Playstation

Final Fantasy VII    All media on this page courtesy of FF Online.         This column written on August 18, 2000

    Before Final Fantasy VII was released, the RPG genre wasn't the big gaming genre it is today, other than hardcore fans, RPGs just didn't catch any interest from the gaming community.  Final Fantasy VI was released 4 years before and since that time, the RPG market has reached its dark age.  The Playstation didn't have any big name RPGs present in its otherwise large library of games and while some might think that lesser RPGs like Suikoden and ones made by Sony Computer Entertainment were pretty good, there was a real shortage of quality RPGs to make a gamer even think about trying out RPGs for the first time.  That is until Square, the undisputed king of RPGs and the developer behind the critically acclaimed Final Fantasy series decided to release Final Fantasy VII.  Until the release of Final Fantasy VII, never has any Playstation game took up 3 CDs which FFVII took excellent use of and the game was sold so well, that many people called it the most successful selling RPG game in console history.  The release of FFVII not only helped revolutionize the RPG market but the console wars as well in which before Square's masterpiece title was released, the Sega Saturn was currently having a sizable lead over the Playstation.  The release of FFVII changed all that, in which the Playstation came out on top and the Saturn's demise was ever nearing after FFVII's release.  To most people who played the game, this is considered one of the greater if not THE greatest RPG ever made and to us, we have no reason to argue about that.  Now lets go on with our review.

Very exquisite FMV, right?

    The plot is one of the most impressive aspects of this game and one of the most deepest plots in RPG history.  You take on the role of Cloud Strife, an ex-Shinra SOLDIER who at the beginning of the game, joins the rebel group AVALANCHE.  After joining the rebel group, Cloud and AVALANCHE begin the assault on a reactor which you'll find out the purpose of later in the game.  Other characters in the game include Tifa, Barrett, Cid, Red XIII, Cait Sith, Aeris, Yuffie and Vincent which each character having their own past in which the game goes into great detail of.  What begins as a rebellion against an evil Corporation becomes much more in which certain forces threaten the planet for its own survival and puts not only the characters at stake but the entire world as well.  The battle system is excellent and is what you'll usually expect from Japanese style RPGs and as always a new system has been implemented once again, gone is the Esper System found in FFVI and is now replaced with the Materia system.  There are many different types of Materia in the game such as Magic, Elemental, Support, Command and Summon Materia and can be combined into various combinations.  For example if you equip magic Materia like Ice, Your attack power and % goes down but your magic attack power and defense goes up so there are plenty of ways to combine certain Materia which can make your character stronger or weaker, depending on what you choose.  Another change this time is the number of characters you can put in your party at one time, instead of four-character parties in the past, you can only choose three characters to put in your party at one time.  Also, there is a plenty of tasks in which you'll be able to control and some will require simple button pressing, while others may require skill and thinking involved as well and you won't be able to progress through your adventure without completing most of them.

"You take on the role of Cloud Strife, an ex-Shinra soldier." (left)

Sephiroth is the last boss of the game. (right)

    The game's graphics are simply amazing and the CG sequences are top-notch with plenty of FMV (full motion video) packed in the game as well.  Some places like the Gold Saucer Arcade are simply breathtaking and makes you wonder if games can get any better than this.  FFVII, considering it was released in 1997, pushes the Playstation to its full power and the backgrounds are well animated as well and the characters even have their own battle animations and movements as well.  The limit breaks look spectacular and the summon monsters like Shiva, Ifrit, Levithian or even Knights of the Round are wonderfully drawn and look better than ever.  The only downfall on the graphics is that the characters look unrealistic and super-deformed with poorly animated hands like Cloud having boxes attached at the end of his arms for hands, although this is the way Square meant to draw them (supposedly). The FMV sequences are flawless, although some are a little blurry but otherwise they are top-notch and unbelievable.  The graphics are spectacular and the visuals of the game are near-perfect.

