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Final Fantasy VII 15th Anniversary

Replaying FF VII makes me realize how much better is the writing compared to XIII, I mean there's still plenty of cliche and chess, but there's a few very interesting dialogues that even with the shoddy translation are far superior to newer FF games.

Also I love some of the themes, I mean, in the first 15 minutes you're a part of a terrorist group that kills hundreds of innocent people in a quest to save the world, but basically you're fullfilling the personal vendetta of a man with a machinegun in his hand.


That's awesome.

True dat.

I miss the age of low budgets and massive creativity. I wish Japan would go back to the 80-90s japanese game developement mentality.

FF7 was a prime example that graphics werent alfa & omega.
 
Replaying FF VII makes me realize how much better is the writing compared to XIII, I mean there's still plenty of cliche and chess, but there's a few very interesting dialogues that even with the shoddy translation are far superior to newer FF games.

Also I love some of the themes, I mean, in the first 15 minutes you're a part of a terrorist group that kills hundreds of innocent people in a quest to save the world, but basically you're fullfilling the personal vendetta of a man with a machinegun in his hand.


That's awesome.

To be honest the addition of voice acting makes it much harder...
 
Granted, I'm like 5 and notorious for skipping side content, but I never thought cloud screwed anyone in ff7. Where are you saying the sexxx happens? Certainly not in that last scene before northern crater?

Yeah, that's exactly it, and all the evidence and reasoning has been posted in the thread so far.

It was slightly more subtle and mature than the rest of the game, and the writers acknowledged that.
 
To be honest the addition of voice acting makes it much harder...

this


voice acting ruined jrpgs. the stupid, nonsensical stories were only easy to take seriously when you're reading text and hearing it in your head
once you hear a real person saying that bullshit its ruins it
 
The problem with the dialogue in JRPGs and I've noticed in FFXIII and XIII-2 is that they are better read than talking. That's because the script is written to be read not actually spoken. Just my thoughts on it though...
 
this

voice acting ruined jrpgs. the stupid, nonsensical stories were only easy to take seriously when you're reading text and hearing it in your head
once you hear a real person saying that bullshit its ruins it

Yeah, I like that you sometimes have to read between the lines a lot to get the meaning. Part of the fun of FF VII is figuring out exactly what's going on, without it being spelled out too much.

And other times, the dialogue in pre-VA games is -- rather than the actual words people would have spoken in a conversation -- more of the essence of what they were saying. (Kind of in line with what kayos90 said about the scripts being "written to be read.")

In either case, the dialogue in text-based games is often more efficient and less... I don't know... hokey sounding than when spoken aloud.
 
Try harder. FF12 evolved final Fantasy to the better. So much freedom on that game.

I cant tell if you are serious or not. Between 12 and 13, FF has lost its "magic". The series has fallen so far, so so far.

Why has FF7 stood alone in its style and presentation? 8 went kinda euro, 9 went classical, why havnt we went back to neo-tokyo/steampunk?
 
I also discovered gamefaqs around that time, me and my friends were discussing the game in a library and a librarian lady overheard us and introduced that site for us to go. Oh boy what a pure place that was back in the day.
 
I cant tell if you are serious or not. Between 12 and 13, FF has lost its "magic". The series has fallen so far, so so far.

Why has FF7 stood alone in its style and presentation? 8 went kinda euro, 9 went classical, why havnt we went back to neo-tokyo/steampunk?

Nah, dude...you just grew up.

The "magic" is that sense of wonder you had when you were younger. 15 years later, OF COURSE you wouldn't be impressed since everything that video games have now has been seen. Techno-fantasy? Done. Renaissance? Done. Generic fantasy? Done done done.

The early FFs were something new and different, especially FF7. Fantasy-Cyberpunk was totally fresh to the genre.

That and the music is also no longer Uematsu, whose influence truly carried the games from the NES days til now.
 
Granted, I'm like 5 and notorious for skipping side content, but I never thought cloud screwed anyone in ff7. Where are you saying the sexxx happens? Certainly not in that last scene before northern crater?
You're so innocent.
 
True dat.

I miss the age of low budgets and massive creativity. I wish Japan would go back to the 80-90s japanese game developement mentality.

