FFVII seen in pink tented glasses, why?

[Zarode]

Someone explain to me the story of Final Fantasy VII (you don't have to, but I'd like to see what others think of it. Me? All batshit writing. None of it makes sense till the end. It's like they just went "LOLOOPS gotta fill in those holes!"), be a fan basically, and tell me why you like it, and then, honestly, tell me if you really like it now. I mean, if you played through it right now, and beat it.


I'm, more or less, curious. ;| Oh and shocker: I do hate FFVII, but not because it's popular. I can't stand many Final Fantasy's myself. Getting punched in the gut by FFXII was one of the last straws, really. (political intrigue, meet LOLFANTASYZSTOPCHAOS)

[The_Gio]

well the reason I like it is because it was one of the first games to me to go beyond the point of just leveling up or going from point A to point B. It provided good depth. Thats just me though. The game is still good,its stood the test of time IMO. The story also shifts alot of goals,like from going to destroy an evil corporation,to getting revenge so it keeps you from getting bored,plus alot of easter eggs at the end if you pay attention to the story. Its all just good fun

EDIT: and I do admit that the game is severely overrated. Like the Legend of Zelda series,only game that really wow'd me was Ocarina of Time,but thats because I didnt know the formula of Zelda games. But just because their overrated doesnt mean their a bad game.It just means its got either more attention than it deserves or its got the attention of critics who have nothing better to do than criticize the game



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: The_Gio on 2008-05-09 08:34 ]</font>

[Monochrome]

I've played through FFVII 3 times and I still don't completely know what the heck happened. The game is intentionally vague through certain parts. I guess the reason I love FFVII so much is it was the first rpg that really felt like a complete, whole OTHER world. The characters felt mature (for that timeframe anyway), the world was detailed and rich, the journey was deep, the whole Cloud-psyche thing was a trip... oh and the graphics rocked, the music rocked, the design rocked, the summons were pretty neat... basically it upped the ante in every single way for RPGs. Why do I still like it? Well until just recently, most rpgs were still just more or less FFVII with a slightly different coat of paint (the rest were just FFTactics with another coat of paint).

To me, it was the Star Wars of RPGs... (original trilogy, FFXII is the prequel trilogy http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif )

I recently played the game again to about the part where you-know-who kicks the bucket. I put 50 hours into it and I haven't even completed the first disc yet. The other 2 times I beat it in around 40-45 hours. I simply wanted to see Aeris final limit break and get Cloud's final limit break both on disc 1. Just as a challenge. Personally, I still enjoyed every battle -- even the last 10 hours spent power-leveling on Wutai island. I don't know how to explain it really, it's just still fun. And because the game is gouraud shaded instead of texture mapped, it still has a certain appeal, moreso than FF8 IMO. The materia system is still the perfect match for RPG's. It's fun, its like --every materia crystal is another character to level up. There are constant rewards to be gained. The story is wonky but fun in an Akira sense. Doesn't completely make sense, but stays interesting. The villians are pretty cool too (not just Sephiroth)..

I like that the game questions the logic of its own heroes: first you are just a mercenary blowing up an evil corporation's facilities; then your group comes to realize that they cost a great deal of mostly-innocent people their lives too. They don't just gung-ho it to the end. Their world isn't that simple or clean (had to throw a Kingdom Hearts pun in here for some reason). Anyway yeah..Star Wars of RPGs.

That being said, I actually found the character's of FF8 to be more 'human' and appealing. And FFX more so than 8. FFX is my fave, but if you ask me what one is the best, I'll tell you FF7. It's just more epic.

[RuneLateralus]

I actually didn't care for most of the Playstation Final Fantasies. I grew up with the NES and SNES versions and those always had some form of charm that the Playstation ones never had. Probably too emo for me at time (though IX really didn't have that problem, but God, Squall and Cloud seemed like some whiney bitches).

I will give some credit for X, but I didn't think that one was that great either. XI I hated. XII, however, I really like for bringing the series to more traditional RPG style rather than the old formula that plagues a lot of console RPGs. Maybe it was just more of a shift in the type of RPGs that I like (games like Elder Scrolls, Baldur's Gate, and Fallout), or just as I said, most of the Final Fantasy games following the same old formula in gameplay and story aspects (whiney asshole for a main character, crazy cinematics that are longer than the actual gameplay). XII seemed to break away from that and it really made the game stand out from the other games since VII.

[amtalx]

The story from FFVII wasn't bad but it wasn't that great. Personally, I think that FFVII is one of the most overrated games in history (Mario 64 tops my list). Several of the FF iterations have better combat systems and storylines.

Everyone owes it to themself to play this game, but if you don't like it, don't try to force it.

[Raine_Loire]

I think a for a lot of the people who love FFVII, it was the first RPG they played, and it's a sentimental thing. I personally think it's the country cousin of FFVIII, which was better in every way.

Although I'm enjoying Crisis core, it's more like- I enjoy it for the game it is, not the game it's a prequel to.

[NPCMook]

HOLY SHIT!?