The city of Midgar, where the game starts out.

    Final Fantasy's sound is excellent with some memorable musical arrangements to die for and some of the game's music really do fit in the mood for certain places and areas.  For example, the Sephiroth chants in Shinra Mansion will send chills down your spine and the music in Gold Saucer is extremely cheerful and lively, plus there is an arranged Sephiroth choir for the last boss in which the lyrics will blend in with the sound.  Although most of the music is excellent, most of it sounds like 16-bit quality and may spark a few complaints for some FF fanatics out there.  Besides this, the music ranges from dramatic to cheerful and all the music composed in the game make FFVII one of the best Final Fantasy games of all time.  Even the battle music is great and the standard FF victory theme is beautifully arranged.  The music is excellent, no buts about that!

This place is important, as Cloud will tell you his past later on in this game.

Here are some MIDI samples:

The sector 7 explosion in Midgar is very spectacular.

    The value of the game is really amazing, nowadays you can get FFVII for a mere price of $20 Canadian dollars because FFVII was recently put in the Playstation's line-up of greatest hits.  So for $20 bucks you can get over 30 hours of gameplay in FFVII with a stellar cast of characters, great musical arrangements, amazing graphics and one of the deepest plots ever found in console RPGs so in my opinion this is one game which is sure to please any casual gamer, even if you've never have ever played an RPG game before this game is a must buy.  This is a game with a lot of replay value, with some important items and summons which may be found the second time and can be easily missed the first time around. 

    There are also plenty of extras in FFVII other than the standard quest to save the world, heck, the Gold Saucer Arcade alone could keep you busy for weeks and weeks.  But that's not all, there are plenty of side quests to other characters and plenty of mini-games to keep gamers busy for a long time.  Plus, there are lots and lots of secret items and summons to be found throughout the world map, with even the most powerful summon in the whole game: Knights of the Round, somewhere around there as well! Also, you can breed chocobos and you can even bet on them at the chocobo races to earn items and GP (one of the currencies used in the game) as well.  So there's more than enough extras to keep people busy for long periods of time.

These pictures are of Gold Saucer...The most fun part in this game!

    In FFVII, besides from a couple of minor translation errors, there are no real glitches to report thus far so the game is pretty much bug-free which is great and makes this game nearly perfect from almost every aspect.  For example, during the Battle Arena area in Gold Saucer, Cloud says "off course" rather than "of course", and also there are a few minor spelling errors, although it still remains an excellent Japanese to English conversion.  Other than that, the game is practically bug-free and is nearly perfect.

    To many, this game is a stellar RPG and simply put one of the greatest RPG games ever made, which makes this game a classic RPG for many gamers, including the hardcore RPG gamers and remains one of the most popular RPGs ever to grace the Playstation.  This game is one of the key factors in causing the demise of the Saturn, although there were plenty of other reasons as well and FFVII is THE game that changed the console RPG market forever and created a new golden age in RPG gaming in which future RPGs like the Legend of Mana, Chrono Cross, FFVIII, and Grandia II will continue to raise the bar of expectations for RPGs for many years to come.

The Tiny Bronco (Cid's plane) crashes near the shore.

    Overall, FFVII has plenty of mini-games and side quests to keep gamers busy for long hours and can really drive you into the game so you'll keep playing this game over and over again.  I bet you'll agree this is one of the greatest RPGs ever made and one of the greatest you'll ever play and this game will go down as one of the biggest moments in gaming history and one of the most groundbreaking games ever to hit the Playstation.  This game represents the new golden age in RPG gaming with newer titles going online like Phantasy Star Online and FFXI and most people will compare FFVII to such SNES titles such as FFV or FFVI as the groundbreaking title responsible for revolutionizing the gaming industry. In my opinion, this is the crowning moment to 32-bit console RPGs, trust me on this one.

    What are your thoughts about this game?  Come on down to the forums and start posting opinions!

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