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[Sheroking]

No lie, Aeris' death was the first time I actually sobbed to a video game... like, real bad.

I never sobbed, but it was the first time a characters death actually meant anything. It's difficult to truly care about characters whose only way of emoting is cartoonish symbols popping up over their heads.

VII was the first game I ever played where two characters could have a conversation in a beautiful environment, have it develop their characters, and have it be effectual enough to be taken seriously. I don't think it was particularly well written, especially by other mediums standards, but no other game - not any entry in Final Fantasy beforehand - had a scene like the slide scene outside of Sector 7 that actually worked.

That, and I think superficially Final Fantasy VII has some of the best JRPG mechanics. Battle is crisp and satisfying, Materia is accessible and deep enough that customizing your characters for battle is a lot less tiresome and grind-heavy as the previous job systems. It's atmospheric in a way that only a handful of other games are - and none in the Final Fantasy series.

 

[daniels]

I never understand people that say FF7 has a simplistic battle system.
The Materiasystem gives you more possibilities in battle than basically the rest of all FF combined (I don&#8217;t now about FF11 never played it). For example in FF6 you learn abilities and there is simply one maybe two things you can do with it, in FF7 you can mix and mash all possible effects and magic together to great hundreds of different outcomes. Hell two years ago there still where found new combinations! In contrast in FF6 after you unlocked every ability you have everything that is there discovered you maybe can combine some effects to fuck up some Dinos and farm exp put that&#8217;s the end of it. Materia combinations in FF7 have much more use you can sit for days and constantly come up with really fun, crazy and baffling combination that can turn the strongest enemies in puppy&#8217;s or the craziest stupid fights you can have in jrpgs even today. If you add that with the different Limits, mime, enemy skill, HP<->MP Materia that people think is useless (lol) or even the PC version with mods you can freaking forget it the possibilities of the battle system become almost endless. It&#8217;s basically Lego or a chemistry set the more you put in the more you get out.
And if you only use restore+all, a attack spell and a summon on every character because that is how Jrpg battles are &#8220;supposed&#8221; to be it&#8217;s you that wants it simplistic.
I played FF7 again last year and compare to the rpg output this Generation (lol) it only reinforced my opinion that FF7 is the best rpg I have played to this day.
No it wasn&#8217;t my first rpg, I started playing rpgs in the snes days.

 

[Limanima]

It was a lot, and I mean a lot, of people's first RPG.

It was mine. And I loved it, maybe this is the main reason people love the game.

 

[OmegaTreeFish]

I played it back when it was released. I was about 16. I loved the game a lot. I am tempted to get it again on psn and play it on vita but im worried it might destroy my memories of it lol.

Anyway the key things I remember that I loved about it.

The combat system. It was my first JRPG and I hadn't really played something like this before.

The Materia system was great because you could set up your team exactly how you wanted to. It also meant you could choose your team based on simply there asthetic and limit breaks. I never like being forced to use a character I hate just because he has the best skills or what ever.

Considering the scope of the game the graphics they were impressive. The art style was also really good when it came to variety of all the different places you could go.

I had no idea how long the game was. When I finished Midguard I thought I had completed the game. Even at that point I thought it was great. Then boom, world map. Was a true holy crap moment and I hadn't even scratched the surface yet.

I like stories in games to be pretty crazy. It kinda suits the medium. Because of this I enjoyed the story a lot.

The side quests and mini games added a lot of fun and play time and never felt grindy.

The super bosses that were optional were fun to find and then work out how to beat. Even though I had to read up how to do it (no game FAQs back then lol) I then got to work and did it. I really wanted to 100% that game. In the end I did so.... twice.

The music was amazing.

Overall it was a fantastic experience for me. It was a huge leap for 3d gaming at the time and was in the realm of "holy crapness" that I only remember MGS also giving me in that generation. I might go back and go through it again but there are a bunch of games I have to play (new and old) and it has a very happy place in the memory banks for now.

Currently going through FFIX which is pretty good. Not doing the same for me that FFVII did at the time but I am playing this game many years after its release. However the cartoony graphics and the characters in general arn't anything special. Playing an androgynous monkey person isn't that interesting and is kinda off putting in the cut scenes. infact its those that make him look androgynous in the first place. However I am enjoying it and am surprised how well some of the settings hold up graphically. The world map and fights look like crap but the rest looks surprisingly good.

 

[scoot3r]

If she doesn't understand why you like ff7, she's too young for you bro.

 

[J_Ark]

This is actually a pretty good article about why the game is so good. I'll quote a couple of bits from it.

