Probably the greatest videogame ever made. (Final Fantasy VII (PS))

Member Name: FrankensteinsCat

Product:	Final Fantasy VII (PS)
Date:	01/09/09 (18 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A very involving storyline and a very immersive game as a whole.

Disadvantages: Can become tedious but this isn't very likely if you immerse yourself fully.

This is the game that has many nerds and fangirls quivering at the knees. Apparently, it's the "BEST GME EVR!! LOLZ 1337!!!!! OMG, SEPHIROTH!". Well, after playing it, I have to say it's very good, but it's not a game for everyone. If you wish to be subjected to a story which is the equivalent of quantum physics and hours upon hours of play time (about 100 hours without walkthroughs helping you), then this is the game for you.

GAMEPLAY:
At the beginning, the story seems quite simple. You are Cloud Strife, and you have to help a team of rebels, called AVALANCHE, blow up a reactor which is owned by the rather naughty company called Shinra. There's not much room for introduction and you are dumped straight into it. The first thing you will most likely do is fight two soldiers. As with most RPGs, this is a turn-based game. This is not like Zelda, which is based on bashing a button until the enemy is dead. The turn based battle system will be what you will have to get used to, as it's used in every battle. What it means is that you have to wait your turn and then you select a command for your character to perform. At this point at the beginning of the game your only choices are "Attack" (which just hits the opponent with the weapon your character is carrying), "Magic" or "Item" (which includes potions and throwable items. There aren't many at this point). When you press "Attack" your character will, strangely enough, attack one of the opponents. You'll notice the number coming up next to the person you've just attacked. This indicates how much damage you have inflicted on your opponent. Each opponent and your character have, what's called, "Hit Points." When you've reduced the number of hit points enough (by attacking and causing enough damage) then you or your opponent will die. While at the beginning, you just have Cloud, you eventually have up to 3 characters in your party (which is the maximum anyway). This lends a strategic element to the game, thanks to the items and magic you can attach to each character. You can decide whether one character can rely on weaponry while another character can rely on healing and magic. What is great about turn-based battles in this game is the humungous variety of attacks and magic you can collect throughout the game. There is also an enormous number of combinations of attacks and magic you can use on each character.

The turn-based battle system is subject to derision from most gamers who prefer realism in their fights. We all know that no one fights by taking it in turns to hit people, but you have to remember this is a GAME and is entitled to be unrealistic. The turn-based battle system is at the heart of this Final Fantasy game. This brings up the matter of encountering opponents during the game. While you'll see the two soldiers approaching you at the beginning, for the rest of the game enemies are encountered randomly. This means that whenever you are going along your way through this world, enemies will appear at any point whether you are running through the world map or enemy infested building. In games like Chrono Trigger, you can actually see the opponents and you can choose to avoid them if you wish instead of entering the battle. But in Final Fantasy, you can enter a turn-based battle at any point. You know when you've encountered an enemy because you stop and the screen swirls and goes black. The battle music can then be heard. These random encounters can be very frustrating when you just want to get on with the game. Sometimes you just have to hope that you get through the path without fighting anyone.

However it is necessary to fight if you want to level up. Cloud starts at about Level 5 and the maximum for all the playable characters is Level 99. Levelling up makes your attack and defense more powerful. This is very useful when facing harder enemies. Fighting random battles are necessary to level up because when you win a battle you gain EXP. A certain amount of EXP is needed to get to the next level. This may take some time and at some points in the game, you do need to deliberately run around and initiate a few battles for the purpose of levelling up. This can get tedious.

If you press triangle at any point when you're not in a battle, you see the menu screen. On the left of the screen, there's a portrait of your character(s) and information about what level you are, how many hit points your character has and how many magic points your character has. When you attain magic powers, which is earned through collecting bits called "Materia" lying around, casting magic costs magic points (MP). For example, if your character has 70 MP, then casting Fire will subtract 3 MP from it, which means there will be 67 MP. After each battle you gain AP as well as EXP. AP is needed to learn spells. It's the same system as gaining EXP. On the right side of the screen, there are categories telling you what items you've picked up, what weapons/armour you have, what materia you have, what stats you have and what Limit Breaks (special attacks) you can use.

Outside of battle, it's not hard to progress along and it's not hard to find Materia and items. It's not likely that you'll get lost. The areas follow quite a linear path and the various characters around will usually indicate where to go. Items like potions, to fill up your Hit Point bar again, and materia, for learning magic, are usually lying around. Sometimes you need to vear off the main path to get them and you do need to be thorough in each area you go into because there is a lot of hidden and very useful treasure around.

And this makes up most of the gameplay. Fighting turn-based battles, improving levels and finding items/weapons/Materia. This is why it's a love it or hate it game. If you like RPGs and have played RPGs before then this is great.

GRAPHICS:
Moving on, there's the small matter of the graphics. Seeing as this is PSOne, the characters don't look ultra-realistic, but the backgrounds and the areas look astonishing, even beautiful at times. This is because I think they've been hand drawn rather than produced on a computer. The cutscenes (scenes where characters look more realistic) are also amazing considering it's the PSOne. The juxtaposition of the cartoony and the realistic drawings makes this game's graphics unique.

SOUND:
The background music is also a big plus for the game. Nobuo Uematsu has created something wonderful out of something as simple as MIDI. It certainly doesn't sound crap. I had no idea it was MIDI at all. This and SFX make up the sound area of this game as there is NO dialogue. The "speech" is produced through text. I actually prefer this to the rubbish voiceovers of Final Fantasy X. You skip each dialogue box whenever you finish reading it.

STORY
As I mentioned earlier, the story is a bit complex. I don't like giving away any details but I'll say that it's one of the more interesting storylines in video game history. Since FFVI, Squaresoft decided to make the storylines more, what they might think, philosophical rather than simply "There's a manic evil guy, let's kill him!". It is also incredibly cheesy at some points (especially some of the dialogue). Some may prefer the simpler story of "just killing the bad guy" because the game would rely more on gameplay. FFVII, on the other hand, seems to rely a lot on the story to drive it along. Gameplay contributes to the story but cannot change the story. This is a very linear game but I wouldn't expect anything more from an RPG.

GAME SPAN/REPLAY VALUE:
While it is indeed linear, you can delay the story for a while and embark on sidequests or minigames, which end in you getting some brilliant boss defeating treasure or just adding more to the plot again. But what it lacks in freedom, it makes up for in game span. Without help, this game will take up to 100 hours to complete and covers 3 discs (literally). With a walkthrough, this will take over 30 hours. This is because the game is quite difficult without help, hence the big gap between game time. But what it gains in game span it lacks in replay value. There are no alternate endings or any ways to change the story.

CONCLUSION:
While I have made it sound very boring, I didn't find the game boring. The gameplay can be very enjoyable, with it's strategic elements and a very wide variety of attacks. But the gameplay is the same as any other Final Fantasy. Except...bigger and brighter and with a lot more special effects.

What I can say is that it is probably the greatest game I've ever played. It is a landmark in video game history, which can be said for a few Final Fantasy games.

Summary: If you have never experienced this game, then experience it now!