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LTTP: Final Fantasy VII (Casual RPG Fan Getting the Hang of This/Holy Polygons)

C

CoachKevin

Member
Before we get into this, yes, I started a LTTP for Secret of Mana last week. Sadly I have been doing most of my game in small 15-20 minute chunks and before bed, so sitting down in front of the TV has not been happening...

Now, on to FF VII...



Some backstory (copied from the SoM LTTP):
Over the last two months I have completed three RPGs. I am really getting into the genre. As I have mentioned before, I neglected the genre because I wanted to shoot stuff (not go through slow turn based stuff) and read mountains of text didn't sound like a good time. i was reading enough back in 1995 with homework and Goosebumps books... I have always loved the Zelda games, dabled with FFFIII and Mario RPG back in 1996 as rentals, and somehow bought and loved Parasite Eve back in the PS1 days...

Anyways, the last three games I have played through are
  • Persona 3 Portable (Almost a perfect game)
  • Final Fantasy IV PSP
  • Dragon Quest V (Wow, this game was amazing. The story was light-years ahead of FFIV)

After finished DQV, I didn't know what to play. I downloaded all the FF PS1 titles, had a copy of Chrono Trigger in the shrink wrap for the DS, and the other DS DQ games... I played an hour of FF VII, an hour of CT, but nothing grabbed me.
Click to expand...

I don't know why, but before bed on Thursday I fired up FF VII on the Vita, and again, as mentioned in my FF IV thread, playing FF VII on the Vita is a huge treat. Turn the smoothing off and soak in the pixels and pre-rendered backgrounds. So for the last few days I put in 7 hours into the game so far and I am hooked in after a somewhat slow start and getting use to moving Cloud in the pre-rendered backgrounds.

A few things of note in the first 7 hours:
  • The pre-rendered backgrouds aren't so bad to look at
  • I miss the fast battle (auto-battle) system from FF IV
  • The stealth section is fucking terrible
  • The action sequences when you have to time a jump or other action are also basically broken and don't give feedback.
  • The music isn't as enjoyable as FF IV (but still good)
  • The writing is pretty rough (who did the translation?)

Even with some of the negatives mentioned before, I am enjoying it and fully locked into FF VII It will be my main Vita game for the next week or so. The story is pretty standard RPG fare, but the Cloud backstory seems interesting and the crazy shit like dealing with that Pimp/Sex slave guy was different...

Hopefully after that I will get going on Chrono Trigger on my 3DS XL so I can play Chrono Cross which seems to have amazing music from the same guy that is doing Soul Sacrifice.
 
A

antitrop

Member
This is my favorite game of all time.

Playing it as a teenager was a transcendent experience that no game has matched since.
 
S

speedpop

Has problems recognising girls
You should probably look at a guide in order to not miss out on nabbing Yuffie and Vincent for your party.
 
S

suzu

Member
Enjoy the game!

CoachKevin said:
I miss the fast battle (auto-battle) system from FF IV
Click to expand...

This is probably obvious, but have you tried adjusting the battle speed to fastest and cursor to memory (under config menu)? It's not exactly auto-battle, but it's better than nothing.
 
R

RobotHaus

Unconfirmed Member
CoachKevin said:
I'd rather avoid a guide if I can.
Click to expand...

Stick to that. IF you really enjoy it a lot, play through again and try to 100% it.

Visually you'll have to get a mindset of when the game was made. But boy does the audio hit me something nostalgic.

Hope you enjoy it.
 
M

Mario007

Member
CoachKevin said:
I'd rather avoid a guide if I can.
Click to expand...

Just look up getting Yuffie and Vincent on the internet. Look up Yuffie after you get to the world map and Vincent...how to put this spoiler free...when you get to a place called Nibelheim.

They're fully optional characters that are very easy to miss but they are amazing additions to the party.

Also enjoy it! It's one hell of a game.
 
H

HolyBaikal

Banned
speedpop said:
You should probably look at a guide in order to not miss out on nabbing Yuffie and Vincent for your party.
Click to expand...
Especially Yuffie, since she's the best character in the game.

Good to see the gaming community today hasn't scared people from trying famous jRPGs. A few years ago, people would have said "you haven't played Final Fantasy VII, really?" in shock and surprise. Today, people would say "you've played Final Fantasy VII, really? That's embarrassing." Or maybe that's just my experience among the thousands of wRPG loving, jRPG hating bigots in the past 5 or so years.

Still, great game. Not all it is cracked up to be and certainly far from as great as its sales numbers are cracked up to be. It is, still, for what it's worth, a system defining game, much like Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Solid, Crash Bandicoot, and the other games considered to have defined the PlayStation console. For a reason.

It exemplifies themes and aesthetics and gameplay that defined the PlayStation One. And is a very good game. I probably shouldn't say this, because the more you hype the game, the more you might end up appreciating what you're experiencing. I know being hyped for Tales of Symphonia helped my enjoyment of the game a lot. And here I'm being a poor sport. Hearing the game isn't "so amazing" before playing it probably isn't the thing one needs to hear.

Well, have fun. It's pretty legendary whether or not I would even put it in my top 10 or even top 30 of favourite jRPGs.
 
