I played in the series, Final Fantasy VII.
I was a nerd in school, no surprise there really, I loved nerdy shit like Magic the Gathering and video games. I was bullied a lot and was smarter than most of the material that was being taught, so video games became an escape at home. They let me be a cool action hero, or brave warrior, or master martial artist. I loved games like Resident Evil, Tekken, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, etc. But one game genre I never got into was RPG, at least not traditional ones.
Like I said above I was bullied a lot in school, but when I was 13 a game came out that caused something really weird to happen. This big athletic bully name Caesar used to be on my case everyday, especially during P.E. class. But one day he caught me in the locker room of gym class and asked, "Hey you like video games right?" It was the most genuine question he had ever asked me. He made no move to shove me, smirk, or anything nasty towards me. It was merely a question. From a guy who I feared and hated.
"Yeah?" I said softly.
He flipped his backpack off his shoulder and opened it without saying anything. He dug around until he pulled out a copy of Final Fantasy 7 and held it out towards me. "Here man. I think you'll really like this game." I didn't know what to do. This guy had stolen my lunch, shoved me in dirt, pants'ed me on dozens of occasions, and here he was just handing me a Playstation game. I was confused, and I figured it had to be a trick of some kind. Maybe the case was fill with shit or something.
He just held it out and waited for me to take it. Which I did carefully. "Let me know what you think. I beat it yesterday, it's awesome." Then he walked away.
I opened the case as if something would pop out and bite me, but there was nothing in the case but the three discs that were the game and the manual.
So I got home and popped Final Fantasy 7 into my Playstation for the first time. The opening got me hyped, here I was some kick ass spikey haired dude about to break into some kind of factory or something and start some shit. The music was awesome, and I was ready to rock. My hype instantly deflated after I took two steps in the came and was brought to a battle screen. The transition fades in and I see my guy with a big fuck off sword, and two soldier guys pointing guns at me. On the bottom of the screen I see my name "Ex-Soldier" and a health meter that reads 360/360. There is another bar that fills up and once it does a menu pops up with a list of actions to select. Immediately I groan, oh this is one of those games where you just watch numbers and select menu options. I was hoping to mash the attack button and wreck dudes. Never had I given a game about menus a chance.
But I had nothing else to play at the time, so I gave it a chance. I selected "attack" watched my dude zip across the screen and slash a dude apart where he explodes in red. "Oh shit! I cut that guy in half!" I cry softly so my mom doesn't hear me swear. In defeating the first two enemies in the game, a huge smile already crosses my face and I am hooked.
Final Fantasy 7 is probably labeled the most overrated game in the series by a lot of people, simply because there is just as much love for it. But I truly think that Final Fantasy 7 has a magic to it that I've never experienced in any game nor entry in the series again. It is quite possible that I look so fondly on the game because it was not only my first Final Fantasy game, but also my first RPG period. I remember progressing through the first reactor, then the second reactor, and trying to predict to myself how the plot was going to go.
I remember the first conversation you have on the train around the first mission where Jessie tells Cloud about the 7 reactors around the city, and how they destroy the planet to give the wealthy people of Midgar power. I thought then that the game would be harder and harder missions of us going to each of these reactors, then taking down Shinra in the final dungeon at the center of the city. Of course I was wrong. WAY wrong. Even after what happened at the end of the second reactor mission, I still thought that I would just get back to my party and we'd regroup to take on another reactor, possibly with Aeris in tow this time.
Nope. Still wrong. Instead I dress up as a woman to save my first Waifu Tifa aka Titfa, and the plot sends us in a different direction where we race to try and save an entire segment of the city. Which we fail. An hour later I'm staring at the Shinra Tower right before me, and I'm still on disc one. Seeing as all my ideas are out the window about the progression of the game, I strap in for a crazy ride.
By the time I reached the Shinra Building, I completely forgot that the battle system was about menus, and instead I love mixing up my Materia's, and seeing the attacks and limit breaks of the different characters in the group. Titfa's punches and kicks, Barret shooting the fuck outta stuff, Aeris hitting things lightly with her stick. Okay I know Aeris is supposed to be the mage, but I never wanted to use MP on non-bosses because you never get that many of them. I have 600 hit points, but only like 70 Magic Points. I need those spells to deal with bosses right? WTF is ether?
Things go pretty good in Shinra tower until I'm caught and locked up. It's here that you start to learn more about the characters. By the way I have a talking Lion in my party now. That's awesome. After falling asleep in prison, I wake to find the door busted open and everyone that isn't a playable character is dead as fuck. Blood is everywhere and we head off to find out what the hell is going on. Luckily there is a blood trail literally pointing the way for us. So Sephiroth has shown up, murdered everyone including the president, left his sword behind like a big "IT WAS ME!" sign, and stole his gross looking headless mommy. Okay this got weird.
