SimonCook's Full Review: Final Fantasy VII for PlayStation 1
I have always been a fantasy role playing games (RPG) freak; I have wasted many hours rolling 10-sided dice and moving around little metal characters as I try to elude the bad guys. Having played for several years I bought a computer and became enamored with the RPG on the computer.
Early games such as ‘Ultima I’ provided a ‘hack and slay’ version of the popular genre. Over the years as gamers became more sophisticated, and computers became more powerful the genre developed in several ways. Firstly the graphical representation improved vastly (just look at the latest in the Wizardry series to see how far they really have come). Along with the improvement in graphics came a vast improvement in game play and plot.
Although there are some very good AD&D games such as Baldor’s Gate around, I find that the most playable RPGs for the computer are the Hentai games. These give a fairly simple RPG that are full in storyline and atmosphere, thus they appeal to more people and perhaps less so to the hardened RPGer.
Well after playing RPGs on the PC for years I finally succumbed to my children’s cries and bought a Playstation. One of the first games I bought (after Harry Potter) was Final Fantasy VII – I was going to buy VIII but the salesman told me that VII had a far better story. This game is actually fairly old, being originally published in 1997; it took almost 4 years to make and cost perhaps more than any other game had ever cost before. It was a vast gamble by Squaresoft – not only spending so much time and money on a new title, but also moving it from the Nintendo to the Playstation; the gamble would prove to be very successful.
Introduction
Hentai RPG games have been around for many years – many started out on the Nintendo and then began to be transferred to systems that used CD Roms (PC, Playstation etc) so that the worlds could be larger and the story lines more detailed.
Almost all Hentai RPGs take on the same form. I.e. take a bunch of weird and wonderful pre-set characters, move around a world, fight bad guys, solve a few puzzles and save the world. This is now a tried and tested formula that is immensely popular in Japan and is becoming more and more prevalent in the western world.
The suitability ranges from games for all children (e.g. Pokemon), to Teenage games (Final Fantasy) to some adult oriented games, which can be very sexually oriented and also very violent. (Sorry no examples of this game – I’m sure you can find them on the web!)
The story
Cloud an ex Soldier of the Shinra corporation, has been enlisted by AVALANCHE to help destroy a power reactor. Shinra are using these reactors to drain the planet of its life source (Mako). AVALANCHE are intent on saving the planet by stopping Shinra.
As you progress through the game playing Cloud, you begin to realize that there is more to Shinra and the Mako than meets the eyes. The story develops quickly as you begin to realize than an ex colleague called Sepiroth is really the force behind the evil scheme to destroy the planet.
Sepiroth, once a Soldier, find out that he is actually ‘made’ and was not born in a project called Jenoa. This revelation about his beginnings somehow unhinge his mind and cause him to seek revenge on the world and to seek a fabled ‘Promised’ land.
Cloud and his associates begin to unravel the story as they begin adventuring in the world. Each character has their own ‘sad’ story to relate and this is slowly done throughout the game by use of ‘story telling’ and flash backs.
The plot is very detailed and complicated but is written so well that it flows together and doesn’t really confuse.
Essentially the game becomes a quest to stop Sepiroth from destroying the planet.
Graphics
The graphics will get mixed ratings as they are pre-rendered. This means that although they are spectacular and detailed, you do not have the ability to move the camera in 3-D or to zoom in. This can be annoying at times as your character becomes very tiny sometimes; however because of the quality and the thought put into the atmospheric graphics the developers have managed to make the game very pleasing to the eye and very atmospheric.
The graphics are perhaps a little dated (and are somehow reminiscent of 1980-1990 games, but due to the storyline this does become very secondary.
What adds to the game is the quality and quantity of movies that link different parts of the story together seamlessly; these movies add much to the atmosphere of the game and although they may not be the best quality movies you will see this again becomes secondary.
Sound
This is perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the game for me. There are no voices in the game, and mostly there are some very pleasant but monotonous (after a while) tunes that are played. There are a few spot sound effects but overall the sound is not the best. This is a shame as it does reduce the atmosphere a little and reduced the impact of the characters.
I personally like to hear a character speak as it gives a more rounded feel to the character adding realism and believability to a game.
Combat
Like most RPG games the main idea is to build your characters by gaining experience by fighting monsters. As you gain ‘Levels’ your characters abilities improve allowing you to kill bigger enemies.
In FF VII the system is pretty simple; you have three or four main areas to worry about:
Attack – this is your ability to attack and hit an enemy. As you progress through a game and gain experience you will increase your attacking abilities – additionally you will also find or buy better weapons that increase you chance of hitting and the amount of damage you do.
