Final Fantasy VII: A Discussion

[Plauged1]

I played FF:VII and liked it, but its far from being my favorite. FF:VIII was my favorite and I think FF:Tactics was the best. But thats just what I think. I dont get why people are so defensive over VII, or over FF in general. Its kinda scary really.

Side note: Am I the only one who thinks they should put more effort into the tactics series? Just a thought...=/

 

[Chancie]

I really don't see the appeal of FFVII, and personally, it's my least favorite of the series. It's was incredibly average and there's nothing "superb" about it. I would say that other FFs deserve just as much love and obsession as what FFVII gets, and don't even get my started on Cloud. A character I can truly say I despise. Again, there are many other FF characters that I personally think are better than him and they don't get nearly as much attention as he does.

As far as people flaming you for it goes, that's ridiculous. It's your opinion, as is theirs. I've never seen the point in bashing people and fighting with them because of their opinion. It's what they think; what you say won't change that. So, whenever someone starts something like that, I just walk away because it's not worth my time. Debates are fine, but full on trolling and flaming because someone doesn't agree with you is pathetic.
In short, opinions are opinions and everyone should be able to think/say what they want without being attacked.

 

[mkg]

Well it was the first game in the series to have a more modern feel to it with soldiers with automatic weapons and cars and all that, so at the time their weren't many any "3-D" rpgs with that kind of artistic style. But then, the game itself was really awesome; the music was epic and sometimes brooding or erie, the gameplay was fun, watching the FMVs at the time were epic, the limit breaks were always exciting to unlock, the characters (especially cloud) actually had history together and there was a very (in my opinion) unexpected plot twist in Cloud's backstory. It wasn't some thrown together bullshit like "we were all orphans in the same orphanage, but we forgot lol". He was deranged and a borderline badguy for a second, that's hard to do in a game where you control that character the entire time. Not to mention just the content: breeding chocobos, finding all the best weapons and materia, killing the optional bosses, finding extra characters. The story was a little hard to follow and is a little too mysterious perphaps, but all in all it's still one of my favorite experiences on the playstation. I've played every FF since then too and they all have gone continually downhill in my opinion. FF13 pretty much plays itself for the first 5+ hours, wtf?

 

[Echo136]

I love the game. I think its a classic. But to be fair, when I first played it I was 10, so I'm viewing the game through rose tinted glasses.

 

[starwarsgeek]

I think it's a solid RPG. Nice soundtrack, nice story (albeit, it can be a bit overly-complicated at times. Has a couple of decent plot twists). Materia system was a nice way to update the class system. I actually liked ATB combat (Fast enough to require some relatively quick decisions...controlled enough for strategy...simple enough to avoid a big learning curve). So, yeah, it's a very good game in my opinion...although, but I don't bite peoples' heads off for disagreeing.

Just out of curiosity, what was it that turned you away from the game?

 

[TheKillerCliche]

" I despise FFVII and a lot of popular games cause they don't meet my standards of a good game"


Which are????

 

[Sneaklemming]

FF7 is one of the most overrated games ever made. It has actually had a negative effect on the gaming industry, like mario and zelda and sonic, and all the other throw backs. Sequels are bad for creativity.

I feel for the OP being harassed, but its important to stand by your views.

 

[viranimus]

Fanaticism pure and simple.

I mean look at other similar examples. FF7 was a massively popular game when it was released. Compare that to other massively popular titles such as Halo circa 2005. Try saying something negative about halo back in that day in an open forum and you would generate equal levels of aggro. Same is true to a lesser extent today to Modern Warfare. Say something negative, and you are likely to pick up a fair amount of hate.

As it relates to FF7 also remember, a sizable chunk of the final fantasy fanbase, became fans specifically because of that game.(oddly though few people who are FF fans admit to becoming fans based off 7, for some reason its like a point of embarrassment) So not only are you snubbing in the face of fandom, but nostalgia, which will likely not end well.

