Final Fantasy VII

The Good
Now, the more that goes under this section, the more I like such games, hehe. Duh, ain't it obvious? :) Well, let's start by checking everything that's great in this game...

The Story: now, my first FF game was the 8th sequel, so this one was the second for me, actually. Still, both of games have really long and complex story with great characters and both, action and dramatic scenes. Unfortunately, this one isn't made to have a happy ending... unless your main character, Cloud, is okay to stick with Tifa as a final. The story upgrades quickly, and will probably give you many hours of play, and that is if we don't count other substories aside that can increase amount of time maybe to double or more. So, as a conclusion, the story rules, and has all the qualities to join love and action into fantasy science fiction genre.

The Action: oh, I specially like this part. Comparing to Final Fantasy VIII, fights seem kinda much easier in this sequel. As I'm not for hard nor high level of playing, I prefer when I'm able to pass my enemies with better strategy or stealth tactic instead of fighting over 10 mins with a single enemy. The battle system is real-time turn-based mixture, which means, you have to wait for a certain time to be able to strike or use a spell, same as your enemy, but still, when your timeline is ready, you can act whenever you want to. Also, the great part in this squel (over FF8) is that you can pick up weapons and use them instead. Of course, in Final Fantasy VIII you could only have a weapon that you start with, and your were able to upgrade that certain weapon piece, but I never figured how to do that, so never mind that issue. As for the spells and materia (GF in FF8), you are pretty much able to buy that anywhere around, and the higher level between certain character and assigned materia is, the more effective magic or summoned creature is.

The Music: hmm, now that is a masterpiece. I mean, just a few months ago, I never listened to any SquareSoft music, but it's all changed now, hehe. All Final Fantasy game tracks are great in general, and this sure is no exception. It sure helpt to build the atmosphere in every point, adventuring or battling.

The Graphic: now this part was great, hey, check the 'against' section so you don't think I like all the graphics in this game, as I find some parts pretty crappy. However, since this is a PC version, I ask you again, why the heck do these consoles even exist? This sure has great graphic and runs pretty fast on even slower machines as well. Background art is really something, as well as all the animations that does not consist of human characters.

Well, what else is left to say... oh, yeah, the navigation. Well, that is great, either on the global map, simulating a craft, or running with a chocobo, hehe. Yeah, those are the bird I wouldn't like to ride twice, LOL! Naaw, seriously, the game is great, except for one thing...

The Bad
I know that this is intentionally made that way, but I'm really sick of how characters are poorly animated and made in general. I mean, elbows seem like every character is heaving some 50 pounds weight and all just came out of GYM. I mean, get serious, this is a fantasy world, but not for human kind, just for others around, LOL! Anyway, after like 30 hours of playing, I got used to that, still not completely, but okay. But I wouldn't like to experience such a graphical crap in my future anymore. I mean, Chrono Cross, Parasite Eve, Final Fantasy VIII & X those are the greatest SquareSoft games with amazingly made graphic characters, no matter some of them does not lok real, they look NICE, and that's that counts. I spit on all FF7 graphic characters!

The Bottom Line
I was wondering for a long time what made americans love Final Fantasy VII so much, even though it doesn't have a speech included. Well, after playing Final Fantasy VIII, I became a definite FF fan(atic), but it kinda almost splashed when I got to play this game I'm reviewing. Well, as long as sequels remain better, I'm on for it, and I sure wouldn't like to miss "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" movie that's supposed to hit the theaters this summer. Look, many folks find this game better than FF8, but I wouldn't recommend you this one if you care at least a bit on how CGI looks alike in it. Otherwise, story, music, art (not characters - that sucks), everything's in place, and really great experience for any adventure/RPG admirer.

The Good
What didn't I like about this game? That's a better question. Just about every thing in the game was spectacular.

The music. Wow. I still remember the catchy boss music and music from Cosmo Canyon. Great stuff.

The plot was great. The save the world, get the girl (too bad it doesn't work out), and the whole thing is genius. FF7 puts an original twist on the idea.

The characters were great. All of them but Yuffie. Even the Turks were cool. Even Sephiroth, the main bad guy, who you are supposed to hate, you cannot help liking.

The Bad
Graphics and Yuffie.

If they made a re-make of this game, I would want it to be EXACTLY the same as this one, albeit with state of the art graphics.

The Bottom Line
Stop reading this review, get in your car, drive to the nearest videogame store, and buy this game. Now.

The Good
FF7 represents the quantum leap the series made after a 3-year hiatus to a more sophisticated platform. After their break-up with Nintendo Squaresoft finally came to Sony's PSX to develop the next installment of their long-running series. Would the spirit and soul of the series get lost in this new high-powered (at the time) platform? would we get lots of cgi and no game? thankfully no. At least not yet.

