Final Fantasy VII (PS1) Retrospective

With the SNES era come and gone, we head into the next generation of both consoles and the Final Fantasy series.  In 1994, development for Final Fantasy 7 began, but it wasn’t smooth sailing. The hardware for the Nintendo 64 cartridge lacked the storage and capacity for the movie footage; Square decided to split from the gaming giant in favor of a CD-ROM drive. Thus, Square(Soft or Enix) began its partnership with Sony and Final Fantasy 7 was underway for the new PlayStation.

While each entry thus far is remarkable, Final Fantasy 7 brought the series to the mainstream. The seventh entry is often the first for many Final Fantasy fans, and it has gathered such a following that Square Enix has not only produced several spin-offs and short films, but the company announced a complete remake of the original.

[caption id=attachment_3138" align="aligncenter" width="1618] Here's a mash up of some of our favorite characters.[/caption]

The Legendary Legacy

As Final Fantasy 7’s opening

, gamers knew they were in for something they had never before experienced in a Final Fantasy. As the camera zoomed out on the industrial city of Midgar, the fast-paced start gave players a small taste of the epic adventure to come.  Even veterans of the series didn’t know what to expect; the game throws players right into the action with a covert mission to blow up a core reactor.

Gamers are appointed a duty they may not feel comfortable performing, but from there they are taken on a whirlwind journey with an unreliable lead character. Final Fantasy 7 is undeniably one of the most ambitious games, taking place over three discs. Up to this point, the series was confined to cartridge limitations; the PS1 really allowed creators to really run with the project.  As a result, Final Fantasy 7 created the new standard for the series and brought a new look to the franchise. While the innovations and graphics date the game now, it truly was revolutionary for the period.  As groundbreaking as the game design was, the story and musical score provided the perfect finishing touches for a unforgettable gaming experience.

[caption id=attachment_3134" align="aligncenter" width="1280] Spikey #&*%*^%[/caption]

 Soldier First Class: The Mission of Final Fantasy 7

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It's okay. I'm just going to kill everyone.[/caption]

Unlike previous Final Fantasy games, there is no looking into the past at a war, or hidden prophecy. Players take control of Cloud, a former First Class SOLDIER of Shinra’s military, during a mission to blow up one of Midgar’s Mako reactors. Hired by the radical environmentalist group, AVALANCHE, Cloud and the crew are aiming to bring down the evil Shinra Corporation whose Mako-energy reactors are slowly killing the planet.

What starts as environmental terrorism becomes a man-hunt; President Shinra is more than aware that his Mako reactors are destroying the planet and soon it will run out of energy. Shinra is on the lookout for the last surviving “Centra,” a near-extinct race with a close connection with the planet. He believes that the Centra are the key to entering ‘The Promised Land’ where there is boundless energy. Cloud unwittingly meets with the target, Aeris(or Aerith) and becomes her bodyguard. However, neither party realizes someone else is looking for the Promised Land. Sephiroth, a legendary former SOLDIER who is thought to be dead, appears to have reclaimed the body of Jenvoa – a calamity that nearly destroyed the earth when she fell from the sky – and wishes to finish her work by summoning meteor.

Cloud and his friends must band together to battle both the likes of Sephiroth and Shinra, but there is something off about our main protagonist. In a tale of intrigue, betrayal, murder and destruction, Final Fantasy 7 definitely keeps players on their toes.

Don’t Look Away: You May Get Lost

 Final Fantasy 7’s plot is a little tough to grasp in a simple synopsis. There are many twists and turns in the story, and it really does require an in-depth explanation. What it does provide is decent character development, a complex narrative, and more than a few tears. Nobuo Uematsu out does himself once again with an amazing soundtrack, including one of the most intense boss battles of all time in “One-Winged Angel.” The music adds the perfect touch with wonderful melodies and captures every moment. Final Fantasy 7 marries sci-fi and fantasy in this entry, allowing for medieval inspirations with a more modern twist. Each area is carefully constructed and, for the most part, the story moves along quickly.

[caption id=attachment_3142" align="aligncenter" width="1280] He really are.[/caption]

That being said, there are a few spots where the pacing slows to a crawl. The narrative itself becomes increasingly complex and character development is allowed into territories that were previously untouchable. Without the strict censorship, Final Fantasy 7 was allowed to tackle some darker subject matter (though Celes attempting suicide in FF6 is pretty dark).

On the other side of the coin, some have found the story to be overly complex and dramatic. Also, the translation is thought to be a terrible short-coming – there are a significant amount of simple errors in the English translation. Regardless, FF7 is viewed as one of the best in the series and perhaps one of the best games of all time.

