Final Fantasy VII

It's a bit boring to name Final Fantasy 7 as your favorite game, but well, what can you do when Square went all in on their first 3D game. For the JRPG standards this game is quite short in length as you can reach the end in mere 30 hours when playing normally, but what is packed inside the short period of time is pure gold - the game is so perfectly paced that it stays equally interesting and fun to play from the moment you pick it up until the final hit on the final boss.

With the transition from 2D to 3D, Square also scrapped the generic fantasy setting in favor of a more urban world, which is definitely the strength of the game. Instead of going on a quest in the middle ages to defeat some demon king or whatever, you join a terrorist group to fight against a megacorporation that has garnered influence over the entire world, while pursuing some mf who wants to destroy the entire planet. It is quite the unique setting for an RPG, being so close to our own, that you can easily relate to the characters and get immersed in the world, which is why FF7 feels quite like nothing else in the genre.

While the story is the most interesting part of the game, it can also be quite confusing. It is normal not to understand what is happening in the game fully until repeated playthroughs, which is when you get the "oh, so that's how it goes" moments, which is nice in a sense since it adds for the replayability of the game, unlike, say, FF9 which gets duller by each playthrough. On FF7 though, every time you visit a new town it feels refreshing since you get to know more about the world and learn background on the characters, and the characters themselves are such an unique set that it is legitimately fun and satisfying to go through the character "arcs" to get to know them better.

When it comes to the combat, it feels great due to how fast-based it is and the materia system is a fun way to progress your characters with it being exciting whenever you stumble upon new materia to improve your build with. However, my biggest gripe with the combat system is how long it takes to unlock new limit breaks; Having to defeat closer to 100 enemies with each character to unlock new limit levels is nuts, which is why if you attempt to use all characters equally and don't grind much, you are rocking your limit level 2 out of 4 in the endgame (except for MC) which is a bit comical.

The biggest drawback of the game is its graphics since it is an early 3D title. I don't think nowadays you can get anyone to say the overworld character models look good, but the cartoonish looks to them give them a certain charm, and the backgrounds and battle models look fantastic. If you can get over the look of the graphics, FF7 is one of the most unique experiences the genre can offer.

Final Fantasy 7 is an oddity of a game. Regarded at the time to be one of if not the greatest JRPG to release, considered as the original Playstation's must-have killer app, and a game that has changed the gaming industry in more ways than one. I don't have much connection to Final Fantasy as a franchise and I wasn't old enough to grasp the relevance of 7's release until I was much older, well into the late 2000's to early 2010's. I'd even go as far as to say I kinda hated Final Fantasy as I was growing up as I was not particularly fond of fantasy media of any kind, nor did the more vanilla mechanics appeal to me once I got older and was getting more interested in the genre of RPGs. Even so, I decided to give FF7 a proper chance much later in life, leaving behind any bias I had for the series initially and trying my best to ignore the hype behind it just to see if I would like the game on its own merits. For starters, visually I find the game to be both simple and mesmerizing. It's easy to call the games visuals outdated, but for the time I can see what was so appealing with the mix of FMV and 3-D models working along side each other to create dynamic cutscenes. The use of the models themselves is a bit jarring but honestly endearing to me seeing a mix of chibi-esque models used for the hub and general maps, switching to more 'properly-scaled' character models during battles and high production cutscenes that more resemble their concept art. If there's anything here that hasn't really aged well, it's the pre-rendered backgrounds, or rather how they are laid out, as it can be a bit cumbersome navigating them properly, especially trying to make heads or tails of what can and can't be interacted with, even with the assistance of an optional navigation feature to show you what is considered a door/pathway. Never-the-less I managed to make my way through the game without too much issue in this department. As for audio, the music is very well composed and the sound effects are very punchy and satisfying. The game uses the PS1 hardware to its benefit rather than a hinderance so while it doesn't use a grand orchestrated soundtrack, it was able to amplify the emotions and atmosphere of the game to a stellar degree despite the limitations. Even after the fact I find many songs of FF7 to be stuck in my head. The overall presentation FF7 has charm through and through; it's not a technical marvel of the PlayStation, but it was able to make due and then some with the hardware, both visually and audibly. Gameplay is where things get a little weirder. The mechanics and ideas of FF7 leave for a lot of experimentation, frustration, and a broken mess of systems that make the overall battle system a hellish and joyful experience. For starters, ATB (active time battle) system is not my thing. Not only am I left to sit through attacks with long and drawn out animations for both my characters and the enemies I face, but I have to wait for my characters to build up their gauge just to get my next turn of attack? In theory this is supposed to add a bit of strategy of timing attacks and even utilizing spells to increase the ATB meter faster and slowing down enemies as well, but while a fun visual spectacle for a few hours, mid game I start to become worn down by the battles that I feel could be much faster, especially if I had the option to out right skip battle animations. In the game's defense the animations are pretty great but having to watch the same ones over and over ruins the magic over time. Then you get into one of the game's main systems for improving character's builds and that's materia. Materia are gems that have a bit of story significance but in game you can use them to enhance your team to give new battle options such as spells or attacks or even offer new advantages such as giving your player the option to use two items in a single turn, allow a spell to be casted on all enemies at once, or even increase the chance rate of attacking. Followed by equipping armor and weapons that can allow chaining materia abilities with one another, this is one of my favorite aspects of the game's battle systems and going out of your way to raise AP stats for your materia so they can level up and become more powerful becomes extremely beneficial towards the end game and allow the player to do some pretty stupid broken attack and defense options. So visually and mechanically I enjoy this game quite a bit, but where the game starts to go in one ear out the other is the overall story. I can't lie, I do not care for the story of FF7 and that's okay I think. The main party members you interact with are rather enjoyable, with characters like Barret and Cid being personal favorites for their rather brash and macho dialogs, but other than them and a handful of character interactions interspersed throughout the game such as the intro or locations like the Goldsaucer, everyone has a purpose to fill and outside of colorful dialog every so often, I can't say the plot and pacing of Final Fantasy 7 had me at the edge of my seat or really caring for certain characters all too much. That seems a bit harsh to say, so I won't say I don't at least find the attempt charming. Even by the time you reach the final chapter of the game, I was only really dazzled by the spectacle of it all rather than the actual story that was taking place. That being said, the final FMV sequence did end up invoking some intense feelings, without spoiling anything the final scene of the game really felt like a satisfying book end, but left enough for me to fill in the blanks of my own conclusions for the characters; a very satisfying ending overall. At the end of the day, Final Fantasy 7 feels like an experiment, and a very successful one. The game was advertised in ways that games have previously never seen before at such a large scale. The game that was delivered was an experience not yet seen in the industry at the time and would only be a glimpse of what was to come later on down the line with improved FMV sequences to enhance story presentation. The game put Square at the forefront of Sony's most prized 3rd party developers. It kicked the never ending train of consistent releases for the franchise that was later followed by two mainline sequels in the form of 8 and 9, along with spin offs like Final Fantasy Tactics and Chocobo Racing. Whether or not FF7 "lives up to the hype" is besides the point these days. It made its impression when it needed to and was absurdly successful in the end. To return to the original game requires some context and properly setting expectations to truly understand what made it blow people's minds back in the day. But even now FF7 is a rather enjoyable and cinematic RPG experience that I'd say is at least worth a look. It's not the greatest game I've ever played, but I can understand why someone who experienced back in '97 would consider it as theirs.

