Losing luster, but still a great game.
User Rating: 8 | Final Fantasy VII PS
It's really interesting to notice how many people consider Final Fantasy VII to be the single greatest RPG ever when it's really no such thing. Granted, one has to consider that Final Fantasy VII was another "first". It was the first truly "cinematic" RPG and the first game to make the RPG genre mainstream and "cool". However, subsequent Final Fantasies (number 8 notwithstanding) have done much better jobs and RPGs in general have only gotten better, cooler, and better written. Final Fantasy VII's problems are few but enough. First off, for a genre that depends so heavily on story, Final Fantasy VII sure has a lot of translation errors. You know things are wrong when on the first boss, Barret says "Attack when his tail is up. He's going to use his special weapon." when it really means DON'T attack. Broken English just isn't cute anymore. And speaking of story, for all its flash and flair, Final Fantasy VII is one of the most mechanical entry in the series. It's never as intimate with its characters like Final Fantasy IX or KOTOR is. It feels all dark and gothic and oppressing. It's practically the Akira of the Final Fantasies(the game even comes complete with a tacked on motorcycle chase minigame). For people who loved Akira, this is all well and good. For everybody else, not so much. Final Fantasy VII mixes and muddles many different themes, from evil corporations to genetic manipulation to destruction of the planet(for once can we please leave the planet alone?). Granted, Xenogears also tackled too many themes at once but pulled it off to better effect. The gameplay is both hit and miss. For the hits, Final Fantasy VII took the mundane "press attack and wait" system of previous RPGs and improved upon it. It's now a hybrid of turn based and real time, making combat faster and exciting. Your characters and your enemies can't attack until a certain meter fills up. However, just like you, once that meter fills up, your enemies won't wait for you to make a selection to unleash their attacks on you. The game also utilizes its "cinematic" feel to great effect. Watching the fights unfold as the camera zooms and pans around is wicked cool, as is watching the spells and super attacks and guardian summons unfold. However sometimes this "cinematic" feel isn't such a good thing. For example, there's a part where you have to date Aeris and you have to press different directional buttons to make Cloud shuffle and look around nervously in order to proceed. And in certain environments, all those "fancy camera angle" often don't mix well with a digital control scheme. It's often very easy to bump into objects, get stuck, or not figure out where the exit is. And while the camera is doing all that swooping around during battles, is sometimes easy to slip up and attack your own comrades. Also, too often the enemies are placed in such weird positions that selecting the enemy you want to attack with the cursor sometimes proves difficult. And if this game is supposed to be a "cinematic experience", why am I still reading text when just a few months later, Panzer Dragoon Saga (on a system supposedly weaker than the Playstation) delivered unparalleled voice acting? And in true RPG fashion, Final Fantas VII has minigames coming out the wazzoo. Some are fun, but ALL are pointless. Then again, when have minigames had a point to them? But most of them feel like they should belong among the Atari games. It's also interesting that people say the Final Fantasy VII has superb graphics. The prerendered backgrounds were fantastic. But the character design was a mixed bag. The characters look and act like big-headed puppets. But then in other scenes, they look realistic. When compared with Panzer Dragoon Saga, a game with far superior artistry and better character design, Final Fantasy VII just looks wooden. Despite all the faults, Final Fantasy VII doesn't earn its classic status for nothing. There are still some shining moments. If it wasn't for Final Fantasy VII, RPGs wouldn't look like they would today. It was the first game to make RPGs cool and the first to make them feel epic and cinematic. I personally didn't think the death of Aeris was all that sad, but back then it was a big thing. It was revolutionary for its time, and it's still a solid game, even for its minigames, even for its muddled plot. It has a wide variety of things to do, and the battles are just awesome. At any rate, like GMR's Retroactive said, one has to acknowledge its historical importance. Like GMR said, at least it's the best argument starter of all time.