Cloud sends everyone away to escape while he talks with the new president Rufus aka "shitprick". The party flees, fighting giant guard robots on an elevator and I TOLD you I would need my MP so haha. Meanwhile Cloud and Shitprick slap each other around a little until Shitprick runs away and we don't see him again for 20 hours.
The party escapes by a fricken freeway chase mini game where you bash people off bikes moving 100+ mph with your sword. Then you reach the edge of the city and fight another big robot. Then the party looks out into the world and this is it. The pivotal moment where Cloud, who has just been going along for the ride for the most part now has a purpose. Sephiroth means something to him, and he knows that whatever Sephiroth is doing it isn't good and he must be stopped. Having nothing better to do, the party decides to follow Cloud.
End of disc 1.
Or so I thought. Actually Disc 1 is fucking huge and this whole thing with Midgar and Shinra was basically what would amount as a tutorial level in most other games. Except it was an awesome 10 hour experience. Now go on a journey around the world hunting for Sephiroth, and if you can bother along they way you should probably stop Shinra too.
I wont continue the whole story summary but you can tell I was just blown away by this game. My 13-year-old self continuously guessed the plot wrong everytime I thought I knew what would happen.
I remember going to Caesar the following Monday to tell him I made it out of Midgar and that the game was awesome. He smiled and asked questions about what level I was and where I was at with the game at different points. He told me that he was level 25 when he left Midgar and he already had Lightning and Ice 2 and over 1000 HP.
It was then that I learned about grinding. Caesar beat me at everything in reality, but I wanted to beat him at this. So instead of continuing the game, I got my Aunt to buy me the Strategy guide and I started a brand new game. This time determined to beat Caesar's milestones. I spent hours grinding to level 12 in the first reactor, more time grinding in the subway before reactor five to get to 18, more time spent in the train graveyard getting to level 22 unlocking lightning and ice 2. I came to realization that I really liked grinding. Don't ask me why.
It was during this grinding time that I began to really figure out the Materia system and how to link them properly for special effects and defenses against enemies. I learned how to unlock different Limit Breaks, something I didn't know existed the first time through Midgar. Using the guide, and lots of grinding I proceeding through the game in an effort to MASTER it. Something I had never done in any other game I had ever played.
Once I got through Midgar I was proud to tell Caesar that I had beaten his record of 1200HP, having the harder to gain Cure 2 spell, and beating the final boss of the Midgar area at level 26. Only then was I ready to see what the rest of the game had in store.
I learned to love and hate Sephiroth at the same time. He was a badass, but he also needed to die. I cried when Aeris died. I saved Yuffie's honor by helping her beat her father in a battle. I went to space, I got lost in Cloud's mind to learn about Zack Fair and the truth about where Cloud had come from and how he got involved with Shinra in the first place. I took on super bosses, bred Chocobos, obtained hard to find and powerful materias. I tore Final Fantasy 7 apart and absorbed everything it had to offer.
As far as I remember, Final Fantasy 7 is the first game I beat more than once. To this day I uphold a tradition to play through FF7 at least once every other year. All because of the impression it gave me when I played it at 13. I can hum almost every song in the game, mentally picture every area, I remember secrets, and materia combinations, I even remember a lot of the dialog.
Final Fantasy 7 turns 20 years old today, and I still regard the game as the best game I have ever played.
Do the graphics hold up? No, they weren't even great when they first came out. Outside of the cut scenes obviously. There are poor translations, and errors all over the place. The Materia system is easily broken to the point where super bosses can be defeated in one turn. But that doesn't ruin the magic of the game, if anything, I would say in increases the magic of Final Fantasy 7. The countless environments, the cast of characters, the boss fights, the story, everything about the game just comes together to make an incredible experience.
Final Fantasy holds a special place in my heart that will never be replaced. I tried to give Caesar back his copy of the game after I beat it a few weeks later, but he shook his head and told me to keep it. Apparently his family got him two copies by accident and he just gave me one because he knew I liked games and thought I would really like it. He never bullied me again either, though we never became really friends beyond those first few FF7 conversations.
When they announced the remake of FF7 I would be lying if I didn't say I broke down crying. The announcement made me realize that FF7 is the most important game I ever played. There have been changes in my TOP 5 games of all time throughout the years, but FF7 will never leave it's place as number 1 in my heart. It sparked my love for RPG's, and opened me up to a world beyond just hack and slash or run and gun gameplay.
Overrated or not. Final Fantasy 7 is my personal "best game EVA!"
Shame about the next game....
What I am going to do is split each post in this thread by game and since these will probably be long winded, I'll only talk about one game per post. I request that you guys keep discussion about your own experiences with these games limited to the game I most recently posted about.
