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Taiche
France1963 Posts
Preamble
This article is the first of a series about the games I have played that almost changed my life. They are games I spent lots of time playing because there was something about them that literally sticked me to my chair. I want to share this with people who have felt the same as I did and maybe even try to tease the others. Depending on my mood and on the game, I might spoil things here and there.
Today will be about Final Fantasy VII, which I assume most people have played or heard about ; if you haven't then either you're an extra-terrestrial or terribly unfortunate 
A long time ago...
The first RPG I've ever played was Phantasy Star III on the Sega Genesis, around 1991 I guess. I'll eventually make an article about it as well. Anyway back in 1997, when I first discovered Internet a friend showed me about console emulators ; that was like paradise for me so I began playing old Genesis games and spent lots of time looking for Phantasy Star communities. On the forums, many people talked about Final Fantasy VII being the greatest game ever and there was some kind of Phantasy Star/Final Fantasy rivalry. I didn't have a Playstation so I didn't care much.
One year later, Final Fantasy VII was ported to the PC and was sold at a good price along with some PC magazine subscription. I had seen some tests of the game and it was looking cool so I decided to buy it as well. I wasn't going to regret it.
First encounter
So somewhere in 1998 (like August or September IIRC), Final Fantasy was shipped to my home and I started playing it. I was a bit confused at first because of the 3D characters evolving in a 2D world (well, most areas are 2D with pixellated textures) and of the French version of the game (terrible translation and I couldn't choose the language). Plus, the story itself was kinda strange. "Who am I ? What am I doing here ? Who are these people ?" were questions the introduction did not answer.
The city of Midgar
But after a few hours, I was stuck. Battles were cool, difficulty was OK and the characters were fun. Though in MIDI format, the musics rendered great and fit the story perfectly well.
Into the game
The whole Midgar part took me long enough to complete so when I went out and saw I had the whole world to explore, I was like "man, this will never end". And that was when I started to really get into Final Fantasy VII. Every day after school, I would come back home and play just to know the story and what was going to happen. I remember one day coming back around 6pm, playing and then at some point feeling a bit tired : it was 3am and I hadn't seen the time running o_O
Nibelheim : where the real troubles start
But it was when Cloud and his friends arrived to Nibelheim that things became very interesting. The whole identity crisis part along with Sephiroth's change of personality and the Cetra mystery made the story more complex than the simple "hey look, there's a villain that will destroy the planet, let's go defeat him !" plot.
+ Show Spoiler +Right after this, the part where a main character dies added more to the respect I already had for the game.
Finally, getting the Highwind and being able to go wherever you want without any (almost) barrier was so awesome that I spent days simply wandering the map and fighting monsters just for the fun of it.
When I ended the game, my characters were like level 60 or something and I thought I had the greatest time ever playing that game. Of course, I wasn't aware I hadn't seen the half of it yet.
How deep can you go ?
So once I had finished it, I headed up for some websites and read some famous forums. I didn't expect everything I saw there. Walkthroughs of course, but also rumors, patches for the PC version, tools, etc...
Now that I think of it, rumors were what made Final Fantasy VII so mythic. If you have played it, you know what I'm talking about : gold chocobos, white chocobos, Zack's story, + Show Spoiler +, beating the weapons, playing Zack, the 1/35 soldier... some things were true (well, at least for me as I hadn't seen everything there was to see in the game) while others sounded very true, especially the one in the spoiler.
So I replayed the entire game from start to finish trying to see everything I could ; I also spent entire evenings looking for Zack, raising Chocobos and mastering Materias.
Fighting the Emerald Weapon : ouch
Now I can't pretend I've been as far as other addicts have. There are various challenges to finish Final Fantasy VII by sticking to very restrictive rules (like beating the game with a low level and the initial equipment, etc...) and things of the like ; that didn't ring any bell to me and I didn't see the point of doing all that.
Conclusion
Final Fantasy VII was probably one of the very first games to shake me the way it did. I had already spent tremendous amount of time on other games but this one was special. Sure, some parts of the story are weak and not everyone will like it anyway. I simply think it was a very rich game with so many options and mysteries that it's what people loved about it.