Pretty much this. And superb the reference to Suikoden series.

 

[3phemeral]

I had no idea how long the game was. When I finished Midguard I thought I had completed the game. Even at that point I thought it was great. Then boom, world map. Was a true holy crap moment and I hadn't even scratched the surface yet.

I had the same experience. Just when it was starting to get claustrophobic, the world map opened up and I was in utter awe. I think I haven't really played any RPGs after that point because I didn't experience anything that emulated that. I probably missed out on a bunch of good games, though. I was coerced by the chatter in my office to get Skyrim and the scale and atmosphere blew the lids off my eyes.

 

[Alfredo]

I like the Materia system. "It makes all the characters the same." While not exactly true, I think that's a good thing. I can actually use the characters I like instead of being forced to use the whiney little boy because I need a magic user.

And I still think Sephiroth is a cool villain if you separate the fanboy/fangirl stuff from him.

 

[J_Ark]

I had the same experience. Just when it was starting to get claustrophobic, the world map opened up and I was in utter awe. I think I haven't really played any RPGs after that point because I didn't experience anything that emulated that. I probably missed out on a bunch of good games, though. I was coerced by the chatter in my office to get Skyrim and the scale and atmosphere blew the lids off my eyes.

I got sickened, I had to stop playing for a few moments (true story xD). One of my first 3D experiences where you could rotate the camera and also the feeling of "EVERYTHING I'VE DONE IN MIDGAR IS JUST A FUCKING CITY IN A GIGANTIC WORLD MAP?! ADSJKVSDFKNVSDKJVNSDKVJDSNVKDSAVNAKVJN!!"

 

[levitan]

I got sickened, I had to stop playing for a few moments (true story xD). One of my first 3D experiences where you could rotate the camera and also the feeling of "EVERYTHING I'VE DONE IN MIDGAR IS JUST A FUCKING CITY IN A GIGANTIC WORLD MAP?! ADSJKVSDFKNVSDKJVNSDKVJDSNVKDSAVNAKVJN!!"

We know dat feel man...good times.

 

[Mupod]

I could go on and on about what's bad about FF7 but the fact remains that I've played through it multiple times and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was definitely not my first RPG either, and graphically...well, I first played the shitty PC port and when the characters jumped out of the train at the start I thought something was wrong with my video card. After being told what a graphical masterpiece the game was supposed to be by my playstation-owning friends I was baffled. But even the ugliness and translation quirks are endearing in their own way.

To break it down simply, the reasons I like it:

- I am a sucker for world maps with tons of extra/hidden/mysterious crap to find and FF7 is one of the best. I love FF8 but its world seemed empty in comparison. You have no idea how disappointed I am that JRPGs nearly abandoned the whole world map thing entirely.
- Battle system is quick and decisive, only runs into problems with the longer summons. I think a slow battle system can really hurt a JRPG, see Lost Odyssey or FF9's loadtimes.
- Materia system is a pretty fun evolution of the job mastery from previous games, I liked the idea of customizing the behaviour of my spells on top of their effects on a character's stats.
- Lots of random crap to do, sure the minigames aren't exactly masterpieces but just the fact that they are there makes the game feel more...full? Lovingly crafted?

and of course the music and characters are incredibly memorable, I liked almost every member of the cast. I will say I didn't care at all about Aeris though. Now Phantasy Star 4, that game had a character death which hit me hard.

 

[Burli]

For me it has a real charm that I feel the Final Fantasy series has slowly been losing, great story, materia system, chocobo breeding and racing, lots of awesome secrets to discover, bad-ass twists, great characters. I consider it alongside Ocarina of Time to be one of my favourite games of all time (and yes I consider the factor of nostalgia may distort my views, but I still enjoy it immensely on replays).

 

[swit]

I'll just leave this here
https://soundcloud.com/iambulb/prelude-bombfare-final-fantasy

 

[GregLombardi]

You can't look at a game 15-20 years out in front of it and attempt to dissect it without understanding the historical perspective. Very simply, Final Fantasy 7 was the beginning of mass consumer 3D RPGs. As someone who played Final Fantasy in sequential American order (lacking some of the games), in 1997 I found Final Fantasy 7 to be a dramatic, addictive, masterful entry in the world of games. The cinematic quality was a giant leap forward for all of gaming, and nothing like it had ever been done on consoles. Additionally, the game play design was neither insanely complicated nor too simple. Finally, although the story made literally no sense sometimes, it was still very interesting and Sephiroth as well as Shinra still remain some of the most compelling antagonists I've ever seen in an RPG.