G

GAMERG0D

Member
Don't use a guide unless if you get really stuck. Enjoy the game. And the music is as good if not better than IV's.
 
C

CoachKevin

Member
OK guys, you convinced me. I literally just got to the world map and have no idea where to go. I thought I was suppose to go north east but I hit the ocean. I also found a chocobo farm and picked up the materia to catch one.

I will look up where to find them and I need to figure out where the hell I am suppose to go next anyways.
 
K

Kastrioti

Persecution Complex
One of my top 5 games ever, and my favorite soundtrack of all time across all mediums.

I usually play through FF7 once every 4 years or so. Ill probably start it up soon.
 
Y

Yasae

Banned
CoachKevin said:
OK guys, you convinced me. I literally just got to the world map and have no idea where to go. I thought I was suppose to go north east but I hit the ocean. I also found a chocobo farm and picked up the materia to catch one.

I will look up where to find them and I need to figure out where the hell I am suppose to go next anyways.
Click to expand...
The game tells you where before departing Midgar. You'll find it though.
 
L

Lothar

Banned
Wow, don't use a guide. It's supposed to be liberating not knowing where to go after being in linear Midgar for 6 hours. You're now free to go where you want.
 
R

RedWaltz79

Neo Member
I bought a PSOne because Square decided to make games for Sony instead of Nintendo's cartridge system... While impressed with FFVII initially, since it had amazing graphics at the time, the game, in the end, left a "meh" impression with me and didn't drag me in like FFIV and VI. I also got really tired of not being able to skip the stupidly long summon animations.
 
N

Noaloha

Member
The posts mentioning using guides and looking up easy-to-miss characters and making sure you go to certain areas... these bother me. They irk me. They maybe even piss me off a little bit. I know they're well-intentioned, but still, enough of us played the game as a teenager and didn't have any benefit of hindsight to guide our paths. And the game was still fucking great.

Let the guy with a completely blank slate for FFVII play and appreciate FFVII with his completely blank slate.

The gods know that I'd love to have that specific blank slate again.
 
A

anaron

Member
Toodles said:
The posts mentioning using guides and looking up easy-to-miss characters and making sure you go to certain areas... these bother me. They irk me. They maybe even piss me off a little bit. I know they're well-intentioned, but still, enough of us played the game as a teenager and didn't have any benefit of hindsight to guide our paths. And the game was still fucking great.

Let the guy with a completely blank slate for FFVII play and appreciate FFVII with his completely blank slate.

The gods know that I'd love to have that specific blank slate again.
Click to expand...
oh god, I ask of this for way too many things in life. If only...

King of the Potato People said:
What stealth section?
Click to expand...

Either Aeris' house or the Shinra building
 
K

Kastrioti

Persecution Complex
I would say don't use a guide unless you absolutely have to.

And I've never gotten this talk about FF7 aging badly. The art direction and overall atmosphere make the game timeless despite the polygons. Its a beauty on the PSP(and on a SDTV), IMO.
 
A

anaron

Member
Kastrioti said:
I would say don't use a guide unless you absolutely have to.

And I've never gotten this talk about FF7 aging badly. The art direction and overall atmosphere make the game timeless despite the polygons. Its a beauty on the PSP, IMO.
Click to expand...

Thank you! The only thing "ugly" and aged about it are the field map's awkward blocky character renders.
 
A

antitrop

Member
CoachKevin said:
OK guys, you convinced me. I literally just got to the world map and have no idea where to go. I thought I was suppose to go north east but I hit the ocean. I also found a chocobo farm and picked up the materia to catch one.

I will look up where to find them and I need to figure out where the hell I am suppose to go next anyways.
Click to expand...

The world map is comically small. It's actually kind of hard to get lost without a guide. Even if you think you're lost, the first village of the game is actually only like 20 seconds away from the Chocobo Farm.
 
H

HolyBaikal

Banned
antitrop said:
I would also recommend a guide for FFVII.
Click to expand...
No need, I have the most important advice right here.

At one point in the game you're going to run across a place called Condor. I'm not telling you about it because I mean literally anything could be a spoiler so I'm trying to be nondescript as possible. Once you move away from there, there is going to be a vast expanse of rivers and forest.

You are, moving though the expanse of forest, going to arrive at your story destination, a gigantic brownish white cannon that juts out into the ocean. Don't go there yet. Go back, go to the forests until you meet a unique 3D sprite of a girl. Beat her up because that's how you show her you love her. You'll know it's the right one because afterwards you'll be greeted to a multiple choice event. Act like she's your waifu and that you're interested in her until she says she joins you, then run away from her because that's also how you show her you love her. Otherwise she's going to gank your stuff.

Congratulations, you now have my waifu for the game.

Well, I hope that didn't count as a spoiler. Otherwise I'm going to feel very bad.
 
C

Concept17

Member
antitrop said:
This is my favorite game of all time.

Playing it as a teenager was a transcendent experience that no game has matched since.
Click to expand...

Pretty much this. At least as far as single player games go.

