Poll: Was Final Fantasy VII even that good?

[CorpseCryAngelfall]

In my personal opinion it was pretty sub-par, the graphics were alright for it's time, but they weren't the best, the characters were pretty imemorable save Sephiroth and I suppose Vincent, though he's a little on the generic "Hard-Ass" side, though he's less like it than the rest of the characters are in their little niches. The battle system was pretty dull and really added nothing more than better graphics to previous titles. The free-roam and story were about all that was good about it, and seeing as the story, graphics and gameplay in X were much, much, much better, there's nothing that really makes it stand out. So really, can anyone tell me the reason Final Fantasy VII is so highly regarded? Asking a non-fanboy should be an obvious thing here.

I just don't see what it has on FFX or Legend of Dragoon.

 

[Emeli]

I got bored before the end of the first disc and never played it again. It was clearly someone's baby, because I was overloaded with information, characters, weapons systems, jebus I couldn't keep up and didn't really try to cause I was bored.

I found it agonisingly slow moving and obtuse.

 

[Artemis923]

Reported, buddy. If you hate FF7, keep it to yourself.

Welcome to the Escapist.

 

[CorpseCryAngelfall]

Why am I being reported exactly? I don't hate Final Fantasy, I am wondering why it is so loved. I'm asking for a critical analysis of the game, and compare my experiences with that analysis, I'm not launching a hate speech on it. It's a gaming discussion forum and I think this counts as gaming discussion, point it out to me in the rules where I can't do this.

 

[Akai Shizuku]

I loved it, not much else to say.

 

[AngryMan]

Oh thank Christ somebody else finally said it....

seriously, I could never get what all the fuss was about. My friends were all "dude you have to play this game it's the best ever" and then the actual experience came as something of a letdown. I played all the subsequent ones through to FFXII before realising that maybe this "Final Fantasy" business isn't all the fans crack it up to be.

That said, FF Tactics Advance was one of my favourite ever gaming experiences. Funny, that.

 

[rowan-thats-me]

I voted nothing special, because even though I thouhgt it was good, I honestly thought FFX was better

 

[Death916]

[http://s858.photobucket.com/albums/ab150/DeathSnipa1992/?action=view&current=forfofy.gif]

OT i personally liked 8 better. 7 never grew on me

 

[CorpseCryAngelfall]

You could say why you liked it Akai, that was the point of the thread

Yeah, AngryMan, I think Final Fantasy (7+) is sort of like Silent Hill and (if they worked like they were supposed to) Visual Novels, that they're more for the story than the game. Final Fantasy X is in my opinion the best story ever written for gaming, but then, that's just my opinion, others may disagree.

 

[Bobbyskizza]

I really enjoyed the first city you played in until I saw the full map and instead of being excited at the prospect of exploration my reaction was 'no ta, cant be assed'

 

[Sonicron]

Let me say it this way: I usually suck at RPGs of any kind because they're somehow too complex for me. Either that or they bore me after a couple of hours because they're incredibly slow-paced or the characters are too generic and uninteresting.
FFVII is one of the two RPGs I ever actually finished (save for Emerald Weapon, still haven't beaten that bastard to this day), the other being KotOR 1, and it was because the setting, story, atmosphere and characters were interesting enough while also keeping things relatively simply and accessible regarding the gameplay.
So in the end I have to say that I think FFVII deserves the praise it gets, and its mostly due to the fact that I genuinely enjoyed playing it all the way to the end even though it is of a genre I usually avoid like the plague. That's got to count for something.

 

[Roflpotamus]

[http://s858.photobucket.com/albums/ab150/DeathSnipa1992/?action=view&current=forfofy.gif]

OT i personally liked 8 better. 7 never grew on me

This. I never played any FF games personally, but this thread has likely been done to death.

 

[Erja_Perttu]

Final Fantasy VII (tho original game only, and none of its spin offs, no matter how much Crisis Core's battle system was fun)was good. I don't thin it deserves the fanboy applause some people give it, but its not the steaming pile of er bai wo others paint it as either.

It wasn't good for the graphics, and the story was so full of holes that it'd fall over in a slight breeze and in parts the translation was awful, but damned if it didn't have some fun.

It had some of the most fun minigames I've ever played on a video game such as the crazy motorcycle chase, was chock full of secrets and some really hard optional bosses, had comedy weapons (Nail Bat and Mop anyone?) and the occasional one liner that completely killed me "Sit your ass down in that chair and drink your goddamn TEA!" hell it even indulges in crossdressing.

Something else I liked about it and is mostly absent in the games in the series that followed was the depth you got to delve into the characters backgrounds. If you wanted to, by the end of the game you could have found out about every characters backgrounds and motivations, and it made the characters (mostly) likable. I wanted them to succeed. I didn't want them all the die horribly and painfully, like in FFXII.

So I think it is a good game and one I'll probably play again at some point.

 

[cornsey]

The first final fantasy game I played was 9 and then 10. A mate said i was missing out on 7 so he leant me his copy, it was OK but the graphics are horrible and the materia system is just stupid.

 

[NeutralMunchHotel]

Reported, buddy. If you hate FF7, keep it to yourself.

Don't listen to this.

While I don't agree with you necessarily, I can understand where you're coming from and respect your opinion.

[small]Even though it's wrong[/small]

Welcome to the Escapist!

 

[xavierxenon]

After never playing a final fantasy game (aside form crystal chronicles, though that hardly counts) I decided to actually play one of the games before ranting about how bad they are etc.

Having settled to play FF7 I was actually quite shocked that it slowly began to grow on me, and as I got further into it the more I was enjoying it. Considering I tend to lack motivation when it comes to playing older games I guess that means FF7 is pretty good =P

 

[Mymla]

It's a good, if generic and clichéd JRPG. I certainly had fun playing it.

Thing is, you should never, ever, for any reason, get hyped up over a game (or anything for that matter). Best thing to do that I've found, is to simply willfully ignore everything anyone says about a game, play it yourself and damn well try to enjoy it. Usually works for me.

 

[Zelurien]

Whether you think it's any good or not, it's definitely that popular.
It was the first RPG I'd ever played and, as such, has a very special place in my gaming heart.

Having played it through again recently I still enjoyed it but the memories were better than the actual gameplay.
I've never played Final Fantasy X. Your description makes me think I should though.