Let's all start with the first game I played in the series, Final Fantasy VII.
I was a nerd in school, no surprise there really, I loved nerdy shit like Magic the Gathering and video games. I was bullied a lot and was smarter than most of the material that was being taught, so video games became an escape at home. They let me be a cool action hero, or brave warrior, or master martial artist. I loved games like Resident Evil, Tekken, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, etc. But one game genre I never got into was RPG, at least not traditional ones.
Like I said above I was bullied a lot in school, but when I was 13 a game came out that caused something really weird to happen. This big athletic bully name Caesar used to be on my case everyday, especially during P.E. class. But one day he caught me in the locker room of gym class and asked, "Hey you like video games right?" It was the most genuine question he had ever asked me. He made no move to shove me, smirk, or anything nasty towards me. It was merely a question. From a guy who I feared and hated.
"Yeah?" I said softly.
He flipped his backpack off his shoulder and opened it without saying anything. He dug around until he pulled out a copy of Final Fantasy 7 and held it out towards me. "Here man. I think you'll really like this game." I didn't know what to do. This guy had stolen my lunch, shoved me in dirt, pants'ed me on dozens of occasions, and here he was just handing me a Playstation game. I was confused, and I figured it had to be a trick of some kind. Maybe the case was fill with shit or something.
He just held it out and waited for me to take it. Which I did carefully. "Let me know what you think. I beat it yesterday, it's awesome." Then he walked away.
I opened the case as if something would pop out and bite me, but there was nothing in the case but the three discs that were the game and the manual.
So I got home and popped Final Fantasy 7 into my Playstation for the first time. The opening got me hyped, here I was some kick ass spikey haired dude about to break into some kind of factory or something and start some shit. The music was awesome, and I was ready to rock. My hype instantly deflated after I took two steps in the came and was brought to a battle screen. The transition fades in and I see my guy with a big fuck off sword, and two soldier guys pointing guns at me. On the bottom of the screen I see my name "Ex-Soldier" and a health meter that reads 360/360. There is another bar that fills up and once it does a menu pops up with a list of actions to select. Immediately I groan, oh this is one of those games where you just watch numbers and select menu options. I was hoping to mash the attack button and wreck dudes. Never had I given a game about menus a chance.
But I had nothing else to play at the time, so I gave it a chance. I selected "attack" watched my dude zip across the screen and slash a dude apart where he explodes in red. "Oh shit! I cut that guy in half!" I cry softly so my mom doesn't hear me swear. In defeating the first two enemies in the game, a huge smile already crosses my face and I am hooked.
Final Fantasy 7 is probably labeled the most overrated game in the series by a lot of people, simply because there is just as much love for it. But I truly think that Final Fantasy 7 has a magic to it that I've never experienced in any game nor entry in the series again. It is quite possible that I look so fondly on the game because it was not only my first Final Fantasy game, but also my first RPG period. I remember progressing through the first reactor, then the second reactor, and trying to predict to myself how the plot was going to go.
I remember the first conversation you have on the train around the first mission where Jessie tells Cloud about the 7 reactors around the city, and how they destroy the planet to give the wealthy people of Midgar power. I thought then that the game would be harder and harder missions of us going to each of these reactors, then taking down Shinra in the final dungeon at the center of the city. Of course I was wrong. WAY wrong. Even after what happened at the end of the second reactor mission, I still thought that I would just get back to my party and we'd regroup to take on another reactor, possibly with Aeris in tow this time.
Nope. Still wrong. Instead I dress up as a woman to save my first Waifu Tifa aka Titfa, and the plot sends us in a different direction where we race to try and save an entire segment of the city. Which we fail. An hour later I'm staring at the Shinra Tower right before me, and I'm still on disc one. Seeing as all my ideas are out the window about the progression of the game, I strap in for a crazy ride.
By the time I reached the Shinra Building, I completely forgot that the battle system was about menus, and instead I love mixing up my Materia's, and seeing the attacks and limit breaks of the different characters in the group. Titfa's punches and kicks, Barret shooting the fuck outta stuff, Aeris hitting things lightly with her stick. Okay I know Aeris is supposed to be the mage, but I never wanted to use MP on non-bosses because you never get that many of them. I have 600 hit points, but only like 70 Magic Points. I need those spells to deal with bosses right? WTF is ether?
Things go pretty good in Shinra tower until I'm caught and locked up. It's here that you start to learn more about the characters. By the way I have a talking Lion in my party now. That's awesome. After falling asleep in prison, I wake to find the door busted open and everyone that isn't a playable character is dead as fuck. Blood is everywhere and we head off to find out what the hell is going on. Luckily there is a blood trail literally pointing the way for us. So Sephiroth has shown up, murdered everyone including the president, left his sword behind like a big "IT WAS ME!" sign, and stole his gross looking headless mommy. Okay this got weird.