The thing about playing it NOW, especially for the first time... is that its just not its 'time'. Playing it for the first time the year it released was so fucking amazing.
 
JordanN

JordanN

Banned
Kastrioti said:
I would say don't use a guide unless you absolutely have to.

And I've never gotten this talk about FF7 aging badly. The art direction and overall atmosphere make the game timeless despite the polygons. Its a beauty on the PSP(and on a SDTV), IMO.
Click to expand...
I find stuff like this completely abhorrent, no matter how much "art style" is being pushed.
ep1tP8e.png

I can only imagine what horror this game must be if you play it with no enhancements from the original. So that means no filters or high resolution.
 
A

Aeana

Member
Don't worry about using a guide. Really. Odds are you'll run into Yuffie by accident, and Vincent will also be on your path if you're examining everything.

My tip would be to not dismiss the enemy skill materia. Keep it equipped all the time, so even if you don't go out of your way looking for enemy skills, you'll still get some. They're pretty great in this game.
 
A

antitrop

Member
There's literally so much side shit and interesting non-sequiturs that playing through with the lack of a guide is not a complete experience.

Unless you want to play it twice, in which case feel free to have a guide-free journey of discovery.

I'm not saying to consult the thing every 30 seconds and have it play the game for you, but it's just a nice reference to have by your side.
 
S

suzu

Member
CoachKevin said:
OK guys, you convinced me. I literally just got to the world map and have no idea where to go. I thought I was suppose to go north east but I hit the ocean. I also found a chocobo farm and picked up the materia to catch one.

I will look up where to find them and I need to figure out where the hell I am suppose to go next anyways.
Click to expand...

You don't need really need a guide unless you want to get like, every single thing in the game.

It's not that hard to figure it out, but:

Here are the locations where you're able to recruit them. You can figure out the rest through trial and error.

Yuffie:
Encounter and defeat Mysterious Ninja in any forest area on the world map.

Vincent:
Acquire key from the safe in Shinra Manor (in the town of Nibelheim).
 
V

Verelios

Member
speedpop said:
You should probably look at a guide in order to not miss out on nabbing Yuffie and Vincent for your party.
Click to expand...

Nah, I think part of the charm of FFVII was walking (or driving but I lost my car early on) around the overworld and generally exploring. I found Yuffie over in some bushes, had no idea who she was and suddenly, after pissing me off when I was lost and looking for my party, she joined my party! You can't imagine how amazed I was at that. And it made me scour the entire overworld. I was slightly overlevelled but who cares!

But yeah, I think a guide would ruin a lot of what made FFVII great. It's certainly a game that I can't see being done in this generation, probably because of all the hidden inuendo's, taboos that its 3D sprite work let it get away with.
 
A

Aeana

Member
antitrop said:
There's literally so much side shit and interesting non-sequiturs that playing through with the lack of a guide is not a complete experience.

Unless you want to play it twice, in which case feel free to have a guide-free journey of discovery.
Click to expand...
There is a lot of side content, but at the same time, it's not completely obscure. You can come across most things just by exploring. There are a couple of exceptions, but it's really not that big of a deal. I think over-emphasizing the need for a guide is a mistake.
 
H

hydrophilic attack

Member
Don't use a guide. This is all you need to know:

When you reach a map on the world map, stay there for a while and do random battles. After a while you will get a special battle leading to a special scene. If you mess up that special scene, don't give up. You can trigger it again by doing more battles in the forest.

At one point in the game you will reach a mansion with a locked safe and a cryptic letter. Don't leave until you figure out how to open the safe!

As for where you need to go now: you went far too much to the east. The place you went to go is very close to Midgar.
 
M

MattKeil

BIGTIME TV MOGUL #2
Kastrioti said:
I would say don't use a guide unless you absolutely have to.

And I've never gotten this talk about FF7 aging badly. The art direction and overall atmosphere make the game timeless despite the polygons. Its a beauty on the PSP(and on a SDTV), IMO.
Click to expand...

The character models were horrific even in 1997. It's a visually repulsive game today, and the screechy MIDI work isn't too hot, either. There's a reason the fanbase has been clamoring for a remake for more than half a decade now. I still think Square's crazy not to do it, and hardware makers are crazy for not trying to get Square to do it as a platform exclusive. Hey Sony, you want to make PS4 an instant hit?
 
A

anaron

Member
MattKeil said:
The character models were horrific even in 1997. It's a visually repulsive game today, and the screechy MIDI work isn't too hot, either. There's a reason the fanbase has been clamoring for a remake for more than half a decade now. I still think Square's crazy not to do it, and hardware makers are crazy for not trying to get Square to do it as a platform exclusive. Hey Sony, you want to make PS4 an instant hit?
Click to expand...

ugh

you're everything wrong with this fanbase
 
A

anaron

Member
JordanN said:
I find stuff like this completely abhorrent, no matter how much "art style" is being pushed.
ep1tP8e.png

I can only imagine what horror this game must be if you play it with no enhancements from the original. So that means no filters or high resolution.
Click to expand...

Weird. In my version of FF7, Tifa either looked like this

LsHDZbi.jpg



or this

XR8KphT.png



Huh.
 
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