 

[Kozak]

People continue to list this as a reason, but how does it explain why FF7 is also the most popular FF in Japan? The series was already huge there before FF7 was released.

Its the most popular FF in Japan because people over there have sick fantasies about animu characters and Cloud is a popular one.

I mean..look at this shit:

Are they serious?

 

[Skilletor]

Its the most popular FF in Japan because people over there have sick fantasies about animu characters and Cloud is a popular one.

I mean..look at this shit:

Are they serious?

What's wrong with that picture?

 

[Haunted]

Babby's first RPG, what else?

No, that's Pokemon.

FFVII's demographic at the time skewed older. Like 12-16.

 

[OldAsUrSock]

I have played FF7, FF10, FF11, FF12 and FF13. There is only one final fantasy game out of those I like and it is probably the most hated on GAF. The game is FF13. Final Fantasy 13 was the first game of the series that I could play through. The gameplay is pretty unique and I like the story. Most of the time it is pretty linear but that is not a problem. If you were looking for an open world FF like Skyrim then FF13 is not for you. While there is one section in the game that is very open it probably still does not satisfy those that want a fully open experience.

Today, it looks like shit today. In 97 it easily was the most beautiful game at the time, with the highest production values. It really blew my mind at the time. Plus the amount of content in there was staggering. Playing in Midgar for about 8 hours and then realizing that there's this whole world out there to explore... The game was awesome at the time. Now after every JRPG has copied and refined the formula it might not seem like much, but it was a revolution at the time.

Good for it's time but horrible now. Standards increase and if the game cannot compete with what is out now then it is a bad game. Take of your nostalgia glass my fellow GAFers and experience games how they really are made.

Blew my mind when I was a kid (everything about it).

Not the best, but it's still a decent to good RPG nowadays. I don't understand some of the hate it gets from people.

Because if you are used to good games now then going to FF7 was like going to a new indie dev's game of today.

 

[mattiewheels]

A little too Evangelion for my tastes.

Oh wait, every jrpg was after this one. Thanks FFVII!

 

[Trancetronic]

I miss the way the old Cloud and everyone else looked.

=(

 

[Skilletor]

I have played FF7, FF10, FF11, FF12 and FF13. There is only one final fantasy game out of those I like and it is probably the most hated on GAF. The game is FF13. Final Fantasy 13 was the first game of the series that I could play through. The gameplay is pretty unique and I like the story. Most of the time it is pretty linear but that is not a problem. If you were looking for an open world FF like Skyrim then FF13 is not for you. While there is one section in the game that is very open it probably still does not satisfy those that want a fully open experience.

So if you don't like linearity, go play Skyrim.

Great logic there. If you think people wanted a fully open experience in FF13, you just don't understand the criticism. Which really isn't surprising since you didn't care for or finish any other FF. I don't think most FF fans are looking for an open world like skyrim since, you know, none of the (offline) games have been open worl.

 

[Nekofrog]

I'll just leave this here
https://soundcloud.com/iambulb/prelude-bombfare-final-fantasy

I counter that with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-Prb2N-kAY

Misha's a good friend of mine, wish he would do more with FF7.

 

[Foxtastical]

It was a big deal when I was 13, does not hold up now, but people are unwilling to separate the game from their age and raised standards of quality from 1997.

There are many reasons why this game was important to me when I was 13. Melodrama, in general, appealed to me when I was young because the nuances of emotion didn't quite register at that point yet. At the time I didn't know why, but I can now see why such hyperbolic representations of relationships and love were fun. FF7 just happened to be there at the right time for me.

And yeah, it doesn't necessarily hold up that well for me. That's cool though, I still consider it a wonderful game because of its importance in my past. It made me happy in a specific context in my life, and while the context of my life has changed and the game isn't entirely relevant to me anymore, I still appreciate it for what it did.

Very few games have managed to make me happy in both childhood and adulthood. That's tough. But there's a reason I still talk about Super Metroid.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

When I first played FF7 one of the things that made me fall in love with it was just how many options I had at my disposal (when I first realized I could equip the sniper scope to Vincent and give him 100% chance to hit and then only use death blow or whatever the attack that always crit was it blew my fucking mind), not to mention the whole first disk of the game is seriously one of my favorite setups.

The enemy threat was perfectly well done and it felt ever present also the mindfuckery was pretty well executed.

