Final Fantasy 7: It's not bad, it's just misunderstood.

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Final Fantasy VII: It's not bad, it's just misunderstood.

After the announcement of Final Fantasy VII on Sony Playstation, fans of the series could not wait until the sequel to one of the best games on the Super Nintendo arrived. There were some questions to the new instalment of the popular RPG series. Would it live up to its predecessors? The story was long and interesting, the graphics were the most beautiful yet seen on the Playstation, and the music was absolutely glorious. This is why I was so surprised at the amount of disappointment that arose from die-hard Final Fantasy fans.

I admit that my differing point of view originates because I played Final Fantasy VII before any of its predecessors, or in fact, and RPG other than Crystal Dynamics' Landstalker on the Sega Genesis. My point is that people always base their point of views on Final Fantasy VII around Final Fantasy VI and they are too busy comparing them to actually judge FF7 justly.

"Characters have no individuality other than limit breaks."

A true and valid point, but this just means that there is a lot more variety in the parties that players choose. In FF6, the different abilities each character had split the team into two. Because of their battle abilities, virtually everyone uses Edgar and Sabin, and hardly anyone uses Strago and Relm. In Final Fantasy VII, you are not so quick to pick your permanent party members, as earlier limit breaks are very similar, and you must use a character for a long time before you can see their more powerful attacks, and you get used to their abilities.

"I didn't like the futuristic look and its separation from 'fantasy'."

This is insane. The only truly futuristic part of FF7 was Midgar, and the rest of the towns were like those in FF6. Need I remind you that FF6 was very similar in fashion, with Kefka's Magitek factories, fortresses and Magitek soldiers creating a cold atmosphere over the rest of the world as Midgar did? Because of the first part's major involvement with Midgar, it seemed like a cold game, but remember that most of the city was slums, and save the mako generators and Hojo's lab, hardly any of it was actually 'futuristic'. Also, it creates a sense of freedom when you actually leave Midgar. The Midgar portion of the game seemed like a game in itself. When you leave you think "That was only the first part. There's a whole game ahead of me" and the actual game begins, in a world that is far less futuristic.

"The character designs are really uninspired."

It's true that the characters may have simpler designs than FF6's, but fans may be angry because they were not designed by Yoshitika Amano. I believe that Amano's art is for characters in a medireview era, like in Final Fantasy IV, but I don't expect them to work in such a setting. Also, every character is very memorable in their own way, each one with a distinct personality, as opposed to FF6 and 4, where the characters have far fewer lines, and it was harder to get accustomed to them or even begin to like them very much, especially in FF4 where your party changes so often you can't even really get to know or like the characters, except for popular favourites, Cecil, Rydia and Kain. I think that is because each of them go through a period of change and difficulty, and we all have gone through changes in our lives, so we can relate to it. But, Cloud does become torn between good and evil as Kain does, and he is dismissed by fans as just a whiner with mental problems.

If Final Fantasy VII and VIII are the worst yet, then why does each now instalment draw in a bigger audience than the last? Many people peg this on its good graphics and full motion computer generated video scenes, which attracts people because they are impressed. That is ridiculous. Haven't you ever heard the statement "If you've got it, flaunt it"? Why make the game look like it's on the Super Nintendo, when you have the capability to do much, much better? RPGs themselves are played mainly for the story, and they have become an effective story-telling medium because the player is able to place the characters in their hands and have control over whether they succeed or fail in their endeavours. But if you want a story without the visual fanfare then go and read a book. The Playstation and other third generation consoles were designed for bigger games and better visuals. I'm sure the Squaresoft workers didn't spend days putting together their efforts just to be complained at because their work looks nice.

The FMVs amazed me, as they were meant to. Never before had I seen such visual power from a video fame, helping to tell the story. Some gamers, disappointed with Final Fantasy VII swore of Final Fantasy VIII. You would only do that if you were a truly devoted and disappointed fan, but did they really think that boycotting their favourite game series would make Squaresoft listen? So you stopped Square from making a couple thousand dollars, maybe. It didn't matter. The small number of people who did not purchase FF8 because of this were overshadowed greatly by a whole new horde of fans. The Final Fantasy series has become stronger than ever, as it was originally presumed that FF9 would be the final game, but that number has been stretched to fifteen.