Breakthrough to Blocks: FF7  Graphics Then and Now

Final Fantasy 7’s graphics are one of the game’s major pain points. When the game first released, the look and feel was something that had never been done before. The realistic backgrounds and in-battle character models were outstanding to say the least. However, the over world character models were blocky and deformed. Another point of contention centered on spell and summon animation. While both were graphically outstanding, one of the biggest complaints is the time sucked up by long spell animation. There is no skip option, so when it comes to long summons, players are left re-watching the same spell over and over again.

There is no quick fix for the spell animation, but the future has brought gamers MODS. Players who’d rather look at cleaner looking character sprites have the option of upgrading their graphics with some downloadable player mods. Of course, you’d have to re-purchase the game.

Final Fantasy Basics

 Final Fantasy 7 is much like its predecessors; players use a main party to travel across an over world map, through dungeons, towns, and other areas in search of plot points and hidden treasures. While the scaling has improved, the character models were still blocky and awkward. As with the previous series, players have access to a number of different vehicles that aide in exploration, so there are no surprises here. Players can also run into random battles in order to build up experience and find gold.

Battle System: Set Up

The battle system in this game is incredibly simplified when compared to previous entries. For character set-up, each character can equip a character specific weapon, plus an interchangeable piece of armor and accessory. While accessories boosts stats or provide protection from magic or status ailments, the armor and weapon contain different slots for materia.

Materia is the central skill system of the game as well as a major plot point. Depending on the equipment slots, players could junction several types of materia in order to cast spells, perform actions like ‘Steal,’ or add effects to a character’s equipment. There are several equitable materia types: green for magic, yellow for skill, red for summon, purple for support, and blue for junction materia.  While the characters don’t have any innate unique abilities, players could customize the stats based on materia set-up.

[caption id=attachment_3136" align="aligncenter" width="1920] He said you needed a chocobo![/caption]

Materia and Limit Breaks

During battles, unlike previous franchise entries, FF7 allows only three characters per battle. The game uses the traditional ATB system, but has made improvements on Final Fantasy VI’s ‘desperation attack’ with a new Limit Break system. Instead of a random critical attack, each character has a visible bar that fills each time he or she takes damage. Once the bar is completely filled, players can unleash that character’s Limit Break. Depending on the character, the Limit Break could be a devastating attack or something that could help your entire party.  Savvy players can even avoid using these Limit Breaks immediately and store them up for an upcoming boss battle.

As usual, when a battle is won, characters will gain experience, but so will the materia they have equipped. As materia levels, it will gain stronger spells or stat boosts, and it can be equipped on any character. When a piece of materia is leveled up completely, it reaches ‘master’ status – retaining all of the possible abilities – and a new materia is born on level 1. It’s important to be careful when equipping materia – it’s not a very good idea to load up your characters and send them off to fight. Equipping material has a direct effect on your characters’ stats – magic materia tends to lower physical attributes. Certain characters also have better stats for casting spells or physical attacks – so be aware of your materia set-up.

While this system allows for ultimate customizing, it takes away from individual character skills. The game plot does its best to provide enough differences with equipment and personality development in order to make characters more unique.

Mini Games Galore

While side missions have always been a thing in Final Fantasy, FF7 really adds content with its extended side-quests and mini games. Players are on either side of the fence when it comes to extended content, but Final Fantasy 7 provides unique additions. Players can fight optional super bosses and explore hidden areas, or they can try their hand at Chocobo breeding and racing. FF7 improves upon the Colosseum concept of Final Fantasy VI with an exciting battle arena. Also, there are a few plot based mini games that mix up tradition.

Again, gamers are split on these concepts; some enjoy the challenge of the battle arena, while others groan at the idea of trying to breed the rarest chocobo. Regardless, this (mostly) optional extra content began a new tradition for all future franchise entries.

 FF7: The Overview and Remake of the Future

One of the most outstanding RPGs of all time, Final Fantasy 7 truly changed the direction of the franchise. With a new found freedom and boundless opportunity, this was the one entry that all future installments had to top. Of course, fans couldn’t get enough of it and the creators returned to the series with a number of

. However, nothing was greater than that outcry for a remake of the game. For years, the fans pleaded for a

, and for a while it was very unlikely. However, during

conference, the teaser trailer had every fan boy/girl screaming at his or her television.

While this remake is happening, it appears that it is not without some big changes. For one, Square Enix appears to be turning away from the traditional ATB system in favor of a real-time battle system more similar to the Kingdom Hearts series or Final Fantasy XV. The game is also set to be released in a series rather than one full game. Unfortunately, there really isn’t much else to go on except for cryptic interviews and gossip. Of course, all of the talk has the fan-base split on the direction Square-Enix is taking with the game. One side has purists who basically want a graphic upgrade to the original with all the bugs fixed and some new content, while others are excited about the new upgrades and possible changes. Either way, the original Final Fantasy VII is truly one of the franchise’s most beloved entries. Only time will tell if the remake will hold a candle to it.