Data Release Date (Japan): 01.31.1997 Release Date (NA): 08.31.1997 Preferred Platform: PS1 Other Platforms: PC, PSN Percentage Played: 88% Percentage Completed: 87% Scores (Out of 5) Story & Cast: 3.3 Battle System: 3.5 Soundtrack: 4.0 Visual Style: 3.2 Originality: 3.8 Replayability: 2.9 Fun Factor: 3.5 Mike "JuMeSyn" Moehnke Final Fantasy VII made my early spring of 2010 an exploration of something that millions had experienced long before. A friend who loved VI absolutely despised this game when it came out, and while I didn't have such a pronounced reaction the thing certainly produced no love in me. All the accolades of the time, all the effusive praises of gaming press in 1997, all the undying love for it over the years, and all the fanboy arguments over it that continue unabated make no sense to me. My one time through the game was enough, and I cannot foresee experiencing it again now that sitting through Sephiroth doing his thing has slaked my thirst to know what people were slobbering over way back when. Michael A. Cunningham My time with Final Fantasy VII was not my first game in the series, but it was part of many other firsts for me. This was the first FF I bought with my own money. It was the first FF I bought with my EB employee discount. FFVII was the first game I stayed up all night to play. When I got home from work with it I couldn't go to sleep without trying it, so the next thing I know I was out of Midgar, exploring the world at 6am in the morning. It wouldn't have been bad, but I needed to go to school. This was also the first game that was spoiled for me. I believe it was a video disc that came with The Next Generation magazine, but one of the video clips included with the disc was a scene where a certain character meets her untimely demise. While I enjoyed Final Fantasy VII at the time, I was disappointed by how similar the characters felt. Other than looks, they just didn't feel special to me. That along with the awful translation left me less than impressed. I still had fun, but it just didn't feel as deep as I had wanted. That aside, the soundtrack is amazing, and it began my obsession with importing video game soundtracks. Even the more obscure tracks stand out to me, not just "One-Winged Angel" or "Aerith's Theme." So I'm far from a stereotypical Final Fantasy VII fan, but I did like certain aspects of it quite well. Nathan Schlothan Final Fantasy VII has somehow reached a peculiar state where I don't need to say much about it, because almost everyone who would read this has an opinion about it already. It is a great game, though, and I have nothing but fond memories of it. The only bad memories I have of it are not even the fault of the game, but are instead due to a very bad strategy guide for the game that provided more spoilers than sound advice. The most important thing about my history with Final Fantasy VII was that it was the game that made me get a PlayStation. I would have been happy without one if it were not for Final Fantasy VII, but I loved earlier Final Fantasy games and the demo for this one blew my mind. Thanks to that, I went on to enjoy countless more great games for that system, and as good as it was Final Fantasy VII wasn't even my favorite of the Square RPGs I played obsessively in 1998. Zach Welhouse I never played Final Fantasy VII. I shouldn't take such perverse pride in this. I was enthusiastic about its release, encouraged by a VHS tape Squaresoft mailed to my house. However, I didn't have a PlayStation. I had cast my gaming future in a different direction. By the time I acquired the proper hardware, I had been exposed to enough of VII that I felt I knew everything there was to know about it. I participated in the online discussions, read the fanfiction, and played bits and pieces of it at friends' houses. This was around the time when I discovered RPGamer. One-Winged Angel is the pinnacle of aural bliss and Lance Bass is the best Sephiroth. « Final Fantasy VI | Final Fantasy VIII »