Final Fantasy VII

Genre: Turn-Based JRPG

Players: 1

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Review:

Final Fantasy VII is a Turn-Based JRPG… well, actually, there’s a good argument to be made that it is the turn-based RPG, one of the most important games ever made. Its original release on the PlayStation in 1997 marked multiple huge shifts in the videogame medium – it was a huge step forward for videogame graphics, which in turn had the RPG genre exploding in popularity for the first time in Western regions, and its release on the PlayStation not only cemented that Sony was here to stay in the console space, but was also a huge signifier that Nintendo had distanced itself from previously Nintendo-centric third-parties. In fact, this release marks the first time this game has ever appeared on a Nintendo platform.

While Final Fantasy VII’s place in history is irrefutable, the question now is, how does it hold up after all these years, especially in the wake of numerous spin-offs, a computer-generated film, and more recently a full-fledged big-budget remake (and once again history repeats itself – the remake is out on PlayStation 4, but does not seem likely to be released on the Switch). However, as many have noted, the shift in gameplay styles of the remake, as well as some pretty major changes to the remake’s story, both mean that the original Final Fantasy VII has not been fully supplanted by its remake, and there’s still at least in theory plenty of reason to play it even if you have the newer remake… although again that comes back to the core question, “how does it hold up?”

I’m not gonna’ sugarcoat it for you, in many ways, this game has not aged well. When it was first released, its marriage of polygonal characters, pre-rendered backgrounds, and pre-rendered FMV cutscenes was jaw-dropping, like nothing we had ever seen in a game before. Nowadays, it’s hard to ignore the extremely blocky low-poly characters (although credit where it’s due – these characters look a lot cleaner in this version of the game), the muddy prerendered visuals, and the jittery way the game stitches these elements together with the cutscenes. As a relic of history, it’s impressive what they were able to accomplish with the technology of the time, but by today’s standards it’s not going to impress anyone, and in fact the visuals may very well turn off players who are coming to the game for the first time and want to see what all the fuss is about.

At the very least, the game’s soundtrack is still excellent, or at least some of it is. While the audio quality is pretty low-fidelity by today’s standards, some of the songs here are absolute classics, although there are certainly some stinkers as well.

As with most mainline Final Fantasy games, this game’s story is unrelated to previous games in the series, and follows a group of environmental terrorists fighting off an evil corporate organization bent on sapping the energy out of the planet. While it was epic when first released, the story is… less epic… now that we’re used to better localization and can see how rough we had it back in 1997. While the game’s setting and overarching story is still wildly imaginative, the dialogue is pretty awkward by today’s standards. And, let’s be honest, the game’s protagonist Cloud was always kinda’ a dick. Also, and this is just my own personal preference, but I never cared for the fact that the game locks you into the grungy, dystopian Midgar for the first 7-8 hours of the game – but I do know that others enjoyed the change in setting from the typical forests and valleys of most JRPGs.

As for the gameplay, elements of it still work very well, but others don’t. The decision to use “artistic” camera angles with the pre-rendered backgrounds can often make movement clumsy and difficult, and the stiff controls make it clear that this was a game that was never intended for use with analog sticks. Selecting which enemy to fight in combat is also a bit awkward, as the controls change relative to the camera and even relative to the characters as they jump back and forth to fight. Also, the majority of the combat in this game is pretty monotonous and mindless, making grinding a chore. Boss battles at least require some degree of strategy, but common enemies generally boil down to “attack, attack, attack… and heal when your health gets low”. Having said all of that, the game’s materia system is still a pretty clever approach to character customization, and the limit break system does help a little to break up the monotony of battle.

I should mention that in addition to the higher-resolution polygonal visuals, this version of the game (based on the game’s mobile port) has a host of other upgrades. The loading times have been thankfully shortened, and players can push in the left stick to speed up the game, press in the right stick to give themselves a free limit break, or press in both to turn off random encounters. These quality of life enhancements are welcome, and help the game to be less of a slog by today’s standards. However, this port isn’t all positives – there’s also a strange flaw that causes the game to register a held button as repeatedly tapping it, making for accidental menu selections when you only meant to tap the button once.

In the end, Final Fantasy VII is still a classic JRPG, and its place in history is set in stone. However, by today’s standards, it definitely bears the weight of its age, not just in its graphics, but in its writing and game design. There is still a lot to love here, and this port tries its darnedest to preserve those good qualities while smoothing over the bad ones, and this is absolutely a monumental entry in the genre that should be considered a must-play game, if only for its role in shaping the industry, as well as its iconic story and characters… however, if you haven’t played this game before, be prepared for a trip back to the past, because this game definitely requires the patience to put up with its outdated design.

tl;dr – Final Fantasy VII is arguably the most famous and iconic Turn-Based JRPG ever made, and it’s presented here with slightly-improved graphics and QoL enhancements. However, many elements of this game have aged extremely poorly, and by today’s standards it can be frustrating and even outright archaic in its design. If you haven’t played it before, this game is a must-play history lesson, but be warned that it’s one that will require a lot of patience.

Grade: B-

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