If you could choose 1 game to be wiped from history forever... What would it be?
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In all honesty, most of the criticism I've seen levelled at Final Fantasy VII is merely nitpicking; typically having to do with triflings such as the imperfections of polygonal character models, a materia system that apparently detracts from the indidividuality of the protagonists (god help us), and a handful of typos through the script that are typical of RPGs in general prior to when, oh wait, FFVII catalyzed the genre in the western hemisphere. Funnier still is when the same people who so exuberantly critique it laud a title like Diablo, which didn't have half the influence on the genre, was lightyears less gratifying in terms of atmosphere and narrative, and that's central innovation in gameplay consisted of click, click, click.
Because really, when you shed the superficialities of mechanistic game criticism (i.e. the most important aspect of a game is its mechanics rather than how affecting it is à la art) and elitist "wasn't-as-good-as-the-last-one" posturing you'll find that beneath all the reactionary knee-jerking FFVII is a pretty damn fine game, if not one of the best RPGs ever. It's influence obviously attests to this: it revolutionized the way narrative was presented in RPGs - consider how much more immediately engrossing the game was than its predeccesors as a result of its manipulation of painted backgrounds, orchestral scoring, FMV, etc. - popularized JRPGs in North America, and managed to successfully reinvent the FF series by offering a fuller visulization of the cyberpunk themes suggested in FFVI. Moreoverly, it managed to do all of this while reprising the now-venerated gameplay of its forebearers, thusly offering up a tried-and-true core concept in a new - and radically innovative - packaging. Sounds good to me.
Dismissals of the storyline are patently ludicrous for a whole other set of reasons. Call me a populist, but I would argue that the continued popularity of FFVII today has largely to do with the relevance and relatibility of its narrative, which subtly touched on alot of issues - corporatism, sectarian spiritualist renewal, and environmentalism among them. That many reviewers chalk up the game's popularity to the fact it was the first FF a large portion of the gaming populace played, and deride its storyline for being convoluted, shows how out-of-touch they are: yes, FFVII was a new experience when it was released (and in actuality, whether you had played the originals or not) and yes, the plot occassionally suffered from a lack of clarity, but that does little to change the fact that the storyline was in many respects brilliantly presented, complimented as it was by bleak futurist stylings and excellent scoring. Case in point: remember that point early on the game when you come to a swamp region only to see the game camera rise slowly and depict one of the creatures that lives in it speared effortlesly by Sepiroth? Or when you travel to the village below the casino overworld to find that it's utterly impoverished, evidencing a polarity of wealth that may remind some players of their own country or planet post-Friedman? These are both examples of expert didactic skewering. And to think people still call Metal Gear Solid the "first postmodernist game".
Of course, Square's follow-up, Final Fantasy VIII, wasn't as good as its predecessor. Few games ever will be. Perhaps, then, FFVII was the beginning of the end: for me, personally, all of Square's titles that followed on the heels of it lacked the effulgence of either it or its NES/SNES precursors (minus maybe FFIX). At this point, though, I'll end this argument, before it turns into a rant about how FFX and MGS2 are both equally intolerable because they're so damn talky.
Because really, when you shed the superficialities of mechanistic game criticism (i.e. the most important aspect of a game is its mechanics rather than how affecting it is à la art) and elitist "wasn't-as-good-as-the-last-one" posturing you'll find that beneath all the reactionary knee-jerking FFVII is a pretty damn fine game, if not one of the best RPGs ever. It's influence obviously attests to this: it revolutionized the way narrative was presented in RPGs - consider how much more immediately engrossing the game was than its predeccesors as a result of its manipulation of painted backgrounds, orchestral scoring, FMV, etc. - popularized JRPGs in North America, and managed to successfully reinvent the FF series by offering a fuller visulization of the cyberpunk themes suggested in FFVI. Moreoverly, it managed to do all of this while reprising the now-venerated gameplay of its forebearers, thusly offering up a tried-and-true core concept in a new - and radically innovative - packaging. Sounds good to me.
