One and a Half Years...

by Brian Cable

For one and a half years, the debate lives on...

"Final Fantasy VII is a great game!"
"Final Fantasy VII is a horrible game!"
    -and its counterparts.

An observation to this brings one to wonder...one and a half years...how can this game be so bad if it sparks so much controversy, so much interest in taking sides for a such a long period of time? I ran out of interest in the OJ trial after a month, and the Clinton / Starr / Impeachment trials only took a week. Why does this matter interest us so?

Honestly, I've heard all the arguments now, I believe, and the answer is clear: we live in a stubborn, ADD (not dungeons and dragons, attention deficit disorder) society, and our judgements our set in stone with first impressions and cheap thrills, then disappointment in failures. A more medical look to this: When we play a game, it reaches out to the senses (except taste or smell...I still yearn for the novelty scratch and sniff CD or the edible four course meal cartridge) and information is sent via nerves to the brain stem, and registers with our mind. It then sends a signal the rest stating whether something is "good" or "bad" according to our moral beliefs infringed upon us by hard genetics or softer impressionable outside media.

I've read that Final Fantasy VII simply didn't live up to the hype, and read rumors that Squaresoft cut production time by a month in order to release the game. Well, I recall the saying that a work of art is NEVER completed, and if our beloved company had waited for its game to be completed, the game might not have been ready to be released in time for our grandchildren to be able to experience it; they would be ninety years old on their death bed with prostitute grandchildren having their way with the current president. Take into consideration that Nintendo did the same with Zelda 64, prolonging its release for 3 years, and it too is considered by many not to live up to the hype. In the process they lost many loyal fans (including me) and fell to such low sums of money that they had to pray their gem of a game would save them from the icy grip of bankruptcy.

Those of you who didn't like the game: If you thought the game was too shallow in depth, you're probably hoping too much for a novel. If you want to give FFVII a chance once more, I suggest reading an excellent series of fanfiction called "Cloud Cover" by Junj. It is not kept on the RPGamer archive simply because the entire series is about 500kb long... a simple search will do. As for graphics, I have as of yet to see better in almost every other genre out there, and Nintendo still has some catching up to do in that department; they should have kept Squaresoft while they were on top...As far as difficulty is concerned; you had a chance to play characters attained later in the game at lower levels, and materia COULD have been removed....try that for a challenge.

Those of you that did like the game: I wish I could always agree with you, for I thoroughly enjoyed the game as well, but the point is this. All too often I see you rebuke comments with: no, the characters are not underdeveloped, or no, I thought the game WAS difficult, or no, the FMV's were awesome graphics! Substantiate your opinion...if not with stated evidence, then with philosophical beliefs...weren't you taught that in Speech class all those years ago?

Personally, I applaud Squaresoft for producing such a fine cult of followers who shell out money consistently and loyally to them...and for those disciples to yell at each other for extended periods of time to raise their egoes and make them feel tall and high and mighty; I admit, that has to be a goal of this editorial as well. It seems to be human nature to scream and let your voice be heard: it gives people pride, whether it be by forceful measures or not. But remember, a game is just as relative as a book, or a movie, or any other form of media. My brother may proclaim that "Armageddon" is the best movie in the world, whilst I state that it's "just another natural disaster movie." It's the same case here. Let's stop the sibling rivalry and go out for a pizza. One and a half years...Thank you. (Reply to this, if you dare! Mua ha ha ha!)