It is true that many new gamers were drawn to FF7 because of its impressive graphics, but that means that the RPG genre is more popular than ever, which inspires developers to make RPGs, putting more into the system to whet our appetites. I remember someone saying once that anyone who had Final Fantasy VII as their first RPG is not a "true RPGamer" as they were just victims of Squaresoft's attempts to receive more fans. Is that really true? Over here, when Final Fantasy VII was released, the console itself was new, so we didn't have that many Playstation magazines around. Back then, I used to buy comics regularly, and a few had ads for the game, sporting such slogans as "It's to humans what headlights are to a deer" (Midgar City), "Someone bring me the guy who makes cartridge games, a blindfold, and a cigarette" (Junon Cannon) and "You can actually hear your pupils dilate" (Sephiroth). Back then, I hadn't played a proper 'traditional' RPG, and I completely ignored these ads, and didn't even note the name of the game. A television ad showing several FMV scenes was rarely played, but when it was, it was on an unpopular music channel which was later cancelled. I just happened to hire FF7 from my local video store because all the games that I wanted were already out. When I got home and popped it into the Playstation I was amazed. You've already seen my praise for the game throughout this article. But the point I'm trying to make is that I was not taken in by its realistic graphics or any of its ads. After I finished FF7 (After experiencing the beginning several times because of my lack of a memory card) I wanted more. From early 1998 to the present, I have been playing RPG after RPG. I have played almost every Playstation RPG available here to its end, and through emulation, I was able to experience what I had been missing. However, I never found one that I liked equally or more than Final Fantasy VII. But because it was my first RPG, am I still not classified as a true RPGamer?

In a local Playstation magazine, the most desired game genre results were shown, and RPG/Adventure scored around four percent. Because where I live people are more into games of the sports genre, anything to do with sports does generally well here in terms of sales, as do fighters and platformers. But still, the Final Fantasy duo that have been released here thus far fared so well in the market that they managed to attain the 'platinum' status, which is given to the best-selling Playstation games that sell tens of thousands of copies nation-wide. That is how well these games have proven to be. Because of their limited exposure to Role Playing Games in the past, FF7 became an instant favourite for gamers here. Because of its success, I was thankful that I pre-ordered my copy of Final Fantasy VIII because all the shops had sold out on the first day. And at the close of 2000, in the same aforementioned Playstation magazine, Final Fantasy VIII rated number 1 in the fan-voted top 50 games of 2000. And that is its success in a country where the genre is nearly obsolete.

Many gamers were mad because FF7 had lost the 'fantasy' feeling of the series. I know they mean things like big castles, dragons and monsters, but have you forgotten the true meaning of fantasy? A creation of the imagination, something that does not exist, but you dream about it being real. That is my interpretation of the word. Now look back at Final Fantasy VII. Just because it seems futuristic, doesn't mean that it's not fantastical. If you don't remember, there were the Cetra, a race we knew nothing about. Looking back, I see similarities between Aeris and Terra. Aeris the Cetra and Terra the Esper. Their stories are similar, magical beings in machine-driven, magically scarce worlds. I see it as a black city full of skyscrapers, but with Aeris and Terra as a small flower growing out of a crack in the pavement. Final Fantasy VII is pure fantasy, as was VI and every one before and after it. Just because Final Fantasies I through V had medireview settings, it doesn't mean their sequels are bound to that tradition, since the games are not direct sequels. A lack of moogles does not mean that Final Fantasy VII is not fantasy.

Are RPGamers of old angry because a lot of new people are entering the fold every day? Is that why Squaresoft is blamed for using flashy propaganda to win over new fans? The RPG used to be a small, exclusive genre, but now it is becoming more mainstream, and it seems just about every developer has an RPG out there somewhere. Your whining about how bad FF7 is isn't going to change the game, or the fact that thousands more people like it than hate it. Final Fantasy VI and VII are both different and similar at the same time, however Final Fantasy VII is the one that is chewed out. Too many times have I browsed at RPGamer's editorial and Q and A sections to see someone complaining about how much they hate FF7 and 8, while there is nothing but praise for 4 and 6. Why are people trying to force their views upon others? Must Final Fantasy games to come live in Final Fantasy VI's shadow? If they had made FF7 too similar to 6, then you would have complained even more, because of the lack of originality. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Even us not classified as "True RPGamers".

Notes:
An extremely long and complex editorial - the first to come very close to our word limit at about 1900 words. Despite this, the language is marred by many spelling mistakes, including medireview (which I could only assume meant medieval), 'video fame's, and a number of other mistakes. Note that many percieved mistakes aren't, however - as overseas readers will know, 'favourite' is perfectly valid.

I share the writer's views and opinions, but when it comes down to it the editorial is not an original one, the FF7 debate having worn rather thin long ago, and it doesn't present it in a new manner or provide a viewpoint which could have brought some new light on an age old topic.

All in all, while the editorial is definitely well written and a very good length, the unoriginal content and the spelling mistakes drag it down a little too far.