Final Fantasy VII is a SquareSoft RPG with high production values, but no heart
Is it the gameplay, the story, graphics or the music?
Or perhaps it is a combination of all of these elements, as many people have mentioned them to be perfect in every way.
In the case of my own opinion, I must say that Final Fantasy VII does not quite deliver as I expected on any of these elements.
After years of playing Final Fantasy games, the Active Time Battle system was no surprise to me and proved once again to be reasonably effective in giving battles some kick. Unfortunately, there are some aspects of gameplay that make this game feel hollow and more like a tedious chore than anything.
The materia system allows for some freedom in how you want to make use of your characters, however, this leads to most characters serving similar functions and use of any particular one over another may only come down to aesthetic preference more than anything else. Also, levelling up equipped materia can be quite time consuming.
Furthermore, battle options such as limit breaks and summons may be nice to look at for a while, but can get on your nerves as the animations play for quite some time (I often go grab something to eat or drink when the Knights of the Round limit break has been executed).
My main complaint with Final Fantasy VII lies with the superficial story and its characters. This is a game that has little to no substance or heart. Never before have I encountered characters that I couldn't connect to emotionally in some way. Cloud, the protagonist, is about as interesting as a pile of bricks and even though he is supposed to start caring about the things happening around him near the end, it is still too little, too late.
The supporting cast is almost as boring, with one exception where there is a genuinely moving scene involving Red XIII and his reconciliation with the past surrounding his father.
As for villains, it seems that SquareSoft has continued the trend of developing motiveless bad guys who simply want to destroy or rule over the world for the sake of the story having some kind of major point of conflict. When you think about, there isn't much depth or humanity in any of the characters, no matter how "cool" their large swords or gravity-defying hair appears to be (in the case of Sephiroth and Cloud).
As for the plot itself, it can be seen that the developers tried to say something meaningful about the greedy corporations and the importance of environmental sustainability, but it all takes a backseat once Sephiroth is introduced.
The average translation does not help the story telling either.
Although I can imagine that the graphics in Final Fantasy VII would have been quite a leap forward during its time, the artistic design still strikes me as a bit odd. The decision to make use of super-deformed character models that resemble ugly Lego men is bad enough, but the pre-rendered environments are a baffling ordeal when it comes to navigating them, as many objects of importance appear to blend into the background and it is not quite clear where one can tread without running into invisible walls which appear to be openings. The pre-rendered cut-scenes are alright, but when it comes to what is actually presented in these, we don't really get much more than cheap action scenes with explosions and whatnot. No breath-taking artistic direction here (the same goes for Advent Children).
I don't find as much fault in the musical composition, however, which has made Final Fantasy VII somewhat more bearable in a few instances. On the other hand, those of you who are serious music lovers (especially classical) may find it to be nothing special at all.
In addition, the sound quality may hurt a few sensitive ears that do not care for MIDIs and synthesised tunes.
Perhaps I would have been less harsh on Final Fantasy VII if I didn't have the expectations that I gained from reading all the outrageously positive reviews. But then again, there are certain PSone RPGs that I have enjoyed immensely despite reading all the rave reviews, such as Chrono Cross and Persona 2: Innocent Sin.
If you have already played Final Fantasy VII, you will most likely disagree with my views. However, if you are a discerning gamer who is looking to try out this so-called "masterpiece", be warned that neither the ending nor the journey itself is particularly rewarding in any way.