Poll: FF7 or MGS - Which was the REAL star of the PS1?

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

Well, I was gonna say Gran Tourismo, and then I looked it up. Apparently it was the biggest selling game on the PS1 and GT2 is in the number 3 spot.

Played a bit of FFVII. It can fuck off.

Never played any MGS game, so I couldn't really judge it fairly in comparison to FFVII, or indeed any other game. On a personal level though, it's not a JRPG, so it wins.

Personal favourite is Worms

 

[Orga777]

Between the two?
I'd argue MGS was more technically impressive and progressed a genre. Sure, FF7 was a much larger game, but MGS toyed around a bit more with mechanics.

FF7 was really just the same Final Fantasy formula just brought into a fully 3-D format, which is important for sure, but there were also several other fully 3-D RPGs on the PS1 at the time.

Yeah, pretty much this. I love both games, but I can probably argue that Metal Gear Solid is the most important PS1 game of them all as it changed everything about a whole genre. It also helps that Final Fantasy VII, as much as I love it, isn't my favorite FF game on the PS1. I just think IX is better. SO... Yeah, MGS.

 

[Adam Locking]

According to Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_games], there are over 2300 games for the PS1.
With that in mind, why can only one game be the star? Nay, how can only one game be the star?
Both MGS and FF7 are beloved classics for a reason, and for completely different reasons. To compare them directly would be a disservice and would be akin to comparing apples and oranges.
Not to mention, there are many more classic titles that have a real shot at 'starhood'; Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, Medievil, Soul Reaver, Grandia... The list goes on and on.

Going slightly off-topic here, but the wikipedia number is way off, the real number is over 3000 I believe, but there's no official source for the number and journalists keep quoting the wikipedia figure whenever they need to know how many there are.

Back on topic, Crash Bandicoot is what really 'sold' the Playstation in the early years, so surely he should be the star? Or Gran Turismo, seeing as it was the best selling game on the console?

 

[Hawki]

Back on topic, Crash Bandicoot is what really 'sold' the Playstation in the early years, so surely he should be the star? Or Gran Turismo, seeing as it was the best selling game on the console?

I think there's a few problems with Crash being called the "star" of the PS1, at least in comparison to the other two:

-FFVII and MGS1 have undeniable influence on their genres and arguably the medium. FFVII not only popularized the Final Fantasy series in the West, but has also been credited with popularizing the JRPG genre as a well. At the least, it was many people's first JRPG. Likewise, MGS1 has been credited for popularizing the stealth genre, and for introducing cinematic storytelling in games. There were FF and MG games before these ones, but basically these games are to their series what Ocarina of Time was to Zelda (another breakout in the era) - the one that truly popularized the series, and arguably genre they were a part of.

-On the other hand, there's Crash. Have Crash, played it, enjoyed it, one of the first PS1 games I owned. He was popular enough to be considered the PS1's unoffficial mascot. That said, I don't think Crash really exists in the same realm as the other games in the poll go, at least in terms of influence. It didn't revolutionize platformers or popularize the genre, especially with Super Mario 64 making a true leap to 3D at the time. Looking at things today, Final Fantasy and Metal Gear are still going strong (quibbles aside), whereas Crash is all but forgotten. And in the scope of the early Crash games, from what I can tell, the first Crash game is usually regarded as a bit of an oddity, with Crash 2 and 3 being more akin to what we think of in regards to the series - hub worlds, vehicles, even the villains. Tawna was basically forgotten and replaced by Coco, N. Brio kind of faded away to be replaced by other lackies, etc. IMO, it was Crash 2 that actually solidified the Crash series more than the original. To cite another example, the original Sonic the Hedgehog game was a blast, but its sequel was the true solidification of the series at the time (introduction of Tails, the new act structure, introduction of the spin dash, Super Sonic, etc.). Then it reached its height with StH3&K, but that's another story.

-That said, I think it could be interesting to pit Crash against Spyro.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

I love both though I have to say FF7 because it was the start of the JRPG being the dominant genre for 2 console generations. MGS is very close though, as it showed that stealth titles were epic amounts of fun.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

According to Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_games], there are over 2300 games for the PS1.
With that in mind, why can only one game be the star? Nay, how can only one game be the star?
Both MGS and FF7 are beloved classics for a reason, and for completely different reasons. To compare them directly would be a disservice and would be akin to comparing apples and oranges.
Not to mention, there are many more classic titles that have a real shot at 'starhood'; Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, Medievil, Soul Reaver, Grandia... The list goes on and on.

Hell, I'd argue Grandia and Wild ARMs both had a better story than FF7 or MGS ever could. And don't get me started on the awesomeness that Timesplitters was. AI bots, customizable maps, cool weaponry. OH, and Battlefront 2! And Legend of Mana. And Breath of Fire 3.

So many good games played back then, it's difficult to remember them all...

 

[stroopwafel]

Both FF7 and MGS were phenomenal, landmark titles back in the day. I'd say FF7, MGS, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider and Gran Turismo really defined the PS1 and in many ways pushed gaming into the mainstream.

