Leaps and Bounds

by Mike Harnest 

Aeris should die, Aeris shouldn't. The ending is good, the ending is bad. SQUARE is racist, SQUARE isn't. Final Fantasy VII is the greatest game of all time, Final Fantasy VII "sucks." Everyone has a different opinion on these subjects, as do I. We've read all the editorials, we've gotten into enormous arguments on various chatlines and message boards. The truth is, we all have differing opinions and I think it's impossible to change a person's mind by simply "posting a message." But with all of these disagreements, whether the opinions belong to veteran RPGers or new ones, there is one thing that we all must agree upon. One thing that is undeniable. Final Fantasy VII has done enormous things for the RPG genre.

Take my brother. For years he has tormented me with his sarcastic remarks ("Wowwy, Final Fantasy, let's go kill some dragons"). Then one day I brought home Final Fantasy VII. I played a bit and he saw me playing. Now, I don't care if it was the graphics, the storyline, or the fact that the main character had a really big sword, he asked if he could play it. He played it, he beat it, he loved it. What's he doing now? Well, he brought the SNES down to his room and has pummeled through Final Fantasy II and III and is now playing Chrono Trigger. You could argue all day about how you think Yuffie isn't developed enough or how you never felt a connection between Aeris and Cloud or how not even a single word was translated correctly throughout the entire game and I won't even care, because this game turned my brother, the RPG-hater, into an RPG fan, so it must have done something right. Whether you liked the game or not you HAVE to give it a nod because it has opened an enormous amount of doors. It has introduced millions (what's funny is that that's not an exaggeration) of gamers to the RPG world. With the RPG genre now fringing on the mainstream, more will be produced. Yes, this could mean that an enormous amount of bad RPGs could be released by companies new in the field, but it also means there will be at least two or three really good ones which would have not even started development without the giant step known as Final Fantasy VII.

Maybe I don't have an enormous argument, but can you tell me I'm wrong?