LogFAQs > #967978585

Final Fantasy VII (PS4, the original game)

My first ever playthrough of FFVII, although I did play through the Midgar portion already years ago. Such a long time before I got around to it, but now I can finally say I've played FFVII.

I find it nearly impossible to make up my mind about this one. In some ways, it is one of my favorite Final Fantasy games, in other ways, it shows its age too much and it has story problems (but to be fair, almost every JRPG does, so I can't really fault FFVII more than other JRPGs).

Honestly, from the games I have beaten in the series, it's hard to say which ones I truly enjoyed more. The only certain one is 7. 9 and 12 are close, I guess I have a soft spot for 12. 6 would be, but I have never actually beaten it. 1, 3, 4, 5, 10-2, 13 and 15 are all below 7 for me. Haven't played 2 or 8 yet. So that leaves it as a top 5 FF, despite finding some things not hold up well.

I would say the start of the game is great. I love the setting. After that, it becomes a little more generic, but it's still pretty good with some great setpieces even now. It has quite interesting characters and simple but effective lore/world building. However, the way those parts are presented and even some of the elements used to explain what happens or happened to whom are not always that elegant and it feels like the game is a bit ambitious for its time. The small text boxes can only do so much and it shows in some of the unexplained, convoluted or downright illogical story elements. I also feel like the translation is bad, even considering I don't know Japanese and even ignoring the spelling/grammatical errors, because some of the dialogue flows absolutely horribly.

Gameplay? Mixed bag as well. Materia system feels both fun and problematic. Some of the forced and gimmicky 3D minigames are just tacked on to showcase what they could do, but they don't hold up well I feel. At least this version has some QoL additions to make it less slow and sluggish, a thing that is welcome in every PS1 FF.

Overall, it is at least a memorable title. The story, characters and world building are all flawed but gripping at the same time (moreso than a lot of games in this series). Also, it definitely increased the scope of the series and modernised the setting while keeping the fantasy as well. And man, I'm LIVING for that boss music.

I don't know what score to give it in 2022. I think it has enough of its own identity in the series and is actually more enjoyable to play than FFIX I feel (which was too slow and rigid for its own good despite a lot of the other elements being fantastic). I'll have to go with a 9/10. I can definitely see how good it must have been in 1997 and in terms of gameplay and story I would say it holds up fine compared to the rest of the series.