Dismissals of the storyline are patently ludicrous for a whole other set of reasons. Call me a populist, but I would argue that the continued popularity of FFVII today has largely to do with the relevance and relatibility of its narrative, which subtly touched on alot of issues - corporatism, sectarian spiritualist renewal, and environmentalism among them. That many reviewers chalk up the game's popularity to the fact it was the first FF a large portion of the gaming populace played, and deride its storyline for being convoluted, shows how out-of-touch they are: yes, FFVII was a new experience when it was released (and in actuality, whether you had played the originals or not) and yes, the plot occassionally suffered from a lack of clarity, but that does little to change the fact that the storyline was in many respects brilliantly presented, complimented as it was by bleak futurist stylings and excellent scoring. Case in point: remember that point early on the game when you come to a swamp region only to see the game camera rise slowly and depict one of the creatures that lives in it speared effortlesly by Sepiroth? Or when you travel to the village below the casino overworld to find that it's utterly impoverished, evidencing a polarity of wealth that may remind some players of their own country or planet post-Friedman? These are both examples of expert didactic skewering. And to think people still call Metal Gear Solid the "first postmodernist game".
Of course, Square's follow-up, Final Fantasy VIII, wasn't as good as its predecessor. Few games ever will be. Perhaps, then, FFVII was the beginning of the end: for me, personally, all of Square's titles that followed on the heels of it lacked the effulgence of either it or its NES/SNES precursors (minus maybe FFIX). At this point, though, I'll end this argument, before it turns into a rant about how FFX and MGS2 are both equally intolerable because they're so damn talky.
As a WoW player:
WoW
As a non WoW player:
Dead or alive xtreme beach volleyball or Tomb Raider.
WoW
As a non WoW player:
Dead or alive xtreme beach volleyball or Tomb Raider.
THISmooncalf post=9.70087.748623 said:
On the otherhand I think keeping games like ET for the Atari, and Daikatana for the PC, are important. They taught developers to fear their own hubris. Meanwhile, a game like Revolution X provides no lesson because it probably made those assholes tons of money.
EDIT: Oh, and every dead or alive game where the focus is BOOBIEZ AND BIKINIEZ! So... All of them.
I'd say FFVII but then it was the predecessor to FFVIII which was superior in every way, as far as I'm concerned anyway.
I'm not going to debate the merits of the story or whatever, I know I'm in the minority.
So FFX-2, no one would miss that.
I'm not going to debate the merits of the story or whatever, I know I'm in the minority.
So FFX-2, no one would miss that.
Isn't that the one where you wander around different places solving the mystery of where Mario is??? Kinda like 'Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?' If so, I loved that game...not sure why, but I loved it!!!TheNecroswanson post=9.70087.748707 said:
I'd place my vote on Halo simply for the fact that it really didn't bring anything special into FPS games that hadn't been done better elsewhere and too many games seem to be trying to copy it
or
Those damn ridiculous, year-after-year, no change what-so-ever sports games like Fifa or Madden etc.
or
Those damn ridiculous, year-after-year, no change what-so-ever sports games like Fifa or Madden etc.
So many choices...
HALO - It spawned so many Fanboys, it spawned crappy Halo knock-offs, it spawned an overhyped sequel and a FUCKING AWFUL sequel to that. Then they went for a C&C knock-off and now we're being exposed to Halo 3-only-this-time-you're-a-regular-grunt.
WORLD OF WARCRAFT - It fucked up the Warcraft series AND infested the MMORPG community with bastard WOWclones and WOWtards and all things shitty. On the other hand, we'd have one less South Park episode without it.
GRAND THEFT AUTO - How did something so cool become so fucked up? The world would be a FAR better place without GTA, or indeed any game by Rockstar. Even though the original rocks, the sequels it spawns mean it gets put up here.
MERCENARIES 2 - This came has stolen my soul and used it to blow stuff up. If this game didn't exist, I'd have a life beyond the PS3. It is simply TOO GOOD!
HALO - It spawned so many Fanboys, it spawned crappy Halo knock-offs, it spawned an overhyped sequel and a FUCKING AWFUL sequel to that. Then they went for a C&C knock-off and now we're being exposed to Halo 3-only-this-time-you're-a-regular-grunt.
WORLD OF WARCRAFT - It fucked up the Warcraft series AND infested the MMORPG community with bastard WOWclones and WOWtards and all things shitty. On the other hand, we'd have one less South Park episode without it.
GRAND THEFT AUTO - How did something so cool become so fucked up? The world would be a FAR better place without GTA, or indeed any game by Rockstar. Even though the original rocks, the sequels it spawns mean it gets put up here.
MERCENARIES 2 - This came has stolen my soul and used it to blow stuff up. If this game didn't exist, I'd have a life beyond the PS3. It is simply TOO GOOD!