FF7 was a prime example that graphics werent alfa & omega.

Ha!

Funny thing is, lots of people say the exact same thing, except change FFVII to FFVI, while whining about how the move to 3D ruined everything.
 
Nah, dude...you just grew up.

The "magic" is that sense of wonder you had when you were younger. 15 years later, OF COURSE you wouldn't be impressed since everything that video games have now has been seen. Techno-fantasy? Done. Renaissance? Done. Generic fantasy? Done done done.

The early FFs were something new and different, especially FF7. Fantasy-Cyberpunk was totally fresh to the genre.

That and the music is also no longer Uematsu, whose influence truly carried the games from the NES days til now.

Dude, I only played FFVII during the last summer, and I immediately fell in love. It has nothing to do with being younger or not playing a lot of other games.

FFVII simply stood the test of time :)
 
Dude, I only played FFVII during the last summer, and I immediately fell in love. It has nothing to do with being younger or not playing a lot of other games.

FFVII simply stood the test of time :)

That's great to hear. I recently recommended VII to two younger cousins who wanted to get into FF and they loved it. Also gave them the push to check out the rest of the series. VII really is a masterpiece.
 
Stupid Square Enix I always though they should have gone ahead and done the remake from the tech demo before XIII. That way they could have gotten a better hold of how to work with the PS3 and make a decent game for it. There job would have been to translate sweet VII to a bigger scale and maybe adding stuff here and there. But by doing that, I always thought, they could have had a better idea into how to make an original FF game on the PS3, towns, decent story. Think about it the plans were set and by bringing that game to that large scale they would have made a FF game on the PS3 how it was meant to be. Even if it was just a remake.

Then XIII would have been all that bad,except for the battle system. Just my opinion.
 
Played the beginning of the game like 5 times and always abandoned it... might as well give it one last chance before going through my yearly walkthrough of IX.
 
Played the beginning of the game like 5 times and always abandoned it... might as well give it one last chance before going through my yearly walkthrough of IX.

I can't understand that, the first minutes of VII are great: they put you in the action right from the beginning without any stupid tutorial, right away you're blowing up reactors, killing guards, etc...

IX on the contrary, is painfully slow for the first 2 hours or so.
 
I can't understand that, the first minutes of VII are great: they put you in the action right from the beginning without any stupid tutorial, right away you're blowing up reactors, killing guards, etc...

IX on the contrary, is painfully slow for the first 2 hours or so.

Although I completely agree, I just love IX much more as a whole where I simply can't relate to VII as much. I consider IX a love letter to all the classic FF fans, before spiky hairs and emo-stuff became the norm.
 
True dat.

I miss the age of low budgets and massive creativity. I wish Japan would go back to the 80-90s japanese game developement mentality.

FF7 was a prime example that graphics werent alfa & omega.
The budget of Final Fantasy VII was huge, and the graphics were groundbreaking at the time. So... I'm not really sure it's the best example for your point.
 
Although I completely agree, I just love IX much more as a whole where I simply can't relate to VII as much. I consider IX a love letter to all the classic FF fans, before spiky hairs and emo-stuff became the norm.

There is nothing really emo in Final Fantasy 7 and only cloud has spiky hair in the playable characters.
 
Although I completely agree, I just love IX much more as a whole where I simply can't relate to VII as much. I consider IX a love letter to all the classic FF fans, before spiky hairs and emo-stuff became the norm.

Whilst VII didn't leave the player with a full/satisfactory explanation of everything being resolved at the end, at least it's story felt like a complete, albeit somewhat unfinished, work. IX seemed to diverge off on some merry path of randomness in the final dungeon with storyline components that didn't seem to tie in naturally with anything that had happened up to that point. Personally i felt more cheated by the explanation of everything in IX than i did with the end of VII.
 
The music in this game is also the series high note IMO. Each area's music fits perfectly throughout and was solidified as my all time favorite ost when I first reached Sepiroth.
 
Final Fantasy VII is one one of the few masterpieces in gaming. Even though its cinematic approach was 3D, it felt more like a realization of the Super Nintendo Final Fantasy Formula- keeping the stylish whimsy balanced with carefully placed depth and emotion.