A few links for people having the PC version and who want to improve their gaming experience :
- Qhimm's forums. Qhimm has become a reference for FF7 tweaking : you can customize the graphics (yeah, really), musics, characters... you name it. A definite stop if you want to play FF7 on your PC with a boost.
- CONTAINS SPOILERS : FF7 Citadel's Secrets page. Everything about most famous rumors in FF7 and how to decode them. I was stunned by the "What we shouldn't have seen" articles where the author dug very deep to explain many things about one of the biggest events of the game.
- GameFaqs page for Final Fantasy VII. You can't replay FF7 and claim you have seen it all without having read one or more documents listed on this page.
Please note this list is not exhaustive in any way, as there are so many tools and stuff that have been done for this game. If you're already a fan of it, you know what I'm talking about anyway
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Calgary25981 Posts
I never got into FFVII. It just never did it for me, neither as a kid or when I've recently tried to replay it. Seeing posts like this, I can't help but feel like I'm missing out.
Edit: Sick post though. I read the entire thing!
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Taiche
France1963 Posts
Thanks 
Yeah well I think FF7 is only great if you already like RPG games ; I mentioned Phantasy Star above because it was my best reference so far when I started FF7 but I suppose there can be other comparisons.
How far have you tried to get into ? Because for myself, I think the real deal starts when you get out of Midgar (like after 5-6 hours of game when playing for the first time).
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I'm such a Final Fantasy 6/7/8 nerd, you can ask me any question about it, and I can give you an answer off the top of my head... I had no life growing up haha.
It's odd but I've grown really attached to those games. When I think about them I get flooded with nostalgia...
But yeah FFVIII is a very good game, nice blog about it.
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RPGs are my favorite genre of game, especially those by Japanese developers; I've played over 40 of them. However, I wouldn't rate FF7 much above average, ignoring the game's vast historical importance as (1) the game that brought RPGs into 3D, (2) the first game to put so much emphasis on plot, and (3) the game that brought RPGs into the mainstream, as well as the game's obviously dated graphics. And that's comparing the game with others before and after it.
I like the post though, and am wondering if people agree with the OP about the post-Midgard exploration. Many RPGs allow for as much freedom and nonlinearity (or even much much more), but this usually occurs from the start, or perhaps after a fairly short introduction. FF7 gives you several hours of a focused, contracted, linear experience before releasing you out into the whole world. Maybe this contraction and release is what's popular and effective?
Certainly the game provides a lot of subquests and extras to do. But it's not out of line of the norm for many games of that era (uh I guess spanning between SNES and PS1 years). Materia system was okay, way better than FF8 Junction and better than CC Elements, but worse than others. Battles, etc., not worth mentioning.
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On July 15 2008 00:42 Krohm wrote:
I'm such a Final Fantasy 6/7/8 nerd, you can ask me any question about it, and I can give you an answer off the top of my head... I had no life growing up haha.
- What's the name of the cave(s) that will have different items in the chest if you come back at a later point in the story.
- How do you get all of Shadow's dreams.
- What's the name of that damn purple octopuss and how many times do you have to kick its arse.
I use to know this useless crap years ago, but I suppose it is better to forget it.
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Calgary25981 Posts
On July 15 2008 00:37 Taiche wrote:Thanks Yeah well I think FF7 is only great if you already like RPG games ; I mentioned Phantasy Star above because it was my best reference so far when I started FF7 but I suppose there can be other comparisons. How far have you tried to get into ? Because for myself, I think the real deal starts when you get out of Midgar (like after 5-6 hours of game when playing for the first time).
I can't remember exactly. There was this robotic, remote control cat on Disc 2, and I can't remember much past there.
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- I don't remember the exact name of the cave, but its the 2nd cave you end up traveling in, after you visit Edgars Castle and have to find Sabin. (I think that's the cave you're talking about. It has a turtle in it. I mean there is a lot of chests that you have to leave for the world of ruin really. Could be anything.)
- Psh thats easy, you sleep at various inns.
-Ultros, you fight him 3 times I believe. Whats his friends name again? Mr.Chupon or something. I could never beat him in the Colosseum.
Hmm the name of that cave is going to bug me now.
EDIT: Looked it up, its Figaro Cave. Should of known that.
