I'm still stuck in the 60s, you should be stuck too!
Final Fantasy 7 Review: Well, it's been long enough. It wasn't so much that I neglected this game that it took me so long (though there was a bit of neglecting for other games), but rather the sheer amount of extra quests you can do before getting to the final boss. While FF7 is not a perfect game, it doesn't fall short of that title.
The plot in this game was far and away the most complex and ambitious from any of the previous games. It begins with a quasi-heroes Barrett, Tifa and Cloud as part of an organization called Avalanche that uses terrorist tactics in an attempt to bring down their militant government. Once you leave the beginning city of Midgard, the plot expands to tell a story about saving the world from itself as a technologically dominated society. The characters themselves are so sewn into the plot that they themselves are able to advance the story via dialogue rather than just another boss battle.
The graphics and sound are once again not really viable to the standards that we're used to today in gaming, though it would be fair to say that even for it's time, Final Fantasy 7 could have used some refining. The cut-scenes were great except for some blurriness which I assume was intentional when the graphics couldn't be precise, but the characters and the world they interacted in were extremely blocky and felt clunky to watch. The sound was excellent, Final Fantasy 7 was final able to get some real music fitted into their game that played well throughout the game serving to enhance the mood of boss battles, towns, etc.
My only complaints (besides the graphics) was the placement of most of the side quests. As I stated before, the amount of side quests in this game is enormous and you could easily spent a few weeks doing them alone before taking on the final boss and quite a few side quests pay off to flesh out the story of individual characters. Heck, even the two secret characters got their share of attention from the game. The problem is that the large majority of side quests can't be done until you're right at the end about to beat the final boss. This presents a problem in that you have to spend quite a long time completing the games extra quests so you can get all the best weapons and magic, but you don't really have time to use them in the game, because by the time you have them, it's time to finish it up. I like it when games incorporate side quests throughout the game so you really get a chance to use them against bosses and monsters. FF7's extra equipment and spells felt like an unnecessary last minute addition and they truly were because while I did get some of the side quests done, I only went through about half before I felt it was time to move on and finish the game, which I did quite easily without most of the added stuff.
My only other complaint would be the ending, which I won't spoil for anyone if they haven't yet played this game and may someday. All I can really says is that I spent so much time invested in the game and yet the ending was fairly short and failed to tie up a few plot points, giving the game somewhat of a hollow victory. I suspect that SquareSoft (now Square-Enix) has known about this for quite awhile as they're now releasing a direct-to-DVD movie that takes place after the ending of FF7, not to mention a direct Playstation 2 sequel and a myriad of FF7 "in-continuity" games that take place from other characters perspective.
As I said before, it's not a perfect game, but it is a classic and it's easy to see why the game has stayed with so many fans ten years after it's release.
Sincerely,
Mojo Jojo
The plot in this game was far and away the most complex and ambitious from any of the previous games. It begins with a quasi-heroes Barrett, Tifa and Cloud as part of an organization called Avalanche that uses terrorist tactics in an attempt to bring down their militant government. Once you leave the beginning city of Midgard, the plot expands to tell a story about saving the world from itself as a technologically dominated society. The characters themselves are so sewn into the plot that they themselves are able to advance the story via dialogue rather than just another boss battle.
The graphics and sound are once again not really viable to the standards that we're used to today in gaming, though it would be fair to say that even for it's time, Final Fantasy 7 could have used some refining. The cut-scenes were great except for some blurriness which I assume was intentional when the graphics couldn't be precise, but the characters and the world they interacted in were extremely blocky and felt clunky to watch. The sound was excellent, Final Fantasy 7 was final able to get some real music fitted into their game that played well throughout the game serving to enhance the mood of boss battles, towns, etc.
My only complaints (besides the graphics) was the placement of most of the side quests. As I stated before, the amount of side quests in this game is enormous and you could easily spent a few weeks doing them alone before taking on the final boss and quite a few side quests pay off to flesh out the story of individual characters. Heck, even the two secret characters got their share of attention from the game. The problem is that the large majority of side quests can't be done until you're right at the end about to beat the final boss. This presents a problem in that you have to spend quite a long time completing the games extra quests so you can get all the best weapons and magic, but you don't really have time to use them in the game, because by the time you have them, it's time to finish it up. I like it when games incorporate side quests throughout the game so you really get a chance to use them against bosses and monsters. FF7's extra equipment and spells felt like an unnecessary last minute addition and they truly were because while I did get some of the side quests done, I only went through about half before I felt it was time to move on and finish the game, which I did quite easily without most of the added stuff.
My only other complaint would be the ending, which I won't spoil for anyone if they haven't yet played this game and may someday. All I can really says is that I spent so much time invested in the game and yet the ending was fairly short and failed to tie up a few plot points, giving the game somewhat of a hollow victory. I suspect that SquareSoft (now Square-Enix) has known about this for quite awhile as they're now releasing a direct-to-DVD movie that takes place after the ending of FF7, not to mention a direct Playstation 2 sequel and a myriad of FF7 "in-continuity" games that take place from other characters perspective.
As I said before, it's not a perfect game, but it is a classic and it's easy to see why the game has stayed with so many fans ten years after it's release.
Sincerely,
Mojo Jojo