It still holds up because of how it handles itself. It doesn't have an overly complex battle system, it doesn't have annoying main characters, and it doesn't state the obvious. Final Fantasy VII is very careful in letting the player gauge the gravity of the situation rather than pouring on the melodrama- something square has forgotten with its newer games.

Case in Point:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__qhOTnFwUY
The dialogue isn't very deep or moving, but it pours out empathy with which the player can relate. Even the minor joking between Zack and the driver has an overall sadness to it without explicitly stating the mood. It's clear he doesn't want Zack to make the same mistakes he made in life, but that is apparent through him telling Zack to try everything while he's young. It's brevity at its finest.

Also, the well placed musical cue (specifically the fadeout of the BGM) immediately before the line "we're friends, right?" leaves a lasting impression on the player due to the emphasis on the line showing that despite Zack's maturity, he still has inner conflict and insecurity- something that makes him a character to which we can relate despite being on screen in the game for a total of 15 minutes (at most).

And this is just an example from a scene that most players missed on their first playthrough. Simply put, Final Fantasy VII may not have done it all, but it had an absurd amount of polish and was nearly flawless in the aspects it contained.
 
Fellow FFXII hater. <3

*handshake*

Anyhoo, I have extremely fond memories of VII, and I regularly replay it every couple of years or so. This year I might do something different now that I have the Japanese version. ^^;
 
Nah, dude...you just grew up.

The "magic" is that sense of wonder you had when you were younger. 15 years later, OF COURSE you wouldn't be impressed since everything that video games have now has been seen. Techno-fantasy? Done. Renaissance? Done. Generic fantasy? Done done done.

The early FFs were something new and different, especially FF7. Fantasy-Cyberpunk was totally fresh to the genre.

That and the music is also no longer Uematsu, whose influence truly carried the games from the NES days til now.

I politely disagree, I played it again last summer (for about the 10th time in my life) after playing Crisis Core (decent game, loved the ending, BEAUTIFUL MUSIC) and FF7 holds up (esspeically when played on the psp) The game just still feels good! I was worried that it was just fond old memories, but nope, playing the game again just felt right and good. She's a true masterpiece.
 
That's the problem. A lot of people go by misconception from what other people say. Most of the misconception is based on the movie FF7:AC not the actual game.

If you don't know about it, don't pretend that you do.
 
I cant tell if you are serious or not. Between 12 and 13, FF has lost its "magic". The series has fallen so far, so so far.

Why has FF7 stood alone in its style and presentation? 8 went kinda euro, 9 went classical, why havnt we went back to neo-tokyo/steampunk?

Seriously, this is your opinion. 12 and 13 are fantastic games in terms of style and presentation and I think 7 is a steaming pile of average. Just my opinions. Also in case you didn't realize, 7 stole its steampunk from 6. As for "neo-Tokyo", Midgar is but one city in the game, not to mention you're only ever in the industrial/reactor sector of it, hence why it looks so "neo". In Crisis Core when exploring more if the city it's seriously just a regular town, sort of 1950's looking a la FF8. The rest of FF7's world/towns look exactly like the other FFs of that era. If anything, Esthar from FF8 is far more neo-Tokyo than anything in 7. And FF9's style from that era is probably the most unique.

I get it, people have a nostalgia hardon for 7, but let's be a bit rational.
 
In Crisis Core when exploring more if the city it's seriously just a regular town, sort of 1950's looking a la FF8.

Crisis Core did a CRAP job of exploring Midgar. So much potential and it's all just missions. I realize it can't be all open-world, but still...

I was really disappointed with the part when you can explore the street from the opening game. In FF7's opening, it was a busy street. In CC, it's 2 dead ends with a few people standing here and there, old rpg style.
 
Crisis Core did a CRAP job of exploring Midgar. So much potential and it's all just missions. I realize it can't be all open-world, but still...

I was really disappointed with the part when you can explore the street from the opening game. In FF7's opening, it was a busy street. In CC, it's 2 dead ends with a few people standing here and there, old rpg style.

Hence why I'm confused with the "neo-Tokyo" perception it has. It's a giant energy plant-city, of course it looks industrial and green-neon-lighty. The actual population, style of clothing/machinery, housing..nothing like a "neo-Tokyo". Though I guess it depends what your base of reference is for what a "neo-Tokyo" should look like. I guess most people would point to anime as their main source.
 
