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Final Fantasy VII - Review |
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Transitional Struggles
By: Jake Alley
Review Breakdown |
Battle System |
5 |
Interface |
6 |
Music/Sound |
3 |
Originality |
8 |
Plot |
3 |
Localization |
3 |
Replay Value |
5 |
Visuals |
8 |
Difficulty |
Easy |
Time to Complete |
20-40 hours
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Overall |
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Criteria
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Several years ago, one could not find a Playstation in the home of every RPGamer.
Indeed, the ranks of RPGamers were far fewer as well. All this however changed with the release
of Squaresoft's Final Fantasy VII. Undeniably setting a new standard for the industry, FF7
introduced many elements of the modern RPG. However, it is far from perfect.
The most notable innovation of Final Fantasy VII is clearly the FMV. When everyone
else was still using sprites and tiled backgrounds, Square made the leap to lush prerendered backdrops
and three disks worth of gorgeous FMV. However, as gorgeous as they are, the graphics are not always
functional. Many areas of the game, while attractively presented, make the available paths extremely
difficult to see, at times even impossible. Additionally, while the backgrounds are prerendered, the
characters are extremely crude polygonal models when exploring. Particularly when compared to the
large battle models, these look terrible on the rare occassion the screen is zoomed in enough to
see detail.
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Cloud attacks with his standard meat cleaver.
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Music is also a collection of extremes. While a few select tracks are absolutely
wonderful, most of the game is permiated with simple pieces which seem a bit rushed, and at times
simply grate on the nerves. Sound effects meanwhile show no real improvement over the earlier SNES
titles.
The translation on the other hand is quite different from earlier works. In what
seems like a cry of freedom from the censorship heavy SNES, the dialog of Final Fantasy VII is packed
with swearing. Unfortunately, it is also packed with typos and other errors which further obscure
what is already a very confusing plot. In fact, years after the game's release, many fans are still
scratching their heads over just what happens at the end.
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How far they've come... |
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While it is easy to note the flaws in Final Fantasy VII, it has plenty of good
points too. The entire game is packed with very engrossing mini-games, ranging from frantic action,
to sports, to real time strategy. Even CPR and hypothermia have their own mini-games. In fact, these
mini-games can consume more play time than the otherwise average lengthed game. Beyond the
constant mini-games, Final Fantasy VII packs some interesting and solid mechanics. While all the
spells and skills from previous entries in the series exist here more or less unchanged, the requirements
to use them are new. Each spell, skill, and summon in the game is contained in a materia. Each weapon
and piece of armor contains a number of slots in which materia may be equipped. As materia remain
equipped, they gain AP, eventually becoming more powerful, and either improve or hinder the stats
of the character using them. Aside from this odd system, battles work just like any other Final
Fantasy game, or really any other RPG at all.
Unfortunately, all the customization in the game goes to waste to a certain degree.
While it is possible to expertly outfit each character to create a finely tuned and balanced party,
it simply isn't nessessary. No part of the game is anywhere near challenging enough to require
cunning strategy, with the exception of optional bosses which quite frankly aren't worth the effort
of fighting. Even the last few bosses can be defeated with a single casting of the best spell in
the game.
While the gameplay may be average, and it has it's flaws, no one can deny that
Final Fantasy VII has left it's mark on the genre, setting new standards for RPG graphics and
general presentation. Additionally, while it may not be the most spectacular of games, it paved
the way for a vast number of hits.
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