There are seriously other people who believe that FFVII was over-rated!? -dead-

[Powder Keg]

I don't think VII is overrated. It isn't my favorite, but I can't disagree that it's arguably the best. It has every element an RPG should have...good characters with a story (minus cait sith really) the materia system was well done and great to use. The sidequests, etc were also one of the best points of the game. It has humor, good music (every FF does really)

The story honestly is not hard to understand at all. The only parts I had to go "bwuh" at a few times were Cloud's personality/issues around the Northern Cave and how Sephiroth/Jenova were linked. It's really not hard to figure out though......at all. Other than that, there is nothing to even figure out, it's all straightforward pretty much.


I personally loved every FF up until X, where it became unbearable to play as every element that made Final Fantasy what it was was really starting to get taken away....VI being my favorite. Also, of course I have to throw in that VIII's junction system practically ruined the game, and IX was poorly done and should have been made on the PS2 due to space issues on the PS1 (4 discs wasn't even enough really)

[Neith]

I actually think VIII had a much, much better story than VII, but didn't get the attention it deserved because it was seen as being in the shadow of its predecessor.

VII is a great game, but the astonishing amount of fanboyism associated with it annoys me to no end. The story needed a bit of work in places, and I'm guessing that's why the 98738747 other FFVII related items released (Crisis Core, Advent Children etc). Obviously the phrase 'milking it' comes to mind too.

Artea, out of curiosity, what didn't you like about FFVIII's Junction system? The only problem I had with it was that you could effectively just spam Island Closest to Hell/Heaven with Encounter-None, stock up on crazy Magic, junction to a low-level character and you'd have a usable character straight away, no work required. So yeah, the boosts shouldn't have been as significant, but aside from that I think it was a pretty solid system. Not trying to start a flamewar but I'm just curious why you didn't like it.

Before anyone else says, IX and X-2 were a disgrace, kthx http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif

[Sekani]

FFVII may not be the best RPG ever, but for me it was definitely one of the most memorable RPG experiences I've ever had. The story was overall pretty simple with added complications for no good reason, an annoyance. But for reasons I'm not really sure of, I found myself actually interested in the world and characters and caring about what happens to them, or even more so what happened to them after the game was over. It really felt like an epic story that I didn't want to end.

Before you ask, FFVII was not the first RPG I've ever played, I got my start back on the Super Nintendo.

[Kent]

Only after FFXII came out, did a game manage to take the top place of my list of favorite RPGs from FFVII.

And no, my first RPG was Dragon Warrior.

Part of the main draw of FFVII is the storyline, and how it's significantly different from the standard "y halo thar, Evil Empire/person that's trying to take over the world/galaxy, myself and my rag-tag band of rebellious heroes are going to try and stop you!" (see also: FFVI, Star Wars, basically every SNES RPG) - even though the game certainly starts off seeming like this is the case. The storyline is more personal - Cloud's group, essentially speaking, inadvertently saves the world - It was pretty much his group's goal at one point, but the biggest driving force for Cloud was the fact that Sephiroth killed AerisAerith... So in other words, he was pretty pissed.

Another big difference, is how the main character is portrayed, and what his background is. He essentially took on many components of the life of his best friend (SOLDIER 1st Class, Zack Fair), including parts of his personality, penchant for doing squats, the whole SOLDIER thing, and the Buster Sword (the Buster Sword holds somewhat-similar importance to Cloud in the same way that it held importance to Zack when he originally got it from his previous best friend Angeal, after Zack was forced to kill him during the events of Crisis Core). After the essential osmosis of Zack's being (more or less) into Cloud's sense of self, he pretty much started living his life as someone else... Not something that you see very often.

During the events of Final Fantasy VII, Tifa is one of the only characters that knows some of the specifics about Cloud's past. Throughout the entire game, the main character is struggling against his own identity crisis, the death of his love interest by the game's already-established main villian, and his own borderline insanity, with the game concluding with Cloud facing down Sephiroth, the monstrous abomination that he has become, in the Northern Crater... Which doesn't quite stop Meteor from coming down.

In other words, he was the hero of his own story of revenge. He didn't really save the planet at all (if anyone could be pinned as the person who actually saved the planet, it would be Aerith).

[BlaizeYES]

On 2008-05-09 00:55, Raine_Loire wrote:
I think a for a lot of the people who love FFVII, it was the first RPG they played, and it's a sentimental thing.





agreed. the game isn't really that great, although at the time, i loved the last boss fight. the story is exactly like what other people have said about it being emo: it is about a young teenager who brags about how awesome he is but is actually a loser, because he met someone cool and tried to act like the other kid. sephiroth didnt even "know" cloud, he thought cloud was a tool and knew that cloud kisses his ass, so thats why cloud gave him that black materia or whatever it was. it doesnt really say at the end him and tifa got together... so he probably ended up being "the friend" like your every day loser. everything he "did," he made up. jesus, he was a nobody, and the game is basically about losers that lie. THE END

BACK TO THE GRIND

[ljkkjlcm9]

Any game that gets a lot of hype is overrated. Anything at all that gets a lot of hype is overrated. That's how it works. GTA, overrated. Halo, overrated. Smash Bros, overrated. Simply, not everyone loves it, so someone will say it's overrated. I hate GTA and Halo, never understood the attraction to GTA, Halo is a decent enough FPS, but nothing spectacular.