Hence why I'm confused with the "neo-Tokyo" perception it has. It's a giant energy plant-city, of course it looks industrial and green-neon-lighty. The actual population, style of clothing/machinery, housing..nothing like a "neo-Tokyo". Though I guess it depends what your base of reference is for what a "neo-Tokyo" should look like. I guess most people would point to anime as their main source.

I think it's just the wrong usage of the word, possibly because we spent so much time in the SHinra building which DID have "Neo-tokyo" aesthetics. Fancy holographic electronics and clean white walls.


Midgar is a deliberate mishmash of styles, the history is that several towns amalgamated, and then over time they stagnated as the plate was built deliberately to be new and fancy.

Conceptually, it's a good idea, and overall I think FF7's slums were very, very well done. The homes looked like shantytowns, made up of leftover corrugated metal and old electrical cables. Crisis Core had the perfect chance to show us how fancy and new the upper-class lived versus the already-explored slums, but no...
 
@ jaxword
Well i learned that you could have holographics training room in soldier... that's really one of teh things i really think made me unable to enjoy this CC...
 
Cosmo Canyon of all places had some baller holographic tech, I didn't think it was out of place for Shinra to have a danger room of sorts.
 
My bond with FFVII is strong and pure.

Is like we had to meet each other: As a owner of a modded psx, i don't know why during christmas time in a toy store, i've decided to get a pricey psx game as my xmas present.
Also i had never touched an rpg game before (yep 14 at the time) and i was an huuuuge Final Fight fan, so it still strange to understand why i've choosen FFVII instead of the just released Fighting Force!

My first Gameplay stopped at the northern crater in disc 3. The enemy were to difficult to beat and go further. Really good 50hrs put into it.

thanks to FFVII, i've looked for as many RPGes as possibile, SNES and PSX mainly and mastered all of them.

Then i've wasted all the summer of 98 replaying it from the start. I still remember clearly my emotions when "one winged angel" started and when i was on pc the midi of this song was always in loop. ALSO i beat EMERALD and RUBY Weapons finally, yay!

The next winter i've found out the GAMEFAQ site, and i was astonished by how many things i've left behind... Vincent, yuffie, the golden chocobo, KOTOR.
The third run was quite fast, 35hrs only and thanks to gamefaqs i got all the materia, weapons, hidden chars.

I'll never replay it again, even if a proper translation will be out. The game was for me meant to be played when i was younger, without any knowledge at all of RPGes and Final Fantasy, with a lot of time available and a big CRT screen.
PROUD to wear my nostalgia googles :')
 
Even though its cinematic approach was 3D, it felt more like a realization of the Super Nintendo Final Fantasy Formula- keeping the stylish whimsy balanced with carefully placed depth and emotion.
That's because it started as a Super Nintendo game.
 
I just realised why I hold XII is such high regard! It was my first FF (lttp with the series) and it just blew me away. Maybe I'm generalising but isn't this the case for nearly everyone who puts VII on a pedestal?

I then proceeded to play the series backwards, however never played VII and VIII to completion. VI is a masterpiece, never really played V, beat IV on DS and PSP, III on PSP, II and I on iPhone :D
 
This game is the reason I love RPGs as much as I do. I still play it semi-annually. I had a friend make up some art to put on a stick for me. :)

ff7rough-1.jpg



I just realised why I hold XII is such high regard! It was my first FF (lttp with the series) and it just blew me away. Maybe I'm generalising but isn't this the case for nearly everyone who puts VII on a pedestal?

I then proceeded to play the series backwards, however never played VII and VIII to completion. VI is a masterpiece, never really played V, beat IV on DS and PSP, III on PSP, II and I on iPhone :D

I don't think so. I think it's a great game, but FF12 is my favorite FF.
 
@ jaxword
Well i learned that you could have holographics training room in soldier... that's really one of teh things i really think made me unable to enjoy this CC...

Wait, why did the holographic training room bother you? Holographic technology existed in FF7's world. Not just in the ShinRa building, but also in places like Cosmo Canyon and the Gold Saucer.
 
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