Anyway, the question, FF7 was in its day a highly evolved vision of the franchise (moving to 3d). It shattered preconceived notions of what the series was. It also pushed the boundries in story telling almost on par with FF3(US) (absolutely refer to call it 6). But at the end of the day, all you really had was a good game, that was still flawed to a minor excusable extent, with a story that is still among the best game storylines thirteen years after its release. I think based on that strength it became the very definition of a video game being overhyped beyond all recognition.

 

[Sanguinius- The Angel]

I honestly don't see why anyone wouldn't like FF7, unless they were just not fans of FF games in general. The gameplay, graphics, and story were damn good for it's time, and in my opinion it still has nostalgia value to warrant additional playthroughs. The soundtrack was phenomenal, and I truly felt engaged when certain story elements took place. When I played through it, I felt compelled to keep playing, to do the next event, to save the goddamn world from a genetic experiment gone horribly wrong. Sure, the story was confusing it times, [ Hell, until I played Crisis Core I hardly understood HALF of it, ] but it was still a solid, great experience.

Now, on the other hand, I can hardly understand why anyone likes 9. The story for that game was going on a quest to get a SuperSoft to save your friends because they got petrified in a forest. Not to mention the main character is a large, annoying tool imo. Not to mention the length. I was on the last disk after like three or four hours.

 

[viranimus]

Hrm.. I know for me personally I loved FF9. And I honestly think that the reason is due to the nostalgia factor as it was like a throwback to old school FF games. I suspect a lot(but obviously not all) of people who adore 9 do so much for the same reason.

I liked to have almost cried seeing a fully rendered 3d incarnation of a black mage. It was sort of like your favorite childhood fairy tale coming to life right before your eyes. Again, least it was for me.

 

[Kiju]

Hm...well, that's fairly simple to ask, at least the first part is.

Looking at Final Fantasy as a stand-alone game would give one the best judgment you can give. Say, if you've never played a Final Fantasy title, and you just picked it up 'cause you heard it was good and decided to try it. That was how I actually picked it up. Before I played Final Fantasy VII, I had never played any of the other titles previously. To summarize it, I liked it; the storyline was a little...weird in some ways, but it boiled down to "There's some evil guy doing evil things. He used to be your partner in an organization that did good things with questionable nature. He's gone rogue, and is now so far over the line that he needs to be killed." It's a simple good-versus-evil battle that takes a few other elements, like madness, self-doubt, and paranoia and puts them forth through Cloud's backstory and dreams.

The characters are rather easy to identify archetypes, and thus aren't exactly the most...imaginative of the lot, but they fit the bill. The only ones who were actually good were Nanaki/Red XIII, Cid, and Cloud (my post-Aeris team). It wasn't a groundbreaking game except perhaps in the simply astoundingly well-drawn backgrounds and settings. The character models were, lets face it, garbage, and the story was pretty boilerplate.

I think what everyone seemed to love is that it was as good as the series and genre (at the time) could ever get. It was Final Fantasy's peak, their high-bar for the series. Some people don't really understand what's so amazing about it and frankly, neither do I. Would I buy it if it was remade on the PS3? You bet I would. But otherwise, it's best left to nostalgia.

Sadly, I think Final Fantasy VII would have made a better movie - or better yet, TV miniseries - than a game (barring Advent Children, which was...while cool, half-assed at best). It isn't my favorite JRPG, but it's definitely in my top-five, and everyone is entitled to hate big-name titles if it doesn't suit their particular tastes. I hate Half Life, for instance, and everyone I tell that to thinks I'm crazy...but there it is.

 

[Yostbeef]

I love the game. I think its a classic. But to be fair, when I first played it I was 10, so I'm viewing the game through rose tinted glasses.