FF7 remains true to the spirit of the series, which is to deliver a strong, solid storyline with deep, complex characters on it rather than giving you a free-form rpg experience. Sure, you get stats and there is a certain level of non-linearity regarding what you can do, but no one will mistake this for a Ultima game, or a Wizardry. As it goes, FF7 story is one of the best, coming close to dethroning FF6 (my all time favorite) when it comes to character development, seriousness and emotional punch. There's a lot more to like though. The action is perfectly balanced with the use of cool cinematic animations for each summon, magic, etc. You may hate all the stupid materia management hassles you have to go through, but they are still worth it.

On the technical side of things, the game didn't really take full advantage of the posibilities the new platform offered, and made a lot of concessions to their long-time design trademark, which gives you elements you either love or hate. For instance the SD (Super Deformed) characters. The reason they were kept like that was to keep the tone and emphasize the emotional aspects of the game, it is a long known fact that there's a reason the japanese manga characters are (usually) drawn in simple big-eyed "naif" ways. Because simplicity conveys much more feelings than complex ultra-realistic drawings. The simple, almost childish, character design tells our brain "this isn't finished" and thus forces us to interpretate by ourselves, to see beyond them and find for ourselves what's there. It's this interaction that causes the game's emotional moments to be so much powerfull, because you "see" whenever Cloud boils with anger, you "feel" Tifa's despair at her un-answered love, all because they are represented in the simplest of ways, with the same facial expresion that you can never quite make out.

This ever present simplicity of graphics has always been a staple of the FF games (and well, practically every japanese rpg) and here is made evident by the use of much more realistic backgrounds, while you could attribute the naivete of the graphics in the snes games to technical limitations, their intentionallity becomes undeniable when we see it on the psx, where the SD characters are placed over super-realistic (or at least pretty good looking) pre-rendered backgrounds.

Essentially everything that made the FFs so great is here, and all with tremendous whiz-bang cinematic effects and cgi. However...this is a double edged sword....

The Bad
I could point out here the technical deficiencies of the game (the midi-like tunes through most of the game, the use of simply shaded polygons, instead of textured ones, etc.) but there is a much bigger problem in this game that needs to be pointed out, and it's not even it's fault.

The biggest problem with FF7 was what resulted of it, it's biggest problem was what it caused. To put it bluntly: Squaresoft is going the way of the once mighty Origin. And where Origin died by trying to Hollywoodize itself, using actors and expensive sets, Square is headed by using catchy cgi, and graphical glamour.

And where did it all start? with the Playstation, and with FF7. Gone where the days of submiting creative content to a limited platform, a whole new horizon seemed to be ahead, but as us pc gamers known, technological quantum leaps often bring a lot of mediocrity with them. What would Square do with greater graphical detail and cgi cutscenes? well exploit that of course! And to the max if needed! Really, I don't think they are the best in the business (just look at any Capcom or Namco cgi cutscene) but they seem to be the ones that use it the most, often with disastrous results (just look at Parasite Eve).

From FF7 on, Square would totally submit their games to this cinematic treatment, and though their games haven't always been the pinacle of interactivity, the illusion of it was still there. Now, it's gone, shattered to pieces. Forever? Who knows.

Don't believe me? fine, don't think of the cgi, but let me give you an example of how this philosophy has seeped into the bones of the series spirit. Look at the cover of this game. Cloud stands proudly with that "complex hero" look ready to take on all comers, quite far from reality really but a very good omen. Gone from this point on is the humble aproach to storytelling the FFs used to have, gone is that excellent "collective hero" concept were there wasn't really a main character you could pinpoint and say this is him! this is the one that has to kill Gonzo and win the game! Now we slowly take the plunge towards a more marketable heroic aproach. And while Cloud still remains on this side of the fence, not far from us is the "Totally Cool" superhero-that-shops-at-Gap which would soon take over (yes, Squall, I'm talking about you).

The Bottom Line
This can be pretty much defined as the last of a dynasty (though bear in mind I haven't played FF9 and I'm told it does recapture the original spirit) It is a great game but aimed to those with an open mind. It will take some adjusting to get into this game even for those of us that played the snes FFs and I can only imagine how it may be to someone who has never touched a japanese rpg. Final Fantasy VII walks that very dangerous middle ground, it will not appeal to those who want nothing but photorealistic graphics and glamour, and it will not appeal to those who want complete freedom of action and stats up the wazoo. It will appeal only to those with a fresh perspective willing to get into an inmersive world and go through a deep and complex storyline sprinkled all over with action.