 

[Smelly Tramp]

that article quoted nails it. people complaining it has a shit plot are just thinking about some of the badly translated dialogue and cloud & sephiroth.

whilst sephiroth was an enjoyable villain, the rest of the world was much more compelling. it's a reason a lot of the FFVI fans hate it as well, because the cast does not hold up to VI's. and whilst that's true, there is so much more to the game.

cosmo canyon, city of the ancients, north crater, midgar, these are areas unmatched in any other games in the series, and i absolutely LOVE VI & IX in particular. its atmosphere is just unmatched, and the greater overarching theme of human/corporate greed vs the good of nature/the planet are absolutely compelling.

hell it even had the balls to just completely skip over the characters for the ending, skip ahead in time and show you the world instead of what cloud/barret/tifa etc are up to. because thats what the whole game was about.

 

[J_Ark]

I'll just leave this here
https://soundcloud.com/iambulb/prelude-bombfare-final-fantasy

Counter chance! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2R7kN3dyUs

So proud of It

 

[Muffdraul]

A little too Evangelion for my tastes.

Oh wait, every jrpg was after this one. Thanks FFVII!

Oh yeah, Eva only influenced JP game devs because FFVII did it first. Sure sure!!!

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

As for the comparisons to FF9, there was no sense of urgency or a grand plot for the first few hours of the game, a symptom that a lot of RPGs suffer. There was nothing impressive or enticing about the FF9 plot until the Cleyra segment.

Meanwhile FF7 started off by thrusting you in the middle of an important mission and the urgency of themes is hammered home in the first 10 minutes. The planet is dying, evil company is sucking the planet's energy for profits. By the end of the first disc, think of how much had happened storywise. (people give God of War credit for starting balls out action, FF7 did it long ago)

What did FF9 accomplish in the first disc? Have you perform in a theatre act? Kidnap a princess?

It was the start of a fun medieval fantasy adventure. Not all games need to start bang bang action shoot slice city on fire.
In fact, that more inocent adventure, with a colorful city and a theater is something that makes FFIX so special.

 

[Tarps]

... Even though I had to read up how to do it (no game FAQs back then lol)

Have to call you out on that one, only because I was caught at school printing a 350 page FAQ. Not because I was stuck, I just had a burning desire to know EVERYTHING the game had to offer. Was totally worth it.

 

[Muffdraul]

Even though I had to read up how to do it (no game FAQs back then lol) I then got to work and did it.

Actually now that you mention it... pretty sure Kao Megura's FFVII JP FAQ was how I first discovered gamefaqs.com.

 

[cartman414]

I never sobbed, but it was the first time a characters death actually meant anything. It's difficult to truly care about characters whose only way of emoting is cartoonish symbols popping up over their heads.

VII was the first game I ever played where two characters could have a conversation in a beautiful environment, have it develop their characters, and have it be effectual enough to be taken seriously. I don't think it was particularly well written, especially by other mediums standards, but no other game - not any entry in Final Fantasy beforehand - had a scene like the slide scene outside of Sector 7 that actually worked.

That, and I think superficially Final Fantasy VII has some of the best JRPG mechanics. Battle is crisp and satisfying, Materia is accessible and deep enough that customizing your characters for battle is a lot less tiresome and grind-heavy as the previous job systems. It's atmospheric in a way that only a handful of other games are - and none in the Final Fantasy series.

Skill development isn't so grind heavy if you plan ahead. That's part of the fun and feeling of accomplishment, something you won't get in the form of freely swappable cryatals.

I played it back when it was released. I was about 16. I loved the game a lot. I am tempted to get it again on psn and play it on vita but im worried it might destroy my memories of it lol.

Anyway the key things I remember that I loved about it.

The combat system. It was my first JRPG and I hadn't really played something like this before.

The Materia system was great because you could set up your team exactly how you wanted to. It also meant you could choose your team based on simply there asthetic and limit breaks. I never like being forced to use a character I hate just because he has the best skills or what ever.

Takes the strategy out of party builds though. Ok, FFVI was pretty light, but it was still better than nothing like here.

 

[Kageshinzo]

FFVII hype loses much of its context without the era when it was first experienced in 1997. It came at pretty much the same time when the Internet became much more accessible and mainstream. Even now, I still can't disassociate the game with all the fansites, forums, and IRC chats that accompanied it. Not to mention the proliferation of FFVII midis, fanarts and fanfics. It really was raw fan phenomenon, not the industry-created social media Web 2.0 shit we have with AAA games today. GeoCities fan shrines just added to the whole experience.

