| Final Fantasy VII |
| This is a game that provokes some thought. It certainly starts out simple enough. Cloud, a mercanary formerly in SOLDIER, helps out a rebel group known as AVALANCHE, who are trying to take down the Shinra Co., a major corporation that's slowly destroying the planet by taking the Mako energy from it. Well, maybe it's not too simple... Anyways, after a couple of successful missions by Cloud and Co., Shinra gets greedier, starts killing people, and blames it on AVALANCHE! When you're forced to escape Midgar, the main technological area of the planet and home to the Shinra Headquarters, things start getting weird. I'm not gonna ruin it for those who haven't played it yet (although every game magazine and website in the world has revealed most of it), buts it's safe to say that this game has a lot of crazy twists. It can certainly get overwhelming, but for me, the many plot twists and turns just revealed another reason to play non-stop. There are tons of things that you can do on the side. If there weren't, could it truly be a Final Fantasy game? I didn't think so. The Gold Saucer is a great example. It's a big amusement CITY that includes lots of full-fledged mini games, as well as a battle arena that that lets you win the best weapons and items in the game. Of course, there are also the globe spanning searches for hidden summons, weapons, etc. And we can't forgot the huge, gratuitously-difficult bosses that only the hardcore dare challenge. Graphically, I think the game holds up pretty well, seeing as it's almost 6 years old and on an underpowered system. Sure, the FMV's are grainy and you can count the polygons on the characters, but who cares? I don't mind if my character's hand is a boxing glove! Blocky characters don't make for a game any less fun, and this game is fun. The music in this game is memorable, very suitable, and very Final Fantasyesque. At the time, it was a huge step above the MIDI sounds of the SNES. I remember a lot of the music from this game; the slow, finger-clicking theme of the Turk's; the bass-laden tribal theme of Cosmo Canyon; it was all great. Final Fantasy VII brings back the Active Time Battle system, which isn't my favorite way of fighting, but it gets the job done. The Materia system is a very innovative way of customizing. It gives you a lot of options, and even includes FFVII's versions of summons within it. Every Materia added to a charachter gives him/her a special ability, but conversely decreases stats. It's so simple, it makes you wonder why Square would opt to go with the overly-complex Junction system. (Those who have visited my site in the past will notice that I cut most of my comments on FFVIII's Junction system. The truth is, FFVIII was the first Final Fantasy game I had ever purchased. Originally, I never got past Elnoyle [the flying bat thing on the communication tower...an hour into the game]. I was bitter that I didn't understand the Junction system or the game, so I sold it to my brother and held a grudge against it for over 2 years. After gaining valuable Experience Points with other RPG's, I reluctantly went back to FFVIII. Currently, I am on the 4th and final disk, but may never actually beat the game due to seriously under-leveled characters. I both understand and get along with the Junction system now, but I may never fully accept it. Sue me.) |
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