Exactly that game had perfect timing.I was around the same age when i seen it at my friends house for the first time i also saw a PlayStation and 3d graphics for the first time and like you at that age that game blew my mind.To this day i still think it was a good game by no means is it a bad "game" I was still at a very impressionable age where everything was amazing so I'm not going to get into the semantics of what i think of it now because know one cares and and enough people usually sum up my opinion on a thread which is satisfying enough for me but, I will say one thing about it is that it has one of the best and most memorable soundtracks I have had the pleasure of hearing at the time of a lack of voiced dialogue it was such a strong vehicle of emotion for story telling in games.FF7 will always have a place in my heart.

 

[Sliverwings]

It was an okay game, not the greatest (FFVI) not the worst (FFX-2) it was mediocre. It did give me one of my favorite characters who also happens to be the least appreciated...
http://ff7.ffsky.cn/images/cait.jpg
Cait Sith!!!

 

[Thaius]

Final Fantasy VII was and is still one of the greatest storytelling experiences of my life.

As for subjectivity, it's true that the quality of art is a subjective thing (and yes, video games are absolutely and unquestionably an art form). I do think that someone should be able to recognize quality even if it's not to their liking (for instance, I can't stand Resident Evil 4's gameplay, but it's a well-made game with amazing presentation, and I respect that). To be completely honest, I don't see how someone could think Final Fantasy VII is a bad game. They may not like it, but I think that anyone who has played a good chunk of it should see that it is well-made (and considering how freaking huge this game is, a good chunk is at least 20-30 hours, but even then an opinion on anything artistic is not completely valid until they have experienced the minimum intended by the creators, which in video games simply means finishing the game). I'm not sure I could understand someone saying that it is actually a badly-made game. Imperfect, sure, but not bad.

 

[ckam]

It's all right, you're entitled to your own opinion. Well as long as it's not bigotry or something, then I'm fine with it.

 

[Aisaku]

FF7 is a milestone. It's when Final Fantasy stepped out from being a great rpg to being 'mainstream' and 'movie-like'. That I can't argue, BUT

You get some great parts, like the initial Midgar arc, but once you leave the inital metropolis it's just a series of haphazard events with little connection to each other. It does remind me of other fantasy-adventure anime series of the time like Slayers. Hell, even the shift towards Tetsuya Nomura hints that direction. The WTF lighthearted moements like the Gold Saucer, characters like Cait Sith.

So yeah it's great, it's fondly reminded, but as a whole it does not stand as the best of the series. There have been better Final Fantasies, both before, and after FF7.

 

[wolf92]

The game was incredibly over-rated. It's good, it's kinda fun to play, but greatest game ever? That's reaaaaaaaaaaaaaally pushing it

 

[Tim_Buoy]

ALL final Fantasy games are inferior to Dragon Quest.

well to be fair dragon quest is more of an mmorpg that focuses on quest and interaction while final fantasey is more of narrritive set in an rpg that guides you along a story

 

[ZehGeek]

I think the Final Fantasy franchise on a whole is overrated, so I didnt care for FF7 when it came out, after my friend told me how awesome if game it was, and so on and so forth. I also think anyone who flames me for my opinion is a fucking mindless fanboy, but that another matter.

It's like with anything, cept in here you just get annoying idiots trying to annoy you to make themselves feel better and "revenge" what they look up to or whatever. From most people if you were phyiscaly next to them, and there a idiotic fanboy like that, I'm pretty sure it'd land you a punch in the gut or somethin.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure that most of the people that think that "Oh FFVII r god, YOU KNOW NOTHING, I R KILL YOU", haven't even played the game. They think what other people think. >_> <_<
Just ignore them, they'll probably be alone for a very very long time, wishing for what can never be. Personaly, I hate FFVII. The story's just ughhh, the combat looked annoying, and mainly just the idiotic fanboys. It's as badly overhyped as Halo, and Twilight. Alot of the time they don't even have good combacks and points. It's ususaly just insults, and rosey glasses over there eyes. FFVIII was WAY better story wise then FFVII. I'll admit, the combat system was a bit bleh, but it's still fun, and I still play FFVIII.