Defense – this is your ability to protect yourself from damage. Again gaining experience will increase your defensive abilities – additionally you will find or buy better armor that will increase your chance of defending.
Special abilities – as you progress through the game you will gain certain special abilities – these are special attacks that can be used occasionally but are often far better than any other attack you can do.
Materia – by using special types of Mako, you can add Materia to some of your weapons and armour. This material gives you the ability to cast ‘magic spells’ such as fire, ice (attacking spells); healing, cure (healing spells); summoning (very powerful spells that allow you to summon very powerful creatures for a one off attack); defense spells (that allow you to create barriers that will reduce damage to you).
Artifacts – as you progress through the game you will find special artifacts that will help you – some of these will increase your abilities (i.e. strength etc), while some will protect you against certain attacks (e.g. attack from fire.)
Items – there are many items that you can use in battle – ranging from healing potions, grenades etc you have the ability to use the items during combat. Items vary in power and can be very powerful (some items cannot be used in combat e.g. tent – this is a resting place that can only be used at a save point.)
Combining the above elements will give you a very good chance of winning a battle.
The battles are relatively simple and involve you deciding whether to attack an enemy, defend, cast a spell, use an item or run away. The main idea is to reduce the enemies hit points down to zero before yours run down to zero. The combat is fairly intuitive and does not become to frenetic to make the combat unplayable.
Gameplay
Apart from sub games, much of the game is very similar. You move around many different areas, perhaps performing a task (e.g the first scenario is to destroy a mako reactor). As you move around you may encounter enemies, or you may find people to talk to. Through talking you normally learn the next step in your quest.
As you progress you will encounter numerous sub-games; e.g. riding a motor bike and knocking enemy motor bikes off the road; racing a ‘Chocobo’; etc etc. These sub games break up the game play and kill much of the monotony that a search, find a kill game tends to have.
Much of the details of the game are held in the conversations and flashbacks you will have with your own group and although these interactions can be a little time consuming they do guide you along very well.
Vastness
This game is massive; it will take over 100 hours to complete and spans over three CDs. The storyline is very impressive and somehow manages to keep you going even though the game can become monotonous at times.
You will find yourself traveling around a vast world going to many different cities and lands, encountering many different characters as you go.
The game is generally structured well and generally follows a guideline; this simply gives you various story lines that on completion normally give you a ‘big bad guy’ to fight. Thus you normally know that you are progressing well when you fight these ‘end of level guys’.
World Map
After completing the first scenario you find yourself on a world map. This allows you to roam the countryside looking for additional towns and villages. The game does guide you along, but there is nothing to stop you from trying to go anywhere - the game does stop this to a certain extent, as you will only be able to get to parts of the world after completing quests.
You will still get random encounters while in this mode and do meet some pretty nasty monsters – however you don’t tend to find any ‘end of level’ creatures.
Monsters
There are a huge variety of monsters and bad guys to fight. Some are mechanical, some humanoid and some animal. Each will have their own particular powers and abilities, and some will be immune to some of your attacks (You can use Sense material to find out about each bad guy).
You will normally encounter anywhere from 1 to 6 bad guys at a time.
Monster have the ability to heal themselves, use ‘limits’ and also use ‘materia’. Most are fairly easy to beat given time and experience, but many of the ‘end of level’ monsters can be very difficult – luckily there is normally a save point close by.
Last or not?
I do not think that this game will appeal to hardened RPGers as it does not have a tumultuous amount of statistics to run through and the plot is generally very linear; however it is a great game for beginner RPGers and teenagers who are not really into full RPGs and do not understand the full nuances of the word RPG!
It is a game that will keep you interested for months and although at times you may get bored, you will return because you will want to complete the game.
Saving
Firstly you must have a memory pack to be able to slave. You can save up to 15 different games. You have two ways of saving – find a save point; or once you are on the world map you can save anytime on this map.
Overall
Taken individually, this game isn’t that impressive. The graphics are good, the sound is poor, the game play can be monotonous and the story is linear. However, add all these elements together and intertwine the movies and the sub games and you find that you have a very addictive and quality product that will keep your interest.
The game is old, almost 5 years now, but that does not diminish the fact that it is a very good game that is well worth the money you will fork out for it. (with the advent of the PS2, you will probably be able to pick FF VII up for 10 pounds at a second hand PS store.
An epic adventure across 3 cd-roms. What begins as a rebelion against an evil corporation becomes much more. And what erupts goes beyond imagination. ...More at eBay
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