 

[Vanilla ISIS]

The first big hits were Resident Evil, Tekken 2, Tomb Raider and Crash Bandicoot in 1996.
In 1997, Final Fantasy VII and Gran Turismo came out and that was the peak of game sales for the PS1 as far as individual titles go.
In 1998, MGS came out, along Tekken 3 and Crash Bandicoot, both of which sold more copies than MGS.
In 1999 Driver, Gran Turismo 2 and Final Fantasy VIII came out, all also selling more copies than MGS.
The biggest hit of 2000 was Final Fantasy IX.

Based on that, both Gran Turismo and Final Fantasy franchises were the "stars" of the PS1.

 

[Sean Renaud]

According to Wikipedia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_games], there are over 2300 games for the PS1.
With that in mind, why can only one game be the star? Nay, how can only one game be the star?
Both MGS and FF7 are beloved classics for a reason, and for completely different reasons. To compare them directly would be a disservice and would be akin to comparing apples and oranges.
Not to mention, there are many more classic titles that have a real shot at 'starhood'; Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, Medievil, Soul Reaver, Grandia... The list goes on and on.

Easily. And granted the list goes on but none of the games you list were reasons to pick up a Playstation. Personally I would argue for Resident Evil in over FF7 of MGS however if we are declaring a star we should be talking about a Killer App. Nobody bought a PS1 to play Spyro or Medivil. People bought N64s to play Mario 64, OoT and probably Golden Eye. (Despite being a better game in every respect we all know nobody bought an N64 to get Perfect Dark. You already had an N64 and were happy.) Simiarly people bought Xboxes (really in each generation) to play Halo. I honestly can't think of anything else that is exclusive to Xbox that would make me pick it over PS but maybe it's the games I play.

As huge as FF7 was and as vital as JRPGs were to the PS1 I have a hard time believing that FF7 was a system mover instead of being icing on the cake. So if it was between those two I have to give it to MGS.

 

[Tanis]

Neither.
The real star was Chrono Cross.

I love CC.
First game I ever bought because of a trailer instead of actual, reviews.
Still have my original, non-green, game-case-booklet.
<3

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Hard to say really since each game offers up different experiences. Personally, I had Metal Gear Solid before I had Final Fantasy VII and even then, I got the PC version of FFVII because I thought it would be more reliable (I never really owned a first party memory card so every week or so I would have to re-format what I had because...I dunno, I guess the sun decided to rise that day). As much as I liked Metal Gear though I wound up putting more time into Final Fantasies VIII and IX than that and I was always more excited for the next Final Fantasy than the next Metal Gear.

 

[RJ 17]

Pffft, neither of them are as good as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. I therefor declare this poll to be invalid.

 

[Danbo Jambo]

Such a close call, but I'd actually have to say MGS personally.

Both games re-defined games to some degree, but MGS took things to a whole new level. The core element of FF7's JRPG structure remained the same as previous games, and continued to do so until the FF series turned it's back on it's roots and went all weird/crap.

However, MGS took action/stealth games to a whole new ball-park. It included so many fresh & "new" ideas that, at the time, you really didn't know what was coming next. And it did this from all angles - gameplay, story, presentation etc.

 

[Xeros]

I'll give that to Syphon Filter.

This guy right here. He knows what's what. Syphon Filter is the correct answer.

 

[Battenberg]

Poll could really do with an 'other' option. For me it'd probably be Crash Bandicoot 2, that game was simply fantastic, probably my favourite mascot platformed of all time.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Both are landmark titles and huge gamechangers for gaming as a whole, but which is the 'star' out of the two is hard to say. But if I were to pass judgment, I'd say it is ...

... Final Fantasy VII in terms of popularity. Both have their rabid fansbase, but I'm fairly certain FFVII has the larger out of the two.

... Final Fantasy VII again in terms of commercial success, since FFVII sold about 10 mil copies on PS1 and MGS about 6 mil.

... Metal Gear Solid in terms of influence on games, arguably. Make no mistake, FFVII's influence is huge, but what MGS did for narrative and cinematic storytelling in games went far beyond its own genre. Although FFVII is probably the bigger influence on pop culture.

Not picking sides though. I like both equally, but for very different reasons and I think they are too apples & oranges to really square therm off against each other.

 

[B-Cell_v1legacy]

MGS1 was much better but i think they both were overrated.

MGS1 was solid action game but not a great stealth games since back in 1998 Thief was also released and was much better game. MGS have dead bodies disapear while thief has feature where you can move bodies.

 

[Snotnarok]

Not a fan of MGS really but it's got just as much amazing things going on for it. They both pushed the mediums in their own ways.
MGS just kicked the action/stealth genre into 3D with style and did it super well. All while doing it in game I believe which is pretty special.
FFVII ripped RPGs to the CD format and said THIS is how you make use of disc space. With nice visuals (for the time) good use of FMV and lots of variety.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Both games had major impact on consoles but for wildly different reasons. Its near-impossible to have a comparison like this objectively because in the arena of sales, FFVII outsold the fuck out of MGS: 9.8 million to 6 million (rough) total worldwide.
But subjectively speaking, its also wrong to make this comparison. The styles are different and brought different aspects to the gaming table for consoles.
FFVII is largely responsible for JRPGs getting a mainstream foot in the door, MGS did something out of left field for console gaming which I can't rightly describe right now but it was significant. Both have their place, and neither are comparable as "star of the PS1" unless you use sales figures as the baseline.