As for FFVII, there are many many plotholes. Some of the new sides games attempt to fill these holes and such, but there's still so much speculation. As for the game itself, vastly overrated IMO. The characters only had limit breaks to make them unique, otherwise, you could use anyone and fights were basically identical. On top of that, you rarely got limit breaks anyways, so the people you choose never really mattered. In previous FF games, it actually made a difference what you choose and such (except 4 cause you had no choice.) At least in 8 there was a spell that made you use your limit break whenever, and it was the best spell in the game, and made different characters significant.
FFVII did a lot for RPGs and the franchise, decent enough game, but I do not think it is even close to the best of the series.

THE JACKEL

[amtalx]

On 2008-05-09 00:55, Raine_Loire wrote:
I think a for a lot of the people who love FFVII, it was the first RPG they played, and it's a sentimental thing.


You get a banana sticker for this.

A great deal of series veterans will agree that FFVII is not the best. While there will never be a "best" FF since everyone likes different things,a lot of people (myself included) seem to think that FFVI is the gem of the series.

The biggest problem I have with FFVII is the fallout that it created. It was a double whammy that created an entire generation of Sony fanboys and people with names like XxSephirothxX. Had any of those people played FFVI, they would know that Sephiroth would need prescription cream for all the butthurt Kefka would lay on him. He was way more of a bastard.

[AlexCraig]

Personally, I prefer 1-6 over just about any of the PS/2 Final Fantasy games.

Although, Tactics had a pretty badass story.

[BlaizeYES]

On 2008-05-09 13:20, amtalx wrote:

The biggest problem I have with FFVII is the fallout that it created. It was a double whammy that created an entire generation of Sony fanboys and people with names like XxSephirothxX.




i remember when i was 14 and never played final fantasy 7, there were at least 2-3 people i'd come into contact with on a daily basis with the name "cloud" or "sephiroth" on pso. i never knew what it meant, i just thought everyone was copying a single person and their appearance... a million different copiers that were trying to give a guy with the unique alias of "sephiroth" a bad name. because usually, the "sephiroths" and the "clouds" were the shittiest players, item-mongers, and would be the ones to swoop by and get your stuff when you were killed, then would leave. so there was definitely a connection that i found out after i finally played final fantasy 7

[Frana]

I have never played FFVII, but Advent Children is still one of my favorite movies. Weird, huh?

[Shiba1227]

I was never too big on Final Fantasy.

But I have never played any of the originals (pre VII) , so I'm sure I could change this. <_<

[Powder Keg]

On 2008-05-09 06:35, UrikoBB3 wrote:
Artea, out of curiosity, what didn't you like about FFVIII's Junction system? The only problem I had with it was that you could effectively just spam Island Closest to Hell/Heaven with Encounter-None, stock up on crazy Magic, junction to a low-level character and you'd have a usable character straight away, no work required. So yeah, the boosts shouldn't have been as significant, but aside from that I think it was a pretty solid system. Not trying to start a flamewar but I'm just curious why you didn't like it.

Before anyone else says, IX and X-2 were a disgrace, kthx http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif



I had a lot of problems with it...first, starting off in a new game was very limited with the stats you can junction magic onto, which just made things lopsided and weird. Next, you'd have to travel to here and there to get spells you wanted. You could make them, but you'd have to travel to get materials too...so moot point. And the worst part of all, was the fact that you're pretty much weakening yourself by using a spell you have junctioned onto yourself. The idea of "whoops, I lowered my max HP by using Curaga" was just ridiculous to me.

I didn't think IX was a disgrace...but it was a great game just poorly executed...if that makes any sense.

[SubstanceD]

The remember the first time I played Final Fantasy VII, back then I thought it was the best rpg ever. It wasn't untill about 3/4 of the way through my 2nd playthrough that I realised that there really wasn't anything special about Final Fantasy VII at all. I still think Final Fantasy VII is a good game but it is soo over-rated.



On 2008-05-09 08:03, Kent wrote:
It was pretty much his group's goal at one point, but the biggest driving force for Cloud was the fact that Sephiroth killed AerisAerith... So in other words, he was pretty pissed.




Sorry Kent but I disagree with that point. From the moment Cloud finds Sephiroth's sword in president Shinra and realises that Sephiroth may still be alive his whole entire mission becomes personal. It has nothing to do with Aeris or saving the Planet. Cloud never forgave Sephiroth for what he did in Nibelheim. Sure Barret, Aeris and Tifa might go about saving the planet but with Cloud it was always about vengence. Even after Aeris' death, Cloud's main grudge against Sephiroth stems from what he did in the past. Cloud never talks about Aeris after her death, he just carries on with his mission as if she never existed. It's just one more crime to add to Sephiroth's list, one more reason to hate him. Cloud's obsession with Sephiroth is also due to the fact that he has an "unknown" connection to the big man and he does not realise that he is being subconciously summoned by Sephiroth.

Don't pretend that Cloud's motives have anything to do with Aeris cause they don't. It was alwasy about vengence from day one. Cloud is by far one of the most shallow main charcters to ever grace a FF game.