Ambicioso demais, FF VII sofre por causa da revolução que ele mesmo inspirou.

Dos modelos 3D aos minigames, jogá-lo hoje não é a coisa mais “suave” do mundo. Mas sua narrativa e ambientação são tão únicas e o núcleo do gameplay tão eficiente que as idiossincrasias ficam em segundo plano.

This is my first entry to the Final Fantasy series, and a solid candidate to be the last.

3D graphics might have been a cool thing in 1997, a thrill to have 3D characters to move in 3D environment, wowza.
In 2021 this thrill is non-existent, mere annoyance to have a scene after scene where the point is to walk from one end of the screen to the other (with added challenge of wanting you to be in an exactly correct position and direction to do something, or not being particularly forthcoming about where you are supposed to be going, so just stumble everywhere until you hit the right spot and get to move forward). Yay.

The controls in general leave something to be desired.

I haven't played a lot of JRPGs, mostly some stuff picking up influences from them, like the typical line-dancing combat. The nice thing about those I've known was that they were turn-based and had at least some tactical element in them. Here the combat seems to combine the bad traits of turn-based and real-time combat, there's little tactical interest and real-time always makes me feel a bit rushed, but still there is that stiff standing around and waiting, and missing the urgency of real-time.

And save points are really too scarce, which becomes an annoyance with all these cutscenes, scenes having you to walk from one side to the other and random filler battles (I kinda hate designated save point system in general, and this one is really expressing why).

There might be interesting story, characters or world, but of that I have no idea because after half an hour, the game mechanics made me want to die. If this milk was tasty in 1997, it is not so now.

but the music, story, and the cinematics that are reminiscent of the German Expressionismm films all struck a chord with me that made the slog worth fighting through. If the remake is able to establish the sense of dread that FFVII was able to establish while making the gameplay so much easier to stomach, I am going to adore it so much more than this.

The gameplay got so frustrating that I had to use walkthroughs to figure out where to go, and since I was playing on my Switch, I eventually resorted to using my unlimited limit breakers cheat just so I can make it through the fights faster because the random encounters were far too frequent and it was really pissing me off especially because at this point, my characters were more than strong enough to win, they just needed to find Sephiroth and kick his ass for toying with my boy Cloud like he has been.

But in the end, I enjoyed the game for what it was and respect what it means for the video game industry.

Several years and massive ambition (and budget) characterised Square's next colossus. Final Fantasy VII coined a new language - one representing a sort of compromise between the two prominent worlds of classic JRPGs. It contained fantasy elements without indulging in high-fantasy medieval settings, and it contained science fiction elements without indulging in rendering alien worlds. Instead, Square saw fit to blend parts of each, and contaminated the mixture with a broad range of environmental aesthetics (particularly cartoony cyberpunk in the first half). It was also an essay on wild contrast: Goofy humour and whimsy met chilling sci-fi horror, and both seemed to co-exist rather than pull the plot in their own direction. The progression reflected the general wackiness; each section proceeding to the next in very unpredictable ways, swinging from silly minigames with bizarre premises to tragic excursions, from tender character subplots to hokey melodrama and action movie-grade extravagance. The common denominator adorning each moment is an unusually lighthearted atmosphere - even at their most tense or disturbing of scenes. The resulting work strayed far from the epic pomp of old, and often felt like a chaotic (parodistic?) anomaly that never seemed to take itself seriously, especially when compared to its contemporaries - who always sacrificed humor for drama or vice-versa.

Strange as those surrounding traits may be, its combat & systems are a minor step back, its equipment-oriented skill learning Materia system basically revisited the past few installments in a roundabout way. The battle system succeeds mainly due to a newfound flair for elaborate camerawork and dazzling animations, with cinematic fireworks stemming from its new fighting game super move-inspired Limit Breaks, all of which benefit from their transition to 3D. Uematsu is in splendid form here, boasting one of his most evocative, varied, emotional and colorful soundtracks ever, albeit not as daring, and Tetsuya Nomura's efforts in character design exerted a huge influence (for better and for worse) on later JRPGs.