Final Fantasy VII retrospective

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Zack Burner
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Final Fantasy VII retrospective

Postby Zack Burner » November 7th, 2019, 7:00 am

Time now for a retrospective of not only the pinnacle of the series, but my favorite game of all time! That's right this legendary game has stuck with me through the years and while there are some weaknesses, those do little to detract it. The premise couldn't be any better than this: A ragtag group of misfits saving the world from two evils; a wicked greedy corporation draining the planet of life and a fallen hero turned into rampaging misanthrope who wants to become a god. The cast of characters is among the greatest to ever hit a game: a surly blond haired swordsman mercenary with anxiety and self-doubt issues, a sexy, yet tough and compassionate martial artist barmaid, a gruff African-American with a gun arm, a mystical flower girl, a wolf/lion hybrid with a Native American motif, a goofy robotic cat, a hot-tempered pilot, a spoiled ninja princess, and finally a former business executive with the ability to transform into monsters. Cloud and Tifa have since become my favorite VG heroes and Sephiroth Villain. Besides the characters, there's some rich complex storytelling all of which involves themes of heroism, environmentalism vs capitalism, and finding your true self along with many moments that either tickle your funnybone, pull your heartstrings or draw out tears, or find fear from the darkest corner of your imagination. One of the producers of this game said the intention was to draw emotion. Besides that there's some razor sharp political insights that still remain as thought-provoking and relevant today as it did now. Since I started playing it at the age of 16 I can't remember any other game that had impacted me in such a way. In fact, the legacy this game carried still holds strong today. Of course you can't forget about the other matters. The gameplay is still holds up solidly from the cool magic system to the deadly Limit Breaks. My favorites are Vincent's Chaos, Tifa's Final Heaven, and Cloud's Omnislash. Adding on the already great gameplay is the inclusion of many fun mini-games. Among my favorites are the Snowboarding, Motorcycle, and the Slap fight between Tifa and Scarlet (Go Tifa!). The music is sweeping, epic and helps draw out the emotions as well, especially Aeris' theme which can still draw out the tears when she is killed by Sephiroth, thank the great Nobuo Uematsu for the score. There's too many great and memorable hits to mention here. The graphics are a mixed bag today. The regular field models of the characters look like legos today, though the battle and anime style cinematics hold up better. Another negative is the muddy translation of the texts especially with Barret, though I assume the translators did this to fit his character since he very much resembles and talks like Mr. T. Those two are the only minor negatives to this perfect game, though I can only guess the upcoming remake will do much better, since the gameplay won't be turn-based, but action RPG style like Kingdom Hearts. Overall this game is the pinnacle though some still maintain number 6 is the best. It simply doesn't get any better than this.

Buttermancan
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Re: Final Fantasy VII retrospective

Postby Buttermancan » November 7th, 2019, 5:46 pm

I adored this game when I played it not long after release. It would of been one of my favourite games of all time if it wasn't for the constant random battles that spoiled my desire to complete the game!!!

Zack Burner
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Joined: May 3rd, 2019, 6:01 pm

Re: Final Fantasy VII retrospective

Postby Zack Burner » November 7th, 2019, 6:31 pm

Buttermancan wrote:I adored this game when I played it not long after release. It would of been one of my favourite games of all time if it wasn't for the constant random battles that spoiled my desire to complete the game!!!


Constant random battles are a major part of the Final Fantasy universe. This helps spread diversity and probability making you change strategies instead of just hitting one thing over and over again, and besides, all that experience and strategy pays off over time!

Buttermancan
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Re: Final Fantasy VII retrospective

Postby Buttermancan » November 18th, 2019, 4:59 am

Zack Burner wrote:
Buttermancan wrote:I adored this game when I played it not long after release. It would of been one of my favourite games of all time if it wasn't for the constant random battles that spoiled my desire to complete the game!!!


Constant random battles are a major part of the Final Fantasy universe. This helps spread diversity and probability making you change strategies instead of just hitting one thing over and over again, and besides, all that experience and strategy pays off over time!


I appreciate what they were trying to do but I remember wanting to explore other parts of the world and at the time I was trying to travel about 20 metres and every three feet I'd get a random battle triggered and my party was low on health (I think). It was just too much to bare!

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MSR1701
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Re: Final Fantasy VII retrospective

Postby MSR1701 » November 18th, 2019, 8:07 am

Many describe Final Fantasy VII as overrated, and it is not hard to see why in hindsight. The game, while good, has many, many flaws, from unclear pathing on the maps (it can be difficult to see where you can and cannot traverse) to unclear objectives (the Golden Saucer is one example). It is by no means a bad game, as many of the elements of the game (namely the combat system) have aged well, and the music score is still one of the better of its day.

That said, I would still say Final Fantasy VI is my preferred Final Fantasy game, just for story, gameplay, soundtrack and atmosphere. VII is right after it, along with IX and IV. VIII for the music, though little else.

Honestly, Final Fantasy has never been my favorite series for JRPGs, though, as I have fond other series to be more enjoyable and tend to draw me back in to replay far more often than the FF series has. Series like Lufia, Golden Sun, Dragon Quest (Warrior) and Breath of Fire just seemed more "Fun," though this may be due to the fact that they are more light hearted while tackling dark themes (Breath of Fire II is a great example with Nina alone).

Zack Burner
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Re: Final Fantasy VII retrospective

Postby Zack Burner » December 14th, 2019, 12:57 pm

If anyone has the app version, besides being now portable as you can get, you now have the option to turn off encounters! Won't work for boss fights though....

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Retro STrife
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Re: Final Fantasy VII retrospective

Postby Retro STrife » December 14th, 2019, 3:54 pm

Zack Burner wrote:If anyone has the app version, besides being now portable as you can get, you now have the option to turn off encounters! Won't work for boss fights though....


True of the download on PS4 too.

Verm3
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Joined: April 23rd, 2015, 8:41 am

Re: Final Fantasy VII retrospective

Postby Verm3 » December 16th, 2019, 3:55 am

I played nearly every PS1 RPG back in the day, but for some reason FF7 never really grabbed me, hence I never played it.

Zack Burner
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Re: Final Fantasy VII retrospective

Postby Zack Burner » January 2nd, 2020, 9:40 am

Verm3 wrote:I played nearly every PS1 RPG back in the day, but for some reason FF7 never really grabbed me, hence I never played it.



To each their own, Like you another RPG from PS1 didn't grab me was the Persona series that one's premise too strange for me. What grabbed me about FF7 was it's awesome gameplay, memorable characters, and its messages that are chock full of values, anticapitalist and pro-environmentalist

Zack Burner
Posts: 1209
Joined: May 3rd, 2019, 6:01 pm

Re: Final Fantasy VII retrospective

Postby Zack Burner » January 27th, 2020, 8:41 am

A few more months and the remake will be coming out! It already looks terrific, plus the story will be expanded. Though from what I heard it will be in little sets which is kind of lame, and the gameplay is more than just turn based it will be more movement.


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