I'll start by saying I'm a newcomer to the series, having only played the Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy XV before this. So all my upcoming reviews of the games will mostly be a first time experience. Final Fantasy VII is a game I've been excited to play, partially because the Remake has been my favorite game of the year so far, and that I know the game is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential of all time. Sometimes even the best games from back then can be a chore to play in todays age, especially with next gen right around the corner, but I can confidently say that this game is just as fabulous of an experience as I'm sure it was back in 97'.
Final Fantasy VII follows Cloud as he joins a group called Avalanche, with the goal of saving the planet from the corporation Shinra. Throughout his journey with Barrett, Tifa, and Aerith, his past comes back to haunt him with the appearance of Sephiroth as well as painful memories. The story of this game is absolutely fantastic, it's epic, emotional, and just a thrill to playthrough. There's not a dull moment in it's 35 or so hour main story, not to mention the vast selection of optional side quests and games to playthrough. All the characters are great, especially Sephiroth, who cemented himself as one of the greatest villain's of all time. The game is just so well written and well paced.
On top of the great story is the cinematic cutscenes of the game, which is absolutely mind blowing for it's time. Even by today's standards some of these cutscenes could fit into a movie with some obvious touching up in the graphics department. I marveled at some of the cinematic and large scale moments of the game. And given that the game is over twenty years old, that's really saying something.
The world of Final Fantasy VII is a vast open world filled with plenty to do and tons of unique areas and towns to explore. The lack of any hand holding, waypoints, or even quest markers on the map itself makes it a lot easier to roam around and explore new things. Honestly I wish this was the route more modern open world games went with, it really adds to the exploration and vastness of the world. It makes me FEEL like I'm on a real adventure with a crew of fantastic characters following one of the greatest stories told in gaming.
The combat and gameplay of Final Fantasy VII is extremely easy to get the hand of, but there's still quite the difficulty. Seasoned Final Fantasy fans will tell you it's easy, but especially when you get to the end or even the halfway point of the game, it starts to get grueling with plenty of challenging enemies and epic boss battles. Still, it's easy to learn from your mistakes and improve upon your playstyle, plus there's no better feeling than finally beating a challenging boss.
Graphically it's obviously a downgrade compared to more modern games, but when you think about the time in which it came out, it's easily one of, if not the best looking game of the 90's. And it's still really easy to playthrough nowadays. Gameplay still feels good, as well as traversing the map. Overall it's an absolute must play for RPG fans. I may be one of the few that hasn't played the game who is a huge fan of RPG's, but still. I'm excited to see what more the Remake brings to the table, because like I said, it's my favorite game of the year so far. It brings so much of this classic back to life in a brand new way, and I'm really excited to see more.