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ff7 is such an awesome game... i don't really like all the other ff games thou :\
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Taiche
France1963 Posts
On July 15 2008 01:35 Myrmidon wrote:
RPGs are my favorite genre of game, especially those by Japanese developers; I've played over 40 of them. However, I wouldn't rate FF7 much above average, ignoring the game's vast historical importance as (1) the game that brought RPGs into 3D, (2) the first game to put so much emphasis on plot, and (3) the game that brought RPGs into the mainstream, as well as the game's obviously dated graphics. And that's comparing the game with others before and after it.
I also wanted to mention the fact that FF7 does not really stick to the RPG rules ; the world and atmosphere is not much like the ones of a RPG stricto sensu (e.g. Baldur's Gate, which will be the subject of another entry  ).
On July 15 2008 01:35 Myrmidon wrote:
I like the post though, and am wondering if people agree with the OP about the post-Midgard exploration. Many RPGs allow for as much freedom and nonlinearity (or even much much more), but this usually occurs from the start, or perhaps after a fairly short introduction. FF7 gives you several hours of a focused, contracted, linear experience before releasing you out into the whole world. Maybe this contraction and release is what's popular and effective?
Certainly the game provides a lot of subquests and extras to do. But it's not out of line of the norm for many games of that era (uh I guess spanning between SNES and PS1 years). Materia system was okay, way better than FF8 Junction and better than CC Elements, but worse than others. Battles, etc., not worth mentioning.
Well, the 3D in battles was much better than the one used in the "world exploration" view, and the cool effects introduced by the summons and stuff were really top notch by then. I think that when I used my first summon (Efreet, I guess) my jaw dropped :D
On July 15 2008 01:58 Chill wrote:
I can't remember exactly. There was this robotic, remote control cat on Disc 2, and I can't remember much past there.
Yeah, that's pretty far ahead in the game ; so if you haven't liked the game at that point, I don't think you'd like it more at aome point. So no, you're not missing a lot ;p
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thedeadhaji
39489 Posts
man I played this game over 300 hours >__>.
It was amazing but I played it in like 1997 so I hardly remember any of the details or why exactly it was so good. Then came the onslaught of fanboys as the game hit the US, and naturally I started hate talking ^.^.
Not many games have had such historical significance, especially how it singlehandedly won sony the saturn/n64/playstation war. The sales figures for the PSX before and after the trial demo of ff7 (i forget which game it was bundled in) is insane.
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no game has sucked me in more than this one
and there isn't a single non emulated game that i've legitimately beaten beginning to end more times than this game
thanks for the refresher
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ff7 is still the greatest rpg i've played all times. story is really good and their characters rox my sox .
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I've played 400+ hrs of FFVII, but I never killed Ruby weapon  I still hate myself sometimes for not killing him/her but I guess I can't do anything now.
I remember back in -99 when me and my friend read literally everything about the game on the internet, there was soo many amateur sites with guides and shit back then. We printed out lists of items and weapons and shit. Man I was really addicted. Got up at 8am on the weekends to play. Those were the days.
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Hmmm... I tried it very recently cause I've been missing out on a lot of console titles, but the thing I didn't like about the game was the translation/language. Being used to deep storytelling dialogue (Baldur's Gate; Planescape: Torment) for RPGs, the cheesy short dialogues with stupid humor kinda ruined it for me. In my opinion, Silver and Anachronox is a lot better than FF7 if we are talking japanese styled RPGs.
Although, I'm a bit sad I haven't finished it yet, because it was pretty involving at times and the design and music for the game are extraordinary.
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Final Fantasy 7 is the first RPG I played and beat ... besides Diablo. It's either you love it, or you flat out can't really stand it.
I kind of think of FF7 as the (not so) missing link between 2D (FF6) and "perfected" 3D (FF8). I'm pretty sure it was one of the first games (correct me if I'm pulling shit out of my ass) to use fully 3D polygonal models. Despite it coming out just a year before Starcraft Vanilla.
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On July 15 2008 05:46 Delirium wrote:
Final Fantasy 7 is the first RPG I played and beat ... besides Diablo. It's either you love it, or you flat out can't really stand it.
I kind of think of FF7 as the (not so) missing link between 2D (FF6) and "perfected" 3D (FF8). I'm pretty sure it was one of the first games (correct me if I'm pulling shit out of my ass) to use fully 3D polygonal models. Despite it coming out just a year before Starcraft Vanilla.
I don't love or hate FF7. It's decent IMHO.
As for 3D polygonal models, I may in turn be pulling things out the ass, but the first game I know of to use them is the 1993 arcade Virtua Fighter. If you want to get picky, Wild Arms would be an RPG released a month before FF7 that used 3D polygonal models--yeah I see you said "one of the first". Of course, there are a variety of reasons nobody says Wild Arms brought RPGs into 3D.
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edit: double post sorry, but quoting a different post here
On July 15 2008 02:36 Taiche wrote:Show nested quote +On July 15 2008 01:35 Myrmidon wrote:
RPGs are my favorite genre of game, especially those by Japanese developers; I've played over 40 of them. However, I wouldn't rate FF7 much above average, ignoring the game's vast historical importance as (1) the game that brought RPGs into 3D, (2) the first game to put so much emphasis on plot, and (3) the game that brought RPGs into the mainstream, as well as the game's obviously dated graphics. And that's comparing the game with others before and after it.
I also wanted to mention the fact that FF7 does not really stick to the RPG rules ; the world and atmosphere is not much like the ones of a RPG stricto sensu (e.g. Baldur's Gate, which will be the subject of another entry ).
Well I'd say FF6 would be the game to break from the traditional fantasy RPG setting, especially as it's the first FF not directed by FF series creator Sakaguchi (note: elemental crystals or orbs are vital to the story of all FFs 1-5). I guess the technological aspect is not as emphasized in FF6, but the trend from FF6 to FF7 does continue into FF8. Then there's other RPGs in modern or real-world-like settings (Shin Megami Tensai afaik, Parasite Eve, etc.). And trippy sci-fi fantasy mish-mashes as early as Phantasy Star in 1987. My point is that FF7 is not special in the world and atmosphere aspect, which I know you didn't explicitly state I think (humor me please ). In any case, whatever kind of environment can work IMHO. Starcraft gameplay in Warcraft world would be just the same.
Or do you mean something else by RPG rules? Dungeon exploration is normal. Leveling up is normal. Pseudo turn-based active time battle system had long been popularized by Square by that point. There are random encounters like many RPGs of the era. Minigames are expanded compared to SNES titles, but not really compared to other Playstation games. It's well within the norm of linearity/non-linearity and game progression. That's not to say any of these features are good or bad necessarily (except random encounters )! You can make a good game out of whatever, no need to be out of the norm unless it's out of the norm in a good way.
On July 15 2008 02:36 Taiche wrote:Show nested quote +On July 15 2008 01:35 Myrmidon wrote:
I like the post though, and am wondering if people agree with the OP about the post-Midgard exploration. Many RPGs allow for as much freedom and nonlinearity (or even much much more), but this usually occurs from the start, or perhaps after a fairly short introduction. FF7 gives you several hours of a focused, contracted, linear experience before releasing you out into the whole world. Maybe this contraction and release is what's popular and effective?
Certainly the game provides a lot of subquests and extras to do. But it's not out of line of the norm for many games of that era (uh I guess spanning between SNES and PS1 years). Materia system was okay, way better than FF8 Junction and better than CC Elements, but worse than others. Battles, etc., not worth mentioning. Well, the 3D in battles was much better than the one used in the "world exploration" view, and the cool effects introduced by the summons and stuff were really top notch by then. I think that when I used my first summon (Efreet, I guess) my jaw dropped :D
By battles, I was talking about the difficulty, the battle system, the pre-battle preparations (equipment/items/skills setup and strategy), the inability to skip long animations, etc. Not the graphics, which obviously for the time were great and today I'd happily look at if I felt the game as a whole was worth replaying. Graphics matter just a little bit. Definitely my jaw dropped when I first saw some of those effects for the first time too. :O
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Freakin ff7 was the hardest game I ever played when it came out. I'm 19 now so you do the math.
I Had game shark and I still had difficulty >.< Now when I replayed it, it was a breeze.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://repasm.net/files/ff7_midgar_1024x768.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://repasm.net/files/nibelheim.png)
![[image loading]](http://repasm.net/files/highwind.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://repasm.net/files/ouch.gif)