Cloud sends everyone away to escape while he talks with the new president Rufus aka "shitprick". The party flees, fighting giant guard robots on an elevator and I TOLD you I would need my MP so haha. Meanwhile Cloud and Shitprick slap each other around a little until Shitprick runs away and we don't see him again for 20 hours.
The party escapes by a fricken freeway chase mini game where you bash people off bikes moving 100+ mph with your sword. Then you reach the edge of the city and fight another big robot. Then the party looks out into the world and this is it. The pivotal moment where Cloud, who has just been going along for the ride for the most part now has a purpose. Sephiroth means something to him, and he knows that whatever Sephiroth is doing it isn't good and he must be stopped. Having nothing better to do, the party decides to follow Cloud.
End of disc 1.
Or so I thought. Actually Disc 1 is fucking huge and this whole thing with Midgar and Shinra was basically what would amount as a tutorial level in most other games. Except it was an awesome 10 hour experience. Now go on a journey around the world hunting for Sephiroth, and if you can bother along they way you should probably stop Shinra too.
I wont continue the whole story summary but you can tell I was just blown away by this game. My 13-year-old self continuously guessed the plot wrong everytime I thought I knew what would happen.
I remember going to Caesar the following Monday to tell him I made it out of Midgar and that the game was awesome. He smiled and asked questions about what level I was and where I was at with the game at different points. He told me that he was level 25 when he left Midgar and he already had Lightning and Ice 2 and over 1000 HP.
It was then that I learned about grinding. Caesar beat me at everything in reality, but I wanted to beat him at this. So instead of continuing the game, I got my Aunt to buy me the Strategy guide and I started a brand new game. This time determined to beat Caesar's milestones. I spent hours grinding to level 12 in the first reactor, more time grinding in the subway before reactor five to get to 18, more time spent in the train graveyard getting to level 22 unlocking lightning and ice 2. I came to realization that I really liked grinding. Don't ask me why.
It was during this grinding time that I began to really figure out the Materia system and how to link them properly for special effects and defenses against enemies. I learned how to unlock different Limit Breaks, something I didn't know existed the first time through Midgar. Using the guide, and lots of grinding I proceeding through the game in an effort to MASTER it. Something I had never done in any other game I had ever played.
Once I got through Midgar I was proud to tell Caesar that I had beaten his record of 1200HP, having the harder to gain Cure 2 spell, and beating the final boss of the Midgar area at level 26. Only then was I ready to see what the rest of the game had in store.
I learned to love and hate Sephiroth at the same time. He was a badass, but he also needed to die. I cried when Aeris died. I saved Yuffie's honor by helping her beat her father in a battle. I went to space, I got lost in Cloud's mind to learn about Zack Fair and the truth about where Cloud had come from and how he got involved with Shinra in the first place. I took on super bosses, bred Chocobos, obtained hard to find and powerful materias. I tore Final Fantasy 7 apart and absorbed everything it had to offer.
As far as I remember, Final Fantasy 7 is the first game I beat more than once. To this day I uphold a tradition to play through FF7 at least once every other year. All because of the impression it gave me when I played it at 13. I can hum almost every song in the game, mentally picture every area, I remember secrets, and materia combinations, I even remember a lot of the dialog.
Final Fantasy 7 turns 20 years old today, and I still regard the game as the best game I have ever played.
Do the graphics hold up? No, they weren't even great when they first came out. Outside of the cut scenes obviously. There are poor translations, and errors all over the place. The Materia system is easily broken to the point where super bosses can be defeated in one turn. But that doesn't ruin the magic of the game, if anything, I would say in increases the magic of Final Fantasy 7. The countless environments, the cast of characters, the boss fights, the story, everything about the game just comes together to make an incredible experience.
Final Fantasy holds a special place in my heart that will never be replaced. I tried to give Caesar back his copy of the game after I beat it a few weeks later, but he shook his head and told me to keep it. Apparently his family got him two copies by accident and he just gave me one because he knew I liked games and thought I would really like it. He never bullied me again either, though we never became really friends beyond those first few FF7 conversations.
When they announced the remake of FF7 I would be lying if I didn't say I broke down crying. The announcement made me realize that FF7 is the most important game I ever played. There have been changes in my TOP 5 games of all time throughout the years, but FF7 will never leave it's place as number 1 in my heart. It sparked my love for RPG's, and opened me up to a world beyond just hack and slash or run and gun gameplay.
Overrated or not. Final Fantasy 7 is my personal "best game EVA!"
Shame about the next game....