Without that, yeah. It's just a so-so game by today's standards. I have to say, though, I still get a wistful look whenever I hear Tifa's Theme in midi.

Fun times.

 

[Defunkled]

This article does a great job of explaining why I think VII (along with VI) is one of the greatest RPGs ever created.

http://socksmakepeoplesexy.net/index.php?a=ff07

 

[Kageshinzo]

I have played FF7, FF10, FF11, FF12 and FF13. There is only one final fantasy game out of those I like and it is probably the most hated on GAF. The game is FF13. Final Fantasy 13 was the first game of the series that I could play through.

Certainly speaks much to your taste in games. Or lack thereof.

And aside from the MMOs, there has never been an "open-world" mainline FF. Open-world and World Map are two different things. Again, shows much of what you know about the franchise.

 

[Carpe Diem]

FF7 set the standard for all subsequent cd based RPGs. ALL. Years have passed and it is still the most talked about FF. It helped established the PS1 as a true gaming system, stealing the franchise from Nintendo. No other FF with the exception of FF3 on the NES comes close.

 

[antitrop]

FF7 set the standard for all subsequent cd based RPGs. ALL. Years have passed and it is still the most talked about FF. It helped established the PS1 as a true gaming system, stealing the franchise from Nintendo. No other FF with the exception of FF3 on the NES comes close.

I was with you right up until the end... Then it got weird.

 

[Carpe Diem]

I was with you right up until the end... Then it got weird.

lol. should have said snes obviously.

 

[ronito]

It was very much the perfect game at the perfect time.
It introduced the world what could be done in 32 bit gaming. it had the right amount of hype behind it and was introduced at time in most people's lives where it had a huge impression.
Not to mention it was really well done, the music, the mise en scene, the presentation. It was the game everyone hoped would be the future. Now that we're beyond that "future" it seems trite and broken. But it's hard to overestimate it's impact when it came out. Same thing with MGS 1. It just blew everyone away.

 

[Shads]

I completely agree with OP. And Aeris' "shocking" death was nothing new for me because of Phantasy Star II. Yes, I know FFVII was the first RPG for many people, but it's a shame these same people didn't get a chance to play some real classics at the time.

 

[Ol No Bones]

It was a good game at the time and has actually held up over time. Not the graphics. I think it's funny how often you see people reffering to ff7 and overrated.

 

[Carpe Diem]

Try to keep the point of the op in mind when posting. FF7 is one of the most influencial games ever. Across all genres and 'generational consoles. Heck, an argument can be made that FF7 is the reason why Nintendo is in the situation it's in now, atleast as it relates to third party developers.

 

[Andrew.]

Its got electrolytes.


Seriously though upon its initial release, this was the first game I cut school for to drive home during my bullshit classes when I was 16 to go grind XP. Great times.

 

[evilromero]

It was never my thing and believe me I tried to get into it (got to the last disc). I know this sounds strange but I was spoiled by Mario 64 for that entire generation. So a game with limited interactivity like FFVII just didn't do it for me.

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

It's great because you literally think your doing a good deed at the beginning of the game only to realize a short time later that you just killed hundreds to thousands of poor and innocent people.

 

[Carpe Diem]

It's great because you literally think your doing a good deed at the beginning of the game only to realize a short time later that you just killed hundreds to thousands of poor and innocent people.

lol. mind trip. so nostalgic .

 

[cartman414]

It was never my thing and believe me I tried to get into it (got to the last disc). I know this sounds strange but I was spoiled by Mario 64 for that entire generation. So a game with limited interactivity like FFVII just didn't do it for me.

Pretty opposite viewpoint to many of the guys in the "How can anyone not like Nintendo?" thread.

 

[imtehman]

whats not great about ff7???

the music, the characters, the materia system, the incredible amount of things to do in the end game, the battle system. SHEESH, i wish i could replay FF7 again with newbie eyes

 

[Wazzy]

It's a good game. I prefer VIII, X and Tactics over it but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot I enjoyed about VII.

Midgar was great and I loved Red XIII, Cid and Barret. The Turks and Rufus were great too. The music was nice and the locations were great, Cosmo Canyon in particular. Battle system was simple and fun.

I will say that I feel like over the years the fans have hindered my enjoyment of the game but I do still like it, just not as much as when I was younger.

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

Great game. Amazing story.

 

[antitrop]

It's great because you literally think your doing a good deed at the beginning of the game only to realize a short time later that you just killed hundreds to thousands of poor and innocent people.

Spec Ops: The Line of the 90's?

Far